Connecticut western news., 1908-01-02


 price through the year of % cents per pound, cow must produce ISIS pounds to enable her owner to come out even in keeping her. Do all the members of your dairy herd do better than this? If they don't you should find out why.
 While many a farm owner may not think 1t worth while to put a neatly painted sign up over the driveway leading from the main road to his house, he ought at least to find time in which to restencil his name on the rural mail box which is nailed up in front of his place.
 A recent investigation into the habits of the skunk and its economic relation to man conducted by the biological sur vey showed that of the stomachs of thirty-six skunks but two which were examined gave evidence that they had eaten domestic fowls. This bit of in- formation is worth while remember ing.
 If there are rabbits in your locality they are just as likely to gnaw and devour the blackberry and raspberry bushes or the rosebushes that are left uncovered as they are to girdle the apple trees. While measures should be taken to protect the trees and bushes, it is also we'll to get after the rabbit.
 The father who takes a real interest in the pastimes and play of his boys usually has little difficulty in arousing their interest in work in which he would have them cooperate. Most boys are on the square and also have a keen sense of appreciation and grati- tude and can be counted on to do the right thing if properly appealed to.
 The skunk, hawk and owl all prey upon the field mousse and in this ca pacity they are real friends to man. more than offsetting in the service they render any harm they may do in the poultry yard. For this reason these three animals should be left off lists when hunting tournaments are arrang- ed, with prizes going to the side get ting the most game.
 If one desires to fumigate grain, beans or other product this may be done by exposing carbon bisulphide in open vessels at the rate of one ounce of the chemical to each thousand pounds of the stuff to be treated. All doors and windows should be closed and animals of all kinds removed, as the fumes given off are poisonous and quickly result in asphyxiation.
 If any of our readers wish to give their fruit trees wash for protective purposes the following recipe will be found good one: Water, one gallon; soap, one pound; carbolic acid, two to four ounces. This should be mixed thoroughly and may be put on with brush or old broom. To be effective it would have to be repeated in case of hard rains, which would wash most of 1t off.
 In preparing the Christmas gifts it is we'll to remember that if your friends are the right kind they will prize the remembrance you send them not by the amount of money you put into it, but by the degree of thought fitness and consideration which you put into its selection and preparation. This plan puts gift giving within the reach of all, however modest their means.
 The eating of the placenta, or after birth, which seems to be an instinctive trait with most cows, Is said to be an inheritance of their wild and primeval state, when this was done to prevent wild animals from locating and de- stroying the newborn calf. Consensus of opinion seems to be that COW is neither better nor worse for this vio- lation of her otherwise strictly herbiv- orous instinct.
 While the photograph furnishes a ready and not very expensive means of entertainment for the home, the wisdom of investing in one Is ques- tionable if the possession of it tends to discourage the development of any latent musical talent that may be pos sessed by members of the family, for, after all there is no music that means