SI THE MOST COMPLETE FARM BOOK ON THE MARKET. EVERY DEPARTMENT OF FARM LIFE COVERED IN DETAIL BY EXPEKTS^^i^i^A CLASSIFIED AND INDEXED FOR CONVENIENT USE -THE Farmers Ready Reference Book FOREWORD In compiling the Farmer's Ready Reference Book it has been our one aim to place between its covers the greatest possible amount i^. useful and practical information of real value to the farmer. It is not a haphazard collection, gathered at random and from doubtful sources, but has been made up without sparing time, labor and ex- pense, from the experience and experiments of many who have de- voted time and energies to the finding of this information. A great majority of the articles herein are taken from the bulle- tins of the Department of Agriculture and are written by men high up in their different departments. Some of the information is taken from the experience of the state experiment stations, and some from individuals who have proven especially successful in their various lines of farm work. We have made no effort at special display or outward attractiveness, but have tried in every way to produce a thoroughly simple, reliable and practical volume. We trust that the book may lessen the perplexities of our readers and assist them when in difficulty. THE PUBLISHERS. PUBLISHED BY ITEMS OF INTEREST CO. ST. JOSEPH, MISSODBI ^""^ INDEX ACID TEST FOR BUTTER 116 ALFAT.FA 52 APPLES, CARE OF THE ORCHARD 171 APRICOTS 171 BEESWAX, PRODUCTION OF 144 BARLEY 57 BARNYARD MANURE 12 BEES AND THEIR CARE 138 BLACKBERRIES 177 BLUE GRASS 108 BROODERS, HOW TO MAKE 152 BROOM CORN 69 BUILDINGS FOR POULTRY 146 BUTTER MAKING ON THE FARM 112 BUTTERNUTS 182 CAPACITY OF CORN CRIBS 138 CARE OF MILK 120 CASSAVA 130 CHEESE MAKING 129 CHESTNUTS 183 CLEAN EGGS 165 CLEARING NEW LAND 165 ( i.OVER, RED 91 CLOVER, SWEET 64 CORN, FIELD 1 CORN, SEED 8 COTTON CULTIVATION 123 COW PEAS 74 CREAM SEPARATOR AND ITS OPERATIONS 113 CULTIVATION OF STRAWBERRIES 174 CURRANTS 172 DAIRY HERD 42 ©CI.A34683^ DAIRY RULES 112 DEHORNING CATTLE 119 DEWBERRIES 172 DISTANCES FOR PLANTING .' . . 192 DITCH CLEANER 137 DUCK RAISING 155 DWARF APPLES 171 ENGLISH WALNUTS ^ 183 FATTENING FOWLS FOR MARKET— CHICKENS, DUCKS, ETC.. 165 FATTENING TURKEYS FOR MARKET 155 FEEDING YOUNG CHICKS 150 FIELD PEAS 132 FILBETITS 182 FIRELESS BROODERS 152 FLAX 78 FRUIT PLANTING IN BRIEF 171 FUNGICIDE REMEDIES 184 GOOD ROADS 134 GOOD SEED CORN 8 GOOSEBERRIES 172 GOOSE RAISING FOR PROFIT 156 GRAPES 172 GRAFTING 176 GROUND CROPS AND COVER CROPS 169 GUINEA FOWLS 159 HANDLING AND KEEPING MILK 209 HANDLING EGGS 165 HARVESTING FRUIT 171 HEATING THE ORCHARD 169 HELPFUL HINTS ON TREE PLANTING 168 HEMP CULTIVATION 101 HICKORY NUTS 182 HOG CHOLERA 119 HOG COT, IMPROVED '. 36 HOME CHEE'SE MAKING 129 HOP GROWING ; 103 HAND AND POWER PUMPS 178 HOW EARLY TO PLANT 179 ICE HOUSES 40 IMPROVED HOG COT 36 INCUBATORS AND BROODERS 150 INSECTICIDE REMEDIES 184 KAFIR CORN 109 KEEPING APPLES 181 MATERIALS FOR SPRAYING 196 MILLETS 61 MILK UTENSILS AND THEIR CARE 122 MILO RAISING 85 MULBERRIES 173 NECTARINES 173 NEW LAND FOR THE ORCHARD 165 NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS 109 NUMBER OF PLANTS AND TREES TO ACRE 118 NURSERY STOCK 167 NUTS AND THEIR USES 181 OATS 59 OIL AND COAL FOR ORCHARD HEATING 169 ORCHARD WISDOM 165 PEACHES 173 PEANUTS 97 PEARS 173 PECANS 183 PICKING THE FRUIT CROP 171 PIE PLANT 177 PIG MANAGEMENT 27 PLANTS TO ACRE 118 PLUMS 173 POISONING OF POULTRY .' 164 POPULAR AND PROFITABLE BREEDS OF DUCKS 155 POTATO CULTURE 181 POULTRY DISEASES AND REMEDIES 160 POULTRY FEEDS 150 POULTRY RAISING 145 PREPARING LAND FOR THE ORCHARD 166 PREVENTION OF HORNS ON CALVES 179 PRUNING 177 QUINCES 173 RAISING DUCKS 155 RAISING GEESE 156 RAISING SMALL FRUITS 171 RAISING TURKEYS 153 RAPE 65 RASPBERRIES 173 RED CLOVER 91 REFERENCE TABLE FOR GARDEN PLANTING 180 REPAIR OF FARM EQUIPMENT 128 RHUBARB 174 RICE CULTURE 86 RIPENING CREAM FOR CHURNING 114 ROUP AND ITS CURE 161 SEED CORN ." 8 SELECTING BREEDS OF POULTRY 148 SHEEP RAISING FOR MUTTON 49 SHRUBS TO ACRE 118 SILOS, TO BUILD 37 SORGHUM 82 SOY BEANS 68 SPRAYING AND SPRAYING MATERIALS 178 SPLIT LOG DRAG 134 SQUAB RAISING 157 STAVE SILO 37 STRAWBERRIES 174 SUGAR BEETS 93 SUGAR CANE CULTIVATION 106 SWEET CLOVER 64 TANKAGE OR MEAT MEAL FOR PIGS 123 TILLAGE OF THE ORCHARD 168 TIMBER, TO MEASURE 42 TIME TO SET THE ORCHARD 167 TIMOTHY 108 TOBACCO CULTURE 18 TO MEASURE CORN CRIBS 138 TURKEYS 153 VETCHES 132 VINEYARD, THE 172 WHEAT CULTURE . 