Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1884-03-19


The Farm Economist has this to say
IN regard to marketing corn. While it
Is contrary to general opinion, it is
nevertheless true, as facts and figures
are capable of proving. Farmers in
discussing their declining markets
should remember that every bushel of
corn sold in the form of whisky cuts off
the sale of ten bushels in the form of
meat. 1t might be well to consider this
IN discussing how the market for farm
products can be improved" This same
paper further remarks, "Where's the
sense In farmer growing because he is
not represented in the government when
ne won't go to convention and see that
he is represented. Quit your growing
and do your duty, One good vote in the
primaries or III the convention is worth
4,157,362 grwols afterward."
NEARLY every farmer wants little
fancy manure for special purposes in
the spring, and instead of buyidg guano
and superphosphates of doubtful quality
he can manufacture his own at far less
cost, IT he keeps q considerable number
OF fowls, by utilizing their droppings
for that purpose. The accumulation
under the roosts should be removed as
often as once q week, and this, shoveled
IN pile, will begin to ferment and gen
crate more or less heat as the weather
grows warm in the spring. IF closely
watched and shOveled over when undue
heat is liable to be generated, the pro-
cess will add to it's value for the spring
crops, as the manure becomes decom-
posed by fermentation and LIS particles
are separated and mingled with the
earth used as deoderizer and it's crude
ness Is changed so as to be readily avail
able for the gro wing plants.
THE Wisconsin Experiment Station has
been making q series of interesting ex-
periments to ascertain the value of sweet
milk for feeding pigs. Two lots of pigs
were fed separately, one lot upon corn
meal, the other lot upon milk, the latter
being given all they would take. After
twenty-five days the milk-fed pigs had
gained 503 pounds against 400 made by
the meal-fed lot The lots were then re-
versed, the milk-fed pigs put on meal,
and the meal-fed lot being given milk
for twenty-five more days, at the end OF
which time the miIk-fed had made gain
OF rs pounds, aGd the meal-fed only Gil
pounds. The weights of both lots OF
food were recorded, and showed that
500 pounds of corn meal made a pound
of pork, and that 1000 pounds of milk
made the game quantity of pork, live
weight, so that when live hogs are worth
five cents per pound, milk is worth
about half cent per pound.
GRATING the grape vine Is now prac-
ticed on a gigantic scale in Europe,
where the continued inroads of the phyl-
lOxera have carried devastation and de-
struction over an immense area of vine
yards, once thrifty and blooming. Graft
ing stock of American descent is given
the preference, having been found to
adapt themselves in nearly all kinds Of
soils and exposures. The Rural New
Yorker says: The results of grating the
European vine on American roots has
not only proved satisfactory as q means
of resisting the phylloxera, but also in
imparting greater vlgor to the European
vine. The matter of grating the grape
vine has many other points of interest.
Thus new varieties may be tested earlier.
By grating on vigorous stocks, we gen
orally obtain bearing wood and some
times even fruit 5he first year. Besides,
we are also enabled, by grating, TO turn
old, vigorous vines which we do not
prize, to good account, as by the loss of
but one year we can change them into
some desired variety.
In Italy irrigation has been in vogue
since the early days of Rome, as Cato,
the earliest Roman writer on rural af-
fairs, gives us to understand that it was
practiced in his day. More science is
employed in the construction of irrigat-
ing works in Italy than in any other
country on the globe, and as a result
there is in that country the most perfect
system of irrigation in Europe. The
whole business is regulated by law, and
government engineers superintend the
construction of all works for such pur-
poses: The entire system of irrigating
canals in Italy is estimated to furnish an
aggregate of "a, 600 cubic feet of water
per second for irrigating purposes.
About l, 800, 900 acres are supplied with
water for irrigation by this system of
canals. Some of these works are on a
gigantic scale. The Ticino Canal in
Lombardy was built in the twelfth CEN
fury, and has from that date conveyed a
volume of water equal to 1900 cubic
feet per second. This water supplies,
and to great extent makes the country
over which it spreads one of the richest
and most densely populated in the world.