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The 'Commoner
26
VOL. 14, NO. 11
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In the Field of Agriculture
DAllK HORSES FOR THE ARMY
A decided activity is noticed in the
various horso markets throughout the
country, duo to tho Europe'an war,
and many farmors aro profiting
thereby. The representatives of for
eign governments sent hero for tho
purposo of buying horses aro letting
it bo known that white or light-colored
horses are not wantod. Accord
ing to the Army and Navy 'Journal,
the color lino is bolna drawn by the
army in this country in tho purchase
of horses. On this subject it says
further:
"Tho color line has not been drawn
in favor of whito or light-colored
horses, but against them and in favor
of Borrols, browns, bays and even
blacks. Because of their visibility
white and gray horses are not consid
ered desirable mounts. In tho field
they are a mark for sharpshooters,
and on this account tho quarter
master corps has stoppod purchasing
light-colored horsos. Officers are
permitted to purchase gray horses
if they care to take tho chances ot
being shot In the event that they are
on the firing lino, but the inspector
general's department has condemned
the general use of gray horses in the
army.
"This, however, does not prevent
many of the officers of the army from
riding gray horses, and they have re
fused to draw the color line. Some
of the members of tho general staff
aro advocating the issuance of a gen
eral order prohibiting the use of gray
or light-colored horses in the army,
as they claim that with oven a few
officers on light-colored mounts the
enemy will be able to locate a regi
ment or company which might be on
scout duty. The question whether a
gray horso is officially regarded as a
suitable mount for an officer has been
'the subject of lively controversy at
at least one army post.
what bettor than that reported by
the United States department of ag
riculture for the southern, states,
where ,the reduction of the loss to
2.27 per cent was regarded as high
ly gratifying evidence of the value of
tho preventive treatment. .
The loss where the treatment was
given in infected herds in Minnesota
was about 10 per cent, many of the
losses, however, were in herds in
which the veterinarian merely took
the "fighting chance" to save hogs
that were very sick.
Officials of tho department of agri
culture at Washington point but that
inoculation alone is not sufficient, and
does not remove the necessity for
sanitary and other precautions. For
example, hogs given the treatment
should be fed a few days on laxative
foods. They should be removed to
clean and disinfected pons whore
there is plenty of shade, and care
should be taken to free them from
lice and worms.
MAKE READY FOR WINTER EGGS
BIG OUT
IN TiOSS
CHOLERA
by noG
Out of 6,500 cases reported, all
but one per cent of the hogs treated
with serum have gone safely through
hog cholera outbreaks, according to
H. P. Hoskins, in charge of tho serum
plant and the cholera investigation
work of tho department of agricul
ture, University of Minnesota.
Preparations that are to be made
In the poultry yard for winter should
be made earl in the fall so the hens
will become, accustomed to the
changes and have time to get .back to
laying before cold weather sets in,
says Chesla C. Sherlock in the Jour
nal of Agriculture. Now is the time
to do tho work.
Ttemove all the old litter and nest
ing material and burn It. If allowed
to accumulate, in the yards it will
serve as a wholesale incubator for
disease germs, which may mean
death to your fowls. The best plan is
always to keep everything clean. It
Is the cheapest, too.
After everything has been removed
from the house and it has had a thor
ough scrubbing, ejive it a' good paint
ing all over with whitewash and a
disinfectant made of crude carbolic
acid. If you can not do this, any of
th0 commercial disinfectants will do.
Paint tho roost with it an hour or two
before the hens go to roost and it will
do away with the lice.
If you are planning any new build
ings or yards, they should be made
at once, for it will be fatal to the pro
duction of winter eggs, if you wait
until cold weather comes. The hens
naturally require some time to get
accustomed to new things.
Gather a supply of good road dust
for use in the dUBt box this winter.
more than a good dust bath and it is
by far the cheapest lice remedy you
can get. Gather up a barrel full and
you will have enough to last all win
ter.
plf tho nights get pretty cold ir
your locality in the winter time it
will be a good plan to make roosting
closets for the laying hens. It will
keep up the production of eggs. It
costs little and will more than repay
you for the trouble and "expense of
making it.
v If you need new food hoppers, get
them now. Nothing .like being pre
pared for winter when it comes. If
we keep putting things off we are
apt to forget them altogether.'
WHEN PRICES ARE HIGH
Nutritious and Inexpensive "butter
milk cheese can easily be made at
the farm or in the creamery. The
method is fully described in a bull
etin just issued by the agricultural
experiment station, University of
Wisconsin.
Buttermilk cheese Is said .to be su
perior in flavor and texture to cottage
cheese. It has about the same food
value as lean beef steak .and sells for
half the price. Buttermilk cheese is
not only an economical but a palat
able food. Here is a recipe to follow
in making the cheese from ordinary
buttermilk:
Heat a quantity of buttermilk to
130 or 140 degrees (about scalding
hot) and then let stand for half an
hour. Most'of the curd will rise to
the top and the whey may be drawn
off. The cur. . js collected in a cheese
cloth bag and loft to drain for from
one to four hours.
