I
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w
y
Sweet Sklmmllk.
1)r - There Is no better ration for the
calf than sweet sJdmmllle. After the
calf has been weaned It still has a
craving for the kind of food that Ira'
Lure provided for ft. The feeding of
nearly sour milk has been practiced ,
and thD feeding of whey , but wo arc
lure that the calf has no particular
liking for that kind of food. Under
modern methods of dairying It Is pos-
sible on many farms to have the skim-
milk sweot. Where hand separators
are used , of course It Is an easy mat'
ter to have milk of the kind wo have
Indicated. Even where the milk has to
. . .
- be hauled to the creamery , the farmer -
er can , If he will , have milk that Is
sweet when he gets homo ] from the
creamery. If It Is not . he has himself
or the creamery to find fault with
about It. If It Is the creamery , ho !
should take the matter In hand at
once. In many cases It Is the fault
of the other patrons of the creamery ,
If the sklmmille Is sour when the
r - farmer gets home with It. 'rhe said
other patrons have got Into the habit
of hauling to the creamery milk that
Is sour or nearly BO. Perhaps they
arc "every.other.day" men. Time milk
hey bring Is sldmmed and of course
the skimmed milk goes into the tank ; :
from which each man draws the skim- !
milk to which he is entitled. The
sour or nearly sour milk thus mixed
with the other and better milk acts as
a starter and sets the whole to sour-
Ing. AU the farmers on returnlng..to
their homes from such a creamery
find the milk sour. This is a matter
they should look Into. There Is no
. reason why all should allow themselves .
selves to be Injured by the few.
.r ; . Sometimes the farmer Is himself to
blame In not having his cans In proper
shape ' for the reception of the milk
at the creamery. It may bo that he
himself Is bringing milk in cans that
have "starter" in all the seams If so ,
h'e should clean up atld clean up vigor-
ously. The eweet sklmmje ) ) Is what
he needs especially if calves are to
be fed , and the sweetness Is worth
f striving after. The younger the calf
the more need there Is that the milk
, be sweet , for the more delicate is the
digestive apparatus that Is to handle
, It. For such animals some feeders
assert that sweet sklmmille Is worth
twice that at sJctmmlll ; : such as Is
usually received from the cronmer ) ' .
Scours is one or the greatest causes
of calf mortaHt It is Induced by the
kind of food the calf receives , atlll It
4. Is believed that both sour milk and
' . unusually cold milk help along the
'
bad offects. Sweet milk is of too
much value on the farm to be ig-
nored.
Progress In Buttcrmaklng.
In no other Industry has there been
greater progress during the last few
rears than in dairying , says M. Mor-
tens en. The methods employed by
buttermakers ten years ago will now
not' be recognized by any up , to-date
buttermaker. The machinery Is dif-
ferent. The buttermaleer who at that
time was generally chosen from the
ordinary walks of life Is now a man
who has attended school for perfecting .
Ing himself In his profession. Some
years ago one of the leading questions
at the convention was , how to avoid
. . mottles. 'l'nls Is a thing not frequently -
ly spoken of to-day. The buttermakor
as a rule now understands the mechanical .
chanlcal part of buttermaldng to such
an extent that ho knows how to pre
vent mottles. The question at most
Importance now is how to make n
high and uniform grad ! of butter pas.
messing keeping qualities. We do not
aim to make the kind of butter that
used to win sweepstakes a few years
ago III that did not very often possess
keeping qualities , The butter now In
highest demands Is quite different
.from our fancy butter of a few years
. ; . j.f 110.
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AT
! n / , of : '
Utility of the Wyandotte.
It is claimed that the unusual combination '
blnntlon or so many breeds In the
malec.up of the Wyandotte causes It
to produce eggs of uncertain shape
and size , says a bulletin of the De'
purtmeut of Agriculture. If this contention .
tentlon Is true , why Is not the same
true with all crossbred ( or made
breeds ) fowls ? Whether this Is a
fact or not , only careful ohservatl
will determine. It is a well.establlshed'
fact that the , egg production or fowls
. .
4
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v
n , (
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r
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SILVER-LACED WYANDOTTE PUD
LET ,
can he improved In both number and
size if attention Is given to time se
lectlon of breeding hons. Only those
that lay the greater number or the
larger size eggs should be selected.
