The National tribune., 1886-01-07
OUR RURAL TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
.gI-
Agricultural Readers.

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PRESIDENT CLEVELAND ON AGRICULTURE.
| The following extract from the Presidents
message shows clearly that the Chief Executive
fully appreciates Ghe important relation agri
| culture sustains to, the general welfare of the
! Nation:
1.-The agricultural interest of the country
! demands just recognition and liberal encourage
! ment. 1t sustains with certainty and unfailing
strength our Nation prosperity by the product
of its steady toll and bears its full share of the
! burden of taxation without complaint. Our
agriculturists have but slight personal repre-
sentation in the councils of the Nation, and are
| generally content with the humber duties of
! citizenship and willing TO trust to the bounty
! of Nature for a reward of their labor But the
! magnitude and value Of this industry is appre-
! ciated when the statement is made that of our
total annual exports more than three -fourths
are the products of agriculture, and of our total
population nearly one-half are exclusively en-
! gagged in that occupation.
The Department of Agriculture was created
| for the purpose of acquiring and diffusing
among the people useful information respecting
the subjects it has in charge and aiding i'll the
cause OF intelligent and progressive farming
| value and usefulness of new seeds and plants
| and distributing such as are found desirable
! among agriculturists. This and other powers
and duties with which this Department is in
vested are of the utmost Importance, and if
wisely exercised must be of great benefit to the
| country. The aim OF our benefcent Govern
| ment is the improvement of the people in every
station, and the amelioration of their condition
! Surely our agriculturists should not be neg
! lccted. The instrumentality established IL aid
of the farmers of the land should not only be
| well equipped for the accom- plishmenl of its
purpose, but those for whose benefit it has been
| adopted should be encouraged to avail them
selves fully of its advantages.
The prohibition of the importation into
several countries of certain of our animals and
their products, based upon the suspicion that
| health is endangered in their use and consump-
| ton, suggests the Importance of such precau-
tions for the protection of our stock of all kinds
against disease as will disarm suspicion of dan
ger and cause the removal of such an injurious
! prohibition
IF the laws now in operation are insufficient
| to accomplish this protection, | recommend
! their amendment to meet the necessities of the
situation and | commend to the consideration
of Congress the suggestions contained in the
report of the Commissioner of Agriculture cal
culated to increase the value and efficiency of
! this Department"
/ CARE OF STOCK IN WINTER.
During the remainder of the Winter live
stock should be the special care of the prudent
and pains taking farmer We need to Winter
them as economically as possible yet have
them all the time gaining. No animal is profit
able at standstill. q. AT this season, look es-
pecially to the comfoptableness of their quar-
ters, that they may be easily cleaned, warm,
and well aired when needed. Alterations that
! will facilitate foddGring, littering and clearing
out should be planned and carried out at once.
| Tight board walls or any Others, much
cheaper source of warmth than much ling,
so far neat cattle, horses in use, pigs and
poultry are concerned, ~ Horses and sheep with
comfortable shelter ont of the rain, and we'll
| rooted, will bear any degree of cold they are
| likely to be subject to,.if they have enough to
| eat, and the question of economy depends on
the price of hay and corn and of lumber.
Food consumed merely to maintain animal
heat, deductng tIe value or the resulting
manure, is dead loss. Beeves, sheep, and pigs
gain very rapidly If web fed during the Winter.
KILLING BRUSH.
A German living in New England, according
| to the GermaHt0tCH Telegraph. relates his method
of destroying white birches, briars and small
\ bushes. He had a field containing white birchcs
! and bull-graSs; he cut the birches, trimmed
such as were large enough for wood, burn
| ing the brush in piles. The cutting was
| done in Winter and the burning in the early
| Spring. As soon as it could be done, where
| the brush was burned the ground was plowed
! over and oats sown; these came up, and by the
| time ii would do To turn animals to pasture the
! oats were six or more inches high, thus furnish
| ing an excellent food. Sheep were kept OH the
| field and the result was that every sprout that
| started was eaten off, the briars kept down and
| the entire field made smooth and apparently
| the bushes were killed. while in an adjoining
| field where no sheep were kept they grew
| luxuriantly. This proves the proposition that
sheep can serve a good purpose upon bushy
| farms Horses and cattle will not trouble
| bushes unless starved to it, while sheep will
devour them even when there is an abundance
of grass to feed upon. This is q reason why it is
| good economy to make provision for keeping
sheep, by suitable protection against dogs and
putting fences in such condition that they can
be held in the inclosure where they are placed.
NoTELETs.
1t is a good plan to sift coal ashes in the
poultry house for the fowls to pick at and dust
| themselves in.
While an excellent feed for fowls corn
should not be fed too lavishly. 1t is apt to
| make the hens too fat to be active layers.
"A horse is not fully mature until six years
! of age. Immature animals are often Over-taxed
| and their future usefulness discounted. Young
horses should not be worked too hard if they
| are expected to live to a green and useful old
age
| In consequence ofthe wheat yield in France
| being 100000 bushels more than the yearly
| average, that country will require only 3S, ,O00,
600 bushels to make up the annual deficit
"A Missouri correspondent of the Country
| Gentleman writes that for three years he has
been testing seed corn from the butt, the tip
and the middle of ears, and noting the result.
He finds that the corn from the tips of the ears
will rpen first, that from the middle next, and
that from the butt last.
| One Of the most successful of Illinois dairy
men, says the Germantown Telegraph, keeps 100
COWS, but never raises a pound of hay. He
feeds his cattle corn fodder, cut when in bios
som, bound and set up until cured, or till Win
ter, when it is removed to the barn. He gets
seven tons of this dry fodder to the acre, and
claims il is worth as much as the best of hay.
Mrs. Julia b. Nelson permits no barley to
be planted on her 240-acre Minnesota farm,
knowing that "the chief demand for it is
from brewers"
Last season Mr.. G. W. Pressey. of Ham
monitor, n. j., raised 900 chickens in incuba-
tors, the care and attention having been given
them by his two daughters. This season he
has made extensive preparations, will begin
Matching in few weeks and expects to double
| the number. P. i
An acre ofland, says the Nem Hampshire
Mirror, produced 500 pounds OF seed cotton in
Georgia in 1853, aid after being manured by
having fifty sheep penaed on it for twenty
months in 1884 produced l 500 pounds of seed
/ catf a