The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1893-03-16
OUR RURAL TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers
Care of Stock in March.

| anu sudden traOSltl0n0 from ml0 weather TO
| intense cold frequently take place. Stock
should be carefully attended to this month and
not suffered to fall away Horses and working
oxen should be kept in good condition, so that
they may be strong for the Spring work.
| few carrots with their grain vs>l aid digestion
and appetite and improve their coats.
| Exercise daily. Train colts so that no break
| ing will be needed either of good spirit Of
| harness. Keep working and carriage horses
sharp shod, we'll groomed, and blanketed when
standing out or in cold stables after exercise.
Ventilate stables and abolish high feeding
racks. The main point with farmer who
keeps horses ia to use them in such way as
will give them all the strength and agility the
animal is capable Of and to work them all they
can stand without injuring either. The poor,
| half-starved horse is animal any man ought
to be ashamed of; but, on the other hand. the
pampered and overfed and half-worked horse
though he may look very nice to some. is an
animal / would advise the farmer not to keep,
| as such animals are more liable to loss than any
| other.
Young animals should have suitable shelter
and provender that their growth may not be
checked in Winter. When exposed to cold and
not supplied with sufficient provender the error
cannot be repaired by any amount of good
treatment at subsequent period.
| The most successful breeders of horses cattle,
| sheep, and swine keep the stock in good grow
|
| ing. Regularity in feeding and watering COM
Portable quarters. perfect cleanliness, and
sufficient ventilation are necessary to insure
success in animals, old or young.
| Milk cows to within about six weeks of
| calving; Young cows certainly to that time IL
| possible, to encourage habit of holding out
| well. In icy weather be very careful of cows
with calf. Give generous feed of hay and roots,
but not much grain. Cut hay or straw steamed
| and little bran and meal added rs profitable.
| Keep the skin healthy by frequent carding
| and brushing. Those about to calye should be
| turned loose into separate, roomy stalls. Watch
| their time to give assistance, if needed but do
| not interfere unless absolutely necessary, and
| then use gentle means.
Oxen ought to be shod and kept sharp,
whether the ground is slippery or not. Feed
| in accordance with the labor demanded of
| them, but on no account let them fall in flesh.
| If poor lousy steer breaks leg nobody wants
the beef, and it is not fit to eat. Not so with
one In good condition.-Ameriean Farmer.
Is Grape GirdlIng Profitable7
We have from time to time called attention
to the matter of girdling srapevines for the
purpose Of fastening the ripening of the fruit.
In american Gardening, John burroughs writes
thus of this practice:
My opinion of the practice of girding
grapevines is that on the whole it is poor bust
i
goose that lays the golden egg. If all take to
girdling, where is the advantage2 1t is like
the crowd all getting up on chairs at the show:
what better off are they? GirdliDg hastens
the colorng up Of some varieties of grapes, but
hastens the ripening very little, while it dis
tinctly Injuries the quality of certain kinds.
Girdled Delawares are uneatsble People who
buy them probably lose their appetite for Della
wares for some time. They sour
vinegar. Red grapes seem to be injured by
girdling more than black ones. Girdled Nj
agaras are large and pleasing to look upon. but
their quality is not equal to the ripe ungirdled
fruit Moore Diamond is ruined by girdling.
Wardens are not increased in size by girdlng
but they color four or FIVE days earlier They
are, however much more liable to crack, as are
all other girdled kinds. Fruit on a girdled
Moore Early is larger and earlier, and the
quality is not much injured, but it may crack
badly. A vine heavily loaded will ndt ripen
its fruit any earlier by being girdled. Girdle
other kinds if you will, but when you come to
the Delaware, hands Off"
Tho Fermentations of Milk.
D. J. n. Fl. Munro treats at some ler 9Th, In
the latest journal Of the Royal Agricultural
Society OF England, of milk fermentatibns its
mpositiOn, action of rennet, ETC., aud among
other things says:
Butter Of finest aroma, 'gilt-edged butter
as it is sometimes called in butter maki3g CON-
petitions can only be produced. according to
the opinion of competent judges, by rIpening
the cream before churnlng to exactly the right
point, and by exercising great discretion as to
the amount of washing to which the gfanuled
butter is subjected in the churn. In fact, on
this point the requisite condition for fine flavor
clashes with that for keeping quality, since for
latter the fresher the cream and the more the
butter is washed the better. Now the aroma
which is communicated to the butter during
the ripening of the cream is, In sll probability,
if not demonstrably, due to the growth of suit
able microbes in the cream during this stage
Storch and Weigmann have independently
succeeded in isolating from ripened cream an
organism which communicates tho desired Rr.
oma to fresh cream when inocuated into it.
DR.. Conn tells that pure cultures of this fer
ment are coming into use In butter factories in
Germany as means of correctly ripening
fresh cream with ease and certainty. Should
such proceeding be found generally practical
bic, it may certainly be expected to add to the
keeping qualities of butter without detriment
to the greatest refinement OF flavor"
An Economical si1o.
Mr.. George E. Rice says in the Ohio Farmer
that he built . single-b0ard silo and used it
one Winter and there was 30 much loss of
ensilage from molding at sides that he tore
the pit down and built two large ones, and
plastered them as follows: First sheathed with
rough lumber horizontally, taking pains to
cross the boards at corners every two or three |
feet, to prevent spreading; then put on tarred
paper, perpendicular, holding in place by strips
of wood ax2 inches. The paper is So inches |
wide and he Tapped it about four inches, put
ting o strip on lap and one in middle, so they
were just 16 inches from center to CENTER which
is lust right to put on common four-foot lath.
The plaster was made as follows: Ten pail
fuls of clean sand, two pals Of cement thor |
oughly mixed, dry; three paila.of white lime
that has been saked and run off and was just |
thick enough to stand up when cut. You need |
two boxes Put the white lime in one and |
enough water to make it liquid, then throw |
in the sand and cement and mix thoroughly. |
Now plaster two coats pressing the first coat |
on hard to fill up the halfinch space behind |
the lath. Put both coats on the same day as
far as you go, beginning at bottom and working /
up. Then the next day put on finishing coat,
three pals sharp sand and one Portland cement,
or two pals sand to one Of Akron or Louis
Vile cement Make last coat about one fourth /
of an inch thick and trowel smooth, and then
leave it alone, for if you try to smooth it after
it has partly set, il will not stick well. Take
coarse sand or fine gravel and mix same as last
coat and lay one and one-half inches thick on /
bottom, and you will have silo that will last
q lifetime.
This kind of q wall will cost about 81 cents a
square yard for sheathing, paper, lath and
plaster, If you buy and hire everything done.
OF course it will cost farmer much less if he
Ioa &baf aop ,ipy oyTH art nf tha laho