Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1893-05-11
FARM AND GARDEN,
To Test the Purity of Water
Iron, Acid and Alkali.
THE TIME TO BREED HEIFERS
There is No Pear So UniyerSaur
Popular in the Markets as
the Bartlett-Notes.

Remember beans will not stand III.
frost peas can.
Weeds to pay the best should be ba,.
vested while young and tender.
In planting the garden the very best
seed obtainable should be used
We find it pays to set the poles n,
running beans before the beans ar
dropped. ~
Little chicks with the mother hen ina
coop are not bad to have in garden,
but with loose hen-never.
A garden not plowed last fall, nicely
plowed now, will give good return for
top dressing OF well-rotted manure har. i
rowed in.
Peas, radishes and lettuce NAV be sown
as soon as the ground can be worked E
Better wait a little before getting the
beans planted.
If you plowed under a heavy coat Of
manure in your garden last fall, it will
be in nice shape to harrow in when Won
plow it up now.
Beef cattle require good shelter, an
abundance OF good water with the chill
taken off and all the feed, whether whole
grain or ground, and hay or grass that
they will eat up clean.
We are not sure but spraying ma.
chine affords the best means OF combat.
ing the potato bugs. 1t is certainly
more rapid and economical than any
method OF applying dry poison
In planting pear orchard you NAV
safely give first place to the Bartlett
There is no pear so universally popular
in the markets, and the tree has the
good quality of being generally free
from blight.
TO TEST THE PURITY OF WATER.
Test for Lime.-Into a glass of water
put two drops of oxalic acid and blow
upon it. If it gets milky lime is pres
ent.
Test for Hard or Soft Waterfalls
solve small quantiry of good soap in
alcohol. Let few drops fall into a
glass of water. If it turns milky it is
hard; if not it is soft.
Test for Iron.-Boil little nut-gall
and add to the water. If it turns gray
or lake, black iron is present. 2. Dis
solve little prussiate of potash, and
if iron is present it will turn blue.
Test for Acid.-Take a piece of litmus
paper. If it turns red there must be
acid. If it precipitates on adding lime
water it is carbonic acid. If blue su-
gar paper is turned red it is mineral
acid.
Test for Carbonic Acid.-Take equal
parts of water and clear lime water.
If combined or free carbonic acid is
present precipitate is seen, to which,
if few drops of muriatic acid be
added, an effervescence commences.
Test for Magnesia.-Boilt the water to
few grains of neutral carbonate OF
smmonia into a glass OF it, and few
drops.of phosphate OF soda. If magne-
sia be present it will fall to the bottom.
Test for Earthly Matters or Alkali.-
Take litmus paper dipped in vinegar,
and II on immersion the paper returns
to its true shade, the water does not
contain earthly matter or alkali. If a
few drops OF syrup be added to water
containing an earthly matter it will turn
green.
THE TINE TO BREED HEIFERs.
Different men have different opin-
ions about the best time to breed heif-
ers for the dairy. 1t is generally con-
ceded, however, says Homestead, that
they should be bred at Younger age
when kept for dairy purposes than when
kept for beef. When the cows are
kept only for the milk and the calves
are not considered worth raising, the
heifers can drop their calves at two
years, or little older, without injury.
provided they are well cared for. On
farms where the granger's COW is kent,
and where the purpose is to false the
calves for the beef market, 1t is better
to allow the heifers to go aRttle longer
before dropping their first calves, so
they will get more size. There is one
very important point to be remembered
In this connection/ and that is the sea-
son when the heMer drops her first cali.
We consider the time of year about as
important as the age OF the heifer.
Inc milking organs must be developed
the flrSt time the heifer is in milk if
sAe Is to prove a good nilker after
ward. For this.reason the heifer ought
to drop her first calf at a time when
milk-producing food is plentiful SO that
the flow OF milk will be abundant and
extend the veins and udder. Grass is
the best food for this purpose, and on
the average farm the heifer should
calve when the grass is good. Then
keep her on good grass through the
summer and on milk-producing food
during the fall and winter and up al
most to the time she drops her second
calf. The milking organs OF the heifer
must be developed if she is to make
good COW.
AGE OF MATING FOWLS.
A cock which is more than two years
old Will not prove as serviceable as one
year old. While very young pullets do
well for breeding purposes when thev
are mated with full-matured male, the
use OF young pullets and cockerels to-
gether should be avoided. 1t is better
to use eggs for incubation that are laid
by hens over fifteen months old. II pull
lets eggs are to be used, the cock should
be well on in his second year. In all ex-
periments we have found, saws a writer
in Farm and Fireside, that eggs from
pullets will hatch as well as those from
hens, but the chicks from the hens eggs
are stronger and more vigorous. Much
depends on the male, however, for his
influence is great and the chicks will
largely inherit his characteristics. There
is tendency to market the hens and re-
tam the pullets. This is not good plan,
Tor, unless a hen is quite old, she will
always produce strong chicks, whether