Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1883-11-28
FARM AND GARDEN,

ENGLISH eparrOWs, 1t Is said, make
excellent food, and in some countries are
regarded as game birds.
SORGHUM seed furnishes to limited
extent the same, or nearly the same,
food elements as are found in corn,
EGGS packed in well-dried ashes, and
SO as not to touch each other, have been
kept perfectly sweet for twelve months.
A PROMINENT poultry raiser says that
5000 hens cared for In the proper man
ner will show an annual profit of about
So, 900.
1T is pretty we'll demonstrated that for
those engaged in stock raising liberal
allowance OF turnips or ruta- begos fed
each day is profitable.
LAST year 800 barrels of snur-kraut
were marketed at Racine, Wis, and it is
estimated this years manufacture at
that point will reach 500 barrels.
GRAPES shipped from New York to st.
Louis are sold to wholesale dealers at
SIX cents a pound. Of this amount the
grower gets one-half, the railroad COM
pRnies the other.
THE area under cultivation in Great
Britain in 1882 was 32,5O0,OOO acres.
VI OAlAb COOyOOO dGt C6 WGIO uuuOI Wu6db
culture, being 500, 000 acres less than
between 1867 and 1877.
Now is q good time to set cuttings
from grapevlnes. Plant them in dry,
mellow soil at an angle of IS degrees,
pack the soil against them, and when
the ground freezes cover them with
coarse litter for protection.
EXTENSIVE sorghum sugar works have
been located at Sterling Kas., the total
cost of the plant being $45, 600; capacity
Of steam boilers, $50 horse power capa-
city of crushers, $50 tons of cane per
day; capacity of defactors, evaporators;
bone-filters, ETC., equal to that of the
crusher; capacity of vacuum-pan 10000
pounds of sugar per day.
A LOT of twenty hogs which had been
kept on grass during the summer were
turned into narrow but yet sufficiently
roomy quarters near sorghum mill and
fed nothing but seeds and skimmings.
They gained five pounds each per day
for three weeks. When put in the aver
age weight was 165 pounds. At the end of
the time they had increased to an aver
age of 265 pounds.
Mr.. A. @. HAWKINS, of Lancaster,
Mass, has nearly 1000 laying hens and
about 200 cocks. During the last two
years he has raised 5000 chicks per
year. The cost of keeping varies with
the price of grain; last year it was found
to be $1.50 per head. His method of
feeding is to give soft, warm food in the
morning, such as boiled small potatoes
or turnips mixed with midling and
meat. a noon he gives oats, and at
night whole corn, barley, and wheat.
The best way of draining land is to
make bitches through the wettest por-
tons, with as great fall as possible.
The experiments sometimes madeln try
ing to cut off water from lowlands by
ditching higher up generally result IN
failures, and expensive ones at that.
The lowest land will still need ditching
after the surface water from above is
shut off, and one wet place in field will
often for days together prevent proper
cultivation OF other parts that are dry.
Mr.. J. II. CoMsToCK, formerly ento-
mologist to the National Department of
Agriculture, has come to the conclusion,
after much experimenting, that COM
mon soap is the cheapest, safest and
most effective remedy for scale insects
which infest the bark and foliage of
trees and shrubbery. He recommends
using one-fourth of O pound of common
bar soap to gallon of water, applying
the solution with a hand pump or
syringe, and repeating the application
after an interval of a few days.
A GREAT many farmers stop Just short
of entire success III destroying Canada
thistles, quack, and other perennial
weeds. They destroy most of the
enemy, but, like Israel in the land OF
Canaan, leave enough Ph1listines to be "a
thorn in their flesh and to test their
patience in after years. A war of entire
determination should be waged, and it
must never be forgotten that the very
best time to entirely finish a thistle
patch is after it has been exhausted by
persistent warfare during the summer
months.
a WRITER says: Sheep often go a
long time without drinking, especially if
in a pretty good pasture, and the deWs
are SO heavy that they can fill up with
wet grass in the morning; but when they
do want to drink water it is as necessary
to their comfort and health as to that of
other animals. Therefore keep a supply
of pure water in the sheep pasture as
much as in any other, and if the sheep
do not drink from it give them a little
salt once a week. They should have salt
as often as once a week under any cir
cumstances.
SOME one recommends kiln-drying the
corn intended for seed, as when this is
done the seed terminates better, but
gives no temperature to which it should
be subjected, and too much drying
might be as fatal to the germ as would
be too much moisture. But as corn
that is not thoroughly dried sprouts
very poorly after very cold winter, it
is possible that injury can be done to
the seed corn by freezing, it containing
large per cent. of moisture. Itshould
be thoroughly dried before being put
where it can freeze during the winter.
So far as possible all parts of the
same field should be equally fertile. A
little experience will show where the
soil is thinner, and here an additional