iP6Ef
Alfalfa roots are fine and tender.
Iron sulphato solution kills dande
lions. The horses should have free access
to salt at all limes.
STRAWBERRY IS MOST WIDELY
GROWN FRUIT IN THE WORLD
One ox the First' Farm Products to Reach Market In Spring
and Is Always Welcome Well-Draitrtd, Friable
Clay Lonm Is Probably Best, Soil That
Warms Up Easily, Yet Will
Hold Moisture.
SILO SHOULD BE REGARDED
AS NECESSITY ON STOCK FARM
Xge Receptacle Is No Longer an Experiment and Is
Valuable to Man Who Breeds Stock as to Dairy
man Silage Very Materially Decreases
Cost of Putting Pound of Beef
v Onto Feeding Steer.
ac
Goslings must be driven in when n ,
f
Keep weeds out of strawberries.
Farm teamB should have extra care.
Horses should not bo checked up
'when at work.
Wild mustard causes but little trou
ble In the porn belt.
Ensllngo materially reduces tlio cost
'of raising and fattening cattle. '
Sometimes old strawberry beds will
i pay to keep for another fruiting.
Ordinarily tho best animal food for
hens at thistime of year Is cut green
I bone.
For tho 'women who love plants
there Is nothing so pleasant as Indoor
.gardening.
A sanitary stable is absolutely
necessary for a uniform quality of
good butter.
It costs less to ralso. strawberries
In a now bed, and they are of better
size and flavor.1
A man who cannot succeed with a
'scrub flock .will hardly make a success
iwlth a pure bred hord.'
Dairy farmers should not rnfso or
'buy timothy hay for cows. Clover or
alfalfa Is much better as a milk pro
ducer. With the majority of farmers tho
pasture provides tho sole summer feed
for all tho animals excopt tho work
horses. '
A patch of rutabagas or an acre of
pumpkins will make tho cows remem
'bpr you with Increased yields next fall
and winter.
Tho temperature of tho cream when
In tho churn should range from 52. .to
5G ilegrceo, and It should bo churned
for 30 to 40 minutes.
Tho sheep that shears ten pounds
or over, an animal of good slzo and
strong back, with proper nttcntlon
will make money for Its owner.
The great advantage of tho cream
separator over tho various systems of
cream-raising is that thick or thin
cream, as desired, may bo obtained.
Home-grown seeds, pure, free frpm
weeds and found by local experience
to afford satisfactory ylelds.are gen
erally to be preferred over all others.
- Sumtnor selection Bhould be kept
up until the fowls are fully grown.
Dispose of every little runt that shows
up, because tney are not worth keep
ing. . Get the; horseradish Into tho ground
Jupt as soon as possible. Plant the
roots two or three inches deep with
tho thick end up1. Tho soil must bo
very rich. ' v
All Infertile eggs have a value.
While it iBunlawful to sell these eggs
wo find that when well boiled and
mixed with cornmeal they make ex
ccllent food for chicks.
.To give the hen heat and energy,
wo use carbonaceous matter (cqrbo
Ihydrates stnrches). The two must
'bo mixed. Fats, to a more or less ex
itent, can bo found in every article
of food.
A gallon tin fruit can with holes
.made a half Inch from the open end
and Inverted over an Inch deep plo
pan makes an ideal drinking fountain.
Uso tho scrub brush on the pan onco
In awhile, too.
When corn Is several inches high,
put In tho sulky cultivator set . to
mellow the ground fully five Inches
deop when corn Is small and shal
low; when stalks are half grown and
roots spread across the rows.
Tho Pekln duck is very hardy, n
good layer and fattens quickly. The
ducklings, If well cared for should bo
ready for market in ton weeks. They
should be killed before tho pen feath
ers begin to grow.
He careful not to overcrowd tho
birdB during tho h,ot season. Fresh nlr
nnd cool qunrters are conducive to
health thoso warm doys, and prevon
tlou Is better than euro with chickens,
scefng that tho best cure for a sick
fowl Is death.
If tho hens nro conflnod to n smnll
ynrd, n portion of tho yard sould be
dug up onco a week and a llttlo finely
ground bone nnd meat fed thrco times
during tho week to take tho placo of
tho worms and Insects tboy would
pick up when at largo.
hard shower corned up.
A rich sandy loam- with clay subsoil,
Is the best ground for berries.
