Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-01-04
Farm Notes.

AS hog grows older and heavier it
requires not only mere food to make a
pound of gain, but more to sustain the
weight that it already has. So if not
gaining, you want to get off your hands
pretty quickly.
1.-The true basis of value in artificial
fertilizers is the percentage of nitro
gen, phosphoric acid and potash they
contain. The chemical influence which
they exert upon the. soil is but little.
1t is different with farmyard manures.
One of their chief benefits arises from
the chemical action which they exert
upon, the soil in their decay. They help
to rot the soil, so to speak and in pro-
noting its decay they liberate plant
food, and this rotting or reducing power
is in proportion to the freshness of the
manure. 1t has also been shown that
farmyard manures exert a powerful
influence on the soil in helping it to re-
tain moisture. and this power also is
proportionate to the freshness of the
manure Artificial fertilizers do not in
crease the power Of the soils in any
marked degree, to hold moisture, at least
this is true of most of. them. Prof.
Sheer in Farm, Stock and Home.
At the first indication of garget, in
flammation. swelling, heat and sore
ness in the udder. give an ounce of nj
trate of potash, placing it well back
upon the roots of the tongue, and hold
the mouth up till the COW has swallow
ed once or twice; follow .nis in eight
or ten hours with ~ pounds of EPSON
salts dissolved in as little water
(warml as possible, say ~ to two
quarts. In giving this and all reme-
dies, take plenty of time and use great
care to have the patient swallow the
full dose. These two doses are gener-
ally sufficient to check these troubles
with the udder. Care and judgment in
feeding are absolutely essential. Never
allow excessive rations of rich feed, as
cornmeal, cottonseed and the like. Re-
move all grain rations upon the appear
ance of any trouble with the udder.
Roots should enter into the bill of fare,
if not for all the stock, at least for the
best cows in milk, and cheap turnips
for dry cows.-Farm and Home.
to cleanliness. The hog, the common
type of Nth, is not by any means as
dirty as we would suppose, if given an
opportunity to be clean; and in this he
needs only as much assistance from
man as a horse demands-the result
will prove his natural tendency to
cleanliness. The hen has an aversion
to bathing in water: her substitute is
the dust bath, which answers the same
purpose for cleansing her feathers. A
dust bath is very essential to the .lealth
of all fowls. In winter, when the out
side ground is frozen hard, substitute
should be provided in the shape of a
box filed with dry sand mixed with
coal ashes or road dust. Watch your
hens on a bright sunny day in winter
and see how they enjoy this bath.
They pick the dust into their feathers,
roll first on one side then on the other,
and seem to sift the dry dirt into every
part of their feathered coat. 1t clean
ses them and frees them from their
mortal enemy the lices One would
suppose that hen lice were very clean
themselves since they have such dread
where dirt or dust abounds.
Regarding the kind of manure most
profitable to use Mr.. Woodward writing
in the Rural New Yorker says: 81 re-
member field of corn followed by oats
of which we tried some experiments. On
this field, which was a three-year-old
sward. we applied In. the fall and winter
about Is loads of stable and yard manure
Vy1 oru12 tAt
through the field with manure made from
straw, corn stalks and corn for grain, the
next one manfred with that from the
cow stable III which We're fed ensiiage;
and linseed meals: these we're alternated
through the field. As to the result, as
far as it could be seen, that field was
most instructive object lesson. The corn
on the strips with the manure made from
the more heterogeneous foods could be seen
towering One-third higher, and was OF
very much darker green color than the
was equally marked. The oats that fol-
lowed the next year showed fully as
much difference as did the grass that fol-
Prof. Roberts at Cornell we were going
by a field Of wheat that lay where we
could see over 1t pretty well; there were
narrow streaks running here and there
much darker green. When asked to ex-
plain, the professor said that was where
the wagon had been driven with loads
Of manure made by the cows when fed
largely on bran and cottonseed meal, and
that a little had shaken off as the wagon
had gone along. Ihave noticed a difference,
also, in potatoes; but it has been most
marked in the cereals and the timothy
following 1t is. undoubtedly. due to the
extra percentage of nitrogen that such
manures contain. There is no greater
fallacy among farmers than the notion
that anything which comes from the
Il hate that world is manure.
The putting of food through the stable,
TO its manurial value 1t may make the
plant food ingredients more available.
but it. adds nothing that 1t did not con-
tain when fed: in fact 1t has some of this
value taken out. the quantity depending
upon the animals to which it was fed.
All farmers ought to be fully aware of
this fact. When our farmers come to