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Building a Cistern
Ir after a cistern haH been built In
ho 1 customary manner with brick \ . and
cement a wash 18 made of clear .
cement and water , and brushed upon i
the walls like whitewash , the walls
will he found to have been rendered
impervious to water. A cistern can he
made of cement alone , an11f ! the earth
In which It. I'Z n ndx Is of a solid clayey
nature the wall or cement need not
ho over two Inches In thlclmesH. Bricks
wOllld have to ho used for the arch ,
hilt It IH helter not tq make IIn arch.
Cisterns are usually under floors , and
If not they can ho floored over and the
under side lathed and plastered with
1111 a 111 all I. It becomes hard as stone , Is
rot-proof tllI't'III'oof and moisture-
proof. Unlit In this way IL cistern can
he trade more cheaply ) , as It does not
have to ho BO deep , and can he larger
In dlanwter. A cistern sholllcl always
ho circular , aR it makes the walls
stronger and takes less material for a
given amount of water Htorod. Two
parts of sand to one of coment. are
about rlght.-'I'ho Rural New Yorlter.
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Buckwheat , Rye and Fertility.
The IiSCIIIHllon of buckwheat as a
feed reminds liS to say that It has even
n greater valllo liS a fertilizer of the
soil , ns we demonstrated fully on
sandy land that had been reduced to
the unprofitable ) point hy too much
cropping ) to wheat ; that was several
years ago , howevpr. Rye was used
In connection with the buckwheat ,
but the element most needed was secured .
cured through the buckwheat , the rye
affording some feed during the operation .
tion and helping to put ) the soil In
good mechanical condtlon. ! First ,
winter rye was sown In the tall , pastured -
ured then , late , and early In spring.
Then allowed to grow until In bloom ,
when It vas plowed under and sown
to hucltwheal. That , In turn , was
plowed under and again sown to winter -
ter I I' 'e. Time following spring red
clover was sown In the rye , when an
excellent stand resulted and the soil
was again In condition to play Its part
In crop growing.
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The Dust Bath.
To keep the fowls free from lice
during the winter months nothing Is
so good ! as the dust hath. Don't think
that lice 110n't mllltiply In winter , for
they do , especially these great gray
tollows. Get a box /l barrel or any-
thing that will hold time dust away In
the dry , and now fill It or have the
chllllron fill It with road dusl. Now Is
an excellent time , for later time roads
will bo too damp with the full ruins
and heavy night dews to dry out and
male much dust. Then when the
fowls must ho kept confined and the
earth is hard and frozen , put some or
the dust In the shallow box , set It In
the sunshine 01' light of the poultry
house windows , and notice how they
enjoy that dust bath Remember , the
dust must be dry and It possible warm
it , slightly wann. Chickens will not
dust In dump earth In winter tlme.-
Farm Stnr. .
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Multiplier Onion.
The old.tlmo "multlpllel' onion Is
not ot much Importance now. It Is a
persistent grower and succeeds most
anywh < 're. Sometimes It gets to belittle
little hotter than /l weed. But it had
some points In Its favor. It had a
habit of getting up In the spring nt
the first opportunity and for a short
time was passably good. Its place In
the garden could nol ho filled , even uy
the earliest \'egetaules. . It would
take care of itself when once planted
and would hold ] Its own against grass
and weeds If given an equal opportunity -
nil ) ' with them. It might yet he given .
en 11 place In ninny a garden to the
benefit oC the owner.
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Cheap Man , Poor Butter.
At ono place that I called last summer .
mer , the creamery had but tour
months before passed Into the hands
of the tormers. They had asked van-
Otis creamnerymen for advice and were
toM that time most important thing to
do was to hire /l first.class buttermak-
er and not allow a few dollars In
weges to stand In the wny. They ,
however were of the opinion that a
good eneugh man could ho obtained
for $35 or $ .10 and got a young man
for the latter figure. In four months
they lost nearly $ .100 on the butter and
the day I got there he had len them
after washing up , and when I got
there about 7 o'clocl In the evening
the cream was at a temperature of 70
and had 5'A1 degrees oC acidity-plenty
ripe enough to churn. There was no
water In the glass on the holler and no
water In the tank , the pump was broken .
en . and the churn , which watl a now
one , was In a very had condition. I
got Rome Ice and cooled the cream
down and stayed two days breaking In
a new man , who , I am pleased to say ,
has been having good success , some
of the credit for which may ho due to
his wife , who works In the creamery
with hlm.-Prof. J. G. Moore.
