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SWANX
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Lon of Soil Nitrogen.
The nitrogen of the soli Is one of Its
most important constituents and a for-
t\1l1.IIII \ element that quickly dlsap-
l > earH. H volatlzes rIlllldly and one of
the chief agents of holding It III the
flail IH the humu8. When the humus
becomes exhausted the nitrogen escapes -
capes with Increased ralldll ) Ex-
1IOrimollt8 with continuous wheat
growing on the same soil have shown
that the animal and vegetable matter
In the soil disappears very rltpldh'
ThlH causes the liberation of the nitro ,
gen As long as the nitrogen Is In
combination with and forms a part of
the humus , or decaying animal and
\'ogotahlo matter or the soil , It Is In a
stable form : but as soon as the humus
decays the nitrogen Is liberated In
various gases and soluble forms ,
which are easily lost from the soli It
Iii the statement of scientists that
there Is no element that Is so readily
lost as nitrogen IL Is not possible for
the mineral forms of plant food , such
as potash and phosphoric acid , to be
converted Into gaseous and soluble
forms hy the ordinary chemical
changes that tape place In the soil ,
M In the case of nitrogen With
them the principal loss 18 In their
removal from the soil aR plant food
But with humus It Is different- There I
18 a loss of course of the plant food
by its being used lIy the crops , but
much additidnal la leached downward
hy the soil water and some Is sent
off In the form of gas when the humus
decays.Vo have an illustration of
this In the decay of piles of manure
and vegotalllo matter.Ve say that
wo can smell the ammonia rising
from them : hut that ammonia Is the
glInto which the nitrogen In the
decaying maRS Is being changed
The loss of soil nitrogen can only
ho prevented 11) keeping UII the 11\1'
m11l\ In the soli In most countries
rotation of crops alone iR able
10 do this Some men brag / that they
have grown wheat year after year on
the same soil for a generation with
out loss , but It will ho found that such
soil In the ' ' ' rich
was beginning very
In humus By alt means rotate and
include In the rotation some of the
legumes
Cooling Milk In Winter.
Most milk producers now know that
milk must bo quickly cooled In sum
mol' to increase its ! : keeping ) power
but many do not know that the proc ,
oss Is also necessary In w In tel' , Men
hat I make a business of delivering
milk know that at certain times In
winter the ) ' have as much trouble
with milk souring as the ' do In the
RUmmel' The cooling of milk In the
winter should be done In exactlyy
the same way as It Is In summer :
namely , by placing the milk In cans
In tanks of cold water as soon as the
milk Is drawn from the cows In the
winter ice and snow mar bo easily
obtained for reducing the temperature
or the water In the tanl. J\s this Is
entirely without expense there Is no
good reason why It should not bo
done. Milk for all purposes ) will then
keep very much longer than If It Is
not cooled after being drawlI
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Turnips for Ducks.
Grow a crop of turnips for ducks , If
you Intend to raise a large number of
ducks. In the large establishments
where hundreds of ducks are raised ,
the principal ) fool ! for them is cooked
turnips , with a small \ proportion \ of
ground grain. No crop caD bo grown
to better . advantage than turnips und
In n.o nay can turnips be grown : :9
profitably as to feed them to ducles
1 Dubims and turnips arc adjuncts . to
i : each other on the duck ; : farms , for
without turnips the ducks could pot '
be made to lay l so well.--F.xchang .
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Crates for Fattening Fowls.
Wo herewith illustrate a foul , fntten ,
fug crate , used at the Ontario AgrlclIl-
tllral College This crate Is six feet
six inches long , eighteen to twenty
Inches high and sixteen inches whIe.
It It divided Into three compartments -
monts , each holding from four to five
birds , according to the size or the
chlclccns. The crate Is made of slats ,
except. the ends 'rhe slats are
usually one and a half Inches wide
and fiveelghths Inches thick. The
slats In front are run up und down
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to
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and are two Inches apart , to allow
the chickens ! to put their heads _
through for feedilig. 'rhe slats on the
bottom are three . fourths ! : ! Inches apart ,
so us to admit of the droppings passing -
Ing through to the gl'Ound Care
should he taken not to have the first
bottom slat at the back fit closely
against time hack , as this will hold the
droppings 'l'he feeding and water-
Ing are done hy means of a trough
In front running the entire length of
the coop This trough is from two
to three Inches deep and Is made of. .
tliree , fourths , inch lumhor-Farmers' I
Hevlow
Colds and Roup.