If the greatest attention Is paid to
inbreeding for form and color , the
number and size of eggs produced
by each hen will grow gradually fewer
and smaller , while , if i the whole pur- .
peso Is toward more and larger eggs , '
that result wHl he obtained , and form
and color will ) gratlllally decline. The
Wyandotte , having been for years the
favorite as an exhibition fowl , it may
ho possible that some or the most
extreme IIno.bred strains have suffered
.
In number and size of. eggs , but this
fact has 110 bearing upon the average
utility flocks that are kept for pro'
clueing table jggs.
All records place the Wyandotte
about the equal of the Plymouth
Rocks in egg qualities , although the
Plymouth Rock Is credited with an ,
average of somewhat larger eggs per. '
haps justly so ; but eggs are sold hy
the dozen , and an ounce or two In a
dozen counts for little. The value la .
In the number pr duced. At the same '
time , time larger egg Is more attract-
Ive , and it is well to give attention to
Increasing the size. No fowl can surpass -
pass the Wyandotte for market poul-
tr ) ' . At any time of Its exIstence ,
from the small broiler to the roasting
fowl ) , it is always plump and attract-
Ive. 'rho close , compact body , the
plump breast and rich color of meat
and skin give It many advantages
over others. It looks better than the
long , lanky typo or fowls , oven when
In Inferior condition.
.
Laying Qualities ot' Old HenS !
Wo lcuow little of the laying qualities .
ties of old hons. In time main It has
been assumed that a hen lays the
greatest number of eggs from the
time silo is one year of ago until she
Is two , or from time time she begins
laying her first "clutch" tin a rear :
from that time. It is so well settled
In the minds of some or our poultry-
men that a lien will not again equal
her first performance In egg laying ,
that only pullets are kept and the two'
'ear.old hens are killed oft. This In
general Is perhaps true , but what
about the exceptions ? Wo know vary
, little \bout the exceptions , us not
enough experiments have been made
to bring them to notice A few ex.
perlments have been made with lay'
M
Ing hens and those have Boomed to
carry out the popular notion as to the
superiority of the 11\111ets. Thus , : mo
Instance Is cited where two pens of
Leghorns were kept for three 'ears.
They averaged 175 eggs per fowl dur-
Ing the first year , 132/ during the
second year and 11G't.1 during the
third year. The per cent of profit on
food was 188 the first year , 118 the
second year and 97th the third yenr.
There are some things about this test ,
however , that are not shown. One of
them Is the individual performances
of' the birds. Were there not one or
more that laid as many eggs the sec'
and or third year as the first ? Then
how about the weight of the eggs ? '
Were not the eggs the second and third
year heavier , each one , than when
tim liens were pullets ? Every poultry .
try raiser 1111s noticed that puUets'
eggs are usually very light and that
the eggs from mature hens will run
much heavier. What was this difference .
ence ?
These things must be taken Into
consideration when summing up the
whole matter for and against the old
hens. We doubt not that the older
birds have more In their favor than
has ever been grantod. 'Ve know that
now In the market an "egg la an egg , "
and that a light one frequently brings
as much as a heavy one. But that
condition wIll not always laRt. The
time will doubtless come , as it should ,
when eggs Trill be sold by the pound I
Instead of by the dozen. Then the
mature lions will have their time of
popularity.
One poultryman says that he coops ]
some or his best layers till they are
ten years of age and that some of
them have laid well till that age.
There Is one thing In favor of the mature .
ture hens and that Is that the birds
hatched from their eggs are generally
more vigorous than are the birds
hatched from the eggs of pullets. It
Is also probable that they are more
fertile and that one hundred of the
eggs from mature hens will give a
much larger percentage or chicks
lay'M number of eggs laid
by pullets. Finally , the real value of
the mature hen as a layer can only
bo told by numerous careful exp rl-
ments. A few experiments are misleading .
leading , for the Individuality of the
birds In that case assumes too much
Importance. No station Is 'at this
time making any experiments that we
know of along this line , and It Is not
probable that private persons are try-
Ing to discover the truth of this mat-
ter. It would be interesting Indeed
to follow the carrying out of tests to
discover the approximate truth of the
relative value of old and young hens
for egg production.
