Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-10-06

liable for IL will bring out animated dis
cussions which might not otherwise arise.
Think the plan over and talk 1t over with
your neighbors in the manner suggested.
You VIII be surprised how much knowl-
edge each has gained through meetings of
this kind even though they can be held
only once in two or three weeks during the
winter.
~WHITEWASHlNG TWICE A YEAR.
A writer in a prominent poultry journal
says that the houses should be white
washed and cleaned twice a year. BY
cleaning IL is assumed he means, every
thing removed and the house thoroughly
renovated. The poulIryman who works on
, this plan cannot keep the house free from
Vermin and diseases no matter how freely
ne may use insect powder nor how thor
oughly the embarrassing is done twice a
year. Twenty years Of experience In
raising poultry has taught the writer that
no house ought TO go longer than two
months without being thoroughly white
washed in every nook and crevice. In
certain seasons the work is done more fire.
quently. All our houses are built with
scratching sheds go L is easy TO do the
withdrawing while the hens are In the
shed and then by shutting them in the
house whitewash the scratching sheds. In
sect powder iss Of course, a necessity, but
less of IL will be necessary If the houses
are kept clean by lime and disinfectant
and II is almost impossible to have the
insect powder do It's full duty otherwise.
CLEANING UP FOR WINTER.
Gather the crops clean. Such as are
gathered for sale can be properly stored
away and then go over the field again
gathering up the odds and ends which Of
ten make more than one wagon load and
representing several good feeds for some
of the stock. If one can turn swine or
sheep into the field to clean up it can
generally be done with profit. Any plants
with tops like asparagus may be moved
and thousands of weeds thus destroyed
If the tops are burned. Then the fields
are in better condition for the manure
when 1t is time to apply IL. The weaken
ing meadow may be braced up by the top
dressing or manure put on late, the cor
ners can be cleaned out, the tools be taxi
en- under cover and cleaned preparatory
to being painted later on. Breaks in fences
and leaks in roofs can be repaired. There
are plenty OF things to look after and the
doing of them means money saved or
earned in every case. Try 1t.
TREATING SEED FOR SMUT.
As formalin is now used by growers of
wheat and oats it is possible to almost
entirely eradicate the germs of the smut
which has caused so much trouble in
years past. Twenty-Five gallons OF forma-
lin are used to each 100 bushels of seed so
that the cost for treatment, aside from
the labor. is very small. The method of
treating the seed is to select an absolute
ly clean place on the floor seeing that the
floor is free from cracks through which
the grain may be lost. Spread out the seed
in a thin layer, place the formalin solu-
ton In a sprinkling pot and sprinkle the
seed in a pile and cover il with old bags
letting IT remain for several hours when
ii may be spread out and dried and sown
when desired. For the loose smut on
wheat place the seed in a bag and immerse
in cold water for five hours. Then drain
the water from the bag and let it remain
for four hours and then immerse, still in
the bag, in water 1873 degrees and let it
remain for five minutes. Use a thermom-
eter so that the water will be at just the
right temperature. Then spread the seed
out on the floor to dry and SOW it when
thoroughly dried.
UTILIZING YEAR OLD HENS.
While 1t is a good plan TO depend most
largely upon the pullets for eggs during
the coming winter the year old hens will
be laying in good shape but it is not a
good plan to push these birds too hard
provided they are of good breed and have
a good record as egg producers. Let them
lay well, of course, and feed them properly
but plan for them to produce their best
eggs at breeding season, being sure II
mate theM up with the best male obtain
able. The eggs from these year old hens,
If they are the right sort Of hens, will
turn OUT better chicks than the eggs from
the pullets. Another point just here, If
you are nos in a position TO use incubators
the coming season 1t will pay to get to-
gether a few year or two year old hens
of the larger mixture to use as incubators.
Never mind n they are not purebreds. If
they are large and broody they will make
ideal mothers set on high grade eggs and
will be worth their keep for this purpose
alone.