Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1885-06-30
paiIp 1tsnnsber JsurHaI.
Farm and Live Stock Notsl

Farm and Live Stock Notss-
Sheep need shade.
Work on tho poor hens.
Provide Some rubbing posts.
Keep the front yard neatly mown.
Cut Canada thistles when in flower
The work LEANS deserve good ny-nets.
Lei the grind-stone help in hoeing time.
Don't make the horse 60 i've hours with
ont water.
Germany grows i've bushel Of potatoes
70 our one.
The fodder of corn possesses one-hali
the value Of the grain tor feeding.
Clean food. pure water shelter from the
midday sun and run in grass, will keep
swine in health In the summer.
Keep the hoed crops thoroughly clean
iof weeds, and labor will be saved on
future crops, as we'll as adding TO the pro
ducfiveness of the present one.
| A light airy barn cellar. with dry
door that will afford them chance for
scratching. is about the best place fol
young chickens during bad spells OF
weather.
Lake milk for young animals, the grasses
furnish nearly perfect ration for all
classes Of herbivorous animals. Nothing
can surpas, succulent grass a. milk pro-
ducing food. whether quantity or fine fa-
vor is considered.
II you don't believe that foreign matter
or . tainted atmosphere are capable Of
spelling the quality Of butter. just weigh
out pound or two and keep il in close
earthern Jar, or under an inverted vessel
alongside OF bar Of soap or few onions
for several days and then see.
Shut in the Chicks at Night.-If allowed
to ramble a. soon as daylight appears.
Young chicks often get wet and chilled to
their damage. That they may be kept
under control until the grass Is dry, and
also to give them the benefit of an early
feed. Il should be the business OF some
one shout the place to shut up the mother
and her brood each niont until the chicks
are month old. If the old hen is kept
confined and the brood is allowed to roam,
some grass or other green food should be
thrown down for the hen daily.
Tillage.-To kill weeds and grass In
cultivated crops Is an important. but It is
not the most iInpOrtant.use of tillage. The
prevention Of the escape of moisture from
the soil, in the average dryness of our
summer seasons. must be placed good
way ahead OF it, so far as direct results are
concerned. How tillage saves the loss
of moisture is not hard to comprehend.
The surface of the soil, with being ex-
posed to the free action OF the sun and the
air. is the point from which moisture or
dinarily escapes by evaporation. As it
passes away from the surface, more mois-
ture is drawn up from below by capillary
action, precisely as oil in lamp is draw
up to the fame as fast as the flame con-
sumes it. Now the more compactly the
particles OF earth are held together up to
a certain degree, the more perfect is the
capillary action of the soil, just as wick
of ordinary firmness draws up the oil bet
ter than one OF loose net work of fibres
would. Tillage breaks up the compact
ness that ordinarily exists in unbroken
soil. 1t thus reduces the power of capil.
larry attraction. Moisture that but for the
stirring of the soil, would be drawn up
and dissipated, remains below for the
use of the cultivated plant. The deeper
the tillage, the more is the power of cap
overcome, with correspond
ing advantage to growing plants. Til
lage, by admitting air into the soil, also
hastens the elaboration OF plant food in
the soil, and causes the absorption of am
monia, which the roots then take up.