# Duck Houses.
Duck houses should not have as
much light as hen houses , but should
have a shed open on one aide attached -
tached for feeding and watering. They
should have no nests but bo bedded
down every two or three days with
baled shavings. The houses should
lJe cleaned out at least once or twice
a year. No egg boxes are required ,
as the ducks lay on the floor , and U
the bedding Is added often the eggs
are not soiled much. For twenty.five
birds the yard outside should be 25
by 100 feet. The inside of the houses
should measure 12 by 12 feeL There
should be a trough 12 Inches wide and
G inches deep of any length doslred.
I water the birds In a 16.quart pnll.
In the winter I teed In the shed and
In the summer out In the yard. No
running stream of water is required.
The gable overhead next the roof
should be stuffed with straw , with
two little doors In each gable to open
In damp weather. This keeps the
house dry. In cold weather these
doors should be kept shut.
W. R. Curtiss
Niagara County , N. Y.
The irrigating ot strawberries where
practiced has been found to be very
proOtablc The application ot water
at the fruiting IIIIIOD enormously in'
crOllel the crop , &I hu been demo
onetrated It Wilconlin , Missouri ' and
other experiment ltatiOnl.
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J
,1 y
I A tlCUL'ThPL
Fresh or Rotted Manure.
There was a time when all mITlen
given on the manuring oC land for al
most anvtliiug was In favor of apply-
Ing "well.rotted" manure .It had been
observed taint time results from such '
manure was very good , especially
when time results were judged a feW
mouths after applying. But In time
the chemists took hold or the question .
tlon and examined manure both nt
limo of Its bolllg made and succosrnve.
Iy month by month for n. . year. .Joth
the volume vas conslde-.ro1 ; and the
amounts or fertilizing matter left In
the manure at the various times ! of
annlysls It Was proved without contradiction
tradlctlon that In the course or a year ,
even unler good conditions , the manure .
.
ntlro pile decreased size fitty per
cent , nnd that the manurlnl contents
decreased from :10 : to 40 per cent.
There was not only a loss of fertility ,
but of humus , which seemed to be
burned up In the chemical operations
g'lng on. W'o know from other schm.
HUe investigations that these chemical
changes are constantly going on lip
dead matter , whether vegetable or anl
mal. 'Wo further know that the humus
Is ono of time most valuable elements
entering into the value or the manure
pile. ! I
pile.The
The old Idea of composting was a
good one : , hut wo have now nn im-
pi : Iovemcnt on that Idea In the Quick
application ol all manure to the land ,
as ill thnt way the land gets the most
l'cne/1L / out of it. Wo are gradually
awaiting to tile fact that the land needs
to be Improved physically as well as
In other way and this Is a somewhat
new fact In the minds or American
farmors. By putting the manure Into
the land as soon as made , we get the
full benefit of its mechanical offect"
Wo now look for the influence the manure .
nuro is to have In a COlll'SO of years
rather than its Immedlato effect as
seen during the season of Its applica
tlon. It should bo remembered that
one of the chief reasons for the use
of barnyard manure Is now seen to be
the keeping up of the supply of do-
caging vegetable matter In the soli.
The Presence of Sorrel.
Soil students arc divided a9 to
whether 01' not time pre once of sorrel
Indicates In the . ' '
acidity IR.nd. There
are many things to show that It does ,
and perhaps some to show that It does
not. The first opinions were doubtless .
less formed on the fact that sorrel hi
sour In taste The cultivators quick.
Iy jumped to the conclusion that land
that would ! grow sour plants like sorrel
1'01 must he RaUl' 'l'hls reasoning knot
not good , as wo grow rhubarb on the
best amI sweetest of land. But the
early students , though founding their
opinions on a wrong premise , came
near to the truth. One or time reasons
why we believe that sorrel land Is
sour land Is that the soil on some
such innd has been tested and found
to bo acldy. Of course , this does not .
prove that land to bear sorrel must
bo acldy , but it ia an Indication pointing .
Ing In that direction. Another proof
that this land contains too much acid
Is that limo when applied has n good
effect anti often after Its application
time sorrel dlsnppearli. Isere too the
opposing theorists would say that he
case is not proven 'rhoy would say
that the limo stimulated time other
plants so much that they grew and
crowded out the sorrel. It Is' safe ,
however , to assume that land that will
bear sorrel In profusion Is sour and
needs lime to neutralize the acid.
The sale of oleomargarine has decreased .
creased very greatly since the passage
of the law prohibiting It from being
colored In imitation of butter Time to.
tal sale ta said to have fallen oft from
26 to 60 per cent In different parts of
the CQuutry.