Cause of Stringiness In Milk.
Stringiness In milk Is caused bv
fungi which develops In the system ot
the cow. In an affected cow the tern.
perature Is rallied one or two degrees
above normal. Like most other fungi
this does not grow out Into -filaments
In time milk while within time body but
In five or six hours utter the mllldng
the surface layers arc found to be one
demise net.work of filaments. It a
needle Is dipped In this and lifted the
liquid Is drawn out Into a long thread.
Care should ho taken In the water supply -
ply which Is IIIwly to cause stringi
ness and two drams bisulpimite of soda
dally until the stringiness disappears
Is recommended.
Foundation of Dairying.
The motherhood of the co1V Is the
foundation at dairying. This foundation .
tlon has not been understood In the
past , and the mother quality was set I
at naught. The care and feeding or
the mother are things that should
receive our first attention , hut they
have been the things to receive at-
tentlon lust. As Soon us the cow Is
dry It has been the custom to cut
down her feed and sometimes to let
her go with only hay and a poor quality .
Ity of hay at that. This Is not a treatment .
mont that Is likely to develop the calf
within her OJ' to improve the mlllelng
qualities of the cow herself.
Apples Good for COWl.
One of the theories that have been
exploded as worthless Is the old imagination .
aglnatlon that cull apples ted to cows
would dry UI their milk 1Iow. Another -
other absurd proposition Is that sour
applies will en'uto-sour milk. As a
matter or tact apples which arc not
decayed arc the very best condiment
for dairy stock and tend to Increase
rather than diminish the flow of milk.
Scientifically speaking the composition .
tion of the apple as a feed Is : Water , I
80.8 per cent : protein , 7 per cent : i
carbohydrates and tat , 18.2 per cent.
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Avoid Mongrel Bulls. r.
A farmer can afford to pay $5 for
the service of a thoroughbred hull
than to have the use of a mongrel hull
for nothing Ho can have a grade
calf of the highest excellence ; it a
female , she would sell for twice what
a helter hy a mongrel hull would
bring. If a male , It would bring one.
third more as veal , and If raised for
beet , would bring nearly double what
the mongrel steer would bring , and
do It In the first cross.-Clark Bell In
Country Gentleman.
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Egg Yields of Hens.
We speak of hens laying from 15U
to 200 eggs per year , and the man that
never takes an account 'of his egg
yield fondly Imagines that the hens
In his flock are producing nt least 150
eggs each annually. If he would keep !
an account with his hens he would
find that he was being deceived and
that there were so many hens that
were doing little that the average production .
ductlon rails below time 100 marl The
writer was treated to a surprise of
this kind the first year ho kept ! an ac'
count and hy knowing what hens
lay the eggs It Is possible to eliminate
the poor layers and have ultimately a
flock of good layers. Yet the process
Is not so easy as might be supposed { )
as we must correct the breeding inclinations '
cllnatlons rather than do the work
with Individual lu 'ers. Thus when
wo find Ii cow that gives a good deal
of rich mlll wo can keep her for a
dozen years , hut with the hen that Is a
good layer we have to depend on her
progeny because few hens are profit.
able when they get old.
Feeding Geese.
The hill of the goose and duck Is
designed for the partaking of larger
substances than are relished hy the ;
hen and they do not confine their
diet to a very limited variety. Geese '
will cat corn and oats , but food of a
more bulky character Is preferrod.
Their livers are large , proportionately ,
and they have very large digestive
capaclt They prefer grass , especially .
ly clover , and some weeds , such as
purslane , are delicacies. Ground grain
moistened with milk Is excellent In
the early part of the year , and a little
ground meat added Is always of ad-
vantage. This ground grain may be
oats , corn , bran or middlings. Once n
flay on grain , with scalded clover at
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night Is sufficient. During favorable
seasons turn ducks and geese on
grass , and give no other food. Too
much grain prtvents eggs from hatch-
.Ing.
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As to the Quality of Eggs.
Many people Imagine that a hrown.
shelled egg Is bett.er than one with a
white sheJl. This Is purely Imaglna'
tlon , and the only way to test the richness .
ness of an egg Is to break It and look
at the yoll. The deep orange yolks
are the best and the pale yellow ones
the poorest. City hens or those which
are badly ted and whose runs and
roosts are poorly ventilated and badly
cleaned lay the pale yellow eggs.
