The National tribune., 1885-11-26
OUR RURN TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers.
WHEAT AFTER CORN.

iiDhI OiG SitNuu, uSiS FdtCLCS IGliidiI LII GiiO
field next year, and, besides, damage is fire.
quently dono the young grain in the Winter
while hauling off the corn and fodder.
The n. Y. Times prints the following in rela-
tion to the necessity Of properly preparing the
ground for wheat, which may be read with
profit in this connection; There is no doubt
that the prevalent custom of growing wheat
after corn with only partial and very imper
feet preparation Of the soil is frequent cause
OF failure of the former crop. Wheat is one OF
tho most exacting of ali crops and requires the
best preparation Of the soil and the most skill
ful fcrtilzng. 1t is not a gross feeder as corn
is but needs soluble mineral fertilizers rather
than rank manurcs. The Old system of Sum
mer following and repeated working Of the
land, with the addition of wci-TOtted manure
which is thoroughly incorporated with the SOIL
and so reduced TO its mineral elements as far
as may be, was well suited to this crop and paid
well for the time and labor spent i'll the work.
The oit-repcated remark that few acres well
prepared are more profitable than many more
proportionately i'll prepared will present itself
with new force to those farmers who see their
large fields covered with weak thin stand
while other fields are bearing 4 lu uxuriant young
growth which has but little to fear from the
rigors Of the coming Winter"
HINTS ABOUT HORSES
The following excellent suggestions in regard
to the handling and driving of horses we copy
from all exchange: " Bad driving will often
fatally injure Il horse in few miles; while
slzillful driving would make the journey in
less time and leave the horse rs fresh as when
he started. Drive slow when tho animal is full
of food and water; but after tho muscles are
lmbcred and the system emptied increase the
speed. Then check up and let the horse cool oil
before stopping aud there Will be less danger
of taking cold and of stiff muscles, and less
necessity for rubbing down. Drive slow up
hill and down, and make good time on level
ground and on moderate deSccntS. Never keep
the same gait and speed for a long time; for a
change Of gait is equivalent to a rest. Never
ride horse without first making his acquaInt-
auco and securing his good will. Go to his
head, speak kindly, pat him, look in his eyes.
| Whether You are friend or foe, he will judge by
your voice, your eye and your breath. Horses
! Judge a man as quickly as man does horse.
Feed and water abundantly ut night after work
and the animal has had time to rest and cool of.
| Feed moderately in the morning or before work.
| Parthians and Arabs prepare their horses for
hard drives by fasting rather than feasting.
More horses are injured by hard driving on a
full stomach than by any other process. Never
| let horse eat or drink much when he is hot
! from work. Study your horse, treat him ac-
cording to his nature, make him your friend,
| and he will do better and safer service"
IMPROVE YOUR HOGS.
Farmers who wish to improve their stock of
| hogs, or to have choice pigs next Spring should
| now be looking up. their breeding stock. Ii
| already supplied with good brood sOws, they
can well afford to buy pure-bred boarS If the
| sows are not as good IS the farmer would like,
! it is all the more important that he use a we'll
| bred boar; at the same time he would do well
to secure one or more wetl-bred sows of the same
! brood tho hpsr no enlnctc with his
common stock. By so doing he can soon be we'll
| supplied with hogs that will afford him hand
some profits in the rearing of them, however
| close the margins may ba on which farmers with
less faith in pure-bred stock may have to work.
CULTIvATE THOROUGHLY.
One of the most common mistakes in farm
ing is the attempt to cultivate too much land.
Too much work is laid out and too little done.
The ground is imperectly prepared and poorly
seeded. The whole work is rushed, and though
the labor is performed late and early, the work
is never overtakcn. There is always more TO
do than can be done. The result is hard years
work and no profit with sometimes the con-
clusion that farming does not pay.
NoTELETs.
Corn is not the best food for pigs while
growing. If peas are grown in the orchard and
the pigs turned on the stubble after the bulk
of the crop is off, the pigs will thrive, the apple
trees ana Cle crop viii 10 DeHchtcu, anu Unc
peas will probable pay better under the shade
of growing orchard than any other crop that
can be grown there.
1t is much better for farmers to burn the
bones which annually accumulate around a
farm than to make no use of them. When
burned they can be readily pulverized. and,
being mixed with caustic potash, the phos-
phate is put in much more soluble condition
than where they are ground without burning.
There ia a loss of uitroveu by the fire
Most of the experiments made in feeding
swine with cooked and raw food have not
shown sufficient difference in favor OF the for
mer to pay for the extra labor required, while
| in some cases better results have been obtained
| from feeding raw corn meal than that which
| had been cooked.
1t will astonish most farmers to go into a
| field where turnips are being pulled, and see
| how largea crop can be grown with little labor.
| Except harvesting, the work is trifling, and
| even at low price per bushel the crop is one
| of the most profitable that a farmer can grow.
| They need to be grown near market, but
| meet in any city or village ready sale at from
| % to 40 cents per bushel.
"A good way to administer salt to cattle is
| in the form of Jumps of rock salt Secure large
| Jumps to be placed in the yard and fields where
! cattle can lick them at their leisure
At a Brooklyn milk inspection nearly all
| of the IS carts examined were found TO contain
large Quantities Oh water, ana were ulSpOolnB
| of impure milk.
- Cotton seed meal is likely to prove a very
| valuable substitute for Indian corn as fatten-
| ing material for stock
- Many fences on the farm are perfectly
/ useless, and merely serve as harbors for weeds
| and their propagation.
sluggish streams and puddles which are
used by hogs become very filthy in a short time,
| and often the cause of hog cholera and other
| diseases
| - 1t will be profitable to keep supply of
| fine, flexible wire, twine tacks, brads, differ
ent-sized nails, screws stc., for the purpose of
making immediate repairs. The lack of five
| cents worth of material has often caused dol
| lars expense.
! - Separate the breeding ewes from the rams
and wethers and give them good meal of
| ground oats at least once day, so as to have
| them in the best possible condition when
lambing begins, which will add to their pro-
| duction of milk.
| - The bee moth is a small miller of rusty
| brown color, which deposits her eggs in the
| hives of weak colonies during the nighttime.
| - 1t is estimated that the increase of the
corn crop in the South for this year will be
| 5000 GOO bushels more than the preceding
season, which partially compenSates for the
short cotton crop.
| - Now the ground for next years corn crop
late if you wish to kill out the cut-w0rms. If
this is not feasible let the plow be used early in
| the Spring. Cutworrns can endure slight de-
| gree of cold, but when suddenly thrown to the
surface and exposed TO the direct action OF the
L