Do sot allow a dying or worthless
tree to stand In or near an orchard.
i
Beef, meal and meat scrap aro fed
by many poultrymen with excellent
results. '
Club root of cabbago ts one of .the
most annoying yet easily controlled
of diseases. v
Thematter of growing tho corn and
filling tho silo Is of great and growing
Importance.
Cattlo on pasture can bo fed grain
and imado ready for market- early in
tho;. summer. t
Wheat and oats In equal parts
ground together aro excellent for
chicks of any age.
As soon as tho corn Is up, or oven
before, go over tho field with a weed
er or smoothing Jiarrow.
Flaxseed may bo broadcasted, but
is generally drilled at the rato of from
two to throo pecks to tho acre,
A smnll amount of animal food Is
required by all poultry, especially dur
ing tho timo of egg production.
Try to see that tho chicks nro not
fed until at least 48 hours old; tlicn
glvo water first, food afterwards.
Failures In tho sheep business, In
nlno cases' out of ten, may bo traced
to ovcrconfldcnco nnd "plunging."
Tho farmer who makes milk pro
duction his business Is n dairyman,
and ho needs tho best of dairy cows.
If one has pigs that havo to bo kopt
In n ynrd all summer, sweet corn Is
tho best green feed ho can grow for
them.
Darley and knfllr corn nro both good
poultry feed, but not essential when
uno has plenty of the nbovo mentioned
grains
Dairymen doing n smnll business
connected with farming cannot Uyo up
to tho standard without Increasing tho
cost of milk.
The temperature in n- brooder the
first week should bo 05 degrees, sec
ond .week 90 degrees and tho third
week 85 degrees is enough.
Corn sllnge nnd alfalfa make nn ex
cellent ration for dairy cows and good
yields of milk havo been reported
where nothing olso was fed.
Go over tho young npplo treeB and
cut off every water sprout with a sharp
knlfa closo to tho trunk. Do it enrly
and they wilfheal this season.
)
It Is the early vegetable that brings
the big price nnd tho man-who sticks
to his. hot bed and makes good uso
of it always gets to market first
There aro s'evcra crops which may
be planted for Into summer pasture
which will furnish fresh, succulent
green feed for all seasons of tho year'.
Two or threo days- after potatoes
aro planted go over the field with a
barrow, and contlnuo this until the
plants nro several inches above tho
ground.
As soon as the potatoes aro planted
and up sufficiently to cultivate, It la
becoming customary, and necessary,
to spray with somo poison- solution to
kill the bugs.
The fruiting strawberries should
have all weeds and gross cut out bor
tween plants; take a sharp, narrow
bladed hoe and cut the soil fine with
out disturbing the roots.
Tho poultry yard should bo all
cleared away nnd tidied up In Juno,
and all coopb and racks no longer in
use securely stored away In somo shed
where they will bo kept dry until next
season.
One can spread ashes, lime, land
plaster, pulverized lime rock, etc.L
etc., with the manure spreader by
first putting, a layer of litter In tho
bottom of the spreader and tho flno
material on top.
A remarkablo thing about alflalfa
Is Its perennial youth. When one
growth Is removed another one comes
on Immediately to take Its placo, and
so continually, as long as moisture
and temperature conditions aro fa
vorable. Grow your tomatoeB on trellises
this year and boo if you do not have
better crops than ever before. Trel
lises should be Bet In the ground
about 18 Inches deop when the plants
are set out and tho vines trained from
tho start,
When ono stops to consider tho stu
pendous fact that Philadelphia, Chi
cago and Now York consume 7,000,000
cases of eggs annually, some Idea
may be obtained of the number re
quired to feed Undo Sam's rapidly
increasing family all over tho country.
TOO SHAUOW
Setting Strawberry Plants.
itiy LE IlOV CADY. Untverolty of Min
nesota.) Tho strawberry is probably tho most
widely-grown fruit in tho world. Thero
nro varieties adapted to almost every
climate and condition, from Alaska to
Florida. Our cultivated kinds have
been developed from tho Chilian straw
berry (Frngarin chllonsls) and tho
common wild strawberry (Frogarln
Ylrginlaim). Tho Alpine strnwborry
(Fragarla vcocn) of Europo Is tho par
ent of tho over-bearing varieties which
aro coming into prominence Just now
In somo places. They, howevor, aro
not as yet of sufficient valuo to do
servo much attention. Tho strawberry
Is ono of tho first fruits ou tho mar
ket In tho spring, and henco 1b always
welcome.
