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rd !
Forgetting / the Salt.
H fs a very easy matter to forget
to snit the crows , as every person that
has had the care of dairy cows ImoW
Many 11 farmer realizes : the need of
the animals for snIt and Intends to
give them saIL at regular Intervals.
Frequently he docs not awake to the
fact that the cows aro' not getting .
enough salt till he notices n lint fresh
tnsto In the milk , and he at once coil'
nects this with the absence of snlt.
This flatness Is supposed to ho the
only detriment to the non . salting of
the cows. nut tests made at different
times show that the volume of the
milk Is decreased by this withholding
of the mineral that every animal
cravcs. At the Mississippi Experi
ment station the experIment was
tried of leeeping cows without salt
for a number of weeleB. Three cows
were deprived of salt for four weekB.
The first two weeks the mlllt was
not weighed , ns It was likely that the
cows would not at first notice the loss
of the snIt by decreasing their milk.
DurIng the two last weeks of the
i period however the milk was
? weighed and was found to ho 4fi4
pounds for the period. The salt was
w given to them again and the milk
weighed for the ensuing two weeks ,
when It was found to amount to fiGi
pounds. This was 1gain of 110
pounds of milk due to the salting.
Doubtless the best : way to give the
mIl Is to place large lumps of rock
salt where the animals can licIt them
at leisure. There will then be no dander .
lor of the animals eating too much
Ilt anyone time or of poultry getting
at It and eating enough to lelll them.
The love of nil animals for salt Is
shown' by the habit they have of frequenting -
quenting place where salt Is to bo
found. In the early history of the
country , when hunting was a bU81.
ness as much all any other , the hunters .
ers used to Ue In walt In the places
trbere salt streams flowed from the
mountains and left crystal deposits
on the rocks for the hunters knew
Uu at such places were frequented by
lnlmals from tar and near for the
purpose of licking the salty rocks.
The processes of dlglJstlon require
salts to assist them. They can be
carried on without salt , but always
at a dIsadvantage.
Butter Production This Year.
Butter production this season Is
. running along about the same as last
year , certainly not ahead. The West
IB malting a little more butter , duo
to the good conditions of the pastures .
tures , but the Eastern states are
making a little loss. The surplus In
the West does not more than offset
the deficiency in the East. As butter
Doves readily from one great center
10 another there Is no reason why
. prices 'this year should drop below
those of last 'ear. The conditions
luring the present month will tell
greatly on the production of butter.
" If the month remains normal as to I I
raInfall the production will bo'as
. great as last year. Up to the present
lime the season has been a. normal
one. , In some parts : of illInois and
W1sVonsip It has' been several degrees
cooler than ordinarily , and this has
been In favor of the increased production .
ductlon of milk and consequently of
butter. Prices show a tendency to be
rteady and are now likely to remain
10. , gradually rising during the next
six week. . -
Experiments at the WIsconsin sta.
Lion showed that constantly changing
milkers Increased very slightly the
amount of milk yielded , but that the
difference was not great enough to be.
come an object worth attention.
Pasteurization of sklmmllk has
greatly increased during recent years
se this results In keeping the milk
, tweet for 'a longer period than It
Gould otl + frwlse. '
-
0-
.
, .
Temperature of Sitting Hens.
A close observer of poultry says
that hens differ greatly as to the temperature .
pCI'aturo of their bodies at brooding
time. Some hens have n hIgh tern-
perature , and such arc good producers .
ers of chicks ; as the heat Is very
necessary for the work of developing
the chicles. A hen with a hIgh temperature -
perature will leave her " nest for a considerable '
slderable time each day , and still the
results of her brooding be of the best.
There are other lions that have a low
.
temperature and are very poor pro'
ducers of chicks , whether they stick
to the nest an the time or not. We
have not made a study of this matter -
tor and do not know bow much truth
there IB In the opinions of the so
culled close ohserver. Testing a number .
her of hen by means of a reliable
thermometer should shed some lighten
on the problem.
- -
Turkey House.
In the accompanying cuts are shown
two views of a turkey house , illustrat-
ed by the United States Department
.
F"t
t t f N } j +
TURKEY HOUSE ( FRONT VIEW ) .
of Agriculture. In the front , near the
top , is l seen a ventilator , which should
always be open except In exceptionally .
any cold weather. The roosts are
placed near the front of the house and
are on the level. The back view shows
the slide door , which should be left
,
4 .
. Z
.t , . 't
r .
E
of 455
TURKEY HOUSE ( BACK VIEW ) .
open during the day , that the turkeys
may go and come at pleasure.-r'arm.
ors' RC\'lew.
