Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-01-16
~ icdltural Lore

well fed and well watered, and then
kept from eighteen to twenty-four
hours without food before killing
Stock dresses out brighter when we'll
wateredand adds to the appearance
Full crops injure the appearance and
are liable to sour, and when this does
occur correspondingly lower prices
must be accepted than obtainable for
choice stock. Never kill poultry by
wringing the neck.
Kill by bleeding the mouth or
opening the veins Of the neck; hang
by the feet until properly bled. Leave
head and feet On and do not remove
intestines or crop. Scalded chickens
sell best to shippers, so that either
manner Of dressing will do if prop
erly executed. For scalding chickens
the water should be as near the boil
ing point as possible without boiling;
pick the legs dry before scalding;
hold by the head and legs and i'm
merse, and lift up and down three
times; if the head is immersed it
turns the color Of the comb and gives
the eyes a shrunken appearance
which leads buyers to think the fowl
has been sick; the feathers and pin
feathers should be removed very
clearly and without breaking the
skin; then plump by dipping ten sec
Onds in water nearly or quite boiling
hot, then Immediately into cold water;
hang in cool place until the animal
heat is entirely out of the body. To
dry-pick chickens properly the work
should be done while the chickens
are bleeding; do not wait and let the
bodies get cold, Dry picking is much
more easily done while the bodies are
warm. Be careful and do not break
or tear the skin.
Before packing and shipping, poul-
try should be thoroughly dry and cold
but not frozen; the animal heat should
be entirely out of the body; pack in
boxes or barrels; boxes holding 100 or
200 pounds are preferable, and pack
snugly. Straighten out the body and
legs, SO that they will not arrive very
much bent and twisted out of shape;
fill the packages as full as possible to
prevent moving about on the way;
barrels answer better for chickens
and ducks than for turkeys or geese a:
when convenient, avoid putting more
than one kind in package, mark
kind and weight of each description
on the package, and mark shipping
directions plainly On the cover.
Advice to Young Farmers.
Buy farm if you can, the best
your means will permit. If you can,
not buy, rent one, and neither buy or
rent one that is larger than you can
cultivate we'll If it is new land
clear it Of stumps, if there are stumps
so the machinery can be operated
and if old land make all the manure
you can by using plenty of bedding
under your stock, leaving it till it is
thoroughly packed, and you will thus
save the liquid manure. For bedding
use straw of any kind, forest leaves
or any absorbent obtainable Haul
it direct from the stable to the field
and scatter regularly from the wagon
or sled on the already plowed ground
In this way you save rehandling the
manure and preserve its good quality
Haul it during freezing weather if
possible, and never unless the ground
is dry or frozen.
Corn, Oats, Etc.
For oats or corn plow the land in
the fall In the spring, when ground
is dry enough to work, disc and har-
row. Drill oats, using two bushels to
the acre. After discing and harrow,
ing the ground, plant corn three and
one-half feet apart, and from sixteen
to twenty-five inches apart in the
rows. Harrow again, and as ssoon as it
is up go over it with a cultivator or
double shovel. Continue this once a
week until it is laid by. For wheat
pillow the ground any time from harvest
to sowing time, but the earlier the bet
ter. Disc, if the ground becomes hard !;
roll and harrow until the seed bed is
in good condition. Drill one and one
fourth bushels to the acre. In SOW
ing timothy seed use one peck to the
acre, if you want it in meadow.
Feeding Grain to Hens.
In order that hens may lay well,
they should never be allowed to have
full crops during the day. It is all
right to feed them a light meal of
mixed warm food in the morning, in
troughs, but it should be only one
fourth the amount required. Why?
Because if the hens go away from
their troughs unsatisfied as they then
will, they will seek food more eagerly,
deVouring it grain by grain, and the
healthy exercise thus engaged in will
cause it to pass into the gizzard as it
should and be properly digested. BY
supplying rain in litter they will grad
ually accumulate enough to last them
through the night, and while they are
at roost, it can leisurely be forwarded
from the crop to the gizzard.
1t is in the feeding of SOFT food that
the beginner is liable to make the
most mistakes. 1t leads him to over
feed and pamper the hens, and as a
consequence they reach a condition
sooner or later when they will not lay.
Even whole grain, without any varfa-
ton, is sufficient for the morning feed
food; soft food, when fed at all, should
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