The record-union., 1891-05-11
FARM And ORCHARD.
The Improvement of Stock by
Careful Selection.
Killing Potatoes-Dying In the Shells
Ballfng of Lambs-A Dozen Stools of
Rhubarb-Eggs in Spring and sum-
mer-Poultry Notes.


mer-Poultry Notes.
Much time and labor may be wasted by
farmers who attempt to improve their
STOCK by selection. but without recourse
to some well-known breed. Farmers are
not averse to improving stock. Like all
other classes.they prefer the best, but they
do not take the easiest and quickest way
10 gain their objects. By selection of the
best for breeding purposes, every year,
any stock can be made better, but some
rule must govern the process of improve
ment by selection, as the first requisite is
TO fix certain characteristics in order that
they may be transmitted to the progeny.
Unless the stock becomes better with
each succeeding generation the process
will be slow, and but little will be gained.
In the past the founding of breed has
required the efforts of fathers, sons and
grandsOns, while skill and patience are
necessary in order to avoid mistakes. The
farmer Of the presents day enjoys great
advantage. He is not dependent upon
selection in order to grade up his stock.
The work has been done for him, GEN.
turleS OF patient labor having given him
breeds that are well adapted for every
purpose for which stock is required on q
farm. To attempt to improve flock or
herd by ignoring the breeds already es-
tabliShed is but to engage in a laborious
undertaking that is more costly and irk-
some than the ordinary farmer viii
attempt.
1t is but right and proper for the farmer
to select the best of his animals for breed
ing purposes, but to improve them in the
shortest time he has the pure breeds to
I'D h 4p1-.
work done before he existed. There is
but one way to improve, and that is to
grade up the stock with pure bred males,
as any attempt to improve by selection Of
the ordinary stock of the farm viii only
lead to endless disappOintments. There
is no breed that will satisfy all. The
breed for the farmer depends upon his
method Of farming. If he ships milk or
produces butter he must use the breeds
specially adapted to those objects. If he
depends largely on the production of beef
and wool he viii find certain breeds to eX-
Gel in those directions With the pure
breeds within his reach he has but to
plan his work and arrange the details,
and, to succeed, his stock must be just
what herequirCs according to his climate,
soil and other conditions pertaining to
his bIect.-Pbltddeip Record.
KILLING POTATOES.
Experiments made by us, 20 years ago
and more, showed that the common and
almost universal practice of drawing the
earth up in small hills around potato
plants was attended with considerable
loss. The practice was founded on the
erroneous suppOsitiOn that all the roots
and tubers were confined within mar
row space of comparatively few inches
around each plant, and that a deep bed of
earth in a narrow hillOck was lust what
was wanted. On riding through the
country most of the potato fields and
gardens are seen still to continue the
practice. The great mistake thus made
may be observed by digging down few
inches in the spaces between the rows.
1t viii be found that while the plants are
still young, and before the tubers have
formed or grown to any size, the horizon
tai roots have met and crossed each other
between and in the three-foot spaces.
By hilling the plants, the earth must be
scraped or plOwed away from these
spaces, and the horizontal roots cut off
or laid bare. This treatment Will neces-
sarily reduce the growth of the tubers,
which although near the center of the
hill, are fed by the roots. The expert
ment Is worth trying. Select three or
four more, and let the soil be well cuiti-
waited and kept mellow and fiat. Count
the bushels of each when dug, and ii will
be found that those from the flat rows
have from ten to twenty per cent. the
most potatoes. There may sometimes be
very peculiar conditions of the soil
shallow soil or rock or otherwise-which
may modify the result; but for common
ground, plowed at a good depth and
planted deep enough, there is but one re-
suit. We observe that the Michigan sta
ton has modified this test by placing
manure between the rows, where the
long horizontal roots could feed from it
with better returns than by manuring in,
under or over the hill.-A tbany CaIti-
Gator.
RAILING nE
The North american AgricuHuri8t
makes public the following a prominent
breeder Of Border Leicesters was point
ing out the shearlings he was preparing
for the coming shows, and lamenting the
fact that last year large number of his
best lambs died from wool balling in
their stomachs. And you found it was
the lambs that We're thriving best that
died from this cause?" said Mr.. Cameron.
Yes" was the reply; that is So" II
know it, said Mr.. Cameron. ''I used to
lose great many lambs from this cause
myself But l know how to keep this
trouble at bay now. When lambs are
thriving uncOmmOnly well, there seems
to be heat Of some sort that comes out
on their shoulders and other parts of their
bodies, and they turn around and bite
their skin about the shoulders, and in
that way the wool gets into their mouths
and into their stomachs. / find most
eftectual preventive of this is to have the
lambs dipped when they are between six
and eight weeks old. / have followed
that practice for many years now, and
have never lost lamb from this trouble
since | adopted this course"
The knowledge that has proved so val
uRble in Mr.. Cameron's case may prove
equally valuable to other flockmasters
throughout the country, more particu-
LARRY in spring like this, when the grass
is in such q forward state, so that the
lambs are provided with all the condi-
tions favorable for rapid growth. The
dipping may serve either to allay the
heat, which causes them to bite the skin,
or it may serve to render the wool so dis
tasteful that they are very careful not to
eat it. Nothing gives the Hocllmaster a
greater paug than TO see the lambs of his
flock, and especially the best lambs of
the flock, going down with illness: and if
the numerous deaths from 'balling" can
be prevented by such simple means, the
knowledge of this fact cannot be too
widely spread.
DYING IN THE SHELLS.
When chicks die in the shells there is
loss of both eggs and chicks. When eggs
from immature pullets are used, or eggs
from inbred stock, or from stock in which
the male or the hens are lacking in some
essential, there will be loss of eggs during
incubation. One of the mistakes usually
made Is IN SunUOSinp that eggs must have