NOTES e-a
ME&DOWBROOK
PROPER MANAGEMENT OF SOWS
OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE
Animals in Good Physical Condition Will Care for Their
Younjj and Ralso Them in Excellent Manner Best
Food Just Before Farrowing Timo Is
Wheat Middlings and Bran.
ESSENTIAL CULTIVATION AND
MANAGEMENT OF GRAPE VINES'
Found to Bo Good Prnctlco to do Pruning Just About Time!
of Picking;, But In No Case Should Treatment Go
Over Until Spring, as "Bleeding" Causes
Weakness and Stunts. i
" FARM
Pylmam0r
J
Spray early and late.
Ducks prefer soft food.
"Whitewash the hen house.
Concreto tanks are superior.
Keep the dairy utensils clean.
"The early bird" easily keeps down
the weeds.
Greut Britain's wheat fields covr
2,000,000 acres. '
Too much sun for young chicks is
as bad as too little.
The manager must Bupply the brains
for the cow machine.
Don't wait for the weeds to appear
before you begin cultivating.
Have everything neat and sweet
about your milk and butter business.
The owner of the small farm flock
Is the man most likely to neglect dip
ping. An alert carriage and a bright eye
are necessary in a perfect carriage or
saddle horse.
To teach chicks to drink, Bprinkle a
few grains of feed on the water for
them to pick at.
The great majority of farmers do
not know the value of the harrow, or
If they do they do not use it.
Teach the lambs as early as pos
sible to eat grain in a lamb creep to
fit them for the early market.
If a horse sweats easily, take partic
ular pains not to let him stand out
In a draft, or drink too heartily.
It Is expensive economy to do with
out a separator where cream is sold or
butter made from five or more cows.
The best way to get rid of tubercu
losis in dairy cattle is to tollow the
old precept about an ounce of preven
tion. The little pigs seem to be wonder
fully keen in detecting the small holes
In the fence through which they can
escape.
Success In the dairy seems to be
most all "s"; separator, silo, scales
then the following letter, "t," test, Ja
close second.
Have all cattle that come into the
herd tuberculin tested and then have
n well ventilated barn that is kept
scrupulously clean.
If a sow that has lost the use of her
legs is in good flesh, It would be best
to slaughter her for meat, as chances
of recovery are poor.
The poultry business requires study
and constant attention, the same as
any other business. First efforts are
rarely ever successful.
One of the Bilo arguments that ap
peals to every stock owner is that
there is no such thing as cornstalk dis
ease to worry the silage feeder.
The stomach of the little calf is
very sensitive and easily ruined. Noth
ing will do it quicker than keeping tho
animal contined in a wet, dirty pen.
One of our readers recommends
cream of tartar for chlckenpox; one
tablespoonful in soft feed for each
twelve fowls, two or three times a
week.
In growing a heifer for tho dairy,
muscular vitality is wanted rather
than fat, and this is obtained vory
largely from the skim milk portion of
Us diet.
Filth on eggs under tho sitting hen
should bo washed off as soon as
noticed. This is one of the little
things that helps toward getting a
good hatch.
This Is tho time of year when corn
should he fed sparingly to keej hens
laying and to ward off diseases to
which tho overfat bird Is susceptible
In warm weather.
The calves to bo venled should be
fed all they will eat greedily, so as
not to get hungry enough to bawl
very much. The feed may be whole
milk, part whole milk or skim milk
and oil meal. But never glvo them
cold milk.
Don't do any pruning of tho grape
vines after the buds begin to swell,
as "bleeding" will result and tho vi
tality of the vines be sapped away,
retarding proper growth, cutting down
fruit production and often killing tbe
vines entirely.
R
r yv i
ws
Keep tho best calves.
The silo spells success.
It Is never too lato to pruno.
Tho Jersey Is a popular breed.
It takes brains to ralso dairy cows.
Beware of frauds in buying trees
and bushes.
Half way business doesn't pay in
breeding work.
No animal suffers so much from
neglect as tho sheep.
There should bo a good scratching
post In overy pig pen.
Eternal vlgilanco Is tho price of
everything good in the Btock lino.
