News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1885-12-17
FARM AND GARDEN.
Useful Hints and Suggestions.

Whatever the breed of sheep always
grade the flock so they will produce
uniform quantity of wool.
1t is much easier as well as more prof
liable to keep soil in good condition
than it is to restore it where its fertility
or productiveness has been impaired.
Mr.. William Stewart, of South Dunn
fries, Canada, has concluded to try the
experiment of introducing the prairie
chicken on his farm. With this object
he has ordered eggs for Matching from
the West. The experiment will be
watched with much interest.
The only truly economical manner of
feeding stock, and from which the very
best and most profitable returns are to
be expected, is to convert the grains
into meal, and feed only in such gu anti
ties lat regular intervas) as each animal
has capacity to consume and digest
Plow the ground for next years corn
crop late if you wish to kill out the cut
worms. If this is not feasible let the
pillow be us ed early in the spring. Cut
worms can endure a slight degree of
cold, but when suddenly thrown to the
surface and exposed to the direct action
of the frosts they are easily destroyed.
The guinea fowl is great forager and
destroys many insects that the hens will
not touch. They do not scratch the gar
! den, and though not elsily kept near the
house, they make known the places in
which they lay by peculiar noise which
enables one accustomed to them to Sc
cure all the eggs they lay. They really
cost nothing to raise, and when rooSting
GEAR the house create an alarm should
intruders make their appearance.
A great width between and promi-
nence of the eyes indicates teachable
and tractabe horse. Width between the
ears indicates courage, nobleness and
strength of character. Roundness and
elevation between the eyes indicates
mildness of disposition, and desire to be
caressed and to reciprocate kindness;
but never trust one that shows much
white above the pupil of the eye, or with
white in that organ.
A contemporary holds that fowls as
we'll as chicks become quarrelsome if fed
on raw meat, and that cooking makes
meat more nutritious. That when raw it
is rather harsh and crude compared with
the more natural diet of worms and
grubs, which are for the most part soft
and easily digested. 1t is mistake,
however, to suppose that cooked meat is
either more digestible or more nutritious
than raw. Experience points the other
way.
The farmer as a rule wants a large
COW, as he thinks as much of the beef
qualities of his cattle as of their dairy
qualities. A large cow, though, on the
dairy farm, where the cows are only kept
for their milk, and no attention is paid
to the calves, would be considered ex-
pensiye to feed. A large animal will
eat more than a smaller one, and every
item of expense, however small, must be
cut down as low as possible in these
times if any profit is expected from
dairying.
A bee raiser has discovered toads
making great inroads upon the pOpula-
ton of his hives During the dry
weather he examined the hives il the
morning and found toad at the en-
trance of each of the several boxes. The
toads were apparently asleep, but as soon
as bee or two appeared would shoot
out their tongues and convey the honey
gatherers into their capacious mouths.
The toads were killed and dissected,
JUGS IOuuli III thCll obO'hdCho-
The bee raiser has elevated the hives.
When a new milch COW has her calf
taken from her she will often hold up her
milk, and especially so in the winter. 1t
will require kindness and patience to
overcome this habit The operation of
milking is pleasant for the animal, and
if she is given a mess of warm Stops
while being MIXED her attention will be
so diverted that she will yield without
remembering her calf 1t is important
to milk clean from the first, as retention
of milk in the udder Injuries it and tends
to decrease the yield. A fast but silent |
mixer will take the milk when a fussy
one will fail.
An English exchange says: Each hen
in house should have one foot af space
on the roosts. One hundred hens, then,
would require four rtoste we1ty- five feet
long, and to prevent the hens crowling |
too much uFon the top roost, these
should be all on the same level. The |
roOsts should be one foot apart, and be |
arranged in a frame hinged to the wall |
so they can be lifted and hooked up for
the purpose of cleaning. The roosts
will take up four feet, and there should |
be eight feet more floor space. Thus a
house for a hundred hens should be
twenty-five by twelve feet on the floor
inside, and should be at least six feet
high in the rear and nine feet high in
the front, with ample ventilation.