The National tribune., 1896-07-23
OUR RURAL TOPICS.
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural, Readers
Oriental Poppie@


plant will have three or four splendid scar
let blossoms as big as saueers If suficiens
care is taken, two-year-old plant can be
moved in very early Spring with good sue
cess; but the most favorable time for this
work - IN July, when, after blooming, the
whole top of the plant dies. Then the white,
parsnip-like roots, brittle as glass, can be dug
up. 1t is almost impossible to move a plant
more than two OF three years old, "a The
roots go often two feet into the ground, and
it would require strong man and crowbar
TO dig up one Of these big plants; yet, no
matter how badly broken they may be, every
piece of root will live and make little plant.
The broken big plants, though somewhat set
back for year or 50, soon pick up again and
do we'll; but for best results let the we'll
established plants alone A large plant will
have 40Or 80 blossoms in a season; perhaps
II flowers open at the same time snowy, at
traetive, but Of short-lived glory Yet no
plant in the garden is more generally adj
mired by young and old. When some other
plants can be arranged 10 quickly cover the
dead and dying stems of the peoples, they
may be used to much advantage ON lawn,
making wonderfully vivid spot of color
hard to be surpassed or equaIed.
/ Late Chicks.
| 1t is fact that the late chicks sometimes
fail to make any progress in growth, espe-
I cally during the warm months. This is dus
to the farmer being busy and compelling the
/ chicks to sustain themselves to a certain ex-
! tent and also because the more chicks
Matched the more they are crowded, the
early ones having more room and fewer
drawbacks to encounter. The main cause,
/ however, is lice, which the very early chicks
escape. As the weather becomes warm
| there is a greater multiplication of lice, and
! they swarm in every place inhabited by the
chicks. The early ones, being large and Wig
orous, can better withstand their ravages;
I but the later ones, being Rore feeble will
not thrive and grow. When the chicks do
not grow, especially in pleasant weather,
and with an abundance of food, it is, in nine
cases out of ten, due to lice, both the head
lice and the mites.
| To Prevent Egg-EatIng.
| writer in the POULTRY Keeper saws: Egg
eating IS a bad habit, acquired usually by
hens that are kept in a condition of idleness.
/ 1t is not natural for hen to eat eggs, though
when once she becomes converted to the
delicacy she never forgets IL until a change
of condition occurs, but she may be SO stu-
ated as to be unable to eat them. The best
method Is to make a nest out Of a soap box,
one end of the box being open, SO as to COM
| pei her to walk into the nest. The box
should be raised sufficient hight from the
/ floor, 50 that she will be unable to reach the
eggs in the nest from the ground The
nest-box should not be too large. The hen
will go on the nest, but her body will pro-
tect the eggs, 80 she will not baye room to
peck them. Egg-eating is sometimes cured
by filing egg-shelIs with mustard paste,
which makes the work disagreea5le. The
best way Is to allow no eggs to become
frozen and broken in the nest If the hens
are not brought in contact with eggs that
are broken, they will never learn to eat
them. Fresh egg-shells should never be
thrown 20 the fowls, as The hen that learns
TO eat eggs will set an example to others,
and as one of them may begin on egg-shells,
1t Is better to avoid feeding them to the
flock.
Hardness and Egg Production.
In selecting a breed, but few seem to con-
slider hardness The object is usually to
secure "the best laying breed" without
best laying breed may fail entirely, owing
to slight fault in the construction of the
poultry house; and it may happen that
some despised breed, known to be better
adapted for market than for eggs, may be
profitable egg-prOdueers when other breeds
fail. Disease Is one of the great drawbacks
to the poultry business, and the breed that
is hardy and seems to endure the climate
well is the one that will lay the greater
number of eggs and yield the larger profit.
But these conditions vary according to I0ca-
ton. A breed may be hardy Ia one section
and not in another. 1t may, also, stand close
confinement well on light, sandy SOIL and
be attacked by disease on heavy, clay SOIL
In fact, so many factors enter into keeping
poultry, and are to be considered, that no
two sections are subject to the same natural
laws. The first essential in breed is hardi-
ness. strong, healthy fowl is worth a
whole flock of birds that are always droopy
or non-prOductiTe, no matter what the
breed may be, and it is important that the
hardness of breed be carefully considered
in choosing.
Farm Notes.
Too many acres on q farm is claimed as
one of the curses the farmer has, because he
must cultivate more land than is necessary
in order to obtain crop that might be got
ten from less land upon which all of the
manure can be advantageously spread but
too much land is no worse an infictiOu
than too much stock of an inferior kind, vet
hundreds of farmers feed animals that give
no profit because they will not procure good
breeds and grade up their stock.
Weeds will spring up on any land that is
not cultivated. If the land is not wanted
for q crop the weeds will seldom be- destroyed,
and they send out seeds broadcast and double
the work next year.
One of the most useful appliances on .
farm, which costs but very little COM
pared With the many uses to which it can be
put, is the windmill. 1t grinds food, pro-
yides water for stock, and can be used for
irrigating small plots. They are now being
adapted for purposes of irrigation on many
large farms, two or more windmlls being
sufficient to fill large reservoir and keep
a constant supply of water.
When stock animals have the free use ola
pasture it will be greatly TO their advantage
to give them salt. 1t is corrective of the
injurious effects of too much young grass, and
is also a substance required by them to pro-
mote digestion A small quantity of salt
once day will be highly relished.
The best time to thin out surplus fowls,
especially the cockerels, is when they attain