The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1884-10-16
OUR RuRAt TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers.
u II
SCRATCHES.

SCRATCHES
Almost every farmer has more or less trouble
with horses having scratches, and sometimes a
great deal of time is.wasted in endeavoring to
cure this troublesome disease. Prevention is
much better than cure, and keeping horses
feet perfectly clean and not allowing him to
stand in fermenting manure will generally
keep this annoying complaint at distance.
If, however, the disease has taken hold, the
following remedy from the Prairie Farmer is
well worth trial: "Put his feet and legs in
bran poultices for 36 hours, then wash clean
with warm water and CASTLE soap, and when
dry rub the pits of his heels with the following :
Take Goulard's extract and olive OIL equal
parts mixed. Do not allow them to get wet
after the first washing, but keep them clean by
rubbing well with a coarse cloth. Give the
! following powders night and morning in his
feed Take nitrate of potash, five ounces; pull
verified resin, one ounce; mix; make into IL
powders; give regular daily exercise"
FALL WORK.
The following hints from the american Aqri-
culturist, if adopted, viii make the farmers
| work for next Spring, when every moment
| will be of value, much lighter, besides adding
much to his comfort and convenience through
out the Winter: Where there is a market for
husks. the ears of corn may be picked from the
| stalks and husked in the barn; otherwise it is
better to husk the corn in the field. If the seed
ears have not been selected, do this important
work now Leave few of the husks on the
seed ears, by which they can be braided and
| hung up in lunches in dry place out of the
reach of vermin. After husking, bind the
stalks in bundles, and set these in large shocks.
If this work is properly done, the fodder may
stand in the field until Winter, and be drawn
] - 81 1,,. lnr, cf1
| expected the beets must be harvested; next
secure the carrots, and follow with the turnips.
Roots keep well while stored in pits. if frost
| does not reach them and there is sufficient
| ventilation provided. Potatoes should have
been harvested before now. Gather and burn
the tops if Paris green has been used upon
them. A general cleaning up around the barns
| and out-buildings should be made before Winter
sets in. Keep the teams at work with the
plows hauling swamp-muck, etc. In short, do
| whatever work that will aid in the coming
Spring with its pressing labors."
WAITING FOR BETTER PRICES.
The loss to farmers in holding on to their
stored crops for better prices may be estimated
at millions every year. We do not say that
sometimes they do not gain by it; but on the
whole the risk is great, and three times out of
four is losing one. The waste from shrinkage
and vermin alone is considerable, but our ex-
perience is that besides this it is better to sell
when there is demand and the crop is ready
for the market The grower at least has in his
pocket the going price of his products, and if
he has surplus to put out on interest, or in
terest to pay, he has the advantage of the time
between quick and delayed sales. and is at least
free of all risk, above stated. 1t is true that
when there is no doubt Of q scarcity, say of
wheat, the chances might be in favor of hold
ing over; but when this fact is recognized
one and should be pursued as natural course
by holders in general, surplus market must
be the result and decline i'll prices must fol-
low. The truth is, that whatever course we
take should be grounded on our best judgment,
and then if We fail in realizing our expecta-
tions, we are bound to submit to the conse-
quences the best we can. Our own faith We
repeat, would rest in disposing of the crop
while 1t is intact, sound uninjured, and the
product added safely to our bank account.
-Germanto~n Telegraph.
NoTELETs.
- One reason why fruit is more uncertain
than formerly is because the soil has lost some
of its original fertility. Attacks OF insects on
the fruit will account for part of the failure but
when the trees fail to blossom the reason must
be looked for elsewhere. In making a compost
for orchards, due proportion of potash should
be added. The tree is yearly storing up more
and more potash in its wood, and unless the
supply is renewed exhaustion must follow. The
| tree cannot wander over a field to Craze as an
animal can, and in orchards closely planted the
deficiency Of potash often begins before the
trees become of bearing age.
- To pack string beans for winter use the
beans should be taken from late crop planted
for this purpose and only the most tender used.
Lay them down in brine, and when wanted to
cook remove the quantity needed, soak in
clean water until the salt is washed OFF, and
| then boil and season as in Summer.-Detroit
Post
- The disease called mango is the result of
filth, and having hogs sleep in rotten, dirty
straw. 1t is an insect, very minute, which
burrows under the skin. To cure it, give pigs
first good washing in warm soapsuds, using
carbolic-acid soap, and selecting warm, dry
day. Then grease the skin with lard, to which
has been added little coal oil, and clean out
the pen and quarters.-lrOy Times.
- 1t takes annually more than 100000
sheep to supply the New York markets, and
everywhere in the country the demand for
mutton is increasing. Farmers, too, are begin
ming to realize the fact that mutton is an
agreeable change from the interminable diet of
polk that has so long formed the staple of their
flesh food, and the convenience of few sheep
on every farm, if only to supply the family
with good, wholesome food is beginning to be
appreciated.
= Every good farmer knows that animals
thrive better in warm weather than in cold
aud take much less feed to fatten them and it
would be well to take advantage of this fact to
prepare surplus stock for sale.
- Properly cured fodder is an excellent and
nutritious feed, but fodder that has been ex-
posed to bleaching rains and frost is of little
value.
- A. G. Prentice of Me-, writes to the New
York World that he has raised enough ensilage
on six acres to feed 80 cows seven months with
one feed of hay every day, and one feed of
grain to the COWS that were MIXED. Making
proper estimate for the value of the hay and
grain. the product of 204 acres kept the % cows
equivalent to one year, which demonstrates
the claim that less than an acre of land can be
made to support COW one year.
- The Arab compes his horse to feed from
the ground in order to maintain the curve of
the backbone. This is the natural way of feed
ing, and is an argument for low managers
- Smut in corn is becoming more trouble
some every year partly from lack of care in
destroying smutty corn before taking to the
crib. 1t is most prevalent on land where corn
is grown year after year, showing that some of
the germs remain III the soil through the Win
ter. AS il appears first on the tassel, or male
flower, it is well to 90 through the field and
destroy all that appears diseased. The smut
falls from the tassel to the silk, and is thus
propagated in the ear.
- Mangels are to be preferred to turnips for
milch cows, as the latter flavor the milk and
butter objectionably,
- Better feed your hay STRAW and corn than