Houp In fowls of all kinds Is very
dangerous t9 the whole flocl. The
hatchet Is the best cure for It after
the fowl's head becomes foully odor
ous HOllp starts from colds , damp
quartets , foul air , and other CUllses
'Vhen a cold gets bad and runs Into
a form of catarrh It Is. then almost
sure to go Into rOllp Burn 01' bury
all fowls that die 01' are hill of It.
Weak constitutional flocks arc always
troubled with colds anti roup. Kill
them off 1\1111 try new hlood. A cold
can be cured In a healthy fowl by an
application of three 01' four drops of
coal all In the fowl's nostrils Never
get It In the e 'es , Put enough permanganate -
l1)anganato of potash In the drinking
water to color It. This Is good for
throat Infections of all kinds and will
prevent the spread of the rOlll1le-
Farm 1 ife.
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Evil in Surplus Male Birds
Many people who raise intro blood
chickens forget that they are good for
anything else than to sell for breed-
Ing purposes and keep themselves poor
feeding surplus male birds during the
win lei' . Manyy of them that If kept
until spring will not bring marc titan
$1 and sometimes less , It thor had
been will whets they were tiny 111'011'
ers would have brought nt least fort '
cents Just consider the feed and the
room , not saying / anything of the time
that would have heen saved Allor'
son who Is well versed in the Intricacies -
cles of the standard of excellency can
' readily pick out the birds which have
glaring defects so they are not likely
to kill the ones that will bring the big
manor.
Selling Eggs by Weight.
In France official agents are appointed -
ed to Inspect not only the number and
quality of all \ egg ! : ! marketed but all
eggs which pass through a hole of
certain : size are ndectell. If eggs were
sold by weight in this cauntr with
twentr-our ounces to the dozen as the
legal standard what a relative difference -
cnce it would create among the
breeds Everybody would be scram-
bling to secure owls which : would
always lay : eggs ' U1 ] to w lght.
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UHeellngln" Trees
Several correspondents ask about
"heellng.ln" t rces , Some do not know
what Is meant lIy it , and others do
not know how ' ' follow-
to do It , The -
Ing explicit directions are 1'1'0111
"Green's Amateur Fruit Grower. " a
hook that shoulll ho owned hy every
one who grows fruit of any kind , ai'
who contemplates growing It :
" 1Ieeling , in" is a term used to de8'
Ignate the temporary burying of time
roots of trees ! 01' plants In earth 01'
other material If the trees are 10 lie
moved again In a few days a very
light covering will lie sulIlcient ; hut If
they arc to remain several weeks
much care should bo taken to 110 the
.f
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' ' . _ " ' < ' ' " - - " ' . . . . _ - , ' , _ , - _ . . _ . . . - : . " . - " - . ; . , - , _ . . - ,1 : ' , _ - - . ' : ? _ w . . -
work well To begin with , select a
dry . mellow piece of ground ; dig a
wide trench , put in the troes-a few
at a lIme-elthor In an erect 01' slop-
Ing position and cover thom so deep
and firm they cannot dry out. If apple -
plo 01' other somewhat tender trees
arc to remain heeled over winter It
Is lIeRt to dig a trench about t0 feet ,
deep and three wide In land where no
water will stand lu the trenches : put
In a layer of trees sloping ; cover the
. "oots with a thin layer of fine mellow -
low earth , tilling in carefully and solid
fIll the interstices among the roots
and steams : continue this until all the
trees are In , when time tops and all
should he bent down to time ground
and entirely covered wllh about six
Inches of earth The cut shows the I
various stages of the operation. ( A ,
row of trees with roots covered ; n ,
the trees bent down and tops covered
with earth at C ) The stems and all
should be completely covered when
time work Is fInished-Farm , Stacie and
Homo
Never Too Much Fancy : Fruit.
Some people always see gloomy
prospects and glutted markets : the )
always look on time dark side of everything -
thing and seem never to catch even
a glimpse 10 the silver edging of a
cloud , says time Canadian Hortlcultur-
ist.Ve do indeed , find our markets
at times over.supplied with certain
fruits , but If wo look Into the co11l.1I-
Uons wo fInd either that time fruit
Was poor 01' that It was badly 11\S' \
trlbuted Perhaps ono market was
recol\'lnl : three , i'ourths of the ship
ments from 011I' Canadian growers ,
and hundreds or smaller markets
thruughout Ontario were almost bare
or suppl Wo do not believe that
too much really high grade fruit , of
good \ shipping IlunJII , can IIn grown
There Is an axiom about this which
we believe will hold ( good , namely .
