The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1893-11-08
THE FARM.

DIsPosING OF SURPLUS SToCK.-
October is the best season for fat
tening animals for the butcher, and
farmers should now look over their
aocks and herds, pick out the poor
er members and get them in condi-
ton to sell to the best advantage
before the arrival of real cold wealth
er. 1t will not pay to Winter such
stock, as better animals will give
larger returns for shelter, care and
feed. Keeping poor animal at any
reason is a money losing operation,
but it is worst of all to keep it
through the Winter. But hold fast
to your good dividend paying stock
if you have any such. 1t is very
poor policy in stock raising to sell
the best and keep the worst, as by
this method your stock will soon
run down TO point where your
best will be no better than your
worst is now. The right policy and
the winning one is to retain the
best and dispose of the poorest,
thus making your animals constant
ly better and Yourself richer, and
then it will not be long before your
worst will sell for as much money
as your best would bring now. And
sell enough of the scrubs or grades
to enable you to buy a few pure
bred animals of both sexes to form
ground work for improving your
stock, resist all temptation to part
with the full blooded produce and
highest grades, and in a few years
you will have only pure bred ami
mails.
SAVING COOP SEED.-It has been
found by many and exhaustive ex-
periments that the yield of pota-
toes grown from seed continuously
selected from the most productive
plants or hills are invariably the
largest. Just the same it has been
shown by hundred years of prac-
tice that the largest and soundest
corn from the stalks that bear two
good ears will produce the largest
crops. To make these facts avail
able in the selection of seed of both
these crops, immediate attention is
to be given to them. The potato
crop is now ready to be harvested,
and it is only when the tubers are
ga hered that the best seed can be
selected. The plants that are con-
spicuOusly the most productive of
sound, we'll shaped tubers, are to be
harvested separately and the tubers
NJ no i
place. The finest ears of corn can
be best selected in the field, as then
the twin ears may be taken. The
cornf thus selected Will then ripen
most thoroughly, which is an ad.
vantage to the seed. The ears are
finally gathered and tied by the
husks in bundles and hung in a
smokehouse to be thoroughly dried.
UTILIZE THE BRUSH as mulch for
vines and fruit trees as this is much
better than burning it. At this
season of the year when farmers
are cleaning out-or should be if
they are not-old shrubs and bush
es, there is always plenty of brush
on hand and this if cut up fine and
placed around the roots of fruit
trees will. as it rots, add rapidly to
their growth We know of instances
where brush was spread thickIy be.
meath trees on a poor sandy soil
AID it caused them to start out
fresh and take on new growth
quite equal to some other trees on
the same land that had been slim
ulated by the application of mod
crate coating of stable manure.
The shelters should also receive
added attention. AS the nights be-
come cool the hogs will sleep in
them, and, unless they are made
quite clean, the health of the hogs
Will suffer. A foul shelter is q
fruitful cause of swine disease.
Hogs lie very close together in their
shelters, hence, rapidly foul the
air. Shelters should not only be
made clean, but they should be we'll
VENT ated, too.