Tho strnwberry Is propagated by
seed, by division and by offsets. In
common with other fruits, tho seeds
do not como "true" thnt is, do,not re
produce plants liko tho parent plant;
henco, division of tho old crowns or
tho uso of offsets afford tho only prac
tical methods of propagation.
Socdi planting Is resorted to to get
now varieties. Tho berries are crushed
in sand as soon as rlpo, to got rid of
tho pulp and juice, and tho seed 1b
then sown at onco In a sandy loam, in
a box or open bed. Tho plants 'grow
very quickly. As soon as largo enough,
they ar6 transplanted to a bed, four
Inches, apart, and loft over winter.
They should bo mulched, with about
six Inches of hay or straw, as soon as
tho ground freezes, In tho spring .thoy
may bo sot In tho fruiting bed. About
iono plnnt in a thousand may provo of
exceptional valuo. Howovor, many peo
plo find pleasure In developing new
varieties.
Division of tho old plants Is never
used except in ense of a very cholco
variety, that cannot readily bo propa
gated by offsets. It la too uncertain
and slow n method. Propagation by
offsets or runners Is tho best method.
Thcso runners aro made during the
summer, and tho next Bpring may bo
separated from tbb old plant nnd sot
out In tho .permanent bed. Usually
thcso root readily; if thoy do not, a
llttlo earth may bo thrown over tho tip
early in summer, to aid in rooting.
A northern slopo Is to be preferred,
as tho plants do notsstnrt so early In
tho spring. They thus cscapo tho early
frosts and they are not bo likely to bo
dried out by tho" hot south nnd south
west winds at fruiting timo. Many
growers, howover, obtain good result'
on a southern slopo, In splto of tho dis
advantages. Any land that will grow a good crop
of "corn will grow strawberries. Sod
land should nover bo UBcd if ty can bo
prevented, ns It Is likely to contain
grubs and cut-worms, which will cat
off tho roots of newly-set plants. A
well-drained, friable clay loam Is prob
ably best for strawberries a soil that
warms up easily nnd yet will hold
sufficient moisture for tho crop.
Strawberries require a rich soil,
henco it Is well to thoroughly manure'
the land that is to bo used for the
crop in tho fall, and plow undor from
four to six inches, deep. In tho spring,
disk, drag and smooth thoroughly.
ThlB gives a loose soil In which to sot
tho plants, and a firm (subsoil to hold
tho moisture, and yot open enoiigh to
let tho roots through.
Tho best timo to Bet a strawberry
bed ir.Uio early spring, as Boon as tho
land 1b In good condition and tho
plants can bo obtained. There is more
moisture as a rulo at that timo; nnd
this, combined with tho cool weather
of spring, gives better growing condi
tions than August planting. Plants
may also bo set in tho fall, if extra at
tention and care aro given them. It
does not pay to set tho plants In dry
boII or In n dry season, unless plenty
of water for irrigation purposes is
available.
It often happens that strawborry
plants aro received Id a dry or weak
cned condition, or that tho soil Is not
ready for their planting Thoy may bo
"heeled in," or temporarily planted In
some sheltered placo, until they havo
recovered or tho land Is ready to uso.
Cut open tho bundles In which tho
plants are rocelved, dip tho rootB Into
muddy wator, and sot In rows closo to
gether, placing a llttlo dirt between
tho plants, so thnt thoy will not heat
Pack tho soil firmly ovor tho roots, so
they will not dry out If tho plants
havo been weakened in transit, thoy
Bh'ould bo shaded for a few days until
they recover, it is well also to protect
them from tha wind.
Tho illustration shows threo ways of
TOO GCCP.
setting the plants. Tho setting of tho.
plant In tho left 1b too shallow; thnt
at the right Is too deep; tho center
plnnt Is properly set, with its crown
oven with tho surface of tho ground.
BUYING TURKEY
BREEDING STOCK'
Secret of Success In In Getting
Llttlo Poulln Well Started
Should Bo Allowed
Much Hange,
In buying your breeding stock bo.
Btiro nnd get good strong? hcnlthyj
birds. Don't go around among your
neighbors nnd buy a few of tho cheap
est scrub turkeys that you can Jlnd,
but be willing to pay n good prlco nnd
bo satisfied with nothing but good
birds. Tho secret of turkey raising Is
to get tho young turkeys well started.
Eternal vlgllauco is tho prlco of
success. Tho young turkeys will not,
need any feed for 24 'hours after
hatching. And then don't feed too
much nt n timo. but feed often.