See to it that tho work horse Is well
curried during the heavy Bprlng work
Comparatively few people realize
the Importance of drinking water for
hogs.
Clean the calf pen often and bed It
with a liberal supply of dry straw
oftener.
The silo seems to bo edging mighty
near tho cornerstone of successful
dairying.
If you can't afford to buy a good
bull get one with your neighbor, each
paying half.
Fresh pasture, is so relaxing that
care must be taken that the cows do
not-lose flesh.
Many a farmer has drawn the
greatest measure of prosperity from
the dairy cow.
When spraying, If Bhowers como
and wash off tho poison, spray those
trees a second time.
Careful selection of the stallion Ib
essential to the production of a uni
form harvest of colts.
r A fumigation with burning sulphur
will get rid of both vermin and disease
germs In the poultry house.
The chickens like rape. A little
patch of it near the barnyard will
keep them busy and contented.
Chickens will not dio of gapes if
they are fed proper food and plenty
of It, and are kept free from lice.
Not only the flavor, but tho keeping
quality of butter is Injured by keep
ing tho cream until It gets very sour.
Usually, a careful dressing of mar
ket fowls will draw a little premium
from the buyers. It pays in the long
run.
The quality or tho egg can readily
be established by a ration that will
add sweetness and good flavor to the
contents.
The sow should bo In moderate
flesh when bred, but when safely In
pig she should havo a strong ration
to build her up.
Do not expect satisfaction from
bordeaux mixture that has stood for
as much as twenty-four hours. It
deteriorates quickly.
Next to good feeding the thing that
will make tho horses look sleek and
comfortable Is elbow grease and a
curry comb and brush.
Some people think that the dry cow
needs no care, but those that make the
best records have tho best care dur
ing their period of rest.
See that tho half-grown chicks have
plenty of exercise, especially at feath
ering time, if you are trying to push
them forward by heavy feeding.
Never speak harshly to a cow nor
strike her. She Is of a highly strung
disposition and will easily become un
manageable through rough handling.
To feed too much' soft food Is un
natural. This is particularly true and
harmful If overfed so such food lies
around to sour and become unwhole
some. Feed the small chickens often, and
if wet and cold, and tho old hen is
overly active, better conllne hor for a
'short timo each morning or all of a
rainy day.
Tho farmer who can tell Just what
it costs to produce and market a
crop is not so very common but when
you do find such a man you find one
who Is a success.
Cottonseed meal should not be fed
too liberally, as it then acts rather
disastrously on tho reproductive or
gans. It is really not advisable to
add it to tho bill of faro for laying
hens.
One dragging of the roads at tho
proper period immediately after they
begin to crumble, following a shower,
will do more good than a dozen drag
glnga after tho dirt becomes hard and
packed.
When eggs are candled, and show a
pale, greenish hue, and the yolk wob
bles around In a weak, watery white,
they are called "grass eggs." If
cooked they havo an unpleasant flavor.
When a hen is made sick eating too
freely of grass, she lays these kind
of eggs. '
Excellent Type
(By I 0. JOHNSON.)
Quite often I have heard the com
plaint of sows eating their pigs, and
only a short time ago a neighbor ot
mine had a line brood sow to eat her
pigs Immediately after farrowing.
Now this is not natural for a sow to
do so, and when they do there Is n
reason for It, if that reason 1b only
looked for.
Sows by nature arc not cannibals
and If they are in good physical con
dition they will care for their young
and raise them in the proper way.
On the other hand if she is nervous
and fretful at farrowing time she is
apt to eat her pigs, but when they
have the run ot good pasture and are
properly fed and cared for they sel
dom eat their offspring.
If a sow is compelled to live In the
barnyard, sleep In manure piles or
straw stacks, and only, led a little dry
corn she Is apt to bo rcverish, con
stipated and havo but very little milk,
and In such cases she is likely to eat
her pigs or He on them and smother
them before they are old enough 'to
tuck.
I have a large basement under my
barn where the frost Is never seen
and in case tho weather is very cold
I give my sows a good, warm, dry
pen in this basement. I don't care
about the pen being over large, a pen
sixteen feet square is large enough for
four sows up to two weeks bclore
farrowing, after which I place each
sow In a separate pen with her. pigs.
