The National tribune., 1888-11-08
OUR RURAL TOPICS,
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers
NOTING OF Fowls.

NOTING OF FOWLS.
The melting season is upon US, and If care
and attention be given to hens now, especially
| pure-bred ones, the time may be materially
shortened and the beauty of the plumage en-
| HANGED. Corn should be excluded from the
diet of all Asiatie breeds, especially Brahmas,
/ bulky food being substituted. If the fowls
| have free range they can obtain for themselves
! such things as they require; if kept in confne-
ment, green food must be given them. 1t is
useless to give them a quantity of unchopped
weeds bat with large pair of shears (if moth
| ing more convenient is at hand) the weeds can
be clipped into small pieces, and the hens will
devour them eagerly. The small potatoes from
! freshIy-dug hills can also be given them Stalks
of corn and the clippings from the lawn-mower
may be given in moderation too much will
cause diarrhea. In short, any green stuff which
is accessible will be far better feed for them
! than grain, to say nothing of the economy of
| it. Don't lament if they stop laying during
| the period; the substance which would other
wise form the egg goes to make up the feathers.
If hen has such drain upon the system
while molting, she is bound to stop laying
when through that period, and at the time
eggs are greatly in demand. April matched
chicks usually begin to molt in July of the
following year, and as it takes them three
months to get their new feathers, the necessity
of early matched chicks must be impressed
upon those who raise eggs for market The
| hen-house should be cool at night, well venti-
| lated, but free from drafts. An abundance of
fresh water should be given, into which put
small lump of birthstone Ample means of
busting in dry dust entirely free from any
droppings should be placed in every pen. A
small portion of powdered charcoal may be put
into their morning feed of bran and middings
occasionally. If all these details are observed
and the general comfort and happiness of the
fowls is considered, the period of molting will
be much Decentralization Agficdtprist.
GOOD APPLES, GOOD CIDER.
Good cider can be made only from sound ripe
apples. After they are harvested they must
lie in heaps long enough to sweat" but must
not be allowed to rot or become musty: the
juice becomes more concentrated by this pro-
cess of evaporation. Any faint of mustiness in
| the apples will persistently cling to the cider
| through all the process of making and refining
1t is invariable rule that the better the fruit
the better the cider. The finest grated Win
ter apples and crabs make good cider before
they are fitted for the table, the maturing pro-
cess going on in the juice instead of the fruit.
If possible it is better to keep the juice of each
variety separate Good cider cannot be made
in musty old mill that has become soured
and foul with the accumulations of years. If
there is any faint of mustiness or sharp vine
gary acidity about the premises or apparatus,
they should be thoroughly purified before they
are used. Potash I've, boiling hot is the best
detergent for this purpose
Having everything fresh and clean, grind
and press the apples. The cheese should be
laid up with grass.cloth instead of straw be-
tween the layers of pomace. Straw is always
more or less dusty, and often musty, impartng
a bad flavor to the cider Never water the
cheese, as it dilutes and weakens the cider
The juice should be strained through fine
hair sieve as it leaves the press. To still fur
Their clear the juice of specks of pomace and
other foreign matters it should be run through
a strainer of canton flannel in the form of a
bag six inches in diameter and three feet long.
One OF these Is hung over tub, and the juice
is dipped into it; thence it flows into the tub
and is ready to barrel.-4mericaa AgricaEtaFist.
BENEFITS OF CROP ROTATION.
Every observing farmer knows that cattle
can be pastured in q field after horses and will
subsist for a time where the horses would have
starved; and that sheep will do well after the
cattle A similar principle applies to the rails
ing of the various farm crops Wheat may
thrive gloriously on the plant food left in the
soil by q corn CROP oats on that left by the
wheat and corn; potatoes on what was not
taken by the three preceding crops. But the
requirements of plant nutrition are not the
only reasons nor the strongest ones that can be
urged III favor OF a strict system OF crop Tota-
ton. The chief objection to planting the same
crop year after year in the same ground is that
the insects and diseases affecting that crop at
tack it each succeeding year with increased
force. Frequently the entire soil and the
whole vicinity become overstOcked with the
insects and the spores of diseases injurious to
that particular crop Shifting the locality of
such crop from one field to another near by
can afford, at best but partial protection in this
respect; and it was far preferable to select for
each crop subject TO insect attacks and diseases
location at the greatest possible distance from
any field where that crop was grown the year
before. If some such crop could be left out of
the farm rotation for one or more years alto
gother, one might be able to starve out the in
sects and diseases affecting it for some years
and if by concerted action such measure
could be extended to whole neighborhood, or
County, Old-fashioned big and clean crops might
Tor time be grown again. Exchange.
EVILS OF CLOSE PLANTING.
A promising orchard of 300 trees, the prop
erty of a neighbor of mine, just beginning to
bear and on which the owner realized 5000 last
season, was sacrificed to the close planting pol
icy. The trees, which one year ago showed
evidence of health and vigor, have assumed a
sckly appearance. Cutting out every alter
nate tree, with liberal dressing of fertilizers,
will save the orchard if the owner has the in
telligence and nerve to do it at once But what
a loss to the soil, this production of $50 trees
which can only be cut down and cast into the
fire" And the survival of the fttest" will
be set back two years at least by this plan of
planting and then thinning an orchard. The
apple tree demands rich, moist soil. If these
conditions are furnished, it assumes large pro-
portions and gives immense yields. Why, then,
dwarf starve and mutlate? Is it not better
to have five thrifty trees producing so bushels
of healthy, fine fruit than 80 trees with so bush
els of wormy, knotty, gnarly specimens fit only
for pigs and thieving Migrants? In the latter
instance the soil is taxed to produce the wood
of fifty trees instead of five. The cost of pur-
chasing, planting etc, all contributes toward
swelling the contrast in the amount paid out.
In the first instance you will be rewarded with
satisfactory results; in the latter there will be
disappointment, loss of time and money, and q
failure to realize when your orchard comes in
bearing The same results comparatively,
though nOtso rapidly, manifest themselves with
regard to the vine. Too close planting will
sooner or later result disastrously. The proper
distance for setting apple trees is from 80 to 40
feeti for the grape not less than Ii to Is feet
for vigorous growing vines. OF course varie-
ties, methods of training, root-pruning, top
dressing etc, win modify these figures with
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