The record-union., 1894-06-28
FARM And ORCHARD.
Education and Refinement of the
Hog of the Present Day.
Some horticultural Questions and An
swers-How TO Fatten Turkeys
House Plants-Planting Dahlias-
Farm Notes.
Farm Notes.

There are plenty of people living who
remember when the hog was an athlete,
could lump fences and beat horses in the
race. The pig litters were not lnfre-
quently twenty and twenty-five IN num-
ber. The early hog also had nose Tor
business and put it where ne liked. de
had great wind bellows and little lat to
retard his motions. In those days MS
bacon was lean and thin, and he had
barely enough lard to fry the balance.
It is barely possible that we are tending
to the mistake of extreme refinement by
breeding. Whether this is so or not, It is
we'll to call attention of young breeders
to what has and is occurring. They do
not know fully what changes have been
made in fifty years. They hear some
thing about it, but can not realize these
things as older ones do who saw the ath-
letes fifty years ago and look upon their
descendants now. A writer on the sub
iect gives the following note OF warning
and advice: The hog has had his nose
and legs shortened, his bones developed,
his back broadened, his digestive and
assimllatiVe powers enlarged and MS
vital and reproductive powers impaired.
His education and refinement nave Deeh
carried too far in many cases. he IS a
dude. he can not give vigorous squaIl,
nor run forty rods without danger OF
death. nor does he breed as OF yore. IL ls
our duty to him and ourselves to study
him and bring back into domlnancy MS
oId-time vital powers to such degree as
will insure his vigor and powers OF re-
production.
We can get parallels between the cow
and the SOW The shy breeding COW is
Door mixer, the good mixer is certain
breeder. This will be found to obtain
with the SOW, only the signs are gotten IN
q different manner. We can tell how the
cow milks by her mess or by the cali that
sucks her, and we can tell gooo mix
ing SOW by her litter. The regularity
with which the SOW breeds is an infaiH-
BILE sign of the condition OF her reproduc-
tive organs, the size OF the litter ana
their vigor when they come are sure IN
dications whether the vigOr OF the SOW IS
in full force or abating. We have given
all attention TO breeding out the Old
fashioned form with Its Vlgor ana ueV6I-
oping the approved early maturing type
with it's delicacy. Observing breeders
have for some time seen these tendencies,
and have been correcting them with sue
cess The hog as we have him is without
doubt the finest of his kind IN the world,
but the heavy losses met with every
spring admonlsh us that we must not
IOfE6G Wl6H 1llpIONllS lhnO fieSA - N'@7H
be preserved in the vital organs, other
wise we have no hog. The variations
found in our litterS give Us choice OF
selection that enables us TO help dominate
these forces and by close study OF what
we have and their behavior we may with
certainty keep the vital features OF the
hog.
SOME HORTICULTURAL QUESTIONS.
Following are some questions asked
hor Of tho Mi
souri, Horticultural Society as samples OF
what might be a basis of horticultural
study in the country schools Of our land.
What do you think of them?
|. What fruits can we ship successfully
to foreign countries? Apples, oranges,
lemons and grapes.
. What fruits are shipped green and
ripened after being shipped? Bananas,
orans es and lemons.
g. Name the common kinds Of packages
used in shipping fruits. Boxes, baskets.
crates and barrels.
4. Name the common kinds used in
handling fruits at the orchards. Quart
boxes for berries, half-bushel boxes and
baskets, one-bushel baskets and boxes,
and barrels for apples.
). What methods are used in preserving
and shipping fruits not in their natural
state? Evaporating, canning, drying,
preserving and crystallizing.
6. What is the weight of busheI OF ap-
pies? Forty-eight pounds.
Z. What is the weight of a bushel of
dried apples? Twenty-four pounds.
S. What is fruit? That portion of
plant which consists of ripened carpets
and the parts adhering to them that part
of the plant which contains the seed,
covering and including the seed, such as
an apple, peach, pear, strawberry, rasp-
berry, grapes, etc.
9. What is meant by fruit candies?
Fruits dropped into hot sugar syrup and
then dried.
10. What is meant by evaporated fruit?
Fruit dried in hot-air receptacles which
rapidly expel the moisture and bleach
the fruit.
food? Assists the digestion, serves as an
appetizer, contains sustenance for the
body.
Y. What is a scion? The last years
growth cut from plant, intended to be
grated upon another plant. known as
the stock.
l3. What is meant by cutting? The
last years growth cut from a plant in
tended for propagation without grating
II. What is meant by graft? That
union of the scion and the stock, thus
forming new plant, of which the scion
determines the variety.
10. Name the animals and birds which
are 6U6m1GS OI hdDDlCS, mice.
gophers, moles, cedar birds, blue lays
I6 Name the diseases and fungous
growths which retard the growth of
fruits? Rust, mildeW, blight, scab rot.
yellows, rosette, black-knot.
II. Name the hindranceS to fruit-tree
culture? Injurious insects, fungous
growth, atmospheric changes. adaptable
ity of soil
Is What do you think are some of the
greatest hIndranceS to the hortieu ttI1riSt
himself? Want of knowledge; lack of
adaptability and love for the work: care
lessnesS.
49, What are fungi? A fungus (plural.
fungi is a plant of simple organization,
without either leaf or flowers, which ia
never colored green. The fungi are de-
pendent on organic matter for their exist
enee. and they obtain this either from
dead plants or animals or from living
plants or animals. The parasitic fungi,
like the rusts, smuts and mildews of cul-
tivated groups, and bacteria, which cause
the blight of the pear and many of the
contagious diseases of animals, are illus
trations of the class which feed on living
beings. The mushroom and the molds
which occur on cheese and other food
illustrate the fungi which live upon dead
organic matter.
20. What is leaf-blight? A special fun
gous growth which attacks the leaf
growth.
FARM NOTES.
Unleached wood ashes are capital fer
tiliZer for the orchard
The reported pack of tomatoes for the
season OF 1898 is 4,356, 443 cases.
Grass is oftener better medicine for