I like this pen to be ten feet squnre
with light bedding, cut straw is pret
erable. The best food for a brood sow Is
wheat middlings, the coarser the bet
ter, or wheat bran ftnd middlings may
be mixed half and hnlf. This should
KANSAS COWS
MAKE RECORDS
Carlo t to. Gave 15,773 Pounds o
Milk In Oao Year Fairly
Good Average Yield lo
G.OOO Pounds.
If a cow gives 6,000 pounds of milk
a year most men are satisfied. ' This
is a fairly good average yield. But
hero are some two-year-old Ayrslilres
tht surpass that figure by a long way.
Their work was described by Prof. O.
E. Reed, head of the dairy depart
ment, in the annual institute. Here
are the records:
Canary Belle, 10,118 pounds of milk
and 437 poundB of butler, 3.7 per cent J
test.
Fearnot of Oakdale, 6,218 pounds of
milk and 292 pounds of butter, -1.08
j)er cent test.
Johanna of Juneau, 7,fi81 pounds of
milk and 335 pounds of butter, 3.72
per cent test.
Rose of Oakdale, C.9C6 pounds of
milk and 308 pounds of butter, 4.42
per cent test.
Any one of these cows would sup
port a family of five persons. Such
cows probably could be bought for
J&175 or ?200, but not at the college.
The cost of feeding the ration, and tho
Income, may bo gauged for all tho
group by referring to tho history of
Johanna of Juncan," a model family
cow; Johanna ate, every day, thirty
pounds of silage, ten pounds of alfalfa
hud, and nine pounds of grain, con
sisting of four pnrts of corn, two parts
of bran, and one part of cottonseed
meal. This ration cost ?5 a month.
It was fed as described only when tho
cow was giving the highest yield One
pound of the grnln ration was allow
ed for every three pounds of milk, bo
that when Johanna pave 27 poundB of
milk a day eho received 9 pounds of
tho grain.
Johanna gave 893 gallons of milk
which sold In Manhattan for 32 cents
a gallon, 8 cents a quart, or $2Sn.7G.
Not a bad kind of a cow to havo
around. And, by tho way, a gallon of
milk weighs eight pounds. Professor
Reed told, too, of nnother flno cow, a
Ilolstein, thirteen years old C'arlotta
Abbekerk f282C. Carlotta'B year rec
ord test was finished ten days ago.
She gave 15,773 pounds of milk and
515 pounds of butter fat, equivalent
to COG pounds of commercial butter.
Her feed cost 95.50. Most cows pass
their usefulness period at C or 9 years.
This old cow of 13 yearn returns a
profit, leaving out details, of 175.75
net. If her milk had been sold at 7
cents a quart it would have brought
1513.50. Deducting the feed bill the
owner would still havo 418, Hor
milk was skimmed, though, for the
calves, and the cream used for butter.
of Berkshire.
be wet to a stiff mass with milk,
house slops or water, whero It Is
available skim milk 1b tho best for
this purpose.
Besides this she will eat and should
havo plenty of clover or alfalfa hay;
it Is surprising tho amount of clover
hay that a bow will eat, especially 'to
those that have never fed tho snme
to hogs; in addition to this I always
feed my brood bows about four or llvo
pounds of sugar beets to every hun
dredweight per day; 1 feed them
wholo for tho purpose or giving tho
sow exercise in eating them, somo
advise tho feeding of raw apples but
I do not like to feed any great amount
of them especially If they nro sour.
One winter I kept six sows in the
same pen and fed them the following
rations per day: Twenty-seven
pounds of sugar beets, ten pounds
coarso middlings and nil tho clover
hay they would cat, and they came
out in shapo that was hard to beat
and raised forty-seven nice healthy
Pigs. f
In addition to tho nbovo ration 1
kep a box In tho pen where tho sows
may havo free access to It at all tlmeB
tilled with the following: Charcoal six
parts, wood ashes two parts, and two
parts salt. It Is needless to say that
plenty of pure clear water should tie
given to the sows bb moBt everyone
realizes this fact.
I always handle my sows and humoi
their whims in order to keep them
gentle ns a gentle, woll-satlslled sow
will do better and havo better success
with her pigs than ono that is nerv
ous and fretful.
