The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1895-08-14
Clipped and Condensed.

| (before the grain is ripe) make an ex-
cellent ration for horses. The nutri-
tious matter is arrested in the stalks,
and both straw and grain are relished.
So far as it is possible to supply it.,
it will pay to give the cows ground or
soft food in preference to whole grains.
A good plan is to have all the food
ground and then cut sufficient amount
of hay to mix with it, so as to make up
good ration.
A COW will shrink in her milk be-
cause of lack of supply of drinking
water sooner than from any other
cause, and it may be safely stated that
| insufficient water when the COWS are
in the pasture is very frequent occur
renee on farms.
THERE should never be moment in
the life of young animal when it is
not growing. 1t cannot stand still in
growth, as it is either losing or gain
ing, and every pound lost is backward
step, making the gain cost twice as
much, and consequently reducing the
profits.
CLOVER, by increasing the fertility
of the soil, enables the farmer to keep
more stock, which also adds to the bulk
of the manure-heap. 1t is in the ma
nure that the wealth of the farm is
stored, for time arrives when it is
converted into products which bring in
cash returns.
If you want early strawberries next
spring and can spare the space, let the
bed remain over until the following
year. 1t is the old abandoned bed that
gives the earliest berries, though they
may not be equal in size and quality to
the berries grown on a new plat and
we'll cultivated.
FUMIaATIoN with tobacco will kill
the injurious insects which infest house
plants. This is not pleasant, perhaps,
to the inmates. Immersing in strong
tobacco infusion will serve the same
end, or spraying if the plants are large.
Even the green fly and red spider can
be thus got rid Of.
THE more general use of high-grade
and pure.bred stock is solving the prob.
lem of successful beef production these
times, when there is no profit at all in
the old scrubs. Let not the farmer
get it into his head that this fine stock
breeding is above ordinary farm man
agement, for it is not 80.
THE principal injury weeds do to the
growing crop is to rob it of the available
feed with especial avidity upon these,
and when they have been taken up thus,
they are, OF course, no longer available
for the crop. The loss which results
from growing weeds is not theoretical
it is real.
THE big pig that has had the scours
never will make the hog that it might
have made had it escaped the trouble.
This fact may as we'll be set down as
settled. Hence the man who would
make the most of his hogs must avoid
scours with his pigs. This he can only
do by properly feeding the dam while
they are young.
ALL gardeners and most farmers
when they attempt gardening in close,
hot and confined atmosphere have been
troubled by having plants mysteriously
die. This is the disease known as
damping off, and it is now ascertained
that it is due to fungus growth, which
attacks and destroys the plant at the
surface of the ground.
A PRETTY GOOD" horse has seldom
been as cheap as now. He must either
run, trot, jump or pull in the top notch,
or he will bring but song; but their
is no need to worry. The horse is not
going to become extinct, by any means.
AS the times improve, more people are
going to ride and drive more than ever,
and commerce demands more than we
can supply.
To have thistes appear in oats is to
have a risk of losing the oats or raising
more thistles. The remedy is to 90
into the oat field and cut out every
thistle with knife. If the thistles are
too numerous to do this, then the best
thing that can be done is to pillow the
crop under and kill out the thistles by
putting the land in potatoes or keeping
the field clean by cultivation.
THE short hay crop suggests ample
preparation for saving the corn fodder,
both by sio and dry storage. 1t has
been found that dry forage along with
silage makes better feed for all kinds
of stock Generally there is enough
corn fodder wasted and lost to make up
the present shortage of hay, if it was
saved properly. Now is good time
to consider these matters and prepare
to meet present conditions.
If the man who rents would rent for
five years instead of one or two, SOW
clover and apply manure, he would
soon be able to purchase a farm.
Nearly all farms which are rented have
been planted to corn for many years,
the grain sold, and nothing has been
done to keep up the fertility. The soil
is starved and impoverished. The man
who rents farm for only one or two
years is working at great disadvantage.
NOTHING is gained by feeding an
animal more than it should be allowed
at one meal. Food that is left over is
usually wasted. Give as much as will
be eaten clean. This may be done by
observing the animal for few days.
1t is sometimes better to feed rather
less than meal than to allow too much,
but it will be necessary to understand