The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1883-11-29
HOME, FARM AND RANCH.
BERMUDA GRASS.

Prof. j. L. STEELE, OF mobile, lnqulf-
.ng whether there be three kinds of
Bermuda grass, received the follow
ing answer:
1.-THE only grass correctly bearing
the common name of bermuda grass
is low, creeking grass, with hard,
woody stems, known to DotanlstS as
Cynodon dactylon. There Is but one
variety of it in this country, SO tar as |
we know, but it grows differently on
different soils. On poor SOIL 1t lies IN |
a close mat flat on the ground, while
on rich soil it grows with such rank
ness that the creeping stems pile upon
each other loosely often to the height
of fifteen or twenty inches, and hence
NAV be mown for hay, of course.
seed dealers have occasionally adver-
tised some tall growing grass as Ber-
muda, but it is no more the real Ber-
muda than oats is wheat
collie.
The symptoms of collie, one of the
most fatal diseases to horse, is readi-
" detected. The horse invariably
scrapes with his fore feet, kicks at the
stomach and shifts about, turns
around, smells the floor, lies down,
rolls, remaining for time on his back
and breathes heavily throughout. AT
a recent meeting of the London Farm
ers' Club, relief and sure cure was
presented by gentleman who has
been all his life among horses. When
the horse shows the symptoms OF an
attack af collie, apply at once a horse
cloth or woollen rug, wrung out OF
boiling water, to the stomach and to
the sides, and cover with another
couple of cloths to retainlthe heat. AS
they cool, renew the cloths as often as
needfuL A large bran poultice, as
hot as can be borne, is equally effect
i've, and retains the heat longer.
HOW TO MILK.
a mixer should learn to milk
quickly. Slow milking will ruin any
COW, and there Is little doubt that
many cows are made Improbable by
bad milking. AS soon as the flow of
milk begins 1t should be drawn as
rapidly as possible. Stripping with
the finger and thumb Is bad prac-
tice, and should be unlearned at once,
and the whole hand used to milk
with. BY persevering one will soon
be able to milk very short teats If the
hand is moderately small. The best
mixers have small hands; strength of
Wr1SC Will come IN Clne.
Sheep will degenerate more from
poverey In one generation than they
could be improved In two or three.
There is no occasion for deriding
scientific farming" as is sometimes
done. 1t is only common sense prac-
tlcally applied, and it Is only to the
extent that it is scientific that any
farming is successful. There Is no
more danger of too much science In
agriculture than there Is of having too
much common sense in the world at
large.
Sheep, no doubt, are the natural
residents of high, cool plateaus and
mountains; for the wool, good pro-
lection against cold, is poor shelter
against rain. 1t is no use to attempt
sheep farming on low, wet soils, for
here all the diseases of the animal are
rife-foot rot, scab, rot, etc.
ANY farmer that desires to have a
pleasant, prosperous home, clear Of
mortgage, must take care of his fansa
machinery. The ordinar'- of a
reaper, mower, threshaer and, In fact,
OF most farp implements, is, with
good care, about ten years, while with
peor care, from three to five years Is
the limit.
Let the farmer, the gardener, the
man in the city, town, village and
hamlet, and everybody, set out few
fruit trees-apples, plumS, crabs and,
if possible, few pears. In thus ex-
ercising forethought, you will be do.
ing much more to make a permanent
improvement than by any other in
Vestmet of the same amount of money.
Well managed clay soil Is known to
be capable of yielding the largest
crops of grain, and if properly drained,
with the greatest certainty. The rea-
son usually given for this is that clay
is retent1ve of both manure and moist
ure. But there Is another reason of
scarcely less Importance. Insects that
attack the roots of plants living I'M
seen, and often unthought of or I'M
suspected, find it difficult to live or
work In clay.
Too many farmers are inclined to
put off many necessary jobs until the
time comes when the necessity is
made most apparent. Thus many
leave all their draining and ditching
until spring, when the ground Is full
OF waite, the worst and most incOnve-
nient time for such work. Every
farmer knows whether q field needs
draining without waiting for it to be
covered with water. LOOK your farm
over now, decide where draining is
most needed and go at it as soon
as you can get the job finished
this fall, and have your land ready to
work two or three weeks earlier in
the spring.
The bee has long been type of the
Industrious worker, but there are few
people who know how much labor the
sweet horde Of the hive represents.
Each head of clover contains about
sixty distinct flower tubes, each of
which contains portion of sugar not
exceeding the five-hundredth part of
grain. Some patient aparian enthu-
siast, who las watched their move
ments, concludes that the probosics of
the bee must, therefore, be inserted
into 800 co yer tubes before one grain
OF sugar can be obtained. There are
7000 grains In pound, and as honey
contains three-fourths Of its weight
of dry sugar, each pound of honey
represents 100000 clover tubes
sucked by bees.
GREEN FOOD FOR SWINE.
Prof. .. II. ThompSO on, or the Ne
braska Agricultural college, speaks
from experience on pork growing, in
the American Agriculturist for Oc
tober:
"Greep food makes thriftier and
larger hogs. Farmers who raise many
pigs. and feed them exclusively on
corn, know that some of the shotes
will cease to grow at an early age, be
gin to lay on fat, and never reach the
size Of good, merchantable hogs. This
tendency to fatten prematurely, at
the expense of bone growth, is not
seen to any great extent In grass fed
hogs. A pig fed on bulky green food
win develop a larger stomach than
one fed on concentrated food like
corn; and when you come to fatten II
this enlarged capacity will enable him
to eat and digest more corn, and thus
fatten faster than the other and be a
more profitable hog to grow for mar.
ket.
"Grass-fed hogs are healthier than
those granted. Every intelligent
breeder knows the advantages OF
feeding green feed to sows about to
farrow. They have less difficulty
with their pigs, are less liable to
destroy them, will give more milk and
nurse them better. CRASHED hogs
are less liable to disease. The dreaded
hog cholera is not much to be feared
where hogs have the run of a good