The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1885-01-07

make but little progress, even with te best OF |
food, If it suffers from cold or exposure.
The Cuttings for basket willow should be
about nine inches long. They should be
stuck down in soft earth in slanting posi-
ton, leaving two inches above grvund.
They will grow on nearly all sorts OF land, |
but 90 best in damp places. At present We |
do not grow enough ''r home use, about |
Peeled willow is now HVlth about 800 per
ton.
gfExperiments with wheat in England prove
that when large crops are grown by the ap-
plicatiOn OF nitrates of salts OF ammonia
with mineral manures the soil does not APP
pear 10 have gained or lost fertility. Nitri-
fication of he organic matter 10 the soil
may have gone on as usual, bat the loss has
been made good by the amount OF nitrogen
stored up in the stubble and underground
roots Of the large crops grown.
Beets, carrots or other roots may be re-
duced to pulp in extreme cases for ami
mails that can not masticate and swallow
rough food. Let the roots be boiled, worked
through q coaander, some wheat -four or
oatmeal added, with enough water to bring
il to proper consistency for the animal to
drink. A little fresh grass may also be
finely cut and mingled with the mass, or
any other substance that may be suitable.
"CrotaIism' is the name given to a new
disease now affecting the horses and cattle
in Iowa and other Western States, where is
! found growing the Wild-pea, or rattle box
| (Crotalaria Sagettalis). Professor NJ. Stalker,
| of Ames, Iowa, has been experimenting with
| the plant on horses, and finds it viruleut
| poison, affecting the liver, stomach and brain.
Many thousands of horses have died, as it is
supposed, from eating the plant.
A breeder of Shropshire Downs claims the
( following advantages in their favor: They
! are in lage hocks; they are hardy and endure
| cold winters with less nursing than some
other breeds; they are good feeders and for
ayers they have extra good fleece; they are
very prolific breeders; they unsurpassed
for mutton. The crosses of the Shropshire
on common ewes are said to make the best
lambs Of any grades.
With timothy hay at $40 per ton the aver.
age cost of days ration for q J. 200 pound
bullock will be fifteen pounds. A daily IA
ton consisting of fifteen pounds Of wheat
straw, ten pounds of oat straw and i've
pounds of oil cake at $50 per ton would
form feod almost exactly equivalent in
Dutritive quality to the hay ration of twenty
five pounds and costing Just one-haf as
much as the latter, where the straw Is worth
nothing for selling IN the market, as Is
usually the case
Among the native plants in the West Of
interest to the farmer are the dreaded loco
weeds of the plans. Horses are said TO 20
4
stock is affected, though in less degree
Late investigations prove that two plant:
| belonging to the pea and bean family
| Astragalus mollissimus and sophora ssricea
contain virulent poisons OxyrophiS
LAMBERT, another plant of the same family
spring before the grass, and horses are said
TO like them. They usually prove fatal.
The result OF gram tanning and stocs
farming, says the Canadian Breeder, may bG
summed up as follows: The grain farmer
spends all his energies in getting all he car
out Of the land during the short space inter
veniDg between the beginning Of spring
work and the end OF harvest, or perhaps b,
may have few acres of wheat which hS
sows in the fall, and, after sprouting, waiti
till the advent OF spring 10 renew it's growth
while the stock breeder has his work at hi
hand the whole year round, but his hero
manures the land, resps the crop and csrrie
il to market
It is a great fault with many farmers tt
allow their cattle the range Of the farm, thu
getting more exercise than is good Tor
mich COW. trampling the field and mskinl
muddy paths, while the frost-bitten fooC
that they pick up is OF reduced benefit, anC
leaves the fields bare and exposed to Ia,
winters severity. 1t is an error to suppos
that late grass, irost-bitten and bleached, i
! OF more value SIS food than for plant-fooC
and protection. Leaving the grass unfed is
in effect, green manuring without the eX
: pense of turning it under.-Country Gentle
. man.
Window plants should have plenty OF bios
SONS at the proper time but in order to
blossoms they must be pleDtifully suppliei
with roots. In lifting plants it is often th
; practice to reduce the ball Of earth LITE,
with the plant by cIumbliHg The soil sroGn,
the sides. This destroys the roots TO such al
extent that the feeding portion of them
completely mutilsted, and, as aconssquence
|, | fresh rootlets have to start out all over To
! leading roots before any food can be supplie
! to support the evaporation rapidly. going OF
| from the leaves and stems, especially IN YER
succulent kinds.
Potatoes intended for seed should afte
3 digging, be exposed IS much as possible I
B tight until danger from frosts requires thei
!, | removal to the celler or pit. II they could
{ kept in q light room up stairs at unifor-
4 temperature Of 400 through the water
r would be better than any other course tina
can be devised. Cellars are usually kept TO
warm, and they are always too dark for thi
I purpose. Long before time for planting, th
g early kinds OF potatoes will need sproutin
: and when the first sprout from an eye is T,
1 moved, any that came after will be muc
less vigorous.
The yearly loss to cultivators by the der
= relations OF insects in the United States hs
: been variously estimated at from 5000 900
Z 600 to $500. 600. coo; but, although Il
4 amount of the crops has been continual
increasing, we have no doubt the inseC
! losses have decreased through the knowlede
i | of cultivators to elude or destroy them. :
. late scietfiC writer says there is no douE
that it would be wise economy for ever
: | State in the Union to have a properly quail
fed officer charged with the study of inseC
injuries and benefits and that many time
his salary could be saved to the State.
Shrunken grain will germinste and ofte
| produce good crop, but it will not produc
: as large a yield as plump seed, and if cor
tinued q few years in succession the variet
e is sure TO degenerate. The Clsuson whea
q | originated in single plant found CROWN
by stump in the State of New York. Da
Q win says that the Fenton wheat was foun
b growing on pile OF rubbish in quarry i
England. The Chidham wheat originate
, from an ear found growing IN hedge i
!. England. 1t is well known Known tbs
many varieties of grain have originated i