14 WINTER LAYING 165 WINTER EMMER, CULTIVATION 76 COMBE PRINTING COM PAN Y ST. JOSEPH MISSOURI CORN AND ITS CULTIVATION C. p. llaitli-y. Bureau ol' Plant Industry. It is pcssibl3 within a lew years to double the average production of corn per acre in the United States, and to accomplish it without any increase in work or expense. If sixty bushels are raised on one acre instead of on two acres, the labor of plowing, harrowing, planting, cultivating and harvesting is greatly reduced. The producers of the United States have, during the ten years previous to 1910, averaged in round numbers 2,500,000,000 bi.shels of corn yearly. In producing this quantity a little more than 95,000,0u0 acres have yearly been devoted to corn growing. The average pro- duction per acre has been twenty si.x bushels. Very few farmers would like to acknowledge that their average production for the last ten years has been as low as twenty-six bushels per acre, but the con- clusion is unavoidable that half of those who grow corn harvest less than twenty-six bushels per acre. Since the average crop in the states best adapted to corn growing is but little above the general average of the entire country, it is evident that the average is not lowered to any great extent by the poor crops in sections unsuited to corn growing. Poor corn crops are usually attributed to unfavorable weather for there are but few years during which this crop does not suffer more or less. But there are other conditions that are responsible for low production, and it is these that make possible the doubling of the average yield per acre within a few years. IMPROVEMENT IN SEED PLANTED. The first of the three ways for increasing production is by im- proving the quality of the seed planted. It is a sure and inexpensive way of increasing the production and usually receives the least at- tention of corn growers in general. Many farmers who give consider- able attention to improving the fertility of their farms and bettering their methods of cultivation take their seed corn from the supply that happens to be in the crib at planting time without considering that their production is largely dependent upon the quality of seed they plant. In purchasing seed corn it is wise to give more attention to the productiveness of a variety, its uniformity and adaptability to the soil and climate where it is to be grown than to the varietal name. Careful breeders of productive strains of corn are needed in every locality and growers who do not care to grow a special seed patch and select their seed with care should buy the best seed obtainable. IMPROVEMENT IN CONDITION OF SOIL. The opportunity for the improvement of the soil offers a wide and inviting field to the intelligent farmer. The cultivation of corn will never be found profitable on very poor land. Some growers every spring plant corn on land which they 1 know is too poor to produce a profitable crop. Corn growing should not be attempted on such laud until it is brought into a fertile condi tion by the growing and plowing of leguminous crops and the appli- cation of manures. The corn plant will not produce grain unless the soil is rich enough to afford a considerable growth of stalk, and the richer the land the heavier will be the yield of grain. When poor soil dwarfs grass to half its natural size the crop of hay is reduced one-half, but when poor soil dwarfs the corn plants to half their natural size it is probable that there will be no grain yield. Poor land in a few years can be made to produce good corn crops. Fertilize the poor fields or confine corn growing to the bottoms. It is too great a waste of labor to plow, harrow and cultivate unpro- ductive spots. Poor clay spots should be enriched, swami)y places filled or drained, and the corn planted further from timber. No field can be well tended if the corn rows extend through a portion too wet when another portion is in best condition for cultivation. SOIL WASHING AND ITS PREVENTION. Soil washing must be guarded against if profitable crops are to be harvested for a number of years. The effect of heavy rains is to wash out gullies and ditches and to carry away the soil and plant food as muddy water. If this is allowed to continue unchecked the lightest and most fertile portion of the soil is carried away and the land becomes less productive from year to year. Because land is rolling or hilly does not signify that washing must take place. Some very hilly sections which have deep porous soils full of humus wash but little, and that only when the ground is frozen to a considerable depth and thaws on the surface. Hard soils that do not readily take up the water that falls on them wash much more than loose porous soils. The most effective means of preventing washing is to cover the soil with vegetation and loosen the subsoil so that the rainfall can penetrate and be absorbed instead of running off. The rows of corn, moreover, should run at right angles to the direction of the slope. Terraces when properly placed and well constructed are effective barriers to soil washing and their use is to be encouraged. The carrying away