Those which JIve In the country lay
the rich orange ones , as do all wild
hlrds. Anaemic eggs contain less Iron
than rich ones , and are far less nutritious
trltlous ; hut there Is only one way to
test an egg's qualll , and that Is to
break It.
Cracked Corn.
Corn Is cracked simply for con-
cenlence of feeding to chlcls. It Is. .
best to allow the gizzard to reduce It.
Whole corn contains about 11 per cent
of protein , 6 ( ) per cent of fat , 70 per
cent of starch , 2 per cent of crude
fiber and 1 1-2 per cent of mineral mimat-
tel' The rest Is water. There Is no
difference In whole 01' cracked corn ,
the loss at fine material being some
of the starch , and the flinty matter
or the outer skin , which Is silicious
and at no value. Cracking the com
only reduces It In size , otherwise the
composition of the corn remains unchanged .
changed though the finer It Is cracked
the greater the loss.-Farm and Fire-
side.
Don't teed corn , except perhaps , occasionally .
caslonall . until the cold weather sets
In. Then teed It every night. Jr ]
parched ) occasionally HIP hens will en
joy the change.
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Pruning Two.Year.Old Vlnel.
After the vines have made two sum-
mers' growth they will ue old enough
that they may safely he allowed to
produce some trult. In pruning n vine
of fruiting age the following points
should be kept In mind : The fruit III
produced on shoots which start In
spring ) from the new wood that formed
the season before , and It Is best that
this new cane which formed the season .
son before he attached to wood only
one year older than Itself. It is desirable .
sirable then , to keep time bearing wood
ns near the root. system as possible
uy annually cutting back the vines. It
Is also well to produce two new
shoots from near the ground each year
which are not allowed to produce any
fruit the year they are formed , but
which will he retained as the bearing
I canes for the subsequent year. Keeping
Ing these points In mind , the pruning
of the hearing vine should be as follows '
lows : First , select the two new
strong shoots nearest the roots at the
vIne and cut them back to short spurs
containing three buds eacb. , These
short spurs are for the purpose of producing .
ducing the bearing wood for the suc
seeding year. If fruit forms on the
canes produced from these spurs the
first year It should be pinched off. As
soon as these two spurs have been cut I
back select the next two strong canes
above them as fruiting canes for the
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current year and cut each at them
back to three 01' four feet In length.
After being pruned then the wood or
the vine Is restricted to the two abort
spurs near the ground and to the two
fruiting canes of new wood above the
spurs. if these. . two fruiting canes
contain side branches during the winter . ' ; " '
tel' these side branches should he cut "
off at the time of prunlng.-Prot. J. C.
Whitten.
Pumpkins as Feed.
Results obtained by the Vermont sta.
tlon show that pumpltlnsfcompare fairly .
Iy with lJage ' for feeding dairy cows.
The pumpkins were cut and ted with
the seed. No harm resulted , to the
cows and the quantity at the milk was
not aft'ectell. The Pennsylvania station -
tlon also reports satisfactory results
from using pumpkins In supplementing
falling ! \ pasturage , near the close at
the grazing seaon. Analyses and
feeding tests made hy that station
show that In protein content the pumpkin .
kin \ does not equal the carrot or man
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gel , but In all these products protein .11
I Is comparatively Insignificant , so that . ,
none or them arc much esteemed except .
cept for succulency. The pumpkin's
value for mixing with dry teed In compounding .
pounding feeding rations Is therefore
apparent , and its use does not taint
milk and butter which nearly always
follows the feeding of turnips and car
rots.
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Early Tomato Plants.
After taking no emid of pains with
tomato plants , starting them In the
hotbed setting out In cold frames ,
watching and caring for them through
the vicissitudes of spring , It Is ltumili-
acing to find that some of those which
were self.seeded In the garden bore
fruit nearly as early ns those raised
at the cost of so much trouble. Then , . .
too , how productive they are ! Van- 'J
etles are now so early that they do . j ,
fairly well ! when grown by open air
culture , even in the short Northern
summers. However , when the spring
Is late It Is safer to have the plants .
In the frame. Yet there Is no need to ,
despair of this fruit , even though the
seed must be sown In the open
tround.
The grape Is one of the most desirable .
able fruits for the home. If it Is
properly taken care of it will grow on ) ,
almost any soil that will ! produce good
farm crops.
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