The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1886-10-01
FARM NOTES.

/ H you "dHt W htcD tut
calves in the patch with the pigs.
Many farmers trust too much i'm luck
and the moon and do too little close
figuring.
Never drive horse fast on full
stomach. Hurry by going slow the first
few miles.
A blockhcad armed with saw and
pruning shears is Us destructive in an
orchard as bull in a china store.
Milk sold ut 3 cents quart pays
about the same net rs butter sold for
2S cents pound, says an eastern OK
pert.
Show us where lives the farmer who
makes it rule TO borrow tools, and we
will show you broken gates, lousy
calves and dirty stables.
If you receive trees or plants shipped
from distance, it is well to place the
roots in water for from twelve TO TWEEN
ty-four hours before planting out.
Sheep will eat nearly all kinds of
weeds, and may be made to do good
however. always be given feed of
grain at night.
| The largest barn i'm the word is prob
ably that of the Union Cattle Company,
of Cheyenne, near Omaha. 1t covers
five acres, cost $4,000. and accommo-
dates 1880 head of cattle.
If the manager or feed box be so foul
as to omit sour smell from any cause,
it should be carefully clcanscd and
QhnI with cnlut;np nf coda Or not
ash until perfectly sweet again.
To protect young fruit trees in I'M
fenced lots or along the roadsidcs, drive
three stakes around the tree and wind
barbed wire around them close enough
to keep an animals teeth away from the
tree.
Use the scales on the farm in order to
more accurately keep an account of all
sales and purchases, as well as the
amount of food allowed Every meal
should be weighed, and the gain or loss
of flesh carefully observed.
In buying pigs for breeding stock the
best is the cheapest, though it costs
little more money. The reason why
breeders justify themselves in saving
runts is because some men are thought
less enough to buy them at a low price.
A contemporary says: ''Dip soft wood
posts, such us willow and poplar, into
coal tar, and the wood is made to last
in the ground equal TO the best seasoned
oak. Any person can satisfy himself
of the fallacy of this by the experiment
Ivy or any vine that runs pcrpendicu-
larly up Il tree does not in ure it unless
branches from the vine extend along
the branches and by its mass of leaves
smother the leaves of the tree. Vines
like Wistaria, that coil around frank,
do injure trees.
A French correspondent of a London
paper states that Hampshire down
lambs of his raising, at nine months
old dressed thirty-seven pounds TO the
quarter A yearing wether eighteen
months old weighed, when dressed, 256
pounds.
Poultry farming doesn't take great
deal Of land, but with good manage
mcnt the harvest comes every day, and
though il is small its multiplication by
all the days of the year makes a sum
that compares favorably with more pre-
tentlous ventures.
A hoe for use in garden requires as
much care us Il sytne that is used for
cutting grass. 1t should he sharp enough
to cut off all kinds of weeds and should
have SO good Il polish that it can be
moved through the soil without much
exhibition of strength.
The disposition of an animal depends
somewhat on the treatment it receives.
Rough usage causes the animals to be-
come irritable, and when they are not
vicious they are in n perpetual state of
fear, which prevents improvement in
yield of either milk, butter or meat.
Soapsuds may be advantagsously used
around the pear and peach trees. 1! is
quite an undertaking to carry them to
an orchard, but there are trees and
grapevines usually growing near the
house and kitchen which will be great
ly benefited by the use of the suds.
The bee does not dcfacc your fields
by clipping the growing grasses like
the dC"estic animals; it does not mar
the galu, nts or levy taxes on your
grain. Bees differ from the whole in
sect world. No tree, shrub, plant or
flower is injured by their presence.
Straw may be rendered more valu-
able by being cut in short lengths and
mixed with chopped hay and grain. 1t
will greatly assist in increasing the
amount of course material, if so fed,
and the practice is much more economi-
cal than that of using it for bedding en-
tirely.
In order to guard against flies the
stable should bc thoroughly cleaned Oft
en-. A sprinkling of the floor with a
mixture of teaspOonful of carbolic
acid and two gallons of water will dis
infect the stall, while the manure heap
may also receive an application with
advantage.
Mulching Strawberries increases the
size of the fruit. as well rs the yield. 1t
keeps the berries clean, and, therefore,
in more marketable condition. The
mulching should be laid on in the au-
tumn, just after the ground has been
frozen, and be opened away from the
plants IN the spring
A machine for picking raspberries
has been invented by a citizen of
Yates, N. Y. 1t consists of n long
| LILY vi Clpiu hN'' w
| frame The troy is carried from bush
to bush, and with large hook in one
hand the operator draws the bush light
ly with pattcd bat.
Australia will hereafter pay more at
| tention to the cultivation of crops In
| addition TO the products now grown
there, commission has lately recon-
mended the increased growth of the
| poppy, the olive, the caper, the castor
oil plant, medicinal rhubarb, madden,
rape, indigo, and mustard.
Dairying is becoming an important
industry in New Zealand. Twenty but
ter and cheese factories are already in
| operation there, and some seven hun
dred tons of cheese are produced an
nually. Farmers who supply these fac
tories with milk receive about Sl5O,OOO
annually, and find this the most prof.
table branch of farming.
| The Scientific american is right when
it says: Nothing will purify and keep
| stable SO free from odors MS the FREQ
use of dry earth, and every one keeping
horses or cattle will find that it pays to
keep it on hand, to be used daily. A
few shovclfuls of earth scattered over
after cleaning will render the air of the
apartment pure and wholesome.
When confined to close quarters fowls
require more care and attention. I'm
limited range is not absolutely neces-
sary in order to raise prime fowls, for
some breeds will not roam beyond GER
tain limits, though hundreds of acres
may be stretched before them, bnt if
ample range can be had it is more con-
venicnt and greatly lessons the cost Of
keeping.
Once week, during dry weather, if