Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-12-28
Farm AND ORCHARD.
HOW FUNGUS DISEASES ARE PRoPA-
GATED AND PLANTS ATTACKED.
Hints on Preparing Turkeys for Market
Fixing the Proportion of Solids
in Milk-Notes.

As nearly all the diseases of vegetables
are due to living organisms called fungi,
something in regard to them will not be
out of place. Many valuable experiments
have been made in order to determine the
nature and characteristics of the various
forms of fungi which prey on both the liv-
ing and dead plants, chief among which
being those of Professor Humphrey, of the
Massachusetts, Experiment Station, who
describes the difference between plants and
fungi by stating that plants perform their
various functions by distinct organs, such
as leaves, roots, etc, while fungi perform
their functions with the whole plant-body,
which needs no variety of organs.
The piant-b0dy Of fungi consists OF
numerous simple, branching white threads,
which spread over or through the sub
stances on which the growth is made.
These threads are known as the mycetlum
of the fungus. No flowers are produced
by fungi, but they are propagated by
spores, which are produced on reproductive
threads. and are so small and light they
can be carried any distance by winds or in
sects To prevent the spread OF fungi,
therefore, the work must never be delayed,
but commence with the opening of the
season. The use of compounds destructive
to fungi and its spores should really begin
before any signs of attack can be noticed,
especially if the vegetables were attacked
the year previous. 1t seems possible, how
ever, that plants may be fortified against
attack by vigorous growth, induced by the
use of fertilizers, which may introduce into
the plants substances which render them
less susceptible to the Influences of the
fungi, or, rather, render the plant less
congenial as a soil for the growth OF the
spores.
Why fungi does not exist independently
is because they cannot elaborate their own
food material, and must subsist on plants,
as plants through the agency Of the
leaves, roots, etc. provide the food desired
by the fungi The available sources of
supply fall under two heads-the living
organism and the dead organic matter
hence, certain kinds of fungi subsist on
living plants and others on dead matter.
The latter belong to the class of molds,
toadstools and such like. The other lives
on the growing plants, and robs them of
substance and vitality. They are classed
as parasites. There are various forms of
fungi, many of which conine their opera
tions to certain varieties of plants, and the
mildews come under this class. Though
closely related, the mildew of the lettuce
does not attack the onion, owing to the re-
mote relationship of the plants attacked.
Farmers should study the fungi and make
Il al ba IF
each kind. If they are unable to classify
the fungi, they can at least experiment
with remedies and modes of cultivation,
not only for the purpose of lessening the
ravages, but to exterminate the foe.
SHIPPING DRESSED POULTRY.
First see that all poultry is well fat
tened, as there is a great difference be-
tween the price of fat and that OF poor
poultry, and, in a fully stocked market,
good poultry, well fattened and well
dressed, will always command ready sale
and good prices, while poor, badly dressed,
is slow of sale at low prices. Therefore
there is not only gain in weight by having
poultry properly dressed, but also in price.
Corn is the pest for finishing off poultry,
as it gives a firmer flesh and yellower color
than buckwheat and other grains. Feed
nothing from twelve to twenty-four hours
before killing, so that the crops will be
perfectly empty.
In killing, use a sharp, narrow-bladed
knife, inserting it in the mouth as far back
as the ear, and cutting the vein. Then
hang it up by the legs, until thoroughly
bled. The water for scalding should be at
boiling point. Take the fowl by the legs
and head, dip it in the water two or three
times letting the hot water through the
feathers to the skin. Then strip off the
feathers clean, pin-feathers and all. If the
heads are dipped in the water, the scald-
ing will make them look stale and shrunk-
en-. After thoroughly picking, dip in clean
scaIding water, then plunge in clean cold
water, letting it remain about ten minutes.
Take it out and hang in cool, dry place,
in a current of air, but do not let it freeze.
Do not draw it or take the intestines out.
Leave the head and legs o., and take great
care in dressing not to rub or tear the
skin. bruise the flesh or break The bones. The
above hints are for scalded poultry, which
is in most dem md.
For dry picking, kill by bleeding in the
mouth, and Immediately strip the feathers
off clean while the fowl is warm, using
great care not TO tear or bruise the flesh.
Then hang up by the legs to cool off, the
same as for scalded fowl. Some persons
also do what is called half-scalding, which
is. after dry-picbing clearly, to dip in
scalding water, then in cold. Turkeys,
ducks and geese 60 through the same pro-
cess in dressing as fowls, both scaldlng and
dry-picking. Some persons, after the ducks
and geese are picked, to more thoroughly
free them from pin feathers rub them over
with powdered resin; dip in scalding
water and rub off the rosin and pin
feathers then wash thoroughly with warm
water and brush with soaps then rinse in
cold water and hang up until cold and
thoroughly dried.-AmeTicaB Agiculturis
for January.
PROPORTION OF SOLIDS IN MILK.
1t was only by practical experience in
the selling Of milk, under law regulating
the sale, that dairymen realized the fact
that it is impossible to produce uniform
grades of milk Even the laws created
through their influence have become OBJ
noxious to them The mistake made was
in demanding regulation for which they
were not prepared, and Of which they were
not aware until they felt its application
They did not realize that the uniform
standard of milk should go further and
call for the uniformity of the cows and o.
the food. Milk is product the quality Of
which is beyond the control of the dairy.
man. unless he begins at the source and
regulates the breeding of his stock and the
selection OF the food from which the milk
is produced. TO fix the proportion Of
solids is to shut out the milk from certain
cows that cannot come up to the standard
though such cows may be the largest pro
ducers in the herd.
Another problem TO deal with is that the
solids are not uniform in the relative pro-
portions of fat, easeine, etc, and the value
of the solids depend upon the preference;
of the BUYERS. The fat in the milk is th'