The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1895-08-15
Pears Best for Poultry Yards.


Pears seem to be the best fruit for the hen,
yard. They flourish in the rich soil without
cultivation, and bear heavily. Apple trees
also flourish, but much of the fruit falls upon
the hard ground and is injured or left to be
pecked by the fowls. Plums and peaches
are nearly always shOrt-lived in the highly
heterogeneous SOIL of the hen-yard. Cherries
do pretty well, although the soil becomes q
little too strong for them also, and cracked
bark and tender, easily broken limbs are the
result.
If the soil is not too dry ounces live
and bear fairly well, but the hard surface
soil is trial to their shallow root system.
However, if the soil is suitable and the runs
are occasionally worked over with a pronqed
hoe, the ounce will prove a profitable crop.
But the pear will thrive there under any
circumstances, although it is very desirable
to mulch the trees while they are young,
securing the mulchiDg material in such
way that the fowls cannot scratch it off.
The varieties best suited for such q location
are the late kinds. which hang well upon
the trees until piekingtime. Such are the
Lawrence, Dana's Hovey, Winter Nelis,
Sheldon, Seckel, and Bartlett. These kinds
all do well in a poultry-yard. Fowls are
more inclined to eat fallen specimens Of the
are to attack the rusetty varieties. but in
either case the loss will be slight if the pears
are gathered assOon as the stems part readily
from the twigs.
EnsiIage.
Since ensilage-making has come into prac-
tice there need not be such heavy losses in
the hay field should bad weather prevail as
there used to be, says writer in an English
exchange. BY making bay in dry seasons
and ensilage in wet ones, there need be
scarcely any loss whatever. The methods Of
making ensilage have been so often described
that | will confne myself to few brief re-
marks:
Any heritage that stock relish in q green
state may be made into useful ensilage.
Whatever material be used it should be
cut before the stems get hard, lest the fodder
be inferior in quality and there be difficulty
in consolidating the stack sufficiently.
The material should be stacked as soon as
cut, whether wet OF dry is immateriaI, al
though if carted home wet less pressure is
required.
There is no occasion to go to the expense
of making silos, as just as good fodder is
made by stacking in the open, and here there
is plenty of space.
Large stacks are preferable to small ones;
unless something like 10 to 10 acres be put
into stack it is so small that it gives too
much waste in outsides
The walls of ricks should be kept perpen-
dicular, and this is best done by CONSOLE
dating the inside of the stack as much as
possible and keeping pressure off the outside
courses.
The sooner ricks are completed after be-
gun the better, but new material may be-
added nd aIyu
damaged silage is taken from the stack be-
fore new heritage is added and proper press
ure Is put on after every addition is made.
The proper weight per square foot is from
II cwt to cwt., and the pressure should
be left on until the fodder is used. II, how
ever hay is got, it should be made from
first mowings, and then the second cuttings
come in well for ensilage. Not only do the
latter make inferior hay, even if got well,
but in the majority of cases broken weather
seriously damages them.
Fattening Beef on Grass.
There is not nearly so much grass-fattened
beef as there used to be. One reason is that
much of the pasture land has diminished in
fertility and it's grass does not make as rich
feed as it used to do. Farmers have also
discovered that grain ration to stock that
has good pasture pays better than it does to
rely on the grass alone. The fattening is
quicker, and very small grain ration with
animals on grass makes an astonishing diff
ference. 1t is probable that in proportion
to it's nutritive value grain is a cheaper feed
than grass, and the grass ration is chiefly
important because it helps to secure better
digestion.
More Sweet Apples Wanted.
The attention of apple-growers has been
too exclusively directed to the cultivation Of
TART varieties, as these are best for cooking
n pies. But for baking without the crust
apples are better to be sweet, and there are
not enough varieties to furnish supply
during the season.
The Sweet Bough, which will soon be
IN condition, is an excellent baking apple,
and so, too, is the Golden Sweet, which
ripens little later. For Winter use the
Talman Sweet is the kind most frequently
put up, but it does not bake so we'll as some
others. The Pound Sweet is much better
apple when not overgrown, but it will not
Keep later than February. We need soma
sweet apples that will keep until April or
May. Many persons whose digestion is
weak cannot eat pie, and if there were moro
rood baking apples the pie could be gem
rally dispensed with.
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