Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-01-09
Facts for Our Farmers.
Bee Keeping for Farmers.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Bee Keeping for Farmers.
We have not been an advocate o
any one going into beekeepilg on A.;
large scale until it had first been de
monstrat6d that the venture had beer
warranted. Better begin with a col
ony Or two and grow up with The
business. Success is usually attain
ed in this manner, and if your localit!
is good and you are especially adapted
to the business it is an easy matte
to grow, and much better than to of
fer later large lot of secondhand
appliances for sale cheap. We have
always been an earnest advocate o
bee keeping as one Of the industries O.
the farm. Every farmer SHOULD
produce what honey he can for his
own use if not for market. Honey is
recognized as a healthy article O.
food, can be produced cheaply by the
average farmer, and we know of nc
class who are better entitled to this
delicious article on the table than the
hard working farmer, and he has only
TO secure the service of the little busy
bee to gather and store it for him
Please do not conclude when you have
secured the colony and placed it in
some convenient position on the farm
your labOrs are over until the crop is
70 no
possibly less care than most any in
dustry, but what they need must be
given at the right time and in the
right manner. Carefulness, gentle
ness and observation are some Of the
most essential elements of success in
this branch of our industry, and these
put into practice are pretty sure to
bring success.-E. Whitcomb of
Friend. Neb.
Treatment of Roup.
Dampness, bad air, filth and drafts
are the common causes. The dis
ease will spread through the drinking
water, hence sick fowls should be
shut away from the healthy ones. The
symptoms of rOup are bad breath,
swollen head, mucous discharges and
canker in the throat. Put a little
bromide of potassium in the drinking
water and gargle the Threats Of the
sick fowls with kerosene; hold the
fowl by the lower part of the neck so
it cannot swallow, fill the throat with
kerosene, let it run out of the mouth
after a moment, then wash the nostrils
and inject into them a few drops of
the kerosene.
Kelp as Fertilizer for Potatoes.
The great value of kelp as a fer
tilizer for potatoes was shown trans
parently in Prince Edward island the
last season. Almost every farmer
who used kelp has a big crop of po-
tatoes. One week the writer visited
a locality where every farmer in the
settlement, numbering twelve with
two exceptions, who did not use kelp
at all have had very poor crops.
This locality is Big Pond, township
As, in Kings county. The settlement is
twelve of them altogether. They live
near the seacoast, their farms front
ing on the Gulf of st. Lawrence, and
they have the very best opportunity to
obtain kelp at all seasons. Two of
these McPhees-Mr. Neil and Mr..
Neil P.-had yields of $50 and 400
bushels per acre respectively. The
others had yields of an average of
800 bushels of splendid dry potatoes
per acre for the whole crop.
I took particular note of their man
ner Of working the land and applying
the fertilizer. 1t was very simple.
An oat stubble was plowed last fall
and narrowed thoroughly, then kelp
was applied at the rate of 80 one
horse loads per acre and spread on the
ground, and thus left for the winter.
Early last spring the potatoes were
planted without further working The
potatoes were planted after the plow
the sets being dropped in every third
furTow. Afterward they received but
ordinary cultivation. The cultivatoT
was run though the rows about three
twice, and this was all that was done
to secure yields of 800 to 400 bushels
Of potatoes per acre. No stable
manure or commercial fertilizer was
applied in any case. Two of the
farmers in this particular locality
did not get any kelp at all, but ap.
piled stable manure, and their yields
were no more than 100 bushels pei
acre.
This was the greatest object-lesson
| ever saw as to the tremendous value
of kelp for potatoes. In another 10
cality, Clear Spring, in Kings county
one man, Donald Mcdonald was the
only farmer who obtained kelp for his
potatoes this year. He manured
about two-thirds of his field with kelI
last fall and remaining one-third this
spring, with the same fertilizer
From four acres Mr.. Mcdonald took
so one-horse carloads of barrels
Is bushels, each, or 1440 bushels, ar
average of $50 bushels per acre His
neighbors, who had no kelp for theil
potatoes, had very poor yields.
asked Mr.. Mcdonald which was the
best-the fallkelped, or spring-keIpet
potatoes. He replied that the spring
Helped potatoes were the better. The
fall-kelped ground was planted early
and the spring-kelped several week!