The National tribune., 1895-02-14
OUR RURAL TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers
Labelling Fruit Trees.

the names of bis fruits will find label OF
some kind indispensable. Without this
much of bis work will be sure to get into
confusion, No difference how good ones
memory may be, it il liable to fail in some
instances. This will be particularly the
| case when person is given 20 testing new or
rare varieties; grating perhaps half dozen
| different kinds Cn n single tree. The regu-
lar register, of course, is not 10 be omitted;
| but 1t IS not always convenient TO have the
| book ri hand.
| The zinc label, written on with lead
| pencil, can hardly be said TO be- satisfactory,
| 1t II too inconspieuous as Prof Bailey sug-
gested, and besides, the writing sometimes
/ becomes more or less obscured.
The best label, probably, is made of pima
OF cedar, four and a half or five inches long,
eyen-eightbs wide and about three-six.
l teenths thick. Two DOtches are required
near one end. to receive the wire; copper
wire, about the size of broom Wire The
labels should have a thin coat of white lead
| paint; and the writing should be done with
/ lead pencil, while the paint is fresh. The
black lead unites with the paint, and the
name remains legible for long time
1 Labels prepared in this way are seen
readily, and they last for years. But care
/ must be taken that the fastening is not to
| main branch but to a side shoot of suit
| able size, and the wire should be quite loose
to prevent cutting into the growing wood.
Iron wire should not be used except for
| temporary labels on nursery trees, as 10
rusts badly and soon gives out and the label
| is lost.
Management Of Breeding sows.
1 breed young sows for first filters at from
| to IL mos tbs old; prefer them IL months
| old when bred the first time, so they viii be
large, strong and we'll developed when they
| farrow. / give them good, warm, dry
place to sleep, and a yard large enough SO
| that they will take plenty of exercise.
use small houses. Ny narrowing pens are
by 8 feet, fOur-foot post behind and seven
foot post in 'front.' boarded tight, with single
roof; the upper half of front is made to take
out to let in the sun and to close to afford
protection in bad weather. 4 have no large
Lighthouse. These farrowiug pens make
good sleeping quarters for the hogs in
Winter.
1 feed young sows literally; all they win
eat of bran, shorts and eorn-meal, varying
the proportions of the feed as an animal NAV
require it. When oats are cheap enough to
feed like to feed equal parts of ground oats,
ground corn and shorts. This makes good
ration for young sows pigs and old hogs az
we'll For hogs that are well matured have
for the last few Winters fed fnely-cut hay,
corn-meal and shorts, which has proved very
satisfactory with me. This is always mixed.
wet and fed in thick ness / do not cook
nor steam any feed for hogs. 1 mix it fresh
as it is fed do not think there is mach
danger of your sows getting too fat--Bresd-
ers' Gazette.
Feeding Horses in Winter.
Many farmers took to economize by keep
ing horses in Winter on the cheapest food
possible, using straw and cOrnstalks in place
of timothy and other hay. This is good
policy if the horse is to be idle, for without
exercise horse fed on hay as its main diet
will be c0nstipated. This will make its
hide rough and staring. COrnstaIks ara
laxative food, and better for idle horses than
is hay, always provided that enough of the
material to repair the waste of muscle ia
given with them. Cornstalks and q small
feed of oats will keep an idle horse in fair
condition. When the busy time comes ON
the oat or other grain feed should be in
creased and the horse be exercised lightly at
first until the skin becomes toughened and
the muscles hardened. For horses at work
fed on timothy hay and grain little old
process liuseed meal will help to remove the
ton. The new-process oil meal takes out
pretty much all the oil That makes it
better for horse hard at work The loose
ness to bowels that weak horse gets when
put suddenly at hard work usually means
that the animal has not enough strength to
digest its food and pull its load. 1t gets rid
Of its food IN the easiest way and q few
hours of work under such conditions will
break down horse sooner than weeks Of
hard work when digestion is all right.
Vitality of Clover Seed.
Land that has long grown clover where ia
has been allowed to seed win often seed itself
when plowed and soWed to grain without
clover. 1t shows the great vitality of clover
seed, enabling ii TO live in the soil until IA
vorable opportunity comes for it to grow. We
have seen clover growing on s field where no
clover had been sOwn for six years. The only
explanation was that it came from the scat
tered seed of elOyer-seed crop cut nearly 10
years before. 1t is probable that clover seed
in the soil, too deep to terminate, is in bet.
ter position to preserve its vitality than it is
in a dry, close and warm barn or stOrehOuse.
Clover seed, after the frst year, loses color
or fades when exposed to light Ii will
grow, however, when two and even three
years old.
DehOrning Calves.
Prevention of horns is preferable to de-
hOrning. If a stick of eaustic potash is APP
piled to the spots on the skull of q young
calf where the horns are about to break
through, it will destroy the horn and csuss
only slight sore that will give the animal
no serious Inconvenience. Sometimes, how
ever, this application does not reach the root
Of the horn and o new growth will spring
40. Watch should be kept for this, and the
csustic or knife be applied as soon as the
growing horn is seen
Practical Farm Book.
great many books have been written ON
'arm topics, but Prof. Thomas Shaw's new work
Grnaa nr,.lll LII al