The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1884-10-08
FARM NOTES.
Eldon, Mo.

An authority says that when wind breaks
in the form of hedges, or straight rows Of
trees are not desirable, group of evergreens
will turn the currents and break the force OF
the blast. 1t is well also to note that on the
cold side generally, OF course the north and
west, is the place TO set the very hardest
trees. Among them birch, poplar and will
low rank first The birch is the hardest of
all our trees, and may be planted very close
as a wind-break.
y Connecticut farmer, who has been feed
ing eDsilage quite freely TO large herd of
fine cattle, states that one of his bulls, a
two-yesr-old, fed upon ensilage, with two
quarts of grain per day, gained over three
pounds live weight daily from December 10
February. Ensilaeo is excellent food for
stock, but should be made up OF variety of
plants, and must have arrived at degree of
perfection in which the food elements have
attained to nearly their fullest complement.
A correspondence the American AgriCul-
turist says that color in the skin OF a COW
indicates color in the butter He has never
seen yellow-skinned COW that gave pale
butter, or very rich colored skin in a COW
that did not give yellow or q yellowish but
ter ell through the winter. When the yolk.
which gives this color in the ears, tail and
skin begins to show in the calf, il will prob
ably never show less, and what butter the
cow gives will be of good color.
Mr.. S. W. Grant of Massachusetts,, thinks
ensilaGe can be preserved whole instead OF in
the finely cut condition, and that it vii!
keep much better. His theory as to the SUI.
periority of whole material over that which
is cut is that the less the stalks are bruised
or broken, and the less exposure Of cut or
broken surfaces or substances to the air. the
less liable it is to decomposition, Just IS the
apple with the skin unkroken VIII keep,
while one bruised or reduced to pulp will
quickly decay.
The Indiana Farmer says: "a pomologist
recently made an important experiment
with soft soap on the codling moth. The
soap was diluted with water and given an
unusually strong odor of carbolic acid. 1t
was then sprayed thoroughly through the
tree once q week by means of fountain
pump. The tree thus treated bore heavy
crop of fruit, with not one wormy apple.
A tree twenty feet away which had not been
treated. bore less fruit. and three-fourths Of
it was wormy.''
p. NJ. Augur, of Middletown, Conn, po-
mologist of the State Board of Agriculture
claims that twenty pound of Concord grapes
can be grown easily as ten pounds of Della
ware, but as the latter variety usually br ngs
two or more times as high O price as The
former, there is no great difference in the
net profit OF the two sorts. Six tons is a
good yield of Concords per acre, and there
are single vineyards on the banks of the
Hudson River from which ninety tons are
annually shipped to market.
To graft grape vines, lay the canes down,
cut out the buds at each Joint, plunge a
knife directly into the nodes, and insert the
cions through the joints; the buds having
been removed, their places are supplied by
cions or grafts, and cell circulation is soon
established. The ciOns are prepared as for
cleft grating, except that shoulder is left
on either side, which rests the cut surface
of the cane. The cane and the inserted
-. -. Il. L
buds.
To give some idea of the value of tile
drainage. it may be stated that on the stock
farm of NJ. w. Dunbar, at Wayne ILL., sew
eral hundred ceres of land remained contin-
ually wet during the entire year, Sd much so
that horses and cattle could not venture upon
it. The owner began TO use tile drain, and
now the fields that were previously useless
grow luxuriant crops, the large, heavy Per
cheron horses, which are used upon the farn
passing over the fields with heavy loads with
out the slightest difficulty.
The quality Of butter depends immedi-
ately upon the character of the cows food
and should put the cautious dairyman upon
/ is guard to see that his COWS can not get
any kind of food that will ipjure the quality
OF the milk. Hence he should be sure to
destroy all tbs weeds In his pasture even
more carefully than he does in his own corn.
field, and as water, when tainted, will work
the same evil az bad food he should see that
only pure article is within reach of the
cows.-Western Agriculturist.
As beef animal the Swiss is very highly
commended. Mature COWS weigh from 900
to 300 pounds and fat steers from 9. 900 to
$500 and mention is made of one weighing
5000 pounds. The milk is unusually rich,
and the annual yield is from 5000 to 5000
pounds. The average weight OF a herd of
these cows kept in Germany was .235
pounds, and their average yield OF milk for
year was 5,764 pounds. There are 80 few OF
this breed in the United States that data con-
corning them are quite meagre.
There are not so MANY good plowmen now
as formerly, in part doubtless, a result of
using a sulky pillow, in which extra skill in
blowing does not count. Another reason,
probably, is that few hired men now under.
stand the art of setting a pillow so that il will
run easily for both team and holder. The
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