Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1889-03-02
FOR THE FARMERS.
PREPARATION OF THE SOIL FOR THE
RECEPTION OF SEED.
A Varied Bill OF Fare for Chiokens-Dis-
posit' on ofSwine to Pile Up in Cold
Weather-Whole Corn or
Meal the Best for Pigs.


produced by white labor.
Add a little boiling water to the hog
swill so as to take the chill off.
The weather throughout the North has
been extremely trying to stock.
A calf born in fall or winter is worth
two born in the spring for profit.
The largest peach orchard in California
is near Marysville. 1t contains 420 acres.
Last year 10000 persimmon trees were
exported from Japan to the United States.
The warmer and more comfortable the
bed of pigs the more rapidly will they
grow and fatten, while less food will be
consumed.
The propagation of game should be
taken up seriously, and become branch
to be fostered and encouraged in the same
manner as methods OF the fishculturist.
Tarred paper makes an excellent COW
erIng and protection for cold frames at
night. Old bagging serves well, but the
paper is better non-cOnductor of heat.
Do not worry because you have no
blooded stock till you improve what you
have. Breed only from thoroughbred
sires and soon you will be able to go up
higher.
Ground gympsum or farmers plaster
spread upon the stable floor will add to
the value of the manure, while it pre-
vents the waste and nuisance of escaping
Every farmer is interested in good roads.
None but experienced road overseers
should be selected, and the tax required
for road repair, if properly applied, is
well invested. Good roads save
valuable horses.
Every farmer should experiment, in
order to learn by practical experience, the
kind of crops and mode of cultivation
best adapted for his farm. Soils vary,
and the experience of one farmer is not
always a guide for another.
The disposition of swine is to pile up in
cold weather, and the warmer we can
keep it underneath them the less liable
they are to do this, and unless they can
be prevented from doing it to great ex-
tent disease is much more liable to break
out among them.
1t amounts to grave neglect, not to
plant trees about the home grounds, road
side, cemetery and school ground. First,
after a beautiful site has been selected
for the home, the very next cOnsidera-
ton should be the beautifying and en-
bellishment of the grounds by planting
of trees.
When a horse comes in with snow in
his shoes, knock it out with hammer
before putting him up, and rub the hair
dry around his heels and ankles. In or
der to do this easily, it is well to shear
off some of the long hair. Cracks in the
ankle, called scratches, often result from
inattentiOn to this.
Early plowing exposes the soil to the
action of the rain, frost and sun, and the
earlier the work is done the finer will be
the particles of earth and the more avail
able the plant food. Quite a number Of
insects will also be exposed to the surface,
while the loOsening of the soil also per-
mits the ground to become warm early.
There are men in every neighborhood
who sell their hog crop to disadvantage,
and with more or less loss to themselves ;
when man sells hogs at seven
months old, weighing 125 pounds, that
are healthy and have good frames, when
there is abundance of good corn on the
farm, that must be fed or sold. Misfor-
tune follows such management.
Most every farmer is aware the fact that
a sheep must be fat to make the best NUT
ton, but few conceive the idea that a
properly and well-fed sheep produces
more and better wool than one poorly fed
and cared for Wool is a product from
feeding, just the same as fat or flesh, and
the flock should be fed and managed with
a view to wool growth, and that of fine
quality.
The pigs should never be raised in
small, close pen; they may be started
there in the spring and finished off dur
ing the last six weeks OF their lives in
comfortable pens, but the summer
months should be spent in the open
fields, among the clover and grasses.
Skim milk and bran are much better
foods than corn. The aim should be to
make the pig grow rapidly, but he should
not be made what is called fat until near
the close of his life.
The better the preparation of the soil
the less seed will be required. Many
failures in the seed are not due so much
to lack of vitality in the seed as to the
unfavorable condition of the ground. 1t
is always matter of chance termination
when seed is broadcasted and left to be
covered by the washing of the rain, and
n ha cna1 NOD tho
greater the difficulty in securing crop
from the seed. Pulverize the soil, har-
row it down as fine as possible and then
brush the seed in.
Prof. Jordan, of Massachusetts,, has
experimental with whole corn and meal
fed to pigs, and has found that the gain
made by hogs fed corn meal costs about
4 per cent more than the gain made by
the hogs fed corn. In all trials the hogs
were fed potatoes and milk also, and the
same quantities of feed. 1t seems that
the results would have been of more value
if the animals had been given all the
whole corn or meal they would consume,
as this would have tested the palatable-
ness of the feeds, which has particular
value.
Nothing will enlarge the capacity Of a
chicken quicker than varied bill of fare
and good supply of green food. To
chickens in confinement onion tops are
especially acceptable, and the tops are rel
ished more than the bulbs themselves.
Beet and turnip tops will be greedily de-
voured. That they mey not be wasted,
lay them with the tops all one way and
weigh them down with stone. Bran
and shorts, wheat and oats, table scraps
and meat, with a very little corn, few
sunfower seeds and small amount OF
hnckMheat. make an irresistible combina-