Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1898-04-28

lue OWueT WOuueTS why II Is MS Irult
| is so much inferior to that of his more
| thrifty neighbor. No wonder that he
comes to the concluson that there is
only now and then one who is calcu-
lated to raise fruit anyhow Plants,
like animals, need a well-balanced ra-
! ton, and a large per cent of brains is
| one of the principal ingredients.
Currants and gooseberries are no ex.
ception to this rule. These plants
will bear some fruit without care.
| though it will be smaller in size.
poorer in quality and yield less than
when literally treated Farm and
! Home.
Fruit Trees.
The method employed in some i'm
portant 1ruitgrowing districts to Sc
cure a crop of fruit, such as peaches.
apples, plums, pears. etc. with uni
Iormlty every year providing the
mowers are not rendered sterile bv
freezlng) is to Systematically thin out
the young fruit after danger from
frost in the spring, and before the
fruit gets large enough to become a
tax on the tree. Fruit is seldom pro-
duced on the same spur every wear:
therefore, in thinning, they remove
all of the fruits from one spur without
buds for the next year. allowing the
next spur to bear-of course. discrim
mating between promising and poor
fruit. Various contrivances have
been invented for this work. but thew
have proved impracticable. for thew
90 not discriminate between the good
and poor fruit, and, besides, often in
lure or break off spurs So thinning
has to be done by hand, and. aside
from the great advantage = insurirg
a crop for the following year. it paws
the same season. on account of a far
larger proportion of the fruit being of
superior quality and of higher market
value. Prairie Farmer.
Farm House Dangers.
Clean out the deadly privy vault
AVID fill it up and get galvanized pals
to use instead, says writer in the
Michigan Farmer. Who knows but A
streak of sand or some stratum of
loose soil runs direct from your privy
vault to your we'll? There may not
be one in thousand, but yours may
be that one. Did you ever think of
this? Yes, thought of this, and we
got the pals, and dug a new well
and bricked it up with brick impervi-
Gus to water, all laid in cement from
top to bottom. A hole is bored il
the bottom of this we'll about tex
feet deep, and galvanized iron pipe
extending down deep in this hole, and
this is where we get our water No
surface water can get in unless there
is stratum leading from a distance
down deep into it. This we can't
help, but we can guard against i'm
mediate surroundings.
Mangel- Wurzels.
For the first time in my life l am
feeding to my pigs and calves a few
mangel-wurzels. l wish | had planted
four times as many. | planted twelve
rows, ten rods long, which was quick
ly done with my corn planter. The
was but little more work to care for
them than to care for so many pota-
toes. An unfavorable season gave me
only sixty-five bushels, but with no
apples or potatoes to feed it is pleas
ing to have little something to feed
that does not call for cash. l know
of nothing else that l could have
planted on the same ground, that,
together with little milk, would
make SO many square meals
W. w. Andrews, Otisfeld, Me.
To Cure Hams.
The Hon. J. L. Irby, a we'll known
and very enterprising farmer of Lau-
rens county, who enjoys the dis
tinction of having raised more cane"
Oh less ground than any man in the
state, and who has also achieved some
success in raising dark horses for
racing purposes, has kindly furnished
the News and Courier, for the bene-
fit of his fellow-farmers who are in
terested in the matter of curing hams,
a plan of his own devising for that
purpose, which has the merit of be-
ing very simple and inexpensive, and,
he says, has been thoroughly tried,
and cannot fail.
1t is as follows: When the hog is
killed the hams are literally buried in
salt. After lying in salt for five
weeks they are taken out, sponged
off with boiling water and placed in
a cage, the bottom and top of which
are made of tongued and grooved
flooring, while the four sides consist
of closely woven wire netting. The
hams are cured by the smoke passing
the netting, which excludes the fly.
which is the greatest enemy to helns,
and protects them from rats aod
mice as well. 1.-The best way to maxi
smoke" Mr.. Irby says, lis to build Il
fire on the ground with hickory wool.
1t will fill the smoke house with
smoke, and this will soon permeate
the cage. The hams are left in the
cage until they are wanted for use.
1 originated this plan, and was gen.
been tried by me, and is complete
success"
That is commentator enough, sure
| ly, and as the arrangement is simple
| and cheap, any farmer can try it for
| himself The distinctive feature OF
| the plan of course, is the wire netting
| to shut out the fly that deposits its
eventually. We should think that the