Turkeys enjoy n variety In feeds.
Table scraps nro good and tho term
should include not only portions of
cooked food, but rinds, grnpo seeds,
npplo cores, etc. Whllo grain should
bo tho basis for a satisfactory ration,
theso accessories are very holpful.
Tho pptatoos which are too small for
lablcHifio, if bolted nnd salted n llttlo,
aro devoured greedily by fowls. Thoy
should bo fed twlco a week at loast.
Tho more wo try to domesticate and
.conllno them tho more suscoptlblo
thoy becomo to disease. Even in tho
most Bovero wonthor, turkoys should
bo allowed to roost out doors and for
ago ns widely as tboy please.
There Is only ono sort of wonthoi
from which It Is ndvlsablo to house
tho birds. This is tho wot, sloety
weather, when snow or ico may cling
nnd freeze, to their plumage. When
such a night impends tho old turkey
raiser rounds up tho flock nnd gently
drives tho wholo aggregation into a
largo, roomy shed kept ready for tho
purpose Tho next morning thoy nro
set at liberty bright and oarly, ted,
and then allowed to roam again, Out
If tho nights, aro dry, no matter how
,cool tho season, thoy aro allowed to
roost in tho nlr, away up In tho
branchos of tho largo trees near tho
barn.
Turkeys nro very different from
other farm Jowls. Thoy aro brought
to tho most prlmo condition when al
lowed tho most freedom. They should
no more bo forced to cat and drink
with chickens and ducks than horses
should be obliged to feed With hogs.
They should bo fed at tho barn dally,
but bo more or less freo to forngo in
the corn lot, tho grain field and the
meadow and wood lands, If not too far
from home.
DISCOVER NEW
POTATOE DISEASE
Wart la Enemy of Crop Wnicb
la Attracting Attention in
"Europe and Id Liable to
Bo Introduced Hero.
Tho wart dlscaso Is a new enemy of
tho potato crop which Is attracting
great attention in Europo, and which
is llablo to bo Introduced Into the
United States at any timo. It affects
tho tubers, forming large rough un
sightly warts, and, In severe nttneks,
completely destroys the crop. Onco
tho fungus gets Into tho soil, It la Im
possible to grow n crop of potatoes on
the lund for several years.
Tho fungus which causes this dls
eace was discovered In 189G in po
tatoes grown In Hungary. It Is now
prevalent in many places in England
nnd thero Is great danger that it may
spread to Ireland. It Is also found In
Germany and some other European,
countries. It has beon carried to
Newfoundland, but liao not yot ap
peared in tho United States.
It is spread by using nffectcd po
tatoes for seed, and, as this country
Imports considerable quantities of po
tatoes every year, thero Is danger that
it may bo introduced.
Tho United. States department of
agriculture has recently issued a circu
lar for free distribution, giving a brief
account of this disease.
We havo (been laboring in season
and out of season to Induce farmors
to build silos. Tho silo is no longer
an experiment It has beon used by
dairymen with success tor thirty
years. It was for a long timo supposed
thnt It could only bo used in dnlrylng,
says tho Wallaco Farmer. Wo hnve
found out now that It Is almost ns val
uable to tho man who grows stock aa
to tho man who milks cows. Wo aro
finding out that sllago very materially
decreases tho cost of putting a pound
of beef onto n feodtng steer. Wo havo
found out that it Is good for the owe,
for tho brood sows, nnd for young
stock of nil kinds as well as for dairy
cattlo: Tho only animal on tho place
to which It la not snfo to feed It Is tho
horse; Just why wo do not know. It is
pcVhaps entirely safe If of good qual
ity, but dangerous it moldy.
Wo nro finding out still more about
sllago, namely, thnt by using a sum
mer bIIo, one about half tho slzo of the
winter ono, wo can brldgo ovor tho
droughts, which como in every coun-
A Silo for a
try in tho civilized world at somo sea
son of tho year. With us tho moat
dangorous timo lo In July and August
which aro usually droughty periods,
whon tho grass Is short and files aro
bad. Wo are finding out that by
having a summer silo wo cnn'provldo
pasture out of tho silo until tho rnlnB
como in tho fall.
