The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1896-05-08

them out. IT once the lice are de-
stroyed, the house will need attention
once a week only, perhaps, but it is
seldom that all of the pests will be
reached, and if but a few escape they
will soon replenish the number that
met their fate previously. 10 keep
down lice is to keep the hens in bet
ter laying condition, for us soon as
lice oyer-run the quarters the hens
will become debilitated and gradually
die off.-Poultry Keeper.
Wheat as q Food for Horses.
An experiment was conducted at the
North Dakota Experiment Station to
test the value Of unground wheat as
food for horses. 1t was found that
they were much liable to get off their
food while wheat was being fed, and
the digestion was considerably de-
ranged. But when the horses were
fed ground wheat and bran in the pro-
portions Of . and parts respectively,
they did very we'll on the ration. This
knowledge is valuable in wheat
growing country where wheat may sell
for u low price. oats at the same time
being Gear. 1t is seldom, however,
that the price of oats is dear when the
price of wheat is very low. So that
farmers will not in very many in-
stances find it to their advantage to
feed much wheat. 1t remains also to
be demonstrated whether the ground
wheat and bran will keep the horses
as long as in good health as oats. The
oat crop is a great standby in feeding
horses, and this fact should always
receive due recognition in all locali-
ties where oats can he successfully
grown. So long as the bulk of the
grain feed is oats, other grain may
sometimes be added with advantage
They do this in more ways than one.
They bring the keeper greater profits,
and thus they help to prevent the farm
slipping away under mortgage. They
eat the food that grows upon it and
therefore hinder fertility from leav-
ing it. But in another sense they hold
the land. By treading it they prevent
the winds Of the prairie from blowing
it away. And where live stock is
kept, more grass is grown, and where
more grass is grown, there is less
chance for the surface of the soil to
blow away. But in another and more
important sense they help to ind the
soil. Where plenty of grass is grown
in a rotation, and where plenty Of
manure is applied, the vegetable mat
ter thus put into prairie soil helps to
bind 1t, and in no small degree. 1t
makes the light soil heavier. Hence
the man who keeps live stock is also
helping in more ways than one to
hinder the lifting of the soil by the
powerful winds Of the prairie. The
more that soil is cropped by growing
grain upon it continuously, the lighter
and drier does it become, and there
fore the more easily does it blow
away.-Northwest Farmer.
Live Stock Notes.
The non-setters are the best egg
producers.
Geese are chiefly valuable for their
feathers.
Do not discard variety as useless
after one trial.
1t is poor economy to stint the feed
Of growing chickens.
The principal point when chickens
are to be sold is carliness.
Keep supply Of ground bone where
the fowls can help themselves.
Fresh earth in the poultry quarters
for scratching aud busting is indis.
pensable.
Don't go into the cropping season
with lot Of ill-titting horse collars.
1t is not right to toture horse that
way.
Prof. Curtiss, Of the Iowa expert
lnent station, says he knows of no we'll
grounded reason why heifers should
not sell as we'll rs steers, or better, as
they do in the English markets.
G. w. Waters says: Always use a
thoroughbred male. If you have lot
enough cows to justify keeping O
pure-bred bull, join with your neigh
bors. and two or more own one in
partnership"
The principle of the horse clipper is
now applied. it is said, to the shear
ing of sheep, and one boy with q
crank can operate two clippers, each
in the hands Ct u man, that will shear
e sheep quickly and closely. and can
by no possibility cut its skin.
A writer we'll says, the tit and fit.
ness Of the harness are as much q
part of the horse as his feed. A collar
too small or too large, tugs too long
or too short, knots or Jumps in the
bearing surface-all these cause mis-.
cry and reduce the efficiency, and yet
such things 80 on UNDECIDED for years
IN the hands o. some men,