The Advocate and news., 1897-12-15


forage crops give the live stock farmer
the opportunity OF his life.
The most successful breeders of ducks
use turnips cooked and thickened with
bran for ducklings, and they serve as
very satisfactory diet for geese in winter,
But little grain is necessary If poultry
IL we'll supplied with cooked foods.
The incubator and brooder are not
superior to hens, but as few hens will
hatch and raise broods in winter the ar
tificial process Is a necessity at this
season, as single incubator can do
the work of fifty hens, or more, accord
ing to its size and capacity,
Even dry stalks can be made palata-
bic and nOurishing in the silo, espe-
cialIy II mixed with that which is green.
Add little water while the pit Is be-
ing filed, and the contents will come
out sweet and juicy. This has been done
successfully and repeatedly:
Save all the small and unmarketable
potatoes and boil them for the hens.
1t is not necessary to mash them, as
the hens know how to eat them without
assistance. Turnips also make cheap
food for poultry, especially ducks, and
will pay as crop for feeding in that
manner.
Pigs may be carried through the win
ter on a feed of alfalfa hay and come out
all right in the spring, but they will do
better with an addition of grain or
roots. The grain is fattening, while
the roots keep the digestion in fine or
der. The alfalfa hay will take care of
the growth.
The family of plants which bear pods
are classed by the botanists as Iegumes,
or leguminous plants. To this family
belong the clovers, alfalfa, melilotus,
peas, beans, vetches and some trees and
weeds, notably the giant beggar weed,
SO popular as forage plant and soil
renovator in Florida.
between the Pekin and the common
white duck. The duck laid over 100
eggs, which were all set, and ninety
four ducks were raised which sold for
a little less than so cents EACH They
were fed upon garbage and decaying
meat, which cost nothing, so that the
whole amount of sales was profit.
The value of sheep pelt is deter
mined to great extent by the manner
in which it is removed. AS soon as the
pelt Is removed spread it out and cover
with salt, using from three pints to
hafa gallon. Leave it spread and salted
for a day or two, when it can be thrown
over fence or pole. They should be
kept in dry place.
The only Down that can be called of
unmixed blood is the Southdown. In
the south of England are ranges of
chalky hills that are called Downs"
On the short and sweet herbage Of these
hills there has existed for so long a
time that history does not go back fur
ther, the breed Of sheep that is now
known as Southdown.
AS soon as the male is caponized it
loses it's masculine nature and associ-
ates with the hens. They are excellent
nurses and will accept broods of chicks,
scratching and clucking for them ex-
actly like hens They do even better
service than hens, as they never wean
the chicks, the capons nursing them
until the chicks become so large that
they voluntarily leave their protectors.
Usually farroW cow, il given succu-
lent food and milked regularly, will more
than pay her way by the milk she pro-
duces until spring. Then If you can
keep on giving the succuTent food and
add some grain meal with it also, dry
ing up the cow quickly, the cow will
fatten very rapidly, and her meat will
not be tough and innutritious, as cow
beef usually is.
There is one breed of dairy cattle that
can produce heavier and a better quail
ity Of veal calves than any other stock
with which l have had experience, and
that breed Is the Holstein-F -Friesian
Young calves that are handled properly
will put on fat more readily and have
plump appearance with solid meat
that Is almost impossible to obtain with