Somo of iho readers may shako
their heads at this, but wo nro telling
them agricultural gospel truth. Thoy
may say: While wo oftnn have thcso
dry periods in July and August, wo do
not always have them. Some years
wo havo oxcollont pastures. Truo, but
your sllago will keep almost as well
aa tho fruit your wlfo keeps ovor from
a year of abundance to a year of want,
Last year wo fed on ono of tho farms
belonging to the Wallaco family sllago
that was two years old. Apparently It
was JtiBt as good as tho year It was
mndo.
Why do wo talk about 1( now? Do
cause. If you are going to havo a silo
this fall for either winter or summer
use, you ought to bo thinking about
it; not nbout tho building of It or tho
cost of it, nlthough It Is worthy of
thought, but where you will plnnt
your corn to nccesBknto tho leaet haul
ing nnd diminish the expense; about
what kind of sllnge you want, whether
rich with corn or scant in corn. You
can detcrmlno thnt by tho thickness
of planting, if you want sllago rich
In corn to fatten Btecrs, you want to
plant It as you do for the mnrket- for
the maximum of enrs; but If you want
it to feed to tho dairy cows nnd want
a largo yield of stock with small grain
yield, you must ulant it thick.
Tho mun reason vo nro talking
about it now la becnuBo to put up a
silo and use It economically you want
to enlist tho co-operation of your
neighbors. Tho snmo sllago cutter
and tho snmo power will answer for
two neighbors anyhow, nnd frequently
threo, but not moro. Havo you not a
couplo of neighbors who would bo ben
efited by having a silo? If they are
not convinced of this, can you not get
them to convinco themselves by In
vestigating It? Then enn you not nr
rango to co-operuto in buying a cut
ter, and, what Is qulto as Important,
In filling tho sepernto silos? Can you
not agreo to plant an early corn and
a later variety?
SupposQ you cannot All one man's
silo before it la dry; you can easily
remedy that by putting in water. We
havo dono it and it works finely. You
can oven take tho corn that stands in
tho field ready for husking and mako
good silage out of it if you put in
water enough; or you can plant some
sorghum nnd corn, and let the, abun
dnnco of moisture In tho sorghum
mako for tho deficiency in tho corn.
All thcso things are worth thinking
about What wo want to impress
upon your minds just now Is that you
cannot afford not to build a silo if yon
nro in tho stock business. You can
no mora do without a manure spread
er or a grain drill. Thero nro some
things that aro well settled ovor most
of our torrltory. Thero are sections,
say in the extreme north, wh'oro it is
more of a question as to whether ono
should build n silo or not, because
these northern farmors can grow roptn
to much grcntor advantago than wo
can and stlgo la not so practicable
in n very long and cold winter on a
T. .. .11'
'
Stock Farm.
count of thd freezing. This, however,
is only in tho extreme northern soc
tlons. Throughout tho corn belt the
silo should bo regarded as an absolute
necessity on tho Btock farm in ovory,
section where thoro is liability of sum-;
iner drought. ;
FRENCH MILK
POWDER PROCESS
Article Produced Found by Analy
sis to Contain All ot Con .
stituentu o( Ml lit )
Except Water.
'mo processes currently employed
for making milk powder are baaed;
upon desiccation by hont In a pnx
cess recently devised in Franco by Le
comto, and Lainvlilo tho action ot cold,
Is substituted for that of heat Tho.
milk Ib poured Into vessels similar to'
thoso which are used for producing
blocks of artificial ice, and lo coolodl
to a row dogroos below tho frcozlng
point (about 28.5 deg. F.). Sultablo.
precautions nro taken to prevont tho
water of tho milk from freezing in a
solid, mass and to cnuso it to assumoi
the form of flno snow; Tho congonlcd
milk la thon placed In a centrifugal
separator which rovolves very rapidly.
The snow crystals romaln in the mn
chlno whllo tho other parts ot tho
milk aro expelled In tho form of tho
soft, gronsy paato, which still con
tains some wator. The desiccation is
comploted by placing tho pasto In
drying room heated to a moderate and
uniform temperature. Tho milk pow
der thus produced hns boon proved by
nnalysls to contain all of tha consti
tuents of tho milk, oxcopt tho water.
In an unaltered condition. Tho pro
cess Is equally appllcablo to wholo
milk, and to milk doprlvod of part or.
all ot its cream.
Danger of Early Grass.
Too much oarly grass will physio
tho work horsoa severely, which will
run them down in flesh.
Farrowing, Sows.
OatB, wheat, bran and middlings,
with a quiet cornet and a warm place,
for tho farrowing sows.