Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-05-31
NOTES.


of one bushel of lime and one bushel
of SCOT in 100 gallons of water proved
Il valuable remedy for the carrot
grub, according to the claims of an
English gardener. The mixture was
we'll stirred, allowed to stand over
night, and the clear water then ap-
plled with a watering pot
Steers cannot be fattened fully on
corn alone with profit, says Professor
Henry, for the concentrated grain
soon burns out the digestive tract
ana the steer comes to make poor use
OF his food. Oil meal or bran should
be fed to tighten the ration. Bran is
cooling and lightens the heavy corn
meal materially.
MulcheS from around the fruit trees
should not be removed in the spring
until one is pretty sure that no more
injurious cold snap will settle down
upon Us. Until that time it is unwise
TO take the mulch away. One week.
or even one day, may be sufficient to
start the trees to growing so that they
will be badly injured.
Horses are cheap now, and farm
labor is comparatively dear. There
is no use in hiring a man to work
with horses and then give him a
team that will need to rest at every
bout with the pillow or harrow. A
three-horSe team will usually do one
third more work at either of these
operations than Will a team having
only two horses.
Potash is needed by almost all
crops in considerable quantity. There
are two cheap forms in which this
element of fertility may be had, and
when soil is deficient it can best
be supplied by applying these di-
rectly, and not in any mixed form.
kainit and muriate of potash are the
two forms in which it may be had
and used most economically.
Butter made from cows fed on
sweet corn fodder has beel found
by experts to score in flavor three
points higher than when fed on blue
grass, or peas and oats, or on clover
The score under the feeding of sweet
corn fodder is forty-five, while with
the three latter only forty-two each.
Rape seems to affect flavor in butter
as in feeding it the score is but
thfrty-nine.
The profit from soiiing comes not so
much from increased production as
in the more economical production,
enabling more stock to be carried
upon a given acreage than is possible
by any other plan. About forty
pounds, or one cubic foot, is an aver
age ration of ensilage for one cow
for a day. From this you can easily
calculate how large a silo you need
to build for given herd.
There seems to be some question as
to whether this country will raise a
large crop of oats or not. Nearly all
the first sowing was killed by the
that farmers at once began replanting
and would put in a large acreage.
The latest adviceS Indicate that farm
ers have not done the latter; but that
many are saving their land for corn.
This second sowing of oats means a
late crop, anyway, and there is not
much probability of large receipts of
new oats in July.
The sheep industry will come to the
front. There is no doubt of this; no
room for doubt. Nobody knows better
than sheepmen that they fool them
selves every once in a while; and as
the manly part of man comes to the
rescue the first to discover the mis-
take acknowledges it, takes it all
back, buys more sheep, begins again
and gets down to business He is the
bell wether, the others hear the Jingle
and follow suit, stampeding the
flock, every one trying to get ahead,
to be a leader, and to get there first.
Large numbers Of animals are every
year fattened ON grass, being turned
out in May or June and sold off when
fattened in the fall. This grass feed
is also right when at it's best, but at
either end it needs to be supple
mented with grain feeding, as does
also the feed of COWS at pasture. So
long as the grass is immature a con-
siderable amount of grain will be
udlly. IntIG SuOuIu NC ii GLASS
ration also when the pasture fails
in the fall, and especially if it is sup
by fodder corn cut before
it is mature enough to come in tassel.
A little grain feed in summer will
go farther in fattening any kind Of
stock than a much larger amount in
winter.
A correspondent writes: The farmers
Of the west have not realized until
quite recently the immense value of
oatstraw as a forage crop. When the
nutritious native grasses were abun-
dant straw was burned; when timothy
was grown the straw was considered lit
only for COWS, and often not even
they were permitted to eat it. But
when the timothy meadows became
brown and bare and the native hay
became scarce and high, the farmers
discovered that the e-thOught-Of
Oatsraw was very creditable sub
stitute if properly cared for for either
of these. One sanguine writer de-
clareS it to be the equal of timothy
in every respect for horses. Oats for
hay should be cut in the milk before
the plant becomes too stalky. Don't
attempt to get both grain and hay
from the same plant. 1t won't pay.