The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1889-07-05

Top-DreSsing Wheat in Spring-Millet
and Hungarian Grass-Dairy In
terest-Early Lambs-Bee
Culture-Farm Notes.

lnere is time when 1t is safe to prune
most varities of decidious fruit trees. and
that time is when the wood is ripe and
while the tree is in dormant condition.
In removing crops from the soil we
take away plant food. This is the chief
cause OF soil exhaustion. Lack of fertil-
ity is commonly due in large part or en-
tirely to lack of plant food.
Cotton-seed meal will not do for hog
feed, as the lint balls in the stomach, and
cannot be voided. This objection to cot
ton-seed meal is not applicable to domes-
tic animals other than the hog.
Bread for Soup: Cut slices of stale
bread into small squares, throw in boil
ing lard and fry till brown. Skim out,
drain, and put in soup tureen before serv-
ing the soup. For oyster soup, crackers
crisped IN the oven are nice.
If the space between rows of grape-
vines is occupied by strawberry plants,
currant bushes or weeds, do not wonder
that the grapes do not ripen early. The
suns rays must reach the earth and keep
it warm if early ripening is desired.
If beets or carrots are not up 1t may be
that the ground was too cold when the
seed was put in. 1t is better to replant
than to lose the crop. They should be
grown as stock food, and as large yield
can be secured they will pay WE'LL
Old ewes may be sold if the lambs are
weaned- Only strong, vigorous ewes
should be retained. Select those that
yielded plenty of milk for the lambs for
breeding purposes, and sell off the rams
in order to infuse new blood in the flock,
If you dissolve bones by boiling them
In strong potash lye and then use dry
earth or leached ashes as an absorbent,
you get fertilizer or compost, rich in
both phospho,ic acid and potash. 1t will
contain also most of the nitrogen which
was in the bones.
The liquid manure is more valuable
than the solids, and liberal use of alb
sorbent material will aid in arresting its
loss. 1t should be saved carefully, and
a drain at the rear of the stalls should
conduct it to some kind of a receptacle
from which it may be pumped over the
manure heap.
The early lambs are now in demand.
Feed those that are not up to weight we'll
and push them into market as soon as
possible. A daily ration OF two parts
ground oats, one part corn meal, and
small proportion of linseed meal will be
excellent for them. They should have a
good pasture.
There is as much art in the work of
improving the drones of hive as to en-
deavor to secure better queens. Some
swarms of bees are too inbred to endure
hard winters. In the natural condition
bees are hardy, but when their care is in
the hands of the bee-keeper his Judgment
is important, and he can do much to add
vigor to the swarms.
Chocolate Meringue Pudding: Boil
one pint of rich milk, and a half teacup-
Iul OF butter, one teacupful of sugar and
three ounces OF grated chocolate; let it
boil and when cool add the whites of
Iour eggs; pour this in pudding dish
lined with slices of sponge cake and bake;
cover with meringue and let it brown.
Eat with lemon sauce.
The dairy interests of the United
States represent more than So ,0Oa, ,OOO, 900.
The number of milk COWS is estimated at
"a ,000, 900, which give an Aggregate milk
production of Z 1850, ,000, ,Q00 gallons. Four
billion gallons are used for butter; 7OO.-
100000 for cheese and the balance for
various purposes. The annual produc-
Jon OF butter 1850, COO, 600 pounds, and
5, 500, 900 pound of cEees. This immense
larry herd requires 1O0,000,OOO acres of
pasture land to support it.
The quick termination and rapid
growth OF millet and Hungarian grass
permits the young plants TO take possess
sion OF the soil, appropriate the available
plant food and starve out every weed that
appears. In fact, as weed destroyers
10Th crops are unexcelled, and should
any chance weeds secure places the now
ing of the Hungarian grass cuts off the
weeds and puts an end to them. For
blowing under, as green manurial crops,
they are excellent, and the hay is usually
clean and free from weeds. Ii grown for
nor other purpose than ridding a field of
weeds the Hungarian grass crops is alone
worth the labor bestowed upon it.
Z Top-Dressing Wheat in Spring: 1t is
sometimes good plan to top-dress win
ter wheat In tie spring. 1t is better still
doubtless to do the work in the fall, but
manure is not then to be had, and if the
wheat is all there after its winters ex-
posure it will pay to give it a further lift.
Choose time when the ground is either
rozen or has thoroughly dried SO it will
not poach. Then draw the manure in a
wagon provided with wide tires. If the
surface is dry the wheels will not sink in
to hurt. The manure will greatly help
the clover as well as the wheat. We
have known farmers to find profit in
drilling in $50 pounds of superphosphate
On the wheat in spring. The drill was
driven SO that its teeth cut the ridges be-
tween the rows made in drilling the seed
the previous fall. In this case probably
the surface of the soil did nearly
as much good as the fertilizer, as is
proven by the benefit often received from
dragging wheat fields in the spring.
If sheep are folded, and given attention,
a crop of millet or Hungarian grass will
be invaluable to them. Mr.. Stewart, the
well known authority on sheep, states
that when the crop is eight inches high
sheep may be allowed to eat off four or
five inches. Hurdles should be used,
and moved daily In order to avoid hav-
ing the sheep eat too close to the roots.
In this way it will grow anew, and cover
the ground more completely than before.
1t is estimated that good crop win pro-
duce about ten tons of green fodder per
acre, and pasture fifty sheep from one to
two months. 1t is advisable, for sheep
pasture, to use Hungarian grass, and to
hurdle the sheep in blocks of about
twenty-five. Cows and horses are also
fond of green food, and as the final cut
ting may be made late, succession is
had during the entire summer. 1t is not
advisable to grow these crops where
clover and other grasses are more suit
able, but the advantage they possess is