Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1907-01-17

Great care and attention should be
given to the boar He she1ld have a
pen for himself some distance from the
sows, and sufficiently strong to keep
him in.
While it is good taste to have a team
of the same color and marking, it is good
judgment and common sense to have
team of equal strength and power of
endurance.
After all the fuss made about grow
ing ginseng there now comes a new
danger in the way of a blight which
kills the foliage and therefore heads
off the seed crop.
If prone to look after the affairs. of
a neighbor, please remember that this
is not the forte of a farmer. The law.
yer is the only man on earth who can
get rich attending to the business Of
other people.
The Agricultural Department says
we have 3S,000.0O0 head of sheep, the
various assessors say we have $1,000
900, while other statisticians say we
have 100000 head who shall de-
eide when doctors disagree?
Swelled heads and eyes in chickens
and turkeys are often due to exposure
to draft coming through a crack in
the poultry house. Battle the head in
warm water twice Il day and anoint
the whole head with glycerine
1t is claimed that George Washington
was the first breeder of high-grade
mules in America. Being dissatisfied
with the work of horses, he at once
bred lot of high-class mules for SER
vice on his big Virginia farm.
Potatoes that are too small to mar
ket may be used to advantage as a
food for young pigs. Many farmers
consider it no loss to have from > to 3
per cent of their potato crop too small
for commercial use, as it gives them
such a good winter pig food.
An enterprising farmer in one of the
New England states unloads hay with
machine run by gas engine instead
of horse. He says he can unload a
load while a man is unhitchng the team
from wagon. 1t pulls up the load,
returns the fork and takes the place Of
horse and a boy.
The everlasting foundation of farm
is its fertility. Poor land grows poor
crops. Poor crops are a loss to the
farmer and disappointment to the
feeder. Putting manure back on land
is only giving to the land what belongs
to it and the obligation is on the shout
ders Of the farmer
A storm sash is the best way to shut
out Jack Frost from the cellar windows
If this is not provided, leaves will be
found the next best. 1t pays to make
the cellar frost proof long before there
is any danger of low temperature. For
ty years ago we made the cellars of our
houses warm by building up prairie
sods.
A farm paper edited by real farm
err" says to cure lampas in horses
mouth feed ear conn" 1t is barely
possible that the writer meant to feed
the corn in the ear. The enlargement
of the ridges in the roof of the mouth
of horse is caused by indigestion in
old horses and by teething in young
horses. The cure is plain.
The new government inspection law
makes it pretty difficult for goats to
masquerade for mutton now. The re-
tail butcher knows what he is buying.
though of course many a consumer will
eat his goat chop thinking it is high
class mutton. Mohair is less in de
mand for garments also and goat
ranches may need to send their stock
to the brush and tin pile.
At the Minnesota State Fair there
were exhibited 4,161 plates of fruit.
besides fourteen pecks of Wealthy ap-
piles for special premiums One man
had fifty plates of Seeding apples. This
is remarkable showing, when one con
siders how far north Minnesota is
but it is just about what one would nat
urally expect in a State where more
than 1900 persons belong to the State
Horticultural Society.
Humus is the organic matter in the
soil. 1t varies in quantity and is easier
kept in heavy than in light soils. The
clay and sand remain about the same
all the time. When soil has sufficient
humus il is in a crumbly condition and
will not run together" A large amount
of this constituency imparts dark col
indication Of a good soil.
Strawberry plants that have eve.
borne fruit should never be used to
start new bed. For new bed Young
plants should be used that have grown
the season previous The plants that
have borne fruit have black. why roots.
while those that have not borne fruit
have white roots. There is no danger
of being mixed up in the matter. as the
roots tell the age of the plants to any
one who is at all familiar with them.
A farmer went to a bank recently to
get his note renewed and the banker
asked him if his implements were out
in the weather. Upon being told they
were, he was Informed to go home and
house his farm machinery and then
some in and renew his paper. II some