Brood bows should not bo fed fot
tho purpose of fattening them but
only feed enough to keep them in a
thrifty, strong and healthy condition
BREEDING BULLS
NEED EXERCISE
Close Confinement 'Will Iluin Dis
position of Otherwise Itind
Animal Mukcs tho
Best Sire.
(By G. M. TW1TCIIEI.L.)
I saw a good bull tho other day
which was being spoiled by kindness.
He had not boon out of his little pen
for more than a year, his feet were all
out of shapo and naturally he was
crabbed and surly. Who wouldn't bo
under such treatment? It is simply
inhuman, but It's common. A day or
two later I saw another In a well
fenced enclosure, with an ovorhead
wire firmly attached to strong posts,
set 40 feet part at tho ends of the
pen, and a chain connecting tho bull's
nose to tho wire. Hero ho traveled
day after day, the fence too high for
him to sco other cattle, but with
plenty of room for exercise. Tho
good naturo of tho animal told of the
success of humane treatment. It Is
not only cruelty to keep a bull close
ly chained day after day and year aft
er year, but more than that, It will
luln tho disposition ot an otherwise
kind animal. Tho law of environment
holds here, nnd tho bull suffering for
exercise cannot bo aa good a breeder
as his neighbor made comfortable in
every way. Try it.
STABLE MANURE
QUITE VALUABLE
Moot Important und Abundant
Material for Soil Improve
ment Much Unneces
sary Waste.
Farm manure always has been nnd
probably always will bo tho most im
portant and most abundant material
for soil Improvement. It Is a neces
sary product on every farm and on
stock farms a product which accumu
lates In vory largo amounts. If not
used for soil Improvement It becomes
a worthless nuisance about the stables.
A conservative estimate places tho
annual production of farm manure In
tho United States at two billion totiB.
The actual and known agricultural
valuo of fresh farm manure contain
ing both tho liquid and solid excre
ments Is $2 a ton, If tho valuo Is meas
ured in terms of plant food or by the
actual Increase In crop yields pro
duced by tho uso of tho manure on
long cultivated soils. Tho unneces
sary waste and loss of arm manure
which occurs in tho United States
each yoar Is equal in valuo to ten
times tho valuo of all commercial I en
Hitlers used in this country.
Tho care of grapes Is tho samo
whether for the homo or tho vineyard,
nnd tho method of training depends
largely upon circumstances. In tho
west, California, and tho fnr east, It
aly, Spain, etc, no trellis Is used, ns
wood Is not procurable, but In Michi
gan nnd tho other states tho crop is
supported by trellis. On our farm
four canes aro allowed to grow from
tho root stock, being guided till they
reach to longitudinal wires by being
tied with tarred twine, writes Herman
Hnupt, Jr.. in the Rural New Yorker.
We use cedar posts eight feet long set
in tho ground about 2V& feet, with tho
butt end throughout coated with hot
coal tar from the gas works. Tho
end posts nro braced so that tho wires
may bo drawn taut. It 1b a ralstako to
bore boles In tho posts and run wires
through them nt four feet from tho
ground, or in fact any distance, ns it
allows of the accumulation pf moist
ure, and a wire at this height very
naturally interferes with the cultiva
tion of the "vfneynrd and tho picking
of tho crop. Any obstruction that pre
vents getting readily from one row of
vines to the next is an error. The
cross arms, if made of 1 by 4 Inch
board and secured with three nails,
need not havo tho wire braced from
the end of tho nrniB to the post. To
hold the longitudinal wires wo saw a
a
i
i
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i
i
1 1
1 1
i
i
1 1
rf
B
CONCRETE GRAPE' POST.
,A, Mold for. Making Posts; B, Front
View of Finished Post; C, 8ide
View of Finished Post.
shallow notch in tho ubper edgo of
the cross-arms; this is sufficient, nnd
being daubed with tar keeps out mois
ture. At best wood will rot and wo
have adopted tbe plan now of replac
ing the wooden post with ono made
of concrete. A rectangular box Is
made tapering from six inches at the
base to four inches nt the top and
eight feet long, open along one side.