Geese
TLo last census reported fi,600,000
geese In the country , and about forty
times as many chickens. This shows
the relative importance Qf the goose
raising Industry to that of the chicken
raising industry. It Is , doubtless , true
that It would pay our farmers to raise
more geese than they do. Goose
raising has not largely passed Into the
hands of specialists , BS baa the induII'
try of raising duckB. The goose requires -
quires a great deal of room to do
well , and for that reason the farmer
has the advantage over the specialist.
Most of the geese In the country are
raised on farms , but generally in
small nooks. They use a large amount ,
of pasture and this Is one thing In
. their favor , as fields of clover and
alfalfa can be turned Into goose meat
at little cost. The goose feeds very
largely on grass , but needs water to
swim In to do the best. .
f The fact that the goose does not
lay a large number of eggs , and that
It requires a good deal of room , have
conspIred to render the goose popular
with American farm era. In spite of
this , however , the slaU.Ucs' show that
I there are more geese In the country
.
v
.
than ducl < s. The geese could bo used
much more advantageously on some
farms than any other domestic bird.
' 1'1Iero are on It good many farms
marshy fields that are too wet for
cattle or other farm stock that would
malt acceptable pasturage for geese.
Some of these fields could not be
drained without great expense and
Rome or them lie so low that It Ig
doubtful If drainage would ever be
effective. This Is just the place for
a geese run , the frequent pools or
water giving them the places necessary .
gar } ' for swImming and hunting.
Geese raisers declare that geese do
not thrIve so well In large flocks as do
ducles. 'fhe "why" Is not oxplalned.
There may be no "why" except lack
of care and crowding In too close qual"
tel's. It Is probable that It Is due to
decreased opportunIty to find food , especially .
peclally where the birds have to hunt
much of It themselves. The larger
the flock the greater In proportion will
bo the amount of food the farmer must
give , for the number of bugs found
will be less per goose. Geese do not
requIre much attention , and that
should make them popular with the
American farmer , who has more aret"
than available lahar. After the gos
lings are a week old they show It decided .
clded determination to take care of
themselves , If a good range Is given.
Perhaps thIs characterIstic has been
taken too much advantage of by some
of our farmers , and accounts for the
lack of success with geese in some
Instances.
The geese at the country con prlso
a good many mongrels , the parents of
which were Imported so long ago that
t.lClr breed names have been lost.
The most profitable breeds are those
that have been Introduced in comparatively
atlvoly recent years , such as the Toulouse .
louse , Embden , Chinese , African and
Egyptian. Canada or Wild Geese are
being raIsed to some oxtent. The
farmer that gong Into goose raising
will find It will pay him better to'
grow the dIstinct breeds than to raIse
geese of no known breeding : : .
"Quail cn toast" is a common delicacy .
Icacy that Is In repute with epicures.
Some of them were shocked when
they . learned that squabs _ were h being _ _
palmed off on them for quail. They
will perhaps be more shocked when
we tell them that now the "palmeri"
have gone a step further and are palming .
Ing ott very young chickens for squabs.
Recently : n visiting a poultry yard
we were told that a dealer had been
round and paId good prices for chicks
just beginnIng to lose their down. He
said he was buying them to sell to the
market men for squabs , who would sell
them to the restauranters and hotel
men , who would serve them to the
customers as quail along with toast.
Now can some one find something to
palm off In the place . of the unfeath-
ered chick ?
The color of the chick at time of
bIrth docs not Indicate the color of
the mature fowl that Is to grow out
or It. This leads the amateur to conclude .
cludo that certain chicks from eggs
that he purchased as from pure breeds
must have been wrong. The amateur
will have to walt till the chicks have
matured before he can be certain of
the variety they are. A chick entirely
black Is not common , and the chlclts
of black breeds are generally canary
colored on the under part. The colors
come out right when the feathers
grow.
Many a farmer has weakened the
constitutions of his animals b1 feeding .
ing too heavily of corn. This feed
makes tat , but when fed In too great
abundance deprives the animal of
vigor and lessens the breeding quali-
tie.
ties.The
The poultry raiser needs to concern
himself more about the conditions that
surround his flock than about the
breed , though the breed Is Important.
Bad conditions will spoil the results
from the best of breed.
Chickens are like money ; they can
always be disposed of at a fair ex-
change. The prices for fowls are
quite conltant.
: : i.wS LMt-a.n + = TbJ k X't AntmA : + fifs.
' .
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.
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- . -
\ ij1\t : \ ute UJ " tv 1k
Bacteria In 5011.
.
A bacterIum Is such a small thins' . . .
that the human eye cannot detect it .
