Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1889-07-03
Early Cut Glover.

| OUtt6ttU.
Early Cnt Glover.
Clover will soon be ready to cut. The
proper time for cutting IS now live
question. Some say cut it when it first
comes into bloom and practice lets one
half of the heads get dead ripe. All
aim to get it OF the right time, and in
the best condition.; but few begin cut
| ting early enough to avoid putting in a
lot of dead ripe clover at the last end.
Especially if it comes on wet, the clover
| must stand until fair weather, and often
| by this time it is well seeded.
What says chemistry about the proper
time to cut clover? The result of an
alysis do not seem to favor any of the
| periods when clover is usually cut. The
tables give the nutritive ratio of clover
| in full bloom-the tine perhaps most
generally agreed upon-as one part of
| heterogeneous material to ST. of carbon
| aceous. This is very good ratio for
ordinary feeding purposes, but clover
cut at this time does not appear to be at
| its best. When cut before blossoming,
the feeding ratio is given as one
| of heterogeneous to 3.S of car
| bonaceous material. This is pretty
strong meat. and will admit of
| corn meal, corn stalks. or straw, as
part of the ration, and still be up to the
standard. Clover cut before blossom
has about one-third larger proportion
of muscle and cheese making material
| than that cut in full blossom; and usu-
ally the more heterogeneous foods are
counted the more valuable. There is
no trouble in getting the carbonaceous,
| but care must be taken that they are in
digestible form. Coarse fibre is not;
yet this is what We get in over-ripe fod-
der.
Another point in favor of the clover
cut before blossom, and just about the
time it is ready to begin to open, is that it
is more easily digested. There is not SO
much bulk, but larger proportion Of
the whole is digested. This, of course,
makes 1t more nutritious, and better for
producing milk or beef. Letting clover
stand until it is more mature simply in
creases the amount of carbonaceous
fibre, but the increase is Offset by loss
of digestibility. We suspect that very
few of the fodder plants and grasses,
except corn, are cut and cured at as
early period of their development as
they should be.-Practical Farmer.
Safety From Bee Stings.
The movements of the operator have
| much to do in the matter of stings. It
| can not be said that the apiarist never
| receives any stings, for any one. it mat
| tiers not how perfectly he operates, will
| occasionally receive sting. But proper
| management will curtail this objection
| to such limit that to the beekeeper it
is, not worthy, OF any consideration
| whatever. ''Never strike a bee" is
| a sentence that has been written very
often as heading for the discus
| sion Of the subject of stings-and it is a
good one. 1t would seem that to our
motions we may attribute every sting
| that is inflicted upon us. Bees do not
like to be hastily handled, but will re-
pei all quick motions. But otherwise
| they will allow themselves to be placed
in any position, divided in any number
of parts and be carried any distance,
without making the least resistance, all
| because the operator has handled them
quietly and patiently. By rough hand
| ling bees become irritable and the whole
apiary may be made by such treatm ent
to be very unpleasant to operate.
Farm Life in China.
A farmer may be hired by the year for
| from 30 to $14, with food, clothing, head
shaving and tobacco. Those who work
| by the day receive from to 10 cents.
with MONDAY meal. At the planting
and harvesting Of rice, wages are from 10
TO ~ cents day, With i've meals; or ~
cents a day without food. Few land
owners hire hands, except Tor few days
during the planting and harvesting of
rice. Those who have more land than
| they and their sons can till, lease it to
| their neighbors.
Much land is held on leases given by
ancient proprietors to clansmen whose
| descendants now till it, paying from 81
to $l4 worth of rice annually for it's use.
Food averages little more than dol
lar month for each member of farm
er's family. One who buys, cooks, and
eats his meals alone, spends from one
and half to two dollars month upon
the raw material and fuel Two pounds
of rice, costing three and half cents,
with relishes of salt fish, picked cab
bage, cheap vegetables and fruits, cost
ing cent and half, is the ordinary al
| lowance to each laborer for each day.