10
The Nebraska Independent
JANUARY 17, 1907
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Keep the garden seeds free from
mice by storing in tin cans. Store in
dry place.
Young trees should have some pro
tection from mice and rabbits if plant
ed in the fall. Paper wrapped around
trees is most commonly used, is cheap
and answers every purpose. Corn
stalks are sometimes tied about
trunks. Wire netting with a fine
mesh is the most permanent.
Keeping the Boys on the Farm
Much is written these days advis
ing fathers how to treat their sons
in order to keep them on the farm,
but it seems to me that mothers need
advice and caution. A mother's influ
ence over her children is second to
none, and as she yields the greatest
power over the destiny of her son, if
she is a wise woman, she will see
that her influence ls backed by irre
sistible but outspoken argument.
First, why do boys 'leave home?
The same reasons exist in the coun
try as in the city the boy is dissat
isfied with home; he rebels against
restraint of any and all kinds; he
thinks if he had untrammeled oppor
tunity he could shape his affairs to
greater advantage to himself.
Not all boys are intended to be
farmers; not all should be expected to
follow that avocation simply because
it was pursued by their fathers, but
I am dealing with boys in general, and
what a mother can do to make a
home' for her boy as well as the rest
of the family, and keep him in it.
Teach the boy to love Lis home by
giving him good cause for doing so.
Make it the most comfortable and
inviting spot on earth forhim, and
surely every woman knows how to do
this if she has husband, and children,
for the homemaking instinct is innate
in every wife and mother.
Consideration should be shown the
boy; his tastes should receive atten
tion, and he should be shown that
he has his place in the family as well
as any member of it. .
Unfortunately the growing boy is
misunderstood his shyness and awk
wardness taken for rudeness, and his
bravado and bluster given too much
attention.
The boy's room is usually the dump
ing place for things that nobody wants.
"Tommy don't care," you say, but
he can and should be made to care.
Let his room be comfortably if
plainly furnished, but above all let
him regard it as his castle where he
can reign supreme. If he wants his
fishing tackle and gun there, and the
usual clutter dear to the boyish heart,
well and good. Teach him to keep
his possessions in reasonable or.der, or
forfeit the rlsht to store them in his
room. In tills way you will impress
on lilm the Importance of order and
neatneK.
If lie wants to let him hang hist
hammock ncroa the room; it won't
hurt Anything, and may prove an add
d attraction. Allow lilm occasionally
to entertain Ma friends in hid room.
2
Give his sisters to understand that
they must not belittle Tommy's friends
and impress on their minds that Tom
my's friends are held Jn as high es
teem by you as their friends.
Above all -show the boy that he is
appreciated and loved. Boys are
strange creatures, neither man nor
child, and while they scoff at demon
strations of affection they crave them;
and while they would readily risk
their necks in your behalf, they do
not want to mention it.
The Farm Garden
Plans for" a good garden should
never be delayed until the time of
spring planting. The preparation of
the soil and the starting of a hot
bed should be taken up at least the
fall before.
Every farmer should have a hot
bed. Start this in the fall by digging
a hole two feet deep and six feet
wide and as long as you want the
hot-bed. A frame the size of the hole
on the surface covered with boards
will keep the sun out over winter,
and be ready in the spring to receive
the fresh, hot manure which furnish
es the heat for the hot-bed.
Either fence in the garden, or, bet
ter, locate the fence some little 'dis
tance from the house"-- so that the
fowls will not run in it all summer
and' destroy the plants. A dressing
of coarse manure applied late in the
fall and plowed under will enable you
to work your garden early in the
spring. .
A little system facilitates work in
any occupation. vThere is no reason
why farmers should be behind the
.times in handling the garden any
more than any other line, of farming.
The acre, more or less, devoted to
this purpose should be the most profit
able of any acre of the farm, and
requires but little more actual labor.
The garden should be so planted that
much of the work can be done with
a horse. Many a farmer shudders at
the thought of a garden because he
thinks more of his , back, and justly
so, than the products of the garden.
Hand weeding and hoeing should be
reduced to the minimum.
In addition to the tools necessary
for caring for ordinary farm crops
every farmer should have a one-horse
cultivator, a gfarden seeder, a wheel
hoe, or the latter two in combination
would answer. "What is most needed,
but very seldom at hand it a greasy
rag which should be applied to every
tool as often as used. I have seen
but few farm spades that were not
rusty, and the average farm hoe is
entirely unusable, which makes gar
den work a drudgery, whereas, with
bright tools It would be a pleasure.
At this time of the year especially we
should see that all these tools are well
greased and kept In a dry place over
winter.
Wnt?r on the Farm
(Jood farm munauetrunt will pro
vide work lu the winter months aa
well as summer.
The saying that a farmer must work
hard six months and then live up his
profits in the next six is not in line
with good farm sense. , It is not al
ways requisite , or expedient that such
winter work return direct profit, al
though as the boy says, a winter in
come is "very handy." Where this
is desired the cows, pigs, and poultry
can not be overlooked either, and
any one separately or a combination of
them all. If one is favorably located,
where it is possible to secure private
customers for the butter, milk, eggs
chickens and the home butchered
meat, and rendered lard from the
hogs, it should be very profitable.
During inclement weather work
may be had in the farm workshop
which is a necessity on any farm. It
should be large and well lighted with
provision made for a stove, a small
blacksmith's forge, a complete assort
ment of tools for carpentering, black
smith work, harness repairing, etc.
It might also contain a small grinding
mill, corn sheller, bone cutter, and
feed cooker together with feed bins
for the storing of the feed for the
poultry.
All farnr implements should be look
ed over, sharpened where needed,
broken parts repaired or replaced and
repainted where necessary as .may al
so the wagons, buggies and carriages,
various home made conveniences can
be made; tool chests, barn cupboards,
chicken coops, brooders, feed bins,
farm tools,- gates, and many handy
devices.
' In good weather, fences can be re
paired or built where needed, new
buildings erected or the old ones re
paired, pastures can be cleaned, ma
nure hauled and spread on the land,
tile drains laid, and perhaps the yard
may be graded, the driveways grav
eled, a new gate added and. eveh
painting may be done, which" all adds
to the attractiveness of the farm, and
while much of this work is not direct
ly profitable from a money point of
view, yet it is from the added beauty
to the homeland the increased value
of the farm, and above all, from the
cultivation of the pride and inspiration
towards a more beautiful and enjoy
able farm home; Let us not be selfish
and make money getting so great an
object, that we cloud up the all im
portant home, for nowhere can this
be made more attractive and pleas
ureable than on the farm.
Cement Fence Posts
Fence posts of cement can be eas
ily made at home for use on the farm.
It is perfectly possible to make strong
fence posts, of concrete by the reln
forceing method says a writer in Kan
sas Farmer. The posts may be rein
forced by iron wire or iron rods which
should be put as close to the outside
surface as possible. The reinforcing
pieces should run lengthwise of posts
ami should be bent or loop-d at the
ends to prevent slipping between the
Iron and concrete. !Vrbed wire U
gool but l hard to ban ll on account
of the barbs. The post.- should be
about G Inches square t the bottom
and G Inches by a laches at the top
ThU give n taper on two sld'-. In
ordiT to fasten iron to th poM, U
la a r.ood Idea to imbed utaidea or
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OUR PREMIUM WATCH I
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The Independent One Year
and the Watch for only $2.50.
Less than the regular price of
th watch alone.
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THE WATCH FREE
TO ANYONE SENDING $5.00 TO
PAY FOR FIVE YEARLY SUB
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We wish to impress the fact that ou
Premium Watch is NOT a Clock Watch
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ing results are obtained from the smal
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