Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-08-24
Farm AND ORCHARD.
THE FARMER SHOULD BE "A "JACK-oF-
MANY-TRADEs."

MANY-TRADEs."
Weight and Yield of Eggs-Summer Fall
low-Handling Horses-General
Farm Notes.
To be skillful workman should be the
ambition of the farmer as well as the me-
chanie. Men of the highest attachments,
! in every calling, are always in the ascend
ency. But how is it with the farmer in
general? An idea here seems to prevail,
| and with some degree of accuracy, too,
| that with the farmer it is a matter of
"luck," that the successful ones are those
that are so fortunate as to inherit ormarry
into good farm, or are born with the
proverbial 'silver spoon in the mouth" in
some other way. The reason why l say
| that the matter of luck seems to influence
farmers more than other men, is that they
evidently have less appreciation for the
force and utility of brains or skillful at
tainments. But to look at the matter in
! its true light, We can see that the adyant-
ages of science, skill, and high degree of
ingenuity is equally as potent, necessary,
and valuable with farmers as with any
| class of men.
1t is peculiar to some men to especially
excel in one branch, while with others
their talents are of the opposite order, in
clining towards a versatility of attain
ments. Among the latter class we should
| look for the best farmers 1t is not suf-
fcient that man should know how to
manage fractions horse, drive a four
horse team, plough straight furrow, or
even raise a good crop of grain under
favorable circumstances, but it is equally
as much in his line, and to his credit, to
| be an adept at some veterinary work, do a
little doctoring upon occasion, to pickle a
| barrel of good meat, to make a batch of
sourkraut, trim fruit tree, set hen or
some cabbage plants, thin a bed of radishes,
and do a score more of useful things. And
/ yet think | am safe in saying not one
farmer in fifty will go into garden and
| properly set plant or use hoe or rake.
And it won't take long to tell where their
mistakes are. In setting plants the custom
is to press the dirt on top instead of on
the roots and leaving the soil loose on top.
And in hoeing the invariable practice is to
hack up the ground and hill up every
thing instead of using a shufling motion
to loosen up the soil and hill up only what
needs it. | have had hands actually get
quarrelsome and refuse to obey orders
when | would tell them mot to hill up
those plants" To be a 'rjack- many
| trades" is sometimes not creditable; but
with a farmer he needs to be a Jack of-many-
trades, and the better the jack the more
credit Correspondence Germantown IeJe-
graph.
| A FEW POULTRY NOTES.
Mrs. E. P. Duden, writing from Lake
House, August 10Th, to the Farm and
Orchard" department of the RECORD
! UNION, says:
Poultry at this season of the year should
! have generous care, as it is the moulting
season, which is heavy drain on their
systems. Shade and fresh water are nee
essary, and tonic of some kind in their
drinking water two or three times a week
is very beneficial. A spoonful or two of
linseed meal and sulphur to half a dozen
fowls, once or twice a week, is said to aid
| the moulting process. Douglass mixture
is most generally used as tonic, and is
made by dissolving one pound of copperas
III gallon Of water and adding
three tablespoonful Of sulphuric acid.
Keep in tightly-closed stone or
! glass jars, and handle the acid very
carefully. One teaspoonful of the mixture
to each quart of drinking water. If pos
sible the sexes should be kept apart during
the moulting season. If poultry cannot
have the run Of grass or alfalfa yard,
green food should be provided for them.
| On ranch there is always refuse fruits
and vegetables that can be fed with an ad-
vantage to the poultry. Even in the
towns where person keeps few fowls all
the fruit and vegetable parings, cabbage
| leaves, bits of meat and stale bread, should
instead of going to the swill man, be care
! fully saved for the chickens. Lawn
| clippings are a positive luxury,
never forgetting the fresh water. Now is
the time to examine the poultry houses,
particularly the rooSts and nests, for it is
during the hot summer nights that the
mites and chicken lice get in their deadly
work. The old adage: Gan ounce of pre-
vention is worth a pound of cure" will
apply to the poultry yard as well as any
where else. But should the poultryman
find that vermin is getting the best of the
| fowls, a liberal use of lime, carboIic acid
and coal oil, twill their quietus make
and send them to that undiscovered coun-
try, from whose bourne" no chicken louise
will ever return.
WEIGHT AND YIELD OF EGGS.
The following statement of the weight
and yield of eggs of the different promi-
nent breeds of fowls is from an exhaustive
tabular statement by Mr.. L. 2. Simmonds.
who is considered standard authority on
poultry statistics.
Light Brahmas and Partridge Cochins,
eggs, to the pound; they lay 50 to 100
per annum, or even more, according to
treatment and keeping.
Dark Brahmas, s to the pound and about
20 per annum.
Black, White and Buff Cochins, s to
the pound; 100 or less per annum.
Plymouth Rocks, to the pound, 100 per
annum.
Houdans, s to the pound, $50 per an
La Fleche, to the pound, $50 per an
mum.
Black Spanish, 7 to the pound, $50 per
annum.
Dominiques, 9 to the pound, $50 per an
mum.
Game Fowls, 9 to the pound, 100 per
annum.
Creve-Ceurs, to the pound, $50 per
annum.
Leghorns, 9 to the pound, $50 to 200 per
annum.
Hamburgs, to the pound, $50 per an
mum.
Polish, 9 to the pound, $50 per annum.
Bantams, Is to the pound, so per annum.
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