Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-02-19
Agricultural Items.

The I0aOG Homestead says: "The
farmers of Iowa have yet to learn how
little corn is really needed to produce
first-class meats, whether beef or pork.
where there is abundant grass and hay,
Eastern farmers look at US in q kind of
a daZed Wonderment when we talk of
feeding 100 bushels of corn to one steer
or twenty bushels to pig during their
natural lives, and we laugh when we
see their picayune corn-cribs. The
fact is, they understand themselves
and we don't.
Maturity of stock has been fastened
by good breeding, says the New York
Times. That is, a pig or sheep which
matured at three years, or steer which
was ready for slaughter at five years
formerly, is now ready for the butcher
at less than half these ages. Pigs are
said to be ready forpork at nine months,
WetherS for mutton at twenty months,
and a steer at two years, though it is
feared that these are greater than may
be justly allowed.
The New York milk law provides
that ''eTery butter or cheese manufac-
turer, except those who buy all the
milk they use, shall keep q correct ac-
count of all the milk daily received,
and of the number of pounds and pack
ages of butter, the number and aggre-
gate weight of cheeses made each day,
which account shall be open to inspec-
ton to any person who delivers milk to
SUCH manufacturers.
A contributor to the Prairie Farmer
says that he had over 200 hogs, and
had lost half of them by hog cholera.
He then dipped ears Of corn in Carolina
tar, besmearing them, and threw them
among the hogs. They ate it greedily,
and in q week all were on the road TO
recovery. Another remedy he had sue
cessfuIly used is that of feeding corn in
the ear, which has been charred black.
A. B. Allen states that he finds
wheat bran an Improbable feed for
swine. They do not seem to possess
the power of digesting it, consequently
much of it passes through them only
partially assimilated. If mixed with
corn meal it does better, and can be
fed with advantage to cattle, along
with cut hay, if mixed with it and we'll
wetted, as it then undergoes a second
masticatiOn.
American farmers find that turnips
or ruta-bagas leave the land clean from
weeds, but much less fertile than be-
fore they were grown. English farm
ers say the turnip is renovating crop,
but it is so only by feeding the crop on
the ground where it is grown, together
with much grain or oil meal.
SCOT is one of the most valuable of
fertilizers, and should be carefully
saved. That from coal is superior to
that from wood. 1t is rich in nitrogen,
and benefits all crops to which it. may
be applied, as we'll as being an excel
lent remedy against the attacks of many
kinds of insects.
Remember that bran mash once or
twice a week will be greatly relished
by your horses and it will to them
good, says the National Stockn10n. It
is cheap, easily prepared, and should
be used frequently in every stable.
A California bee keeper takes the
position that no plant makes a better
pasture for bees than alfalfa clover.
The honey made from it, he says, is
clover.
Canadian mutton sells for as much
as beef. 1t is of better quality than
that generally grown in the United
States.
The Troy Times says the light Brah-
ma fowls combine more good qualities
than any other breed.
The annual receipts of small fruits in
Chicago are estimated at over 100000
bushels.
1t is now recommended to pack
eggs in well-dried ashes, to keep them
fresh.
It is easier to fatten stock in moder-
ate than in cold weather.
n !