The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1896-12-31
T,HE.s sARrT1

1t is not essential to keep growing
chickens fat.
Clean the nests regularly to keep
them free of vermin.
If the hens lay soft-shelled eggs give
them plenty of gravel.
To make most profitable fowls. they
| should be fattened rapidly.
The food must always be varied
| enough to keep the chickens with a
good appetite.
Too much soft or cooked food is not
good for fowls. They need some en-
ployment for the gizzard.
Overlooking is expensive. It not only
costs more for the feed, but the hens
get too fat and lay no eggs.
Cockerels too young and small to sell
for broilers now may be made profit
able by caponizing little later on.
1t does not pay to raise scrub stock.
Sell the scrubs and get well-bred ami
mails. This Is a good year to make the
change, while prices are low.
We do not advise any one to capon-
ize young turkeys. They are too ten
der and the operation is attended with
great risk and little benefit results
from II.
The early-hatched pullets are now
large enough to permit of intelligent
selection. Tho culls should he dispos-
ed Of and the best reserved for laying
and breeding.
There is one crop which is nearly al
ways below the demand in supply and
that is popcorn. This country uses 1t
largely, but does not grow enough, al
though it sells at a good price.
Spread the onions on shelves in thin
ayers and do not disturb them until
hey are wanted for use. Onions may
freeze and thaw several times during
he winter without injury if they are
lot handled.
A superb hog feed, for any age and
almost any condition. says an ex-
,hange is corn, wheat and oats Of equal
parts, coarsely chopped and fed any
way the hogs like it-cooked or raw,
soaked or dry.
In Russia sunflowers are made spe-
,ial crops, the seed being ground and
Used for cattle, the same as cotton
seed meal, and such food is not only
wholesome, but gives excellent results
n milk and butter.
As soon as the rot is observed in the
Egg plant, writes an authority, dust
he spot with air-slacked lime, and in
| day or two the rot will have dried
up; the spot disappears, and the fruit
will mature in good condition.
A fruit grower thinks one of the best
ways of manuring strawberries or other
small fruits is to scatter broadcast be-
ween the rows. and then work into
he coil with a cultivator, taking care
ilwifys to have it reasonably well fined.
Beets, turnips and carrots keep in
good condition in winter if stored in
mounds, and apples should remain in
good condition all through the winter
n a dry cellar. The chief obstacle is
lot the cold. but usually too much
warmth.
A grape vine or any other kind of
zine, trained on an arbor over the cis-
ern or well does not keep the water
,oller during warm weather, but fur
lishes a very inviting shade to the
armer who comes in hot from the field
md thirsting for cool drink.
The gain from fall plowing is that
he naked surface is easily made into
/ mellow bed by cultivation if the
winter is just right; but this gain is
often offset by too great a loss Of fer
ility to make it generally profitable
It is far better if the field is covered
oy protecting sod.
An old broncho buster gives the fol-
owing as sure way to cure horse OF
licking: THE way We fix a kicking
lOrse is to tie one of his forelegs with
rope to the hind leg on the other
side. Then. as soon as he starts to
Kick, he jerks his front leg off the
ground and goes down in heap. Two
,r three doses of that kind will cure
!he worst case you can find"
The outcry in Europe against dis.
aased beef is not sustained by statis
lies. II has been found that one out OF
Every seven cattle shipped from Aus
.ralia to England died while in transit;
that of those shipped from South
America one out of every twenty-five
died, while of those that were shipped
from the United States and Canada,
but one in every 200 died in transit
This would indicate that our cattle sur
pass the rest Of the world in excellence
of condition, and that any discrimina-
Ion against us is practically without
reasonable foundation.