Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1889-08-23
1.BE CITIZEN
MISCELI ANEOUS.
Agricultural.

In making fence do not forget that the
zigzag fence leaves many corners for har
boring weeds.
Growing pigs may be fed huttermilk and
whey, but the principal food at this season
should be grass.
A row Of raspberries 100 feet long will
give an abundant supply for an ordinary
family. Plant few red raspberries this
fall
The summer is the time to put the barn
in condition for winter. Painting should
be done now, and the roof should be made
tight and close.
When "scoursr occur with animals feed
nothing hut cut hay and add little salt to
it, Diet is better than medicine.
The breed is an important factor in stock
raising. The breed adapted to the object
sought will give better results and at
lower cost proportionately.
All barns should be so constructed as to
allow the family cat to go anywhere under
or in it, as a precaution against rats and
mice, which destroy more than may be
supposed.
Lettuce for late use may be sown every
month. The plants will not be as thrifty
as the earlier crops, but will give contin-
uous supply with but little cost. Sow the
seed in rows or broadcast.
The early turnips may now be cleared
off and another crop grown on the same
ground for family use. Use plenty of ma
nure, pull up the grass and weeds If the
plot is small, and have the soil made deep
and fine.
Raising mules pays for the reason that it
costs less to raise mules than horses, and,
being harder, there is less risk of loss.
Where there is plenty fpasturage young
mule will secure nearly all the food he may
require
The fodder from the early sweet corn is
one of the best foods that could be used for
milch cows. The fodder is improved if cut
and stored in the barn, so as to be kept
clean and bright. If cut up with cutter
cattle will eat every portion Of the stalk.
Sheep are not profitable if kept as
"side business" A flock that is given the
same attention as other stock, and kept as
business venture, will pay larger profit
for capital invested than any other class of
stock, but sheep pay best when bred for
mutton rather than for wool.
To secure flowers successively the bushes
and vines must be kept in Towering conti-
tion by not allowing the flowers to go to
seed When plant produces seed it has
accomplished its object, and every seed pod
formed lessons the number of flowers. All
flowers should be cut off before they begin
to fade or change color.
To secure young black-cap raspberry
plants the canes are bent over and tipped
into the ground, with clod resting there
on to hold each cane in position. These
tips take root and the old vine is then cut
off. The red raspberry reproduces itself
by sending out shoots around the parent
vine. They can be taken up in the fall and
transplated, or it may be done very early
in the spring.
Old pastures that are overrun with
weeds can be best utilized for sheep, as
they will eat off the young weeds and keep
them down. Many weeds are valuable, so
far as their use for food is concerned, but
are undesirable in place of regular salable
crops. They can be utilized when young
by pasturing sheep upon them, and if weeds
are not allowed 10 seed the grass will again
take possession of the field
STOCK RAISING AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE
FARM.
Whether the keeping of stock is for the
purpose of conducting dairy or for the
sale of meat the farm itself is made more
valuable, and for this reason it is doubtful
if loss occurs in stock raising when the
receipts and expenses are nearly equal.
The farmer views only the amount he has
received from sales, and compares it with
the sum expended. If there is no profit
the venture is considered loss. But it is
truth that all materials brought on q
farm remain until removed and though
they may change in form yet they possess
value for some purpose. The farmer who
buys large amounts of bran, middlings and
other refuse OF the mills brings on his farm
that which remains as an investment until
it can be conducted into some other sal able
product
Every ounce of food procured for the use
of stock is converted into beef mutton,
pork, milk or manure. In the shape Of
meat and milk the farmer disposes of it at
an increased price, but the expenses are to
be deducted. All that remains on the
farm unsold, after the cost of the whole
has been secured in the sales, is just as
much n matter Of profit as that which has
been marketed, and this surplus is the ma
nure, which can be converted into food the
next year The farm is therefore increased
in fertility and at the same time increased
in value. the profits being expended on the
farm as manure. If the value of the ma
nure annually made in this country could
DC esLltDdteQ on some OASIS Lle uEureS
would be startling, and they would show
that the farmers create more wealth than
the estimates given in the crops only.
1t is an old proverb, "More stock more
manure; more manure more crops; more
crops more stock" There is, of course
limit to be reached somewhere in the in
crease, but the farmer who engages in
stock raising is sure to reach point where
his stock cannot dispose of the productions
of the soil by producing meat and milk and
his expen ses are then reduced by reason of
his abundance and independence of the
necessity of buying elsewhere, which in
creases the profits from sales and gives the
farm greater value, due to its capacity of
production, and in that respect he may be
storing up the profit of each year to reap it
at future time in the sha pc Of the surplus
crops sold over and above the amount re-
quircd for stock. The farmer whose farm
is abundantly stocked with all the animals
he can accommodate, and who sells his
hay is not az unwisc as is sometimes