Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1885-06-12
FARM and PRESIDE.

ECONOMIC HORSE FEED.-Ground
grain is the cheapest form in which nu-
triment can be given to the working horses.
But to produce the best effect it should
be mixed with cut hay, not to give great
or bulk. for this the horses stomach does
not require, but to make the food more
porous in the stomach, so that the gastric
Juices may more freely work through it.
Meal alone, especially of corn which has
scarcely any chaff, will impact 10 the
stomach and be less easily dlgestible. The
heavy chaff of oats is one of the reasons
why this grain is so valuable for horse
feed. Another is that the oats abounds
in heterogeneous or muscle forming food,
and is therefore worth more per pound
where strength is required than corn OR
oil meal, whose chief constituents are car
bonaceous or fat-produclng. There is
much more virtue in bran or wheat mid
dlings as food for working horses than is
commonly supposed. In many places bran
is sold as cheaply by the ton as hay. For
giving strength it is more valuable pound
for pound, and it is nearly as good as cut
hay as diviser of more concentrated nutri-
ment. Wheat middllngs are also excel
lent, but they need to be mixed with a
larger bulk of cut feed to insure against
impaction in the stomach. If hay cannot
easily be obtained, straw will answer as a
diviser, though the quantity of hay abso-
luteIy required is so much Legs than is
generally used that very little will
suffice for horses food during the work.
ing season provided grain or meal can be
had in abundance.
TURKEY BREED ING.-To begin with,
restrain your desire to count your young
turkeys, and let them alone for the first
twenty-four hours after they get into
this ''cold and unfeeling" world At the
expiration Of that time they will be quite
strong and decidedly hungry. Remove
them to clean, airy. roomy coop. and give
them their first meal; only it must not be
meal at all, but boiled eggs, stale wheat
bread crumbs just moistened with milk or
water, "Dutch'' cheese, or mixture of
all these.
For the first two weeks feed entirely
with the eggs, bread, curds, cooked lice
and cooked oat meal. About the third
week commence feeding cooked cornmeal,
and from that on they can be given any
cooked food that would be suitable for
chickens of the same age. Season all food
slightly with salt and pepper, and twice
week add level tablespoonful of bone
meal to a pint of feed. Never feed any
sour food or sloppy food of any kind, ex.
cept sour milk, and never feed any un-
cooked food Of any kind until after they
have thrown out the red On their heads.
Feed often, five or SIX times day, unit
they are three months old; then, if IN
sects are numerous, you may gradually
reduce the number of meals per day to
three or even two.
After they are three months old they
may be given wheat, cracked corn, &C..
but no whole corn until they are five
months old. Keep the coops dry and
clean, and the turkeys out Of the dew and
rains until they are fully feathered and
have throw n out the red. Dampness and
filth will kill young turkeys as surely as a
dose of poison. For the first few days
confne the poults to the limits of the coop
and safety run; then, if all appear strong
and we'll, give the mother hen and her
brood liberty on pleasant days after the
dew is off.
Ii they get caught out in shower, get
them to shelter as soon as possible; and
if any chilled take them to the house and
thoroughly dry and warm them. See hat
the little turkeys come home every night.
A hen mother will come home at nightfall
but the turkey mother must for the fiji ST
few nights he hunted up and driven home.
After they are three months old turkeys
are quite hardy. and may be allo wed 10
range at all times If turkeys who are well
cared for and have always seemed all
right, show signs OF dropping when about
six weeks OF two months old, give SINE
stimulating mixture in the drink or food
and add little cooked meat to the food
once day.
A bronze is the king Of turkeys: In
short, they are noted for their great size
and rich, changeable bronzs colors. They
are always beautiful, are pretty good for
ayers, and it costs but little to raise them
where grass-hoppers and insects are plen-
ty. They ere No. layers, hardy and easy
to raise. They make a very rapid growth
and if the winter is not too hard Or does
not set in too early, young gobblers will
weigh twenty-five pounds at about six
months of age and hens thirteen to four.
teen pounds. Turkeys, unlike chickens,
grow all winter, and make weight for the
food they consume. The bronze do not
fully get their growth until they are about
three years old. At maturity hens weigh
from fifteen to twenty pounds and COB
blers from thirty to forty pounds each.
How TO SCARE AWAY HAwKs.-An
old subscriber tells how he keeps the
hawks away from his young chickens, and
by giving it to our readers we expect to
save many a chicken fry. A large hawk
had commenced depredating upon his
poultry yard this spring, when he hung
up some bright glass bottles on poles near
the coops, so they could be seen from
some distance. That hawk, nor any other
has been seen near the place since. He
says that pieces Of new tin or anything
else that glitters in the sunlight will ans
wor the same purpose.
The TIME TO KILL WEEDs.-If you
have shrub, herbaceous plant or tree of
any kind tt at is difficult to kill, July, or
early in August, will be a suitable time
for most trees and shrubs, while herbace-