The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1886-07-09
FARM NOTES.

registry in the Herd-Book, as well bred
besides.
Instead of trying to keep butter, try
to find good market for it, then sell as
soon as made, direct to consumers il
possible.
The problem of successful farming
consists in making the soil increasingly
fertile. Profit comes of high fertility
and excellent tillage.
Organic and inorganic matter in the
soil is what forms and fattens the plant.
Like the Overfed animal, the soil some
times suffers from indigestion.
You have to consider the feeding of
the hen as well as the chicks. Feed the
former first on grain, and after that she
may take pick with her chicks.
At the Canadian Experimental Station
it has been determined that feeding
timothy without much clover had ten
dency to dry the flow of milk in winter.
The "hit or miss" plan in horse-breed.
ing is discouraging and expensive.
Breeding has been reduced to such a
certainty that few chances need be
taken.
Some varieties of raspbcrries throw
up great many suckers which should
be cut out. Not over four canes to the
hill should be allowed, so as to afford
plenty of room.
For wet lands good mixture for
pasturage would be red-top, eight
pounds; alsike, six pounds; meadow
foxtail, four pounds, and rough-stalked
meadow. six pounds.
A nugget of agricultural wisdom from
Southern contemporary Is that clover,
good cultivation, and barnyard manure
contain, us n rule, all the necessary con-
stituents of plant food.
The Duroc-Jersey Swine Association
is making progress. In two and halt
months nearly 100 members were added
in eighteen States, and over 600 names
claimed for registry.
Poison from bees, hornets, spider
bites, etc., is instantly arrested by the
application of equal parts of common
salt and bicarbonatc of soda, well
rubbed in on the place bitten or stung.
To keep insects out of bird-cages, tie
up little sulphur in bag and suspend
it in the cage. Red ants, it is said, will
never be found i'm closet or drawer il
small bag of sulphur be kept in those
places.
A litter of pigs farrowed in spring or
summer grow rapidly if at pasture, be-
cause the green food keeps the pigs
digestion good and enables it to get
fun benefit from any other food that
may be eaten.
The natural life of the sheep is shorter
than that of any other domestic animal.
Five or six years is the limit of their
practical usefulness, though valuable
breeding ewes may be kept one or two
years longer.
Since the organization of the Ameri-
can Pathological Society, nearly thirty
eight years ago, more than GOO named
varieties of fruits have, by common con-
sent, been discarded and their places in
the catalogue filled by better sorts.
Orchard and oat grass flower and
| ripen together, and are a good mixture.
These grown together and without
clover are excellent. Sow about one
and .one-half bushels of orchard grass
and One-half bushel of oat grass per
acre mixed.
The shallow-rooted timothy and deep
roofing clover feed i'm different depths OF
soil, and hence 60 we'll together. NAM
moth clover ripcns more nearly with
timothy than medium clover, but its
stems are coarser and not liked by farm
stock except swine.
A standing antidote for poison by
poison oak, ivy, ETC., is to take hand
full of quick-limc, dissolve i'm water, let
it stand half an hour, then paint the
poisoned parts with it. Three or four
applications, it is said, will cure the
most aggravated cases.
To cure COW of the habit of sucking
herself, says the Jersey Bulletin, make
saturated tincture of powdered aloes
and alcohol, keep it in mucilage bot
tie, tightly corked, and paint the end of
each teat with the mixture. and the COW
will soon become disguised.
The last month OF so of a pigs life
has great influence upon the flesh of
the animal. You can put on the frame
all through the year, but the flavor is
largely determined by the feeding
during the latter period of fattening.
The same is true of all animals.
1t will take about 5000 strawberry
plants to an acre fifteen inches apart,
four feet between rows. At three feet
each way, the usual distance in field
cultivation, the number is 4,S40 plants.
1t will pay every person who has a rod
of ground to cultivate bed of straw
berries.
Horses are not fully mature until 6
years of age, nor do they arrive at their
full strength until 8 years old. Imma-
ture animals are often ovcrtaxcd and
their future usefulness injured. Young
horses should be carefully worked If
they are expected to give long years of
usefulness.
Dry parts of plants take up water with
great force. In 1882 steamship with
partial cargo of peas went ashore and
sprung a leak. BY the swelling of the
peas the decks were thrown apart. The
same extraordinary force has been ex-
hibited, too. frequently by cargoes of
corn or wheat.
In preparing n dhst-bath for hens sift
the dirt or ashes, not so much for the
purpose of removing the coarser por-
tons as to enable the hens TO use the
dust to the best advantage. If the
poultry-house is kept clean and dust
bath is provided, the hens will keep
themselves free of lice without further
assistance.
The depression in Scotch agriculture
Is so great that in one recent number of
a paper published there forty-seven
country mansions, with 245, 900 acres of
shoOtings attached, were advertised to
let. depressing the game and substitu-
ting farm stock might lift the depres-
sion, since then better leases could be
given to tenants.
Many diseases of swine are conta-
gious, and when an animal is observed
to be sick the well ones should be re-
moved from the pen and placed by
themselves. 1t would be well to keep a
watchful eye on them. Clean out the
pens and troughs, scrape out all decay
ing matter from under and around
them, and use some disinfectant.
In Europe the fact is noted that coun-
tries where the gooseberry tlourishes the
grape, except in lighthouses, is a failure.
The same is true in the United States of
the English varieties. But special cult
walton, with shade, mulching, and mois-
ture, will enable crops of even some
English varieties to produce large crops
except in specially unfavorable years.
Geese can be fattened cheaply, as they
will eagerly consume variety of food,
but to get them very fat they should
have grain. A goose should not be too
fat, as such are Objectionable, but they
should be fat enough to present an ex-
cellent market appearance. Young
geese cannot be fed too literally. They