The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1886-07-30
The Farm,
FARM MISCELLANY.

SMALL fruit culture will always be
most successful on the intense plan.
Plant only Il small urea at ~ time and give
that the best culture possible. Better
raise 800 bushels on one acre than that
amount on five or six.
AN ENGLISH experimenter finds, con-
trary to general opinion. that q growth
of ivy over II house renders the interior
entirely free from moisture. The reason
is simply the difference between theory
and fact. Tn" IVY absorbs the moisture
from the wall that otherwise would sat-
urate it.
To GIVE n horse medicine take long,
necked bottle, raise the horses head,
thrust the bottle into his mouth and
while the liquid is running into the
throat rub the nose of the boi tie vigor-
ously against the roof of the mouth,
pretty we'll back. This done, most
horses will swallow nicely.
CHICKENS are valuable outside the
question of eggs and flesh. A tull grown
hen will yield from 81 ounces to Al
ounces of feathers and down. The
feathers serve for bonnet decorations, the
ornamentation of military shakos, and
for busters. The average sized feathers
are em"loved for beds and holsters the
down for pillows. But the latter classes
are not held in as much esteem as the
same from geese and ducks When the
feathers are plucked, they are placed for
short time in bakers oven, after the
bread has been withdrawn, to kill the
insect germs before they are sent to
market
SOME persons in emitting asparagus
leave The small shoots that are hot large
enongu Tor use. This is bad practice.
The better way is to cut them Off clean,
until the middle of June. in this locality.
Then all cuttings should cease and the
plants allowed to make their summer
growth. The old practice of planting
the roots deeply below the surface and
cutting the shoots as soon as they
pushed through the ground. with barely
a green tip, is exploded. Green, and
not bleached, is the asparagus for flavor.
All weeds should be kept down, and the
soil stirred enough to be at all times
loose and friable on the surface.
! WITH the use of movable poultry
quarters some poultry can be kept in
confinement in small grounds, to as
good advantage almost as when they
have free run on farm. For dozen
hens make structure ten feet long and
six feet wide. Four feet of one end should
be boarded up, rooted and fitted with
floor, feeding and other conveniences;
the remainder should be only two feet
high, and made of lath or narrow boards
for yard, but without a floor. This
structure may be easily carried by two
men, or it might be fitted to move on
rollers. It should be located on q
grassy patch and moved every day or
two. .,>
For the perches use inch.thick stats
two to four inches broad, so that the
hens can sit comfortably on them.
Small round poles for perches are very
trying to their legs, as they are obliged
to cling close to these with their claws,
and this tires and strains them during
the whole time they are at roost. Do
net set these perches like steps, one a
little beyond and higher than the other
Ifyou do the hens will be constantly
fighting and struggling to obtain the
top one. Set all at the same height
and so distant from each other that the
hens on each perch cannot reach tc
peck those on the other. AS soon as
they get on to the roosts all seem tc
delight in this torment.