This box is made with only two Bides
tapering, the others are straight. In
the endB of the box wo bore four
holes, near tbe outer edge, for the ad
mission of four strands of galvanized
7
IMPROVB) ORCHARD SPRAY TOWER
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The special features of the im
proved Cornell sprny tower are: 1.
It folds down Hat The bough catcher
Ib lowered nnd then Uy lemovlng the
lose hinge pin nt tho upper end or the
main brnco tho wholo tower may bo
let down backwards until it lies Hat
on the top of tho spray rig. 2. It is
easy to rldo. Tho man using tho
tower, standing astride of the saddlo
rail, can grip this rail with his thighs
and so hold his position with ease.
It has no rail to Interfere with n Tree
movement of the pole, 3, it parts the
telcphono wire; thoso nro passed;
through tho box from end, to end and
mndo taut, Tho box Is Jhen laid on
Us side, tho open sido up, and flllod
with concreto: Ono part beBt FortJ
Innd cement, thrco parts sand and
water to mako quite wet. With nj
trowel tho upper surface is smoothed!
off. At tho upper or smaller end o(
tho post nro Inserted in, tho wet con
creto two ono-qunrter Inch holts, tho
head imbedded in tho concreto, nnd
tho Bhnnk protruding an Inch or more1
The bolts are four Inches apart and
two Inches from tho top of tho post-'
Ono 1b two inches nnd tho other six:
Inches from tho top. To theso boltB aroj
scrowed tho crosB-nrms 24 Inches
long, when tho post has set and hard
ened. Tho box or form is so made
that six or eight or moro posts may bo
mado at one time. This makes a poati
that will last for all time, and need!
no repairs. Tho end posts will, of
course, need bracing In tho samo man-,
ner as tho wooden ones. When tho
canes havo reached tho wlroB they aro
loosely tired to tho wire and pruned)
back to the second bud of tho now)
wood. Wo find It good practico to
pruno tho vines Just about tho timo of
picking the fruit, or n little later, but
in no ense io we let it go till spring,
as tho "bleeding" nt that time weak
ens tho vino nnd stunts both vino and
fruit. Grapes do nicely on a sandy oil
gravelly soil nnd tho ground should'
bo kept clean and well worked. To
glvo tho vines a uniform lnflucnco
from tho sun nnd air, plant tho vlno
yard in rows running north and south
and on high, well-drnlnod ground.
EXCELLENT WAY
TO SET POSTS
Experience Teaches That It 'Will
Lust Much Lousier With th
Small End Placed in
the Ground,
After many years' experlonco I havo
concluded by placing tho small end ot
the post In the ground. A post will
last much longer than with tho largo
end down. Tho renson for this la ob
vious. When limbs nro cut off It al
ways leaves a cut that holds moro or
less water and whero worms hnvo
worked the holes nro nlwaya down
ward. Theso poles hold Bomo mois
ture, but by placing the top end down
this moisture runs out and leaves tho
post dry.
At first thought it looks as though
tho post with tho largo end up would
not mnko a good appearance How
ever, snya an expert in tho Farm and
Home, I havo generally found that tho
largo end is tho straight end, and fre
quently thoro is a crook at tho small
end. If this bo placed in tho ground,
the fenco when completed looks much
better. I also havo found that small
posts for wlro fence last longer than
largo ones, for they do not hold mois
ture ns long. A post should never bo
reset until It is well seasoned. Thq
end pouts should always bo placed In
concrete; then there need bo no bra
cing or nnchorB used.
t fP'
CiP.hO
tH)" a
I 'V
-Pi
limbs. Tho bough catchor nnd tho
pipe braces ralso and turn tbe llmba
without breaking them. Tho operator
can bo on tho enddlo rail aud tho
limbs will go over him. 4. It Is strong,
Built as shown In tho cut, tho towor
will last for many years. Tho towor
is best mounted on top of the tank,
but It mny bo mounted over tho en
gine if desired. Full details ot con
struction are given by Prof. H. W
Riley In a circular which will bo Bent
by tho Ktato college ot agriculture at
Ithaca, N. Y.
ijKS
'. t 'jiiji&l
itvlAtt
