Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-08-25
Farm Notes.


those grown from seed sown the first of
this month and grown in the cooler weather
of autumn.
One grower fights the cabbage worm with
tar-water. He puts two quarts of coal tar
in basin in the bottom of barrel. and
fills the barrel with water. In two days
time the water is still clear, but tastes very
strong of tar. With this water he sprinkles
the cabbage heads thoroughly, thus driving
the worm away. The barrel can be filled
with water several times without renewing
the supply of tar.
Selling skim milk at 35 cents hundred
is equi yalent to judiciously feeding it to
pigs judging from exp eriments recently
made at the Massachusetts, experiment sta
ton.
The feasibility of a large bran ration to
porkers 10 doubtful. 1t is stated on good
authority that pork grown on corn and po-
tatoes is pure white and firm to the touch,
while that of shorts-brsn fed pigs is in color
a dirty yellow. When cooked the shorts
bran fed meat has toughness not noticed
in the other, and in boiling it shrinks more.
Shorts bran fed pigs have the lungs, liver
and other vital parts heavier than of the
corn and potatoes fed, while the meat is of
darker color and with lean out Of proper
ton to the fat, and the fat about the lungs
and intestines and the leaf lard weighing
less.
In this country, though not to the same
extent as in the older countries, people are
devising means for utilizing sewage as
fertilizer. They have awakened to the
wasteful methods now in vogue and which
float the fairness of the land into the sea.
New York parties are to invest half mil
lion capital in laying sewer pipe line from
Hartford through New Britain, Berlin,
Meridian and Wallngford, turning the
sewage out on sandy wastes below the latter
place to COW rt them into fertile lands.
Presumably at present there would be
too many difficulties in the way of attempt
ing to save the sewage of many places. The
time must come, however, when it will be
the approved method for disposing of sew
age. And in this connection one is re-
minded of the common waste of opportu-
nifty to secure fertilizer, apparent
on every side Men WHO till the soil sum-
mers and work hard at killing time winters
are never on the alert for these opportuni-
ties. Perhaps it is extravagant to speak
of anyone living on a farm, however
poorly cultivated as killing time, but there
are il stances that incline one to this belief.
Mex 10 killing time is the devoiiug of it to
unremuneratiye pursuits to the exclusion of
opportunities for better work. In some in
stances it may be possible for a man and his
horse to devote whole day and probably
two days in fitting, hauling to msrket, and
selling load of wood for dollar and a half
There doubtless is a good margin on the
capital invested, counting their own time
and that Of their team as nothing, and of
course it helps them to a little "ready
money SO far so good. Compared with
idleness it is indeed commendable but as
taking time that might be better employed it is
thriftless. One cannot help wondering in
this connection whether these parties ever
hauled home anything that would fertilize
their farms whether the man who comes to
town with little load of hay returns emp
ty handed and is content with letting his
land remain impoverished by so much.
Last winter in the principal street of this
city, the snow was so covered with manure
That coating of filth was surely of some
value as fertilizer. Was not there opportun-
ty for the farmer with team and time on
his hands to get "a little ready money and i'm
prove his farm at the same time? If the
haul were not too long the fertilizer would
have paid for gathering and hauling home.
Then, too the city would have found it ad-
vantageous TO have paid something for hav-
ing the streets cleaned rather than pay all
the expense a. it did. The opportunities
to save that which will enrich our Maine
IaTillS CunHOt DC ONeTloOhtu Without Ioss.
The use of bran in grain rations is being
advocated quite extensively. An Ohio far
mer writing for the Country Gentleman has
this to say on the subject of feeding bran ;
81 have experimental enough in feeding to
satisfy me that when feeding wheat or corn
to horses, cattle, or hogs, it is better to have
mixture of one-half bran than to feed these
grains alone, and should still think this
il all three feeds cost the same per
ton, but with bran selling at SIP
and wheat and corn so much high
er, bran is surely one of the cheapest
foods available. | think that there are
many farmers who know that bran is val
liable food for milk or for growing animals
but who think it is of little value for fat
tening but this is mistake. Several ex-
periments have been made at Minneapolis,
by the proprietors of the Pllsbury mills,
which prove conclusively that beeves can
be fatted so as to be of prime quality, with
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