The National tribune., 1885-08-13
OUR RURAL TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers.
THE USE OF sUNFLowERs.

luis piitlG is vigorous grower anu has Deen
extolled as preventive of malarial diseases.
The seed affords excellent food for hens and
also for horses. 1t is said that there is no kind
of feed that will keep horses in health, give
them sleek appearance and make them lively
and spirited like the seed of the sunfower,
feeding half a pint night and morning. 1t is
particularly recommended for giving horse
power of endurance, being fed half q pint
night and morning with other feed. The stalks
and heads, after the seed is worked out, also
make good material for fires, and are especially
convenient in Summer, when quick fire is
desired and an enduring heat is not wanted.
In their growth they make snowy appearance
about dwellings and give an agreeable fragrance
to the air. The latest direction in the line of
utilization of the sunfower is the planting of
seed in place at the proper distances, so that
the stalks as they grow will serve as bean-pOl
We have seen them started in that way this
season, and as they grow the leaves are removed,
thus forming an excellent stalk for the beans;
but what the effect will be upon them remains
to be seen. The roots must tax the feeding
capacity of the soil quite eavily.-German-
tom Telegraph.
TRAIN A HORSE TO WALK.
A fast walk in horse is the most valuable
gait that training can acquire. 1t is valuable
in plow horse, in a team horse, and particu
larly so in driving horse. Some horses will
trot along very well until they come to ascend
ing ground, when you wish to relieve him by
letting him walk up grade. He then falls into
slow, lazy walk that is very trying to the
drivers patience; but well-trained walker
will step off briskly at the rate of four miles
an hour, and the driver feels that he has been
of innAx- hyy1 hnr yxrnlf
up the hill, as he starts off at his usual trotting
speed, being relieved by the change of walking
up the hill Colts should be trained to walk
fast before there is an attempt made to i'm
prove them in any other gait. This may be
accomplished by commencing very young and
leading at walk by your side, urging addi-
tional speed little by little, without letting it
break into a trOt; but this must not be con-
tnued long at time so as to weary or tire.
One or two short lessons day will soon show
wonderful improvement, but after lessons
will be required to prevent relapse
BEE NOTES.
The theory that an orchard will bear more
apples if bees are kept is doubtless correct. The
bees introduce the pollen into the pistils and
fertiliZe the blossoms.
The production of honey in California is
enormous In Southern California there are
1000 bee keepers and 100000 colonies of bees,
A Western bee keeper has adopted the plan
of wintering his bees by burying them in the
ground He did not lose swarm during the
past severe Winter.
NoTELETs.
"A Pennsylvania farmer last year sold over
So, 900 worth of potatoes from IL acres. He
fertiliZed with a compost of hardwood ashes
and oyster-shell lime, plowed deep, planted
medium-sized, well formed, uncut potatoes
three feet apart, gave level cultivation and cul-
tivated often. From one hill he took 81 fine,
large tubers.
AS general rule, it is not best to get any
sheep very fat unless preparing it for the
butcher. For keeping over one year this high
condition is an injury. 1t cannot be main
tanned without more care and skill than most
farmers can give. If a eve loses a lamb par
ticular care should be taken not to overfeed her
unless she is to be fattened and sold at once.
1t is sad disfigurment to apple orchards
to see the roots or branches overgrown with
worthless sprouts. They are apt to start where
pruning has been severe, and should be pinched
OFT as soon as they appear, to divert the sap
they waste to profitable uses. The thumb and
finger can do early in the season what a year
later would require pruning shears or saw to
accomplish. If cut of. when in full leaf, the
sprouts will be less apt to grow again.
In every feasible way should the farmer
seek to clean up his land after harvest. The
moving machine can be used to good advantage
on many fields in cutting weeds, briers and
small elders, but the old-fashioned scythe must
be brought into requsition to NOW out the
corners, etc. There is no better time of year
to kill almost any and all kinds of weeds,
briers, bushes and trees than in August, and
the farmers should make good use of the month
in cleaning up their farms.
"A hog has, or should have, strong digestive
apparatus. A young pig has not, and is often
injured by feeding an excess of too rich food.
Corn is especially Objectionable in Summer.
Luckily this is the season when skinned milk
is most plentiful. To this abundance of milk
and scarcity of corn in the crib we owe much
pig prosperity" Corn is very good for pigs,
providing it is first fed to cows to increase the
flow of milk.
To make gentle mixer calf should be
trained from the time it is two months old. 1t
should be rubbed and stroked and petted. Its
teats and udder should be handled frequently
from the beginning. Thus when the animal is
ready to become a COW it will be familiar with
the actions of milking.
To "break" horses thoroughly begin in
colthood. Gentle usage and familiar handling
then will save q great deal Of hard work, some
risk, and some profanity afterward.
1t will pay better to save everything which
will in any way make feed than to be scarce
of feed and be forced to sell portion of the
1afm aDlIUaiS aC d SdCTlHCo. nay diiu StFaW VIII
be very scarce in many sections and farmers
should commence in season to prepare for this
shortage, either by reducing their stock, or in
some way securing plenty of rough feed.
- Potatoes call for hard labor, but in proper
ton to what they take from the soil, there is
more money in the crop than in any other
provided the land is adapted to them. 1t
would take crop of $50 bushels of potatoes to
remove as much dry matter as in crop of
wheat of 30 bushels. The important difference
is, that largo part of solid substance in the
potato is of very little manurial value. while
large part of wheat is nitrogen and phosphate
of lime, both valuable and costly plant food.
An authority says that heavy soils and
those rich in vegetable matter, should receive
frequent light dressings of salt. 1t does not
act directly as fertilizer, except in very rare
instances, but salt in small doses helps dissolve
and make available other plant-food of which
heavy soils usually have an abundance though
not in available condition for use.
- The manure around the stables and yards
should be clearly scraped up and hauled away
now if it has not already been done.
The approximate number of sheep in the
world is set down at 100000. OF this num-
Der 53000,000. or nearly Ii per cent, are raised
in the United States.
- Farmers should never consign their pro-
duce to strangers. The only safe course is to
deal only with reputable and established firms
In California the fieeceS of AugOra goats