The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-05-04

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Weber County. Times: Alex. Toponce
of Ogden is making one of the biggest
horse deals in the history of the West;
He has recently purchased nearly
$500 head CT horses and mules-there
being only about $50 mules in the
bunch. The horses were purchased on
an average Of 1886 a head. When the
deal was completed the price naturally
jumped up, and it reached $500, as
MIR. Toponce had come near cleaning
out all the cheap horses in this section
Of the country. The horses are nearly
all unbroken. Unless he can secure
very low freight rates, 1T is the inten-
ton of the owner to drive the big
herd to Kansas. A number of outfits
will accompany the caravan, new
horses being put to harness every few
days, and in that way Mr. Toponce
figures that by the time he reaches
his destination in Kansas or Nebraska
his band will be a band of broke"
horses It is thought that at this sea-
son of the. year the grass along the
way will furnish sufficient feed. In
Nebraska unbroken horses are at pres
emit fetching $50 to $3.50, so Mr.. To-
ponce figures on making fairly good
profits on his big purchase. The mules
will bring probably $100 apiece The
start viii be made about May 1st, when
the animals will be brought in from
Nevada and turned over to Mr. To-
ponce. The success of the venture
will be watched with great interest.
ALFALFA ACREAGE.
Eureka Sentinel: Lovelock farmers
have purchased twelve tons Of Utah
alfalfa seed, at a cost of $1,000, or
nearly $500 per ton. The Tribune"
says a ton will seed about 100 acres.
Thus it is seen that the cost is about
" per acre, but when the land is once
set in alfalfa it will last for many
years. This consignment. means that
about 1,200 acres of new land in the
valley will be put in alfalfa this sea
son. ~.
TAKE CARE OF CHICKS.
Orange Judd Farmer: Keep them and
their coops free from vernin Keep
them in dry coops on rainy days Damp
quarters or running out on wet days
viii thin out the flock from chill and
diarrhea. 1 like to have variety of
food, especially wheat, for those three
or four weeks old. 1t satisfies them
longer, and if sand or small grit are
used they grow like weeds We lost
but three, two of them killed out of
120 this spring. We kept them in a
clean, dry house. The south side is
screened with chicken wire and can be
opened to the sum- On cool days 1 do
not let the hens out, but the chicks
can run out and in. The side of the
coop is like two large doors and can
be raised to any hight or sloped down
to make a roof to keep off the rain.
feed coarse cornmeal bran and shorts
They have clover and grass pasture
on fine days. l put about twenty with
each hen Take off two hens at once if
l can and put the chickens in one pen.
l have it so the chicks pass from
one pen to the other freely, for it is
hard to keep them in their own place
If the hens are cross and there is not
an easy way to escape, many are
killed.
PEACH ORCHARDS.
National City Record: In thinning
peaches, one peach left on twig as
large as a small end of pen-holder
would give better quality of fruit than
to leave more. The German Emperors
rule to encourage large families above
every other consideration will not ap-
ply to American peaches. Pear blight
is proven to be a bacterial disease by
taking microbes from the affected trees
and inoculating the healthy trees with
1t; the result. of the compulsory vac
cdnation is that the tree gets very sick.
The disease spreads most in blooming
time and descends down the limbs of
the trees, and if the affected parts are
not promptly trimmed and burned the
disease spreads to other trees Starva-
ton is recommended as a partial rem
edy, as sort of stimulation increases
the virulence of the attack.
THE FIG CROP.
Bakersfield Echo: s. NJ. Seropian of
Seropian Bros, fruit-packers of Fresno.
and who make a speciality of packing
hgs, was visitor to town yesterday
Mr.. Seropian came here to see what
this people had in the way of figs.
His firm. he says, has so far this sea-
son contracted for $4,000 worth of
figs. They are paying from 4 to 5l5
cents pound. In view of the fact
that the fig industry in this county is
small, he did not find any to contract
for, but expects to return here in
short time and secure, if possible, what
there is to go on the market. Mr..
Seropian considers the fig the most
profitable fruit of all for the Califor-
mia orchardists. He says there is good
money in them for the grower even at
l12 cents a pound, to say nothing of
the price he is paying. And as to the
market, he says it is unlimited. The
great drawback with the figs grown
IN California, says Mr.. Seropian, has
been their tough skin, which would not
permit them, after being packed. to
sugar on the outside, and in conse-
quence the sugar would ferment and
the fruit become sour His firm uses
a dipping process which entirely OBJ
viates this difficulty. OF course they
nave their own way of directing how
the fruit shall be gathered and dried.
This information is impaired to the
growers whom the firm patronizes. The
firm, says Mr.. Seropian. has great
faith in the fig industry, and in conse-
quence has given much attention to
the study Of how to handle the fig
that the American product might be
equal to any in the world. They have
sent men to Smyrna to acquire knowl
edge how the fruit is handled there.
from whence comes the finest figs ON
the market The white fig is preferred
by the Fresno firm.
A FLOWER FRAUD.
Los Angeles Times: A local nursery
man writes to The Times that a rank
fraud is being perpetrated upon the
people of Los angeles and vicinity by
men who are showing colored plates of
the new rose Dewey through which