The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1886-12-22
farm Aotes.
BUTTER LOSING IN WEIGHT.

There are many reasons for sell
ing butter soon after it is made.
One is that, besides the natural de-
terioration from keeping, it is con
stantly losing weight. Evaporation
of the moisture it contains goes on
in all kinds of weather and as water
goes out air fills the vacant spaces
and soon makes the butter rancid.
CORN HUsK MATS.
Durable and cheap door mats are
easily made from corn husks and
but little art is required to braid
and sew them together. They will
be found valuable for many other
uses besides keeping at the door.
Hung up against windows in barns
and stables at night they will exclude
much cold. and they are the most
convenient protection for hot beds,
both against cold at night and the
glare Of the sun by day.
BEANS FOR FEEDING STOCK.
1t is commonly supposed that
sheep r the only farm stock that
will eat beans. They take to them
more naturally than other animals;
but even pigs can be made to eat
them by mixing them with other
grain and grinding. The common
beans are very nutritious, but not
especially fattening. English horse
beans are very different, and r not
so much grown as formerly, as
American grown corn is stalking their
place.
KEEPING SHEEP TOO WARM.
Sheds protected from snow and
rain are even better for sheep
than the Easements to barns, which
are apt to b& damp and too warm
by the sheep lying on the
they make during the winter. So
long as the feece\is kept dry sheep
will not suffer Uneven the coolest
weather. But lying on fermenting
manure makes them feverish and
sometimes causes them to lose wool
from their bellies where it comes in
contact with the heating manure.
LIGHT BARLEY AS FEED.
Barley less thfn forty-six pounds
per bushel is Mt saleable for brew
ing, but it MAKES a good feed for
nearly all kinds of stock. Much OF
this light barley is thrown off by
brewers who skim it off with oats
in the process of mailing. The
skimmings from the malt house are
a mixture of oats and light bar
ley, weighing more than the stan
dard weight Of oats and selling for
less per bushel. 1t makes an excel
lent feed for milch COWS, causing
them to give large mess of milk
without losing flesh. The brewers
grains after brewing are also eta
cious in stimulating milk production.
WATERING COWS IN WINTER.
The dry feed usually given COWS
in cold weather is less stimulating
to milk production than the green
heritage they get at pasture. The
bad effects Of too dry feed are great
ly intensified by a lack of water.
This is especially true that where
only cold water is provided. The
large quantity that COWS should
drink chills their stomachs and re-
tards digestion, They will not
drink as much as is good for them
unless the ice cold chill is taken off.
The best arrangement is to have a
cistern in a barn basement, where
the water will not freeze, and where
the COWS may be sheltered from
cold winds.
PROFIT IN BREEDING sOWS.
No kind of farm stock cost so lit
tie or pays so large a profit as SOW
pigs kept until they have their first
litter of pigs. A SOW due to farrow
in March or April is always saleable
at a handsome advance on her value
for making pork. In fact, the buyer
rarely looks at a SOW in this condi-
ton in this light. He is busily cal
culating how many pigs she should
have, and how much they should all
weigh the subsequent November or
And the result of these
calculations is that he is generally
willing to pay a price for a breeder
that will require good luck and good
feeding for him even to see a gain in
pork.
sCORCHED GRAIN FOR FOWLS.
Corn fed to poultry in the fall
and early Winter is damp and not