The record-union., 1891-11-25


Portable when the droppings are allowed
10 remain, but nothing more conduces to
dampneSS and disease than a Hoor COW
cred with filth. Unless some absorbent
be used, the work of cleaning the poultry
house will be difficult. The object should
be to prevent the droppings from adher-
ing TO the floor. which should be of
boards, and tight as wooden floor is
warm in winter, can be swept with a
broom, and is therefore more easily
cleaned. IL the roost is placed over a
wide board, which catches the drop
pings, the board should be always
kept well covered with dry dirt,
two bushels Of dirt, which should be
sifted and in fine condition. The larger
portion of the droppings viii fall on the
board, but the floor viii also catch q por-
ton. Sawdust may be scattered over the
dirt. also, with advantage. The proper
way to clean is to first sweep the floor
with an old, rough broom, then scrape
the floor with hoe, and sweep again
Next scatter dirt or finely sifted coal
ashes over the floor, so as 10 cover it COM
pletely, and after cleaning off the board
under the roost, rub kerosene on the
roost. If this is done twice a week, only
few moments will be required for clean
ing the poultry house, and if done prop
erly no odor viii be distinguished there
IN. But the work should be done regu-
IarIy and not semi-occasionally so as TO
permit OF contining the hens in damp
weather. If the house is kept clean the
fowls should be shut in on rainy days,
and they will be less liable to danger from
roup or colds.-Farm and Fireside.
PRESERVE YOUR FARM MACHINERY.
The farmers, though endowed with
more than ordinary intelligence, deserve
a vast amount Of censure FOR the manner
IN hiah bov 70 F.,iI
care for, the farm machinery when not in
use. Barns and warerooms for housing
feed, stock and implements we admit are
IN many instances quite impossible, but
thousands of farmers who are amply
able to build barns. and many who have
good barns, leave their binders in the
field, plOWs and cultivatOrs III the tent
corner, scythes, rakes, spades and shoyeIs
suspended from trees or posts, all ex-
posed to sunshine or storm. the iron and
steel TO rust out and the wood to swell
and shrink, lose its paint and rot, and be-
fore the hrstinstalllaent note given for tie
machine IS due, 1t IS about TO be set aside
as worthless and worn ont, while in fact
it has been wrecked, not by necessary
use, wear and tear for which IL was built.
I but the criminal neglect Of its owner to
keep it housed away from the weather.
We say criminal neglect, and though it
may sound harsh to the individual guilty
Of the same, we feel that any man who
viii Willfully involve his purse or his
credit for machinery or anything neceS-
sary to the successful conduct of his farm
and then allow the wilitul and malicious
waste above referred to, takes ,ust that
many comforts from his tired and, per-
maps, oyerWorkel wife and dependent
children.
You say that the man who tipples or
gam mbles away his patrimony is guilty of
crime; how much worse is he, my
farmer friend, than you who, perhaps,
with more Intelligence permits TINS waste?
House your binder, your wagons and
buggy, every implement in use on
the farm. Have place for everything,
and everything, when not in use, in its
place. If you are able build good
barns in which to house your stock, i'm
plements and grain. If not able 10 build
barns buy lumber and build sheds Of Suf-
ficient capacity to hold everything. If
you cannot afford to buy the lumber,
build sheds of hay and poles or sod, and
if you are unable to furnish shelter Of
any kind do not get the implements, for
you are not able 10 own them. We lave
| heard the excuses from the farmer of
this state of things. but they were never
satisfactory, even to himself.
Harvesters, wagons, buggies, plows,
cultivators, and almost every machine on
the farm will last from ten to twenty
years longer if kept thoroughly housed
when not in use. This is the fellow who
says ne is getting poor on the farm,
whose wife looks pale and thin from over
work, and whose children shiver on their
way to and from school because of their
scanty clothing How long would the
| New England or Pennsylvania farmer
continue to own a farm ii operated on
your plan of waste? We feel warranted
in SAYING that some money shark would
possess the legal title to the same within
two years. And, further, we feel war
ranted in the belief that the Western
farmer more than wastes the profits of
the Eastern Acknowledgements Farmer.
MAKING MANURE IN WINTER.
No farmer can expect to make manure
of any kind except by changing some
substance from its original condition to
that of a decomposed material. Adding
the refuse Of the farm to the manure
heap gives it no value until the materials
are converted into plant food. The land
will be benefited just as much if the
wastes are left in the fields as to add them
to the heap, for nothing can be gained
above their real value. What is termed
making manure is really saving the
manure in the heap, by preventing loss of
soluble and volatile matter, and for that
purpose the refuse and wastes serve an
| excellent purpose. The farmer loses
manure by not taking advantage of the
materials within his reach Tor retaining
all the valuable properties OF the manure
! that has been added to his heap during
the summer and fall.
As rule too much coarse material is
used for absorbing the liquids. The
coarse absorbents will in time decompose
and become a part OF the heap itself, bat
before this is accomplished the heap loses
portion Of its value. 1t is well known
that when the absorbent material is fine
its power Of absorption is greater because
! it presents more surface to the liquids,
and it can be more intimately mixed with
the manure in the heap, and it can also be
more closely packed, with larger
amount used on a certain space. 1t will
also, of itself, decompose more quickly,
and the whole mass be III better condi-
! ton for handling and as plant food. 1t is
advisable, therefore, that straw, stalks
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