The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1885-12-24
OUR RURg(l $. TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers.
FALE WORK.

FALE WORK.
By attending to a great many affairs on the
farm at this time of the year. the farmer will
be able to save himself much trouble when
| Spring comes. At that time, of course, the
work will be Of the most pressing nature and
| many important things will have to be left un-
| done if not completed before the busy season
commences.
Now is good time to do all the cleaning up
work about the farm, and also, before the ex-
| tremely cold weather commences to make
| everything convenient for feeding, handling
stock, etc. The corn should now all be gathered
and stored away and good supply of feed
secured near the stables and feeding yards
| Considerable fence repairing can be done to
great advantage now, and this will save great
deal of trouble, annoyance and loss next year
by cattle breaking through and damaging the
standing crops.
1t is also advisable on heavy lands to do as
| much blowing during the Winter as possible,
as it is easier on both man and horse, and, be-
sides, the action of the frost on the land helps
to pulverize and put it in very fine condition
| for planting next Spring. Besides the me-
| chanical effect of frost the SOIL Winter
| blowing has another virtue-the destruction it
causes to many noxious insects. BY turning
| up the soil in ridges the Larvae which lay buried
| is thrown to the surface and there destroyed by
the extreme cold; and, besides all this the far
mer has his corn land almost ready for planting.
| All he has to do is to give it athorough harrow
| ing and, of course, the usual laying of. This
system is particularly useful as far as the SOW
| ing of oats is concerned, as that crop is sown
earlier than the corn, and the preparation of
the ground for it is almost invariably done in
a hurry.
| Another piece of work which might be done
| to great advantage during the spare days in the
| Winter is the gathering of large supply of
wood, which will save great deal of annoyance
during the busy season, as it is no small loss to
! a farmer to be compelled to take his team from
the plow to haul wood for the house, but it is a
thing which very frequently occurs on every
| farm.
| Care should be taken also to see that all the
| implements are in good condition, and that
| when the season comes for their use plow will
| not be found with broken handle, rusty
| shares, without clevis, and that harrows will
not be found minus teeth. little care and
| trouble, besides, in this direction now, will
| prevent a vast amount of trouble and expense
when the time comes to put those implements
into use.
THE BRONZE TURKEY.
To THE EDITOR: The Mammoth Bronze is
the King of turkeys, attaining greater size in less
time than any other breed. They are not only
noted for their great size and early maturity,
but for their rich, changeable bronze color
Turkeys, as a rule, do not get their growth I'M
til they are three years old, at which age the
common turkey will weigh Is to 20 pounds
while the Bronze at the same age will weigh 80
to 40 pounds. In most sections of the country
turkeys are very profitable, and double the
weight can be made with the Bronze on about
the same feed and trouble as with the small
common turkeys 1t always pays to keep the
best blood to breed fromas blood will tell in
poultry as well as in other stock. The Bronze
are good layers. hardy, very docile, make rapid
growth, and not incliiied to ramble or wander
far from home. Turkeys grow very rapidly,
and when Matched as late as August will ma
ture so as to Winter well. In fact, turkeys
unlike chickens, grow well in the coolest
weather if well fed, and in this climate it is
best not to house them. For all they consume
during the period of their growth they make
ample returns in weight, costing scarcely any
more to raise than do ducks or chickens-DE-
LOS STAPLES, West Sebewa, Mich.
! PROPER MANAGEMENT OF THE FARM
It is serious question with farmers now how
to manage their farms so as to have sufficient
income for the support of their families. One
thing is certain, every domestic supply should
be produced first, and if wheat does not pay to
grow for market the household bread must be
grown. This saves one outlay. The old fash
ion Of keeping a small flock of sheep for meat
and wool is another neglected resource which
might be resumed. The farmer has first to pro-
vide for himself and then consider what he can
dispose OF in the best way to make money.
This, of course, depends upon his environ
ments, his location, his soil, and his capability.
There can be no rule given. In one place vege-
tables, small fruits, potatoes, milk. may be the
best; in others, lambs orchard fruits or some
other product which will pay. The farm is
now a workshop and the farmer an artisan,
who must choose special work for himself,
which he and his farm are best fitted for, and
excel in it by making it his lfe-work.
SCRATCHES IN HORSES.
A correspondent recently requested US to send
him prescription for scratches, and also give
him the cause of the disease The following
from an exchange so thoroughly answers his
question that we make no apology for publish
ing it:
This disease is really vascular eruption
on the skin, and breaks out on the heels and
legs of horse because this part of the animal
is more exposed to injury, from repeated wet
ting and drying or from contact with filthy
matter which irritates the skin, than any other
part. An internal disorder of the blood is thus
localized in this part and appears there in
preference to any other part. Otherwise it
might appear as lampas catarrh or infam-
nation OF the glands of the throat. The treat
ment is to give antiseptic medicine, preferably
chlorate of potash, in one dram doses, for two
or three weeks, after first having well cleared
the system by an active dose of linseed oil "a
pint, or of EPSON salts Ia pound; wash the
diseased parts with warm water and SOAP and
then dress them with mixture of one dram of
chOrate of potash or chloride of zinc dissolved
in half a pint Of water and two ounces of
glycerine."
Prevention, however, is much better than
cure and none of the many diseases from which
horses suffer are so easily prevented as this dis
agreeable and obnoxious complaint BY OBJ
serving the most ordinary rules of cleanliness
or care no horse will ever have the scratches.
If the legs and feet are thoroughly dried when
the animal is brought into the stable, and he is
left to stand on clean, dry litter, he will GER
tainly remain sound. But if left to stand, as
is often the case, for days in fermenting manure,
the farmer must naturally expect that the
animal will suffer, and not only in the way of
scratches, but the hoOf is also rendered brittle
and liable to disease and, in fact, the general
health of the animal is seriously affected.
NoTELETs.
Misses Emma and Anna Pressey, of Ham
monitor, N. j., have IA brooder houses and
fattening house, in which they expect to
raise 5000 broilers for market the coming sea-
son. They hatch all their chicks in incubators,
and were very successful last year.
There are some 2.SO0,D00 acres under wood
in England in the Colonies the forests are esti-
mated to cover not less than $40, 600 600 acres