The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1889-02-15
AGRICULTURAL.
STRAW AS A MATERIAL. FOR SUB
sTANTIAL STOCK SHELTERS.
A Good Idea for Hoist for Barn-The
Treatment that Should be Given
TO Fowls-Rsceipt for De-
stroying the weevii.

ing purposes ana tine D6fteK tHHy VIII
keep through the winter.
Economy is certainly wealth in the
feeding of farm horses, and yet it does
not necessarily mean stinting or cut
ting off of rations. Give this matter
8 thorough investigation, and see il
there is not more in il than a eaper-
fetal glance would indicate.
Germ meal in small quantities. lin
seed meal in small quantities, and a
liberal quantity of good bran meal
with the roughness, will make an ad-
mirable winter feed for milch coHf,
and if given literally, with good shel
ter, it is possible to secure a good flow
of milk during the winter; provided,
of course, that you have a good breed
of cows, that this feed can be given TO
during the winter.
BY pouring boiling water over any
kind of grain, and allowing the grain
to remain twenty-four hours, it will
swell and prove an acceptable change
to the fowls. The soaked grain trl-
dergoes a partial chemical change,
contains slightly larger portion OF
sugar, and is really more digestible.
Nothing is added TO the grain by soak
ing it, bat it will be more readily
eaten for some time than drv grain.
though the birds will return e. dry
grain as preference if fed TOO long
ON that which is soaked.
A correspondent OF the New Eng
land Farmer gives the following direc-
tions for destroying the potato weevil !:
Take an ordinary manure hod, one
that is broad and light is to be pre-
| ferred, and grasping il by the hole
for the left hand near the mouth OF
the bod, with a broad and Timber
broom carried with the right hand,
proceed through tie field, placing the
hod against vines infested with grubs
and gently beating or sweeping them
over the edge of the hod and into il
with the broom. In this way a great
majority of all the grubs in a small
potato patch may be gathered in
short time and destroyed. This may
be of service, especially in eases where
there are objections to the use of pois-
ons offered in the markets. A little
practice will enable person to do ex-
ecution with the above implements
with considerable dispatch.
I Strlw as a material for stock shell
ters have favorable qualities: 1t is q
very poor conductor of heat, hence it
makes a warm shelter Il costs little.
being produced in abundance on a
large majority OF farms and its en-
ployment for this purpose does not
require special skill beyond the farm
er. But it is NOT as economical as
! many suppose. Ht as necessary
that the TOD e. the shelter be water
tight as that the sides be ind tight
even more important A straw rsgt
can be kept iaiH and snow proof only
by frequent repairings. srxw is not
a durable material and a straw shelter
il not loug-lived. In many case
where straw shelters are nov use
proper computation would shos
Der to be more economical
is usually cheaper TO p.i
than not to do so, the ch
ter would be neat, subsi
e l one.
One OF my neighbcrs hac
of fowls; had b I'd them cor.
small, dark house, with no.
tached, and / suppose all tH.
they could eat, as they were veT
when j purchased them. Ny neiss
Dor said he was sick and tired of them !;
no demand for eggs and no eggs !;
could never make living raising ian
cy fowls. / was not suitably fixed for
taking another breed, but as l GO.
them for 81 each, about one-tenth
their value, 1 bought them and took
them home, intending to do the best
possible by them, considering the con-
veniences at hand. Took two orders
for eggs before driving home. / placed
| them in a small house with l6x16
| foot run. As / said before they were
very fat. Ny first move was TO see
that they had plenty of exercise, and
thereby reduce them in flesh. / di-
vided portion OF their run off and
put in about one foot OF straw, and
! they had to scratch for living. It
was not very long until they were
shelling out eggs to their full capacity.
Poultry Keeper.
A good idea for a hoist for barn
is to erect two upright posts SIX inches
square and firmly fastened in the up
per part OF the bi.ilding, one on either
side OF the hatchway. Strong iron or
wooden boxes attached to these posts
support the journal of round shaft
one foot in diameter, upon which is
wooden wheel four to SIX feet in diam
eter. The larger size gives increased
power, but for ordinary lifting four
feet is large enough. The wheel is
made of eight ssgments cut from two
inch plank, each one being a quarter
of circle. They are put together
with spikes or bolts In a manner to
"break joints" Before being fastened
together the segments are notched to
receive the ends of the four arms,
which are also made of two-inch
plank, halved together at the center
of the wheel. The short end of the
shaft, as far as the wheel goes on, is
shaped to fit the square hole in the
center of the wheel. Long iron
spikes are driven and groove turned
in the outer periphery of the wheel to
keep the rope from slipping off The
hoist rope is firmly attached to the
shaft upon which it is coiled by the
revolution of the wheel.