Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-02-02
FARM NOTES .

A crossed fowl will always sit, and if
non sitters be desired for next season
they must be bred from pure breeds only.
Save the feathers from all fowls. Scald
them thoroughly and dry them as quickly
as possible, keeping them well aired until
disposed of.
A remarkable property of the iee plant
is its absorption of salt, fluid exuded by
its leaves having been found to contain
| 80 per cent. of sea-salt.
Mr.. Hoard is convinced that there are
ten good judges of q horse among far
mers where there is one who is good
judge of dairy COW Or bull.
1t is believed that the Colorado beetle
has been completely stamped out in Ger
many by the measures ordered to be car
ried out by the Ministry of Agriculture
Leaf mold, rotton cow manure, and
good garden loan, in equal parts, with a
small addition of sand, all well mixed to-
gether, make suitable soil for nearly all
house plants.
If your land is well underdrained you
will often be able to pillow while your
neighbor who may not have underdrained
is waiting for his ground to dry off be-
fore he can begin.
When the ground is hard and frozen
work may be done IL cutting out the sur
plus canes of blackbe7ries and raspber-
ries. The old cane is only a useless in
cumbrance to vine, and should be re-
moved while there is plenty of time for
such work. A liberal application of wood
ashes may be applied after removing the
canes, while bone-dust will also be found
very beneficial.
Pastures can not be continually crop
ped without something being returned to
prevent lost fertility. Every pound of
| beef or milk produced from a pasture
comes from the soil, and it is only mat
ter of time when the supply shall cease.
| A liberal application of stable manure in
the fall, or fertilizer in the spring, will
not only be beneficial to the soil, but will
induce more luxuriant growth of grass
next season.
Adding great piles of straw, leaves and
| broken stalks to the manure heap will
| give bulk without corresponding proper
ton of nutritious matter. These mater
ials serve best as absorbents, and should
first be made fine. They are of no ser
vice to the growing plants until decom-
! posed, and the proper place to decompose
them is the manure heap. They should
never be spread upon the field for crops
until the entire heap shall have been wei
/ rotted.
| The folio wing preparation applied to
the surface will prevent any rUsting on
plows or any other metal surfaces: Melt
one ounce of resin in a gill of linseed oil,
and when hot mix with two quarts of
kerosene oil. This can be kept on hand
and applied in a moment with brush or
rag to the metal surface of any tool thai
is not going to be used for a few days,
preventing any rust and saving much
vexation when it is to be used again.
! The manure of cattle contains POPS per
cent of organic matter and alkaline salts
combined; that of horses, 21.64 per cent;
of hogs, % per cent; of sheep, 3129 per
cent. This high fertility value of sheep
manure is a very strong argument in
favor of sheep husbandry, but when it Is
considered that sheep create this fertility
largely from weeds, brambles, brush, ETC.,
the destruction of which is so desirable
to the farmer, the Importance and value
of these animals can not pe overestimat-
ed, even if they be as destitute of wool as
| Is a door-knob.