When dry enough, the curd Rbnniri
be evenly salted, one ounce of salt
being,about the right amount for five
pounds of. curd. The cheese' is then
kept in a refrigerator for a week or
more without losing in quality.
Buttermilk cheese may be eaten
alone, or like cottace cIiggra miv
with cream. For use in sandwiches
or Balads, it may be mixed with but
ter, Spanish pimento, paprika, chop
ped pickles, olives, or nuts.
OLD SILAGE
In all of thes3 instances the state
"serum was used. This record is some-1 There is nothing that the hens enjoy
OUR EXTRA SPECIAL KNIFE OFFER
Tho Commoner, Ono Year $1.00 Regular price nzas
ifl .JbHmMMH
American Homestead Ono Year 9.k
The Excelsior Wonder Knife 1.00
This Illustration show
the actual size of holes
that may bo cut with
the leather punch blade.
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large blade, this knife has smaller punch or reamer blade 2U inohS3lde5
outs holes exactly as shown above" The Leather Punch will be frnXISffik and
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etc, This knifo is thoroughly finished In evisry detftih li brass iln.SLLa?inr'
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the manufacturer to send each knife direct from the T factory with m,n lJ?lth
antefe by tho maker. Accept tho above offer and you wlff ' iSm v? uruar
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STiLddress order for above offe? &ml!1y1lS' "rceI
n?JLe A ,valu,ab,o P0ts ahout
silage is its keeping quality when
properly prepared under right con
ditions The Michigan Farmer re
lates that an Indiana farmer reported
that he placed well matured corn in
a concrete silo fourteen years ago,
and emptied the hottom of the silo
the past July. This farmer said that
oedfidbffrenCG that h h?e
to detect betweon tiio.i. .,
the one-year-old silage was that the
former was slightly more acid than
the latter, hut that tho cattle ate old
and new silage alike. An important
factln connection with thT silage
keeping so well is that the corn wis
ripe when it was placed In the sTlo
Incidentally the silo was a home'
made one, the base of which wis flv
feet below the surface of the Ground
Hue. Such a construction with ma
ture corn well packed would almost
sure goodjilagej
THE GRAIN WEEVIL
Complaints are comlno-
. where it ha. Z teTZved
since being threshed. Professor C
S. Hutchinson advises fumigating
with carbon, bisulphide in a tight
granary, bin or box. Use proportion
of ten pounds to each thousand cubic
feet of space. Pour liquid in shallow
dish and set on top of grain, closinc
bin tightly for one or two days
Avoid breathing the gas, which is
dangerous to all life and is highly
explosive under certain conditions.
Bar the pipe, cigarette, lantern or
Are and do not risk avati n nnn-rir
from driving a nail. The vapor or
gas is more than twice as heavy as
air and will, in a tight bin, settle
down into the grain. The fluid is
cheap and can be bought at drug
stores. Uncertain results may be ex
pected if bin or. box is not tight and
not well covered.
MULCH THE STRAWBERRY
It is nearing the time of the year
when the strawberry patch will need
attention. Strawberries, like clover,
heave badly in an open winter or
during the alternate freezing and
thawing in the early spring. Clover
usually has to' take, chances with the
weather, but for strawberries, which
are usually grown on a smaller scale
and are relatively more valuable,
winter protection amply pays, and
this protection is best secured by
mulching.
4The plants should be covered with
a mulch of straw, -swamp hay or a
coarse manure, as soon as the ground
freezes in the fall hard enough to
hold up awagon, which is usually
about Thanksgiving in the northern
latitudes. They should not be
mulched before the ground freezes or
so early that there is liable to be a
continual warm season which will
cause them to be smothered. The
best material to use is clean straw,
free from weeds. -If this is not avail
able, marsh or swamp hay may bo
used, or even coarse, strawy horse
manure. The mulch should be two
or three inches deep and cover the
entire patch, and if light should be
weighted down by boards to prevent
its being blown away. It should re
main on until the plants begin to
start in the 'spring, or until-the dan
ger from late frosts has passed.
CORN .SMUT AND. ITS. CONTROL
Wherever corn has' been grown for
a period of years the well-known dis
ease known as ''corn smut" will be
found to have established itself.
Its distribution, therefore, is very
wide. Considerable losses, some
times averaging as high as 6 per cent,
are sustained by American corn
growers, and not infrequently the
losses in some sections of the coun
try run as high as 25 per cent, ac
cording to the United States depart
ment of agriculture.
The corn-smut disease is caused by
a parasitic fungus which produces its
spore masses in the form of smut
boils in the ear; along the stalk, par
ticularly at the nodes or joints, and
less frequently within the leaves and
tassel. These boils or spore masses
are surrounded by a membrane of
fungous tissue mixed with cells of tho
host. Upon drying out, large num
bers of microscopic roundish spores
are liberated. These are capable of
retaining their germinating power
over a1 winter or longer. They ger
minate readily in water or upon any
suitable moist medium and produce
great numbers of secondary spores
"which are easily carried by wind
from one part of the field to another
or from field to field.
Carefully conducted experiments
covering several years of research
both in America and Europe indi
cate that corn-smut infection takes
place at a time or times following
the appearance of the host plant
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