Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-11-02
FARM and ORCHARD.
PUMPKINS ARE VALUABLE AND NU-
TRITIOUs FOOD.
Neglect of Horses on the Farm-Some
valuable Points Given in
Small Space.


spread before them. The orthodox way of
feeding them is to draw wagon load into
the pasture and scatter them promiscu-
ously about in a partially crushed condi-
tion for the COWS to fight and choke over
1t always pays to feed intelligently, and
we might add, humanely, and we append
way of offering pumpkins to COWS that
we believe to be more efficacious than the
manner described. Gather only ripe,
sound pumpkins; the green and decayed
ones discard knock off the hard stems
and handle with pitch or dung fork.
Near the pasture fence build plank
bottomed pen, or large, shallow dry
goods box would do, and into this dump a
part of load of selected pumpkins.
Now, go into them with a sharp spade,
and chop them quite finely. Most of the
entrails and seeds will slough and rattle
off, and the meaty blocks of the fruit
shovel over the fence into long, station
airy trough for the cattle to partake of at
leisure.
Roots, such as mangels and ruta-bagas,
can advantageously be served the same
way, and if fed in winter, your chopping-
box can be placed in the cellar or stable.
The seeds of pumpkins act too vigor-
ously on the kidneys to be beneficial to
cows hence care should be taken that they
be excluded from their menu.
At this time of the year it is the en-
deavor of dairymen not so much to in
crease their milk flow as to maintain its
previous quality. Meadows are annually
leached, through their depletion of after
math, for this, when some other substitute
/ should be provided.
Our experience with pumpkins as
cheaply- produced food has been satisfac-
| tory in the extreme, and we recommend
their more extensive cultivation. Those
| varieties of the fruit that yield most pro-
| lifcly, and produce the frmest, sweetest
meated pumpkins are the ones to plant.
! If planted in field separate from corn
| they do far better than when shaded by
| the maize.
Dairymen, do not despise the pumpkin
| because it is ubiquitous. Cultivate it well
and feed it intelligently, and you will be
satisfied with the result.
/ NEGLECT Ot HORSES.
Nowhere Is the attention and care in
minor points more necessary to the we'll
| being of horses overlooked more than on
| the farm. Some men are not even pro-
vided with a brush and curry-comb, so
little attention do they give their horses
| Especially is the farm work-horse ne
| elected in this respect On some farms he
! is rarely curried, and when it is done the
job is so unpleasant because of the dust and
/ hair flying around that it is given up in dis
| gust before it is completed. Perhaps if
any horse needs currying more than an
other it is the farm work-horse. His body
/ is often wet with sweat, which alone would
make currying a necessity but when the
animal is afterward made gray with dust
his condition and feelings must be the
same as those of man under like circum-
stances, and good cleaning and rubbing
will have just as beneficial an effect as a
! bath would have on such man. Many
| persons seem to think that the rain will
clean off their horses, and so they leave it
to the rain. 1t is doubtful whether the
rain will have any other effect than to
plaster the dust more closely to the ami
mails body, shutting more than ever the
pores which ought at all times to be open.
If this condition results in nothing serious,
/ it must be at least an unpleasant thing for
| the horse. "Put yourself in his place" is
| good maxim in cases of this kind.-Na-
tionaI Stockman.
FARM NOTES.
At the agricultural show held at Denil-
| iquin, New South Wales, in July last,
/ A ch cft1I
in competition with some of the best Aus
, tralian hocks. The American sheep car
ried everything before them in the judg-
| ing.
| For farm teams the cheapest protection
| against flies is leather nets. With reason
! able care these will last for years. They
should be cleaned and oiled at least once a
month while in use, or the sweat of the
/ animals will rapidly rot them. The best
protection for hogs is the wallow.-Prairie
/ Former.
You know that if COWS eat cabbage,
onions, or other strong-smelling and pun
/ gent food they will make the milk have
! that flavor. Now, it stands to reason that
manure wash, frog spittle or slime, will
have the same effect upon the milk.
Keep them away from it.-Anerlcan Dairy
man.
We find the following excellent hints in
the Germantown Telegraph, copied from
some shrewd observer: "The secretory
action of the milk glands depends on the
nervous system, any arrangement of which
interferes with milk secretion. Hence the
importance of treating the cow kindly, as
| ill-treatment disturbs the nervous system,
and both lessons the flow of milk and re-
duces its quality"
Bulls are dangerous animals and ma
! iority of the injuries received occur from
placing too much confidence in gentle
bulls, which suddenly and unexpectedly
attack the attendant. A bull will usually
prove obedient when young, but 1t is
seldom that full matured bull is safe.
| No bull should be kept on farm that has
not been "ringed" in the nose.
A new departure in dairy instruction
has, SAYS Hoards Dalyman, been taken
by the Victorian, Australia, Department
of Agriculture. A staff of teachers, with
all the implements of butter and cheese
making travel from place to place. At
each place a course of several days in
struction in the best and latest methods
of dairying is gone through, and all that
is required of the farmers being a supply
of milk and cream for the purpose of
demonstration.
An interesting feature of the recent
Ohio State Fair at Columbus, was walk
ing match between horses hitched to a
wagon containing half ton of coal. The
track measured about four-ninths of a
mile. There were eight contestants, and
the time was 4:10 and upward to 5:45. The
best time was made by mare that had
been driven forty miles from Mechanics
burg in Champagne county, to enter the
race. When it is noted that the time was
at the rate of six miles an hour, while the
average horse makes but two and half
IL. o.. hor.r Il 1rill be saen how much