Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-07-08

Clean out all the rose bushes by taking
away the old wood and then shortening
the stronger shoots one-third The ap-
pearance viii be greatly improved there
! by.
A Nebraska farmer, who has been ex-
perimenting with blue grass, concludes
that Northern Nebraska will prove to be
! one of the finest tame-grass countries in
the world.
England buys S19,252, 1884 out of the
| S2O,SO5,624 worth of bacon we export; of
hams, 50, 454 $50 worth out of the 1921
sos; nearly half of tbs S3.462, 53S of pork
and about one-third of our surplus lard.
Weed and hoe the onions, peas and all
of the garden vegetables, harrow the pota-
toes again, replant the corn and com
mence blowing it the very day it is large
enough. Keep the ground which the
crops occupy free from weeds, loose and
mellow.
70 give 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 bottle vigorously against
the roof of the mouth, pretty well back.
This done, most horses will swallow
nicely.
The cattle of the Indian Territory and
Texas are said to be ready for the trail
and 1t Is estimated that the spring drive
will reach 100000 head. The drive will
not be as it has been heretofore, through
| Western Kansas, but will be along the
national trail, just over the State line in
| Colorado.
cold, damp soil, with hard, imper-
vious subsoil, is not suitable for garden
and before it can be properly utilized
should be we'll drained. For garden pur-
| poses, If a tile drain has been laid, the
trench1ng system is best for such soils
Any method that permits it to rid itself
OF surplus moisture, and allows the air
and heat to enter, will be beneficial.
The same care in the selection for seed
should be made as with the other plants.
Product1Veness, maturity and form are
fully as important as size. All plants in
tended to produce seed for another sea
sons crop should not only be selected but
| planted away from other varieties. Sweet
corn growing in the neighborhood of field
corn will be ruined for seed the succeed
ing year.
At this season the milk is often flavor
ed with onions Or wild garlic. The only
remedy is to clean out the pastures either
by pulling them up, or allow the garlic to
| grow until nearly ready to seed then cut
| ting 1t down. To do this the COWS must
be Kept out of the pasture for awhile. It
requires work to eradicate the pasture of
these weeds, but it must be done if odors
in the milk and in the butter are to be
avoided.
An Ohio amateur gooseberrv grower
succeeds in growing very fine fruit, both
IN size and quality, on a cool, clay soil,
keeping the plants open in the center by
pruning. When they start into growth
III the spring he Immediately disbuds to
prevent them from becoming too dense,
and thus admits a free circulation of air.
He mulches heavily during the summer.
! With this treatment he is little troubled
with mildew.
The wheat produce of Wales in 1885
was 1,972,917 bushels, at an average rate
22.65 bushels per acre. The wheat pro-
duce of Scotland was 1,893,501 bushels,
at an average rate of 34.83 bushels per
acre, as compared with 2,348, 261 bushels
IN 1884, when the average rate per acre
was 3417 bushels. The average rate in
1885 exceeded that of the estimated ordi-
nary yield per acre by 1.48 bushels, or As
per cent.
Chickens are valuable outside the cues
ton of eggs and flesh. A full-grown hen
will yield from two and one-half ounces
to four and One-quarter ounces of feath-
ers and down. The feathers serve for
bonnet decorations, the ornamentation of
military shakOs, and for busters The
averaged sized feathers are EN- ployed 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 a short time in a
! bakers oven, after the bread has been
withdrawn, to kill the insect germs before
they are sent to market.
With the use of movable poultry quar-
tiers some poultry can be kept in confne-
ment IN small grounds to as good advan-
tage almost as when they have free run
on farm. For dozen hens make a
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 ward but
without floor. This structure may be
easily carried by two men, or it might be
fitted to move on rollers. It should be
located on a grassy patch and moved
every day Or two.
All trees and shrubs should be properly
labeled. The labels that come on the
trees from the nursery should not be re-
lied on as the names soon wash off. Sheet
zinc cut in the form of a long tapering
wedge makes the best cheap label we
know of, being understandable, easily APP
piled and can never injure the tree if
rightly put on. This is done in the
easiest possible way by,merely coiling the
taperlng end around small branch sew
eral times, and thus it will yield to the in
crease Of size. The writing may be done
with common lead pencil, and will in
crease In distinctness with time.
! 1t Is to the small rose in China that we
owe the most marked advance toward the
modern standard. The tea rose had the
habit of blooming not annually alone, as
did all known in Europe before its intro
ductlon, but continuously, or in monthly
crops. This habit of the China rose was
taken advantage of and artifcially hybri-
| died with other larger GROWING SORTS