Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-12-18
For the Farmer.

1T is matter of experience, saws the
| Ddi9yman, that clover hay is far bet
ter fodder for COWS than timothy hay.
| The reasons for this are various: Firs+,
clover Is almost always in better ccn-
| dition when cut than timothy, being
younger and tenderer, and consequent
| ly richer in nutriment and more diges-
| tibte than if cut later; second, it is
better cured, as rule, because it must
necessarily be less dried to save the
leaves, or it would be nothing but
stalk, while timothy can be more high
ly dried with impunity; third, clover is
richer in heterogeneous matter than TIM
othy, and the nutriment contained in
1t is more digestible. Thus, clover hay
contains from IL per cent. in poor
quality to 10 per cent in the best of
heterogeneous matters, while timothy hay
contains 8, and mixed hay from z to y
per cent. of these substances in clover
from Z to 10& per cent. are digestible,
while in timothy only So per cent, and
in mixed hay from 4 to s per cent. are
digestible.
Mr.. II. G. Hovey gives, in the Scien-
t!fc american, the measurement of an
apple tree on the farm of Dallas Hop
kins, Marion, Conn: Circumference
of the trunk near the ground 10 feet 3
inches; at the fork, 16 feet 2 inches;
height of tree, 60 feet; diameter of tree
top, 104 feet. A popularity of this
tree is, says Mr.. Hovey, that five limbs
have borne one year and four the next.
The usual yield from five limbs is about
N1rrl,+ I,ol- IL -,
gle instance it reached 40 bushels, and
the four limbs vary from thirty-fye to
forty bushels. The age of this yener-
able apple tree is estimated at about
175 to $50 years. Curiously enough it
bore full crop centennial year. The
tree is now showing signs of rapid de-
cay.
Musty grain, says the Milling World,
totally unfit for use and which can
scarcely be ground, may be rendered
sweet and sound by simply immersing
it in boiling water and let it remain
until the water becomes cold The
quantity of the water must be double
that of the grain to be purified. The
musty qualities rarely penetrate
through the husk of the wheat, and in
the worst cases it does not extend
through the part which lies Immediate
ly under the skin. In the water all the
decayed or rotten grains swim on the
surface, SO that they can be removed
and the remaining wheat is effectually
cleansed from all impurities without
any loss. 1t must be completely and
thoroughly dried afterward.
Turkeys do not require as warm
quarters in winter as do other fowls.
However cold the weather, they should
be allowed to run out of doors every
day, except, perhaps, in very stormy
weather. If confined in warm quarters
and not allowed to run out of doors,
they usually show signs of indisposition,
lose their appetite, become dumpish
and inactive, and not infrequently die.
They are very hardy birds and easily
wintered. About all they require is
place to roOst at night where they will
be out of the wind, plenty to eat and
drink and their liberty during the day.
A correspondent of the Boston Her.
aid describes the manner of churning
in Palestine. He says: ga woman
had sheep-skin filled with milk,
which was suspended from the roof.
Selling the two hind legs of this skin,
the woman pushed the bag back and
forth violently, causing it to hit the
wall each time. The butter, when it
came, was pure white, saltless and
tasteless, like the butter of all Eastern
countries
Professor Budd, of the Iowa Agricul-
tural College, says the peach is sue
cessfully grown in Northern China,
and he expects to find that the varie-
ties grown there will withstand the
hardest winters of Illinois and Iowa.
The wheat yield of India only aver
ages nine bushels to the acre.
There is bounty on dead grasshop-
pers in portions of Mexico.