Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-11-09
FARM AND sock NOTES.

FARM AND sock NOTES.
The skeletons of $4,000 buffaIoes have
been shipped fIom Dakota this year, to be
ground into fertilizers for the older fields.
The bones are worth IS per ton ct the
shipping station.
There are now no less than $3.50 hec-
tares, or about 2,000,00 acres of land de-
voted to the culture OF the beet in France,
Germany, Austria Hungary, Russia-Po-
land, Belgium and Holland.
Every preparation should be completed
| this month for making and saving the
! largest amount of manure possible during
! the coming winter. First provide tight
shed or dry cellar for the manure. If ex-
posed to the weather its most valuable
constituents are washed out and lost. 1t
is the worst economy to permit this.
The value Of an ordinary ton of manure
is estimated at 800 pounds solid, worth
81 40; 500 pounds OF straw and litter,
worth 81, and 800 pounds of water and
useless matter; the value of the entire
! 1000 pounds being 81 40. Manures, how
! ever, vary in composition and the figures
are not reliable.
The fall is the best time to deepen and
clean open bitches. The grass and weeds
| that grow on their sides should be all re-
moved so as to leave free course of wa
/ ter. Especially if willows have got a
toothold on the banks they should be pulled
| up by the roots. 1t is impossible to keep
an open ditch in good working condition
where its banks are infested by willows.
In dealing with neighbors and hired
| help it is good policy to be liberal rather
than narrow or close. A farmer who is
accustomed to be always making hard
! bargains soon gains this reputation and
often loses sale for articles because
! others do not like to deal with him, or else
puts them so on their guard that he is not
able to make as good bargains as others
could.
The best grape vines are those grown
| from cuttings having two eyes, in which
single system of roots rad ate from the
| lower eye like the spOkes of Il wheel and
the vine grows out OF the top bud. One
/ year Old vines are to be preferred in all
cases, If tirst-class, even if two years old,
root pruned and transplanted vines should
be offered at the same price.
Women with country homes and forced
| to depend on themselves for living, could
! doubtless i'll many cases support them
selves by poultry raising if they will do
as the dandy did who became an expert
IN arranging his necktie-sgive their
whole mind to it," 1t does not require a
heavy capital to start with three or four
dozen fowls, and when these are a success
then enlarge.
Gov. Haygood, of South Carolina, speak
ing of his experience in raising grasses
and cattle on his farm on the Saluda river,
said that Bermuda grass, combined with
red clover, is the best for hav, making
| from two to two and One-half tons of mer-
| charitable hay to the acre. He has been
very successful in that as well as raising
fine cattle and sheep.
There is no season so favorable as au-
tumn for making general improvements
| in the flower garden. Dig up and put in
order every vacant bed, as it will not only
facilitate spring work but do the soil good
and have heater appearance than if left
rough and weedy. Rake off all stones and
| brush and cover the beUs wanted for spring
! flowers with fine old manure and little
| sand if you have it handy.
Overcrowding of fowls is the cause of
nearly all diseases that occur among them.
There is too much strife and competition
among them when kept in large numbers,
and the same is true Of animals. The
| largest breeder of fowls in the world,
| Hawkins, of Lancaster, Mass, divides his
large flock into many smaller ones. He
| keeps over 1000 hens on the same farm
and finds them profitable. In addition to
this number of hens, thousands of chicks
are annually Matched and sent to the
large cities.
To fatten horse, says a horse dealer,
mix d bushel of flaXseed, one of barley,
one of oats and one of corn, and grind the
mixture together, the proportions being
about what they should be. Feed two Or
three quarts of the mixture three times q
day, mingled with peck of cut hay and
| straw. Ii the horse eats readily let the
quantity be gradually increased until he
Will eat four or six quarts at every feeding
three times day. He should, however,
| be allowed no more than he will eat up
clean at each meal.
a hOrticulturist says: Plan hereafter to
! irrigate your patch should the weather be
| dry, or whether it be dry or not. l have
| found by experiment that by Wetting the
/ ground the crop can usually be doubled.
Ii you have stream Of water on the
/ farm, or a spring, let the strawberry
| ground be near that, and see that by next
! year some way be devised tor Wetting the
| patch 1T picking time. II water cannot
be obtained, then the next best thing to
do is to apply heavy mulch; and when
| l say heavy mulch ] mean it. Put these
two Thoughts in your incubator until time
to act.
One of the greatest obstacles in the
way OF substantial progress of the farmer
| is the tendency to get into rutS-intO GER
! tain grooves of action, and to keep in
them, even when bitter experience has
| proved the necessity OF a change. The
conservatism may be at times valuable
and so far as it keeps the farmer from
| rushing wildly into new schemes, simply
| because they are newt is valuable. But
conservatism that makes change almost
| impossible, that holds the farmer in any
| particular line when common sense de-
mands change, is serious but not I'M
common flaw in his character.
The Hon. Marshall p. Wilder, Patriarch
| of POmOIOgy, in a recent letter, SAYS that
Mr.. Bull sis and ever has been a most
worthy, unpretending gentleman. For q
long course of years he has devoted his
energies and skill to the production CT
| new grapes, by which he secured the fa-
nous Concord grape some thirty years
ago, since which no other modern variety
has been so extensively cultivated In our
| Northern chimes, or so appreciated by the
public. Had Mr.. Bull done nothing else
tor the benefit of mankind, his name
would be held in grateful remembrance
while the fruit of the vine shall cool the
parched tongue or its juice make glad the
heart Of man."-RurGL Nelo Yorker.
The difference between the yield of eggs
in the most prolific cases, as compared
with poor layers, is as three or four to one.
| Individual hens have been known to pro-
| duce $50 eggs year. Yet 200 is reached
| so seldom as to be called a remarkable
| yield. The greatest average yield that
we have ever had ourselves in flock of
twelve hens was LAT eggs, while the great
est average in twelve f1Ocks, numbering
in all 200 layers Of various breeds, was
102 eggs. In the latter case there were
eight different breeds, and some were old
hens and others were pullets, and many
of the number were employed a part of
the time in Matching and rearing chick
ems.
Hany farmers are deferred from the use
of mutton on their tables from the wool
taste of the meat when killed at home.
! The reason of this is almost wholly in the
manner of dressing. To obviate this all
that Is necessary is the exercise of care.
Allow the sheep or lamb no food for "a
hours before slaughter, but allow all the
water it wants. Just at nightfall, having
everything prepared, seize the animal,
hang up by the hind legs, cut the throat,
being sure to sever all the Articles of the
neck. AS soon as dead disembOwel at
once and then skin quickly and without
allowing the wool to touch the flesh.
Spread the quarters to cool the carcass as
quickly as possible, hang in cool, sweet
place and you will not be troubled with
woolly tasting mutton.
The largest cotton plantation in Ala
bama is said to be that of Messrs. Roberts
& Salter, near Union Springs. These two
| VOIInO men have in the last four wears