The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1910-04-29
GumptiOn ON the Farm.


Chinese Proverb
Virtue is it's own reward, but little
cash helps out.
Quarrels make enemies and leave
the question still unsettled.
Talk things over with the hired man;
it will help both you and him.
Arrange so the chips do not fly all
over the yard when chOpping wood.
coming down the road toward our
farm pass by without stopping.
When hoops come off barrels, hoop
them with wire. Cheaper than buying
barrels and anybody can do it.
The man who puts lot of cider in
his cellar to get hard is laying up for
his boys something that cannot be kept
i'm barrels.
The windy days of spring are here.
Rattle log chain down the chimney
and get the SCOT out before it burns
out, and maybe burns the house. too.
Two good eyes to hill of potatoes
are a-plenty. We make mistake
many times in seeding too heavily.
Good stocky shoots are better than
spindling ones.
Burn all the old brush heaps now
and get rid of a thousand and one
pests that have had their home there
waiting for warm weather to bring
them into activity again.
The eggs of hens that did heavy
laying during the winter are not so
apt to be as strongly fortified as
eggs from hens that made but fair
showing.
Keep the boys from fooling with any
of the farm animals. Joking with
calves or colts will surely bring jokes
that make us laugh out of the other
corner of our mouths.
The last egg laid before hen goes
to setting will often be so small that
it will have no yolk at all. There is
an old notion that 1t is bad luck to
bring these small eggs into the house.
Neighbors may save a nice bit of
money by putting their orders togeth-
er and buying large quantity of
grass seed or other farm neceSSarieS.
Nice to think that farmers have con-
fidence in each other to do that.
Don't wait till the last minute to
polish up the rusty old plow, or to get
new bolts, or to grind the moving ma
chine knives. Preparatory ticks in
time blaze the final way to success.
Delay il dragging anchor.
A nest that suits the turkey hen
first-rate may be made by turning a
salt barrel on the side. Put straw in
the hollow, and a nest egg, and cover
the barrel over with brush, if you
have it handy.
One of my neighbors says that
there's no money in poultry, and that
the easiest way to get eggs is to buy
them. He. says that he keeps chick
ems to eat the bugs I'm his orchard;
pays 'em a cent bug.
Is there a place under some old
building where you can spade up the
earth and give it to the hens to work
at ? They will dig away hard to find
the worms that may be in it. Moth
ing will do them more good.
When hen lays now and then, and
not soon again, and you can't decide
whether she hadn't quit altogether,
I'll tell you what to do: Why, just
ak her to, and neither in box nor in
keg will she ever lay another egg.
1t il easy to break good hammer
handle in drawing a long nail. After
starting the nail out an inch or %,
just place a bit of wood under the
head of the hammer, raising it up say
an inch, and you can pull your nail
easily.
Dear brother, when your wife asks
you for little spending money, don't
draw a wry face as though she had
trod upon your corn. Just shell out
with a smile, remembering all the
while that the half of what you have
IL hers by right.
Most folks throw away their felt
boots when holes come in the feet.
Just cut the feet Off and draw the legs
on above your shoes when you have
cold job to do. Those boots have not
outlived their usefulness when the
feet give way. Try it and see.
Especially in early matches, care
should be taken not TO set hen until
she is thoroughly broody. It does
not take much experience to know
when hen is really broody. She will
be very fussy when approached, and
hug close to the nest when the hand
is placed under her.
How natural it il when one man
makes a pretty good thing OF any one
crop, for everybody to rush in and try
to do just a. he has done ! The best
way, though, is to take it steady. If
you do venture into strange crop,
do ii conservatively. The middle
course is always best in all such
things.
March settings should not contain
more than eleven eggs, for when a
larger number il given the hen can
not sufficiently cover them to impart
the necessary warmth. When too
many eggs are placed in the nest,
those on the outer edge are not apt
to get the amount of heat required to
develop the germ and bring forth the
chick.
Any system of feeding IL expensive
IL the hens do not lay, and the greater
the number of non-producers the
greater the cost of every egg produced.
Improper feeding or overlooking may
be the cause of flock yielding only
half OF what IL should. lit will b.
found that the surest course of feed
ing il To follow a. nearly o. possible
along the line OF nature, and this
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