The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1891-10-29
OUR RURAL TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers
NnTFs


milk producer, is strongly Of the opinion that
the best food for q cow in milk Is grass. He
finds this better Than the best silage and he be-
lieyes that the true economy is TO NOW the
grass and cart it 20 the stable In the pasture
the COW destroys as much with her feet as she
consumes.
The coudensed-milk industry IS rapidly
growing in this country, and finds much favor
with the farmers in the vicinity Of the conden-
satores. as they are called. The main difficulty
at present is the great cost Of these 1t requires
about 100000 to build a condensatory. and
5000 cows in the immediate ncghborhood to
run it. The profits derived are much greater
than from making milk into cheese or in any
other way TO which it can be applied, except,
perhaps, in making gilt-edgo butter
Some Of the progressive farmers in Maryland
and North Carolina report great success in
raising wheat on ground fallowed with clover
They not only make themselves rich, but their
farms also. The North Carolina Experiment
Station has been making a series of trials with
wheat grown OF ground into which cow peas
had been planted. Three successive crops show
that the plats which had been SO treated with
out any fertilizer but the peas have grown
nearly twice the crop the plats that have been
treated with GOO pounds annually, Of ferti-
lizer, composed Of acd phosphate. cotton seed
meal, and kainite. The average yield has been
! increased - bushels per acre.
J. II. Griffith, Queens County, n. Y. says
that some eight or 10 years ago he planted
lot Of common cedars in his chicken-y yard, and
kept them pinched back until they formed
veritable paradise for the poultry. lie believes
that the temperature OF the yard is warmed in
! Winter and cooled in Summer nj least 10 de-
grecs by them and Les advises all other poultry
raisers to try the experiment
IL an old hen begins 10 m0lt earlv and gets
well feathcrrd ont In October or early in No
veInber she can By proper care be made to lay
nearly all Winter, and, II not more than three
/ 10 four years old, may give more eggs than a
! pullet. She will probably want 10 set earlv
aud old hens make better mothers than young
ones do But she must be wei! fed and not be
made too fat GIVE oats, wheat wheat bran
meat scraps. aud vegetables aud avoid corn
corn meal, and buekwheat as a diet until after
she has begun 10 lay.-dmericqn Cidlirai9r.
good yield for the large fowl is $50 eggs in
year and for Leghorns and other small breeds
l-O eggs year. FIocks seldom exceed these
figures, but individual fowls often do, and when
such can BE- selected they are the ones TO breed
from II egg-prOduction is the object If they
can DO induced TO give one-quarter Of that
during the Winter months, il will pay for the
whole years feeding
The NATGOSAL TRIBUNE has received some
samples Of splendid wheat from Comrade Frank
Riley, WillisiOn County. n. d. IL was raised
on the famous bench or table land Of the Mis-
souri, River, on the line OF the Great Northern
Railway. lie does not want his section Of the
country 10 be IN the rear, and As he sees other
comrades setting forth the merits Of their re-
gsrar inc loo - .n L.. l.
them. He will furnish information in regard
to his section OF the country to all who inquire.
TO INCREASE TIE YIELD OF OATS.
Not having much land to sow 10 oats this
season, determined toput il in good shape in
order hat II might do It's best. The land is a
clay soil and not over and above good at that
The Spring was backward, and on account of
wet weather did not get my oats sown until
the middle Of april The land was plowed
rolled and narrowed rolled aud narrowed
again, then drilled leugthwiso with two bush
els Of oats and 100 pounds Of phosphate 10 the
acre. 10 was then eross-drilcd with tw0 BUSH
els more Of oats aud 100 pounds Of phosphate
After the sowing the weather was very dry for
five or six weeks so that they did not stool
out much and were left rather thin on the
ground. But am well satisfied with the yield,
which was 90 bushels to the acre. and the maR
who aid the reapng said that he could have
measured an acre that would have yielded 20
bushels. The oat crop in this section went for
the most part only from 30 10 b bushels, with
now and then piece that w"ud perhaps reach
40 ] think got we'll paid for the extra labor
OF cross-driling and the 200 pounds Of phos-
plate TO the acre. Thirty bushels Of oats at -
cents equals $500; 200 pounds of fertilizer,
$50. This leaves -. 80 for cross-driling which
Is a very handsome profit. / have sown some
wheat IN the same manner this Fall and will
report results next scas0n.-Isnqc T. Squire
n
PITTING POTATOES.
Where potatoes are 10 be kept through the
Winter, aud not wanted for market or use
till Spring, a well-eOustructed pit out of doors
Is the best way TO keep them. Cellars are
always too warm. and even a temperature Of
so starts the eyes. whether the cellar be light
or dark. In dark cellar the pota Oes in "A bin
Will he found grown together II not examined
frequently. In out-OfdOOr pits. unless the
Winter IS extremely warm scarcely an eye will
have started up 10 the time the pit is ready TO
be opened Such potatoes, for seed. are worth
double what the same potatoes would be kept
so warm that each eve has sprouted aud must
have its original growth broken of. IL stands
10 reason that this first growth has greater vig0r
than will any one that starts aiterward. The
pit should only he lightly covered and good
ventilation be given up to the time Of severe
freezing. Just before that put on another coat
of straw over the whole heap and cover with
four or five inches depth of soil. II weather
below zero is threatened in Winter draw "A few
loads Of manure from the horse stables and give
the pit another covering. When thus treby
covered there is little danger that even zero
weather will reach down to freeze the potatoes
-dmeTican CElfirGt0r
WHAT SEED FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF AZ
RICULTURE PRODUCES.
The following letter from Joseph Bouse,
Deer Park, Nd, 10 the Secretary Of Agrcul-
ture may prove interesting 10 some of our
readers. The letter reads:
Z" / received from Agricultural Department
one paper OF turnip seed and one paper Of leek
The turnip seed sowed on June II. and raised |
about so bushels Of fine turnips from the paper
Of seed some Of which weighed from five TO |
seven pounds each. The leeks did not amount |
TO much"
Largest Dry Dock the Lakes.
The largest dry dock on the great lakes has |
-