of soluble plant food and lighter portions of soil is not the only objectionable feature of soil washing. The water itself is likely to be needed during some portion of the summer. By loosening the subsoil and covering the surface with a growth of vegetation the soil can be made so absorbent that the water will penetrate the ground and be held in reserve to sustain the growing plants during drouth. CLAY SUBSOILS TURN WATER. Some very fine clay subsoils are so compact that they turn water almost like a slate roof. Such subsoils should be made porous and permeable, and the most effective and cheapest way to accomplish this is by growing deep rooted plants such as clovers, alfalfa, melilo- tus, etc. Some subsoils instead of being too compact are too open. A sub- soil of coarse gravel may allow the water to pass away too readily, thus washing out and draining away the fertility. Such subsoils are not compact enough to supply the surface with moisture and are benefited by the plowing under of vegetable matter. RETENTION OF SOIL MOISTURE. The amount of moisture needed to produce a crop is much greater than would be imagined, and with corn would need to be sufficient to cover the field with water to a depth of 10 to 15 inches. More corn crops are cut short by an insufficient quantity of avail- able soil moisture than by any other cause. After the soil and subsoil have become well supplied by the rains of fall and spring and winter, the next important consideration is tc retain it in the soil constantly within reach of the growing crop. The rapidity with which moisture will evaporate from the ground depends upon the condition of the pores that connect the surface with the deeper soil. The most practical protection is a covering of finely pulverized dry soil two or three inches deep. In this condition the surface soil becomes quite dry and remains so without absorbing moisture from below, thus acting as a mulch and retaining the moisture within reach of the plant roots. A rain how- ever will wet the surface, causing the soil to run together and crust, necessitating another cultivation. FERTILIZERS AND CROP ROTATION. For increasing the yield of truck crops or high priced crops the application of commercial fertilizers is often highly profitable be- cause their cost is small in comparison to the prices obtained for the produce. A soil lacking in fertility can of course be made to produce a crop of corn if the requisite amount of nitrogen, potassium and phos- phorus be added and the soil kept in a good physical condition, but the growing of corn on very poor land is usually attended with little profit. If the soil is such that the application of one or a few elements at a small cost will induce it to produce good corn these should be sup- plied, but if little more than a foundation to which must be added large quantities of plant food corn growing should not be attempted until the land had been permanently enriched by manure or the grow- ing and plowing under of leguminous crops. The plowing under of such crops is the cheapest way to permanently enrich the large areas existing in almost all states of the Union, and which each year yield poor corn crops for lack of fertility. Soils that have become so completely exhausted that they will not produce a leguminous crop should be inoculated with the proper nitrogen gathering bacteria, and should receive manure and commer- cial fertilizer sufficient to produce some crop of legume. Cow peas and soy beans are good crops for very poor land. In sections where wheat, oats or other crops are harvested in early summer it's almost always desirable to follow them with a soil im- proving crop that can be tui'ned under in the fall or spring. Clover sod turned under in the autumn and then torn to pieces and well mixed in the soil by cultivation the next spring furnishes one of the best seed beds in which to plant corn. Whatever may be the system of crop rotation, all fields which are subject to blowing or washing of the soil should be kept covered with some crop during the winter. This is usually advisable even though the field is not subject to blowing or washing, and if the proper crop is grown during fall and early spring it will enrich the soil when plowed under. If oats are to follow a corn crop, clover, cowpeas, soy beans, velvet beans, wheat, rye, or some other crop should be planted in the cornfield at the last cultivation, or as soon as the corn is cut. The growing of beans, peas, clover, etc., is a great help to the soil even though the seed be gathered or the vines cut for hay. but the turning under of the entire crop enriches the soil to a greater extent and on poor soils causes a very noticeable increase in yield for two or more years. The most valuable information regarding the growing