The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1902-01-17

winter. It is made Of a piece OF an old
saw blade which is fastened by rivets
or bolts to a wider strip Of board. To
this strip the handle is attached and
Is made a convenient length. This tool
can be used around the barn and house
to clean off icy 1t will cost but
little besides time to make the two tools
and either of them will pay for the Ia
Dor involved in a single season.
Furnish Both Lime and Grit.
One of the mistakes made in winter
poultry keeping Is the feeding OF either
grit or bone instead of both. It should
be remembered that the laying fowls
require some material h contains
lime in order that q proper shell may be
formed for h egg, but 1t should also
be remembered hat nothing used for
this purpose is suitable for grit to as
sist h fowl in grinding the food in
the gizzard. Feed oyster shells or bet
ter green bone for the latter contains
not only the elements Of lime neces.
sary to the making Of the egg shell,
but has a food value In making flesh. IT
green bone is used 1t should be fed in
small quantities daily and not kept
may be safely done with the oyster
shells. For grit use anything that
may be broken into small. sharp bits
such as broken c~rockery. flower pots or
soft, fiat stones: even coal ashes will
answer the purpose II hard and gritty.
Whatever material 1t used should be
kept before the fowls all the time, but
it must be placed where it will be
kept clean. Lime and grit have an
important bearing on egg production
and should receive proper all
through the year.
Bone Meal sor,Cows.
Dairymen are looking into the Ques-
ton Of feeding their cows bone meal
az part Of the daily ration, In order
to supply lime and bone making ma
terial. This same question Is also in
teresting those who raise hogs In large
numbers. At this time few conclusive
experiments are on record, hence the
only advice that can be given Is to try
the plan with both cows and hogs thai
are fed largely on q corn ration, anC
note the results. There is little doubt
vi what results will be beneficial FOL
stock that consume considerable sue.
culent food, but the well Abalancet
grain ration ought to give the desired
results with cows without resorting tt
the bone eeal experiment. As a rule
there is too much feeding OF bulk dur
ing the winter and not enough variet.
in the ration, M farmers will not ge
all there isEout. of feeding until the,
work out for themselves n or NOR
ID. DaldICGuE IdllOl1S- LII GlLACi1 AbSAoos 49,.
Winter Work in the Orchard.
Nine out Of every ten men The hav'
orchards which need pruning badl!
Will give as ar excuse for the neglec
that they have no time to spare TO
the work, yet all of them have tim
and to spare during the winter. It 1
admitted that to advocate winter prun
ing of fruit trees is contrary to tn
general idea Of when this work ma.
be done to advantage, but skille'
orchardists do it each year when tn
snow does not prevent. Experience
fruit growers know that the tree ma,
be pruned safely any time after tn
leaves fall until the sap begins to fioy
freely in the spring, and, this being tn
case, the pruning should be place
among the winter jobs. The write
was much averse to winter pruning u
to five years ago, but has since prac
ticed it with the best results. Thre
years ago the trees in a young orchar
were pruned in January, when it. wa
necessary to jostle the snow off of tn
limbs in order to see where to use tn
knife to advantage. The followin
crop the first one, was good; and tw
very large crops have followed. Thi
plan of winter pruning. gives n a
the time in the spring to devote t
work that cannot be done at any othe
season.
Buying Feed for Stock.
It does not follow h because OF
raises a large quantity Of certai
grains on his farm that they should b
fed to stock exclusively. It frequent
pays to sell some Of this grain and I
buy some other, If for no other reaso
in order to get the desired variety. A
i rule the farm raised grains and foe
der are deficient in protein. so 1t a
ways pays tt buy feed that will fun
pish this desired element. even II