'l'he marc good fruit put Into a market -
ket time greater will be the consump'
tlon and the better time prices In time
end , " While no doubt the reverse of
this statement Is equally true The
fact Is that when people cannot get
good apples , for exmunple they will
look ant for choice fruits of other
kinds , whether fresh or preserved , to
take their place , and 10 on throughout -
ont the chaptel' The moral then Is
plain-grow only fancy high grade
fruit , and place such goods only on
the markets and the chances are
that we should seldom see a glut , un-
less it be of overripe fruit that must
be burrledlr disposed . Qt-Farmers' .
Guide
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The best cant will } } resultin . the
largest uet prpfit ,
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Milk In the Stable. . . _ 4't
A good many lcelJOrs of cows have
In the cow stable and behind the cows
pegs on which to hang the milk pails
that are too full of milk to prevent of
their being further used at that milking
ing A man fills the pail , hangs It on
time hook and proceeds to milk another -
other cow Br the time time mlllcing
Is completed several palls have been
hanging on the pegs for fifteen mln-
mites to half un hour. in addition the
eml1ty palls hung on the same pegs
before they were taken for mllldng
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purposes and just as readily gathered
germs as when they had the milk In
thel11 So far as the mlllwr can see ,
there Is no reason why this practice
should not ho continued The palll
look clean when they are taken down .
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to 110 used for mllldng purposes and
the milk In time pails that have been
hanging there looks IlS clean as any
other milk The pails are . hung too '
high 1111 to catch any visible dirt. The
custom Is bad , but Its badness Is hard
to prove , because only the student and
the scientist knows that the air If
full or odors and germs and that they
are constantly settling In the pails
to become manifest later In bad flavored -
ed butter or quickly souring ml1le
The milk should be removed from the
stable as fast as milked that the
time of exposure to 'bad odors may bo
as short as possible
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Lime for Dairy and Stable.
In Denmark there is a box ; or lime
in every dairy or creamer , where it
Is of use In rinsing ant vessels to
keep them sweet and clean , and to
wash down time creamery floors and to
purlf the air generallr , .
\Vo are using It to a small extent . t : d
In this country , but It is not common
enough It Is one of time host purifiers'
and : cheapost. Its use can he applied
to the COWR' drinking troughs In warm
weather , to remove the scum or organic -
ganic matter therofrom ; It can bo ap-
plied In time cow stable , where it Is
most In\'aluable 'Ve know or nothing
fiR effective as slaked lime with car-
bolic acid mixed in It , for giving the
surroundings of time barn a wholesome
atmosphere
This cheap and handy agent Is
readily made lIy slaking the lime , fill
lug a threo-gatlon pail about halt full
adding about two ounces or crude
carbolic acid. If time lime Is not all
to lie used at one time it I can bo put
: tway In an air-tight vessel , but It Is
best to use It fresh
For the dairy and creamery use
the slaked lime onlY-Dlal.od just before -
fore using It has the physical advan-
tages , as well , In lighting up the barn ,
In making it sweet clean and whole-
some when sprayed on the walls , In
the spring and fllll-Farmers' Guido I
Milk Veins. 'tj , !
'rho milk veins of a dairy cow go "
a good ways In indicating her ability . , :
at the pall These so-callel milk veins
are rea1\y \ large blood veins running 1
from time udder forward to near the . . . I
forelegs , where they enter the body i :
Time : oritlces where tbe ' enter the I I
body are called milk \ wells These " t
Inl'gp.'olns con\'oy the blood from the :
udder to the heart and lungs , where I
It is purified and again forced to the
lHl er , A cow can not give a large L"
flow of milk without large milk \'elns. 7
When examining a cow for the dairy , _ . , .
feel along time under side of the belly
for these \'olns If thor are large and
tortuous , she is a good cow , other
things being oqual.
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Dairy Wh.dom.
Look out as the cold nights come
that the cows are In their stalls and
- have a good supply of fodder-all they
will eat up clean
The tempieraturc for churning range
from 55 to' 65 degrees , according to
conditions. while 60 and 62' degrees J
are the most common temperatures .
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