of corn in any particular section can be obtained from unprejudiced observant corn growers of many years' experience. The methods of cultivation in general use in one section of the country differ greatly from those in another section, and while these 3 differences are to some extent due to the nature of the farm land or to the class of labor employed, they are to a still greater extent due to the conservatism of the farmers themselves. If every corn grower could visit all the corn producing states the general result would be the discarding of poor and the adopting of im- proved methods. Almost every section excels in some particular re- spect. In the South Atlantic states terraces are used for preventing the washing away of top soil. Rows and stalks in the rows are spaced at distances suited to the fertility of the soil, and where poor soil forces the planting of rows six feet apart the economy of growing a soil enriching leguminous crops between the corn rows will be ob- served. In the West he will learn curtailing expense by the use of plows, planters, cultivators and corn harvesters, designed so that one man can drive many horses and accomplish a maximum of work. FALL PLOWING. Fall plowing can not be recommended for all localities and soils, but should be more generally practiced than at present. If a cover crop or sod is turned under in the autumn decomposition will increase the amount of plant food available for the crop next summer. Fall and winter plowing is one of the best methods for combating grub worms, cut worms and corn root worms. Because the surface of ground plowed in the fall is drier at planting time in the spring than that of ground not so treated, it does not necessarily follow that there is less moisture in fall plowed ground. The fall plowing has enabled the rainfall to better penetrate the subsoil, thus reliev- ing the surface of its excess moisture. In sections where there is much rain during the winter it is better not to harrow the fall jilowed land in the autumn. In tests of fall and spring plowing, preceding a dry summer, the fall plowed fields have generally yielded better. DEPTH OF PLOWING. There has been much contradictory evidence regarding the best depths to plow for certain crops. For a deep, rich soil deep plowing is best, providing it is done in the fall or does not render the soil too loose and dry. For thin clay soils subsoiling is better than very deep plowing, because it does not turn the compact clay to the sur- face, yet at the same time loosens the soil to a good depth. A little subsoil turned to the surface occasionally allows the ele- ments to act upon it, liberating plant food, and as it becomes mingled with surface soil and vegetable growth the soil will be increased. To accomplish these desired results it is well to plow a little deeper each year for several successive seasons, and then for one season give a plowing at about half the depth of the deepest plowing. The plow should be so adjusted that it will turn all the soil and leave the sur- face smooth. In every instance spring-plowed land should be pul- verized the same day it is plowed. PLANTING. Corn planted early most oftens gives the best yield. Occasionally later plantings yield best, but they are exceptions. In the Northern states there is little choice as to time of planting. Corn must be planted as soon as the ground is sufficiently warm, in order that it may mature before early fall frosts. In the Southern states the grow- ing season is long enough to allow planting at different dates, thus lessening the liklihood of having the entire crop cut short by drought. Growing conditions are more favorable in the spring, and corn usually produces better if planted at that time. Although the Southern sum- mers are long enough to afford plenty of warm weather, corn planted in the summer will ripen in less time, and usually produces less, than if planted in the spring. Fields planted early frequently escape at- tacks of the bud worm, while later plantings of the same year suffer. The best planting season has been found as follows: Middle Georgia, March 15 to 20; Illinois, May 11 to 18; Indiana, May 1 to 11; Kansas, May 2; South Dakota, May 10 to 20. Corn should not be planted in cold or wet ground because the calendar shows that the usual time for planting has arrived, but by good drainage, fall plowing, etc., every farmer should strive to have his land in good condition to plant at the proper time. Underground drainage will prove most profitable in the end, but as this is rather expensive it is sometimes desirable to use low flat land for corn before it is possible to have it tile drained. More care can be exercised dropping a precise number of kernels and covering them with mellow soil when the planting is done by