It takes the mIcroscope to brIng out I
this minute form of life. It takes ; : i
some thousands of bacteria to do the I
wont that Is done In a single tubercle 2
on the root of a leguminous plant. I
Nevertheless , small as they are , bac' I
terla are of Immense Importance to I
the farmer and often the success or . ' / - : , . I
failure of a crop will depend on the . ;
;
.
kind of bacterIa there Is In It so11. - , , : "
The kind of soil and Its physical ' . ° / ( ' . r
structure also have a great deal , to . - :
do with the abundance of bacteria. ' . # " ; . . ' ; : . , , : : t
It has been found that a soil that Is ' " 'i'r'i" , :
rich In humus " that Is , has much" : _ : ; . d. . . . ' 'j " , . ' . . .
vegetable matter in it , Is better suited . - " , ? :5 : ; ,
cd for the development of bacteria : " , < ; .
than soil that has In It very little . . . . . . ' 1 , !
humus. It has previously been believed . ' ; : = - -
Heved that the only vantages In ' , ' ( ; : : . .
having the humus was that It was a-\ " " " ,
"
source of nitrogen and that it also 1
held moisture and kept the ground J ' ; } -
from drying out. The third good - Jr.l "
must . added that of . . ' ' . . : .
quality . . , now be. , - - . , . , .J . . .
malting bacterial me abundant. t - - . -
more . x. : ; : ; .
. .
Whether this connection between the . ' : .
.
humus In the soil and the bacteria is' . I. ; "
Important because the humus furnishes - " . '
nlshes food for the bacteria or < ' ,
whether It is important because the . -.Jt.t : .
humus leeeps the ground light and . ! . 4 ' : > . .
moist and lets the air work through . . . . . , "
It easily , we do not yet Imow. Both . I : < ' , ' ,
, are reasonable suppositions We are . . - " " ' 'f
I sure to understand more about them ' . -
' . , ,
i in the not distant future. It is now : -
certaIn that we can introduce new . . . . . . . . .
, .
kinds ! ! ! of bacteria Into soils and that , . . : . "
wo can by doing this greatly increase
the productive capacity of the farms : . .
for certaIn crops. r. , :
! , " '
"t
.1 . - , ' " "
Deep or Shallow 801la.
Ordinarily it h desirable to have : a
deep soil , that the roots of plants may . . '
'strike deep. The latter iB a desidera
turn for the reason that a deep root. '
.
Ing plant Is less affected by th4 -
droughts than any others. We see ' ;
this in the case of some trees , whIch ; a .
have tap roots and are seldom affected - ' - . , : .
. .
"
ed by the dry weather. The shallow . ,
soils are first to respond to drouth ; \ .
and sometimes they arc the slowest . „ : ' ' .
to dry out , when the weather Is wet. . ; : . . . } : ,
The deeper the soil and the more It . . , . ,
Is loosened up the greater the zone of " : . , :
rth-.that will be subject to the op- . , . -y . ,
orations of the bacterIa that add nitrogen - . ' : I : ! '
. trogen to the soil. One way of deep. . , - 1 : . ; . < . , . . . . . . . .
p.nlng a soil Is to plow It as deep as " : \ . .
possible with a common plow and / " . - .
then put on of rooting -
a crop deep i . , . "
legumes. There are some legumes ' , : . ; : ; / " . "
that do not send their roots very deep , " : .
such as cow peas , and there are ' , . . . ,
'
others that send their rotes to the ' ; : ; :
greatest possible depth Into the soil , , : ' , , ; " ,
such as the clovers and alfalfa. On . ,
multitudes of farms a soil will rev , , " , -
main shallow whatever tile crop un . . . ' : ,
less the land is drained. When thl8- f. - ' " :
Is done the drains should be U8 deep r . : : : ; '
as three feet. Then the frost will . - " .
8'
work In deeper than they otherwIse - it.
I .
will . an4 " , the - . air will . be present on l Qe ; .
displacement of the water. Subsoil -
plowing IB sometimes effective and .
sometimes not , but It should not be :
undertaken unless there Is to be q
considerable benefit received from the _
operation , as It Is an expensive one. "
'ttl" .
The fall of the year Is the time to
select the seed corn , and this should < < .
.
be stored in a place that will keep '
dry and yet not evaporate its mo a.
turn too much.
Good seed only can produce good . . .
' l
crops , no matter how rich the ground , : . , ,
may be or how much good cultivation
may be given. ' . .
: . - . . . .
.
Many plants "run out" because the
Reed , has been carelessly selected from
year to ycar. " .
,
. . ,
.