hand, but the labor saved by the use of planters is so great that for profitable corn growing their use is indispensable. If the seed bed is in proper condition any good planter can be made to cover corn as satisfactorily as it can be done with a hoe, and if seed ears having kernels of uniform size be selected and the small and misshaped ker- nels at the extremities of the ears be rejected good corn planting ma- chines can be made to drop with sufficient accuracy. The kernels of different kinds of corn vary so much in size and shape that it is necessary to adjust the planter to each kind of corn to be planted. The proper depth to plant must be governed by the quality and moisture of the soil. If it is stiff, heavy clay, containing plenty of moisture at planting time, one inch is sufficiently deep; but if it is a light, open, diy soil, three or four inches is a satisfactory depth. If the corn is planted deeper than four inches much of the food supply stored in the seed will be consumed before the young plant can reach the surface and expand its leaves. They can better be fortified against dry weather by planting the seed in a furrow, covering it slightly, and then gradually cultivating the furrowfuU of soil as the plants grow. This requires some care, however, as the furrow should not be filled to any great depth until the plants have attained a height of two feet or more and have es- tablished their root systems at the desired depth. This method ot planting is especially well adapted to deep soils where dry weather is likely to prevail during the middle or latter part of the growing season. The lister, the implement with which a large part of the corn is planted in the Prairie States, fulfills the requirements of this method of planting. By planting in a deep lurrow, as is done with a lister, weeds in the corn rows are more easily covered by cultivation, and as the furrow becomes filled by cultivation the root system is placed at a greater depth. The corn is thus better enabled to endure drought, and the stalks are not so easily blown down. On soils where corn can be listed without previous preparation of the ground this method is profitable because of the labor saved, but it can be successfully employed only on very deep, loose soils. When the drill is attached to the lister, one man with three strong horses can do in one day all the work connected with the planting of seven acres of corn. The drill is so constructed that it can be detached from the lister and used separately. By this means an additional man and horse are required to drill the corn in furrows made by the lister. If the soil is stiff and heavy it should be well plowed and brought into good condition fo' planting before the corn is listed. A lister or a planter with lister attachments which lists two rows at once and makes a mark to guide the driver on his return, can then be employed. Disks or double mould boards can be attached to the various makes of planters and check rowers, and thereby the corn can be planted in the bottom of furrows below the general surface of the field. Perhaps more corn is now planted by means of the check rower than by any other device. The spacing of the rows and tlje distance between the plants can be regulated to suit the requirements of the soil. By means of a wire chain stretctied across a field one man and team can plant in straight rows in both directions across the field twelve or fifteen acres per day, thus admitting of cross cultivation. Corn planted in this way can be kept free from weeds and well cul- tivated without costly expense. Checkrowers are best adapted to large and comparatively level fields free from trees or stumps. Hillsides and sloping ground can not be planted in checks without increasing the liability of soil washing. Some find it profitable to use a two-row marker set the same as their checkrower, the checkrower follows the deep furrows, thus accomplishing all the advantages of both listing and checking. DISTANCES BETWEEN ROWS AND HILLS. The distance between rows and stalks in the rows affect the pro- duction per acre. A proper number of stalks evenly distributed, so that none will suffer from crowding, and so that there will be enough to produce the greatest number of well formed ears, constitutes the best stand for the production of ear corn. If planted thicker than this the weight of stover increases and the production of good ears decreases. If planted thinner the weight of stover as well as of ears decreases. Small growing varieties should be planted thicker than varieties producing tall stalks. For greatest production rich soil requires thicker planting than poor soil. Each farmer must determine the best distance for his particular corn and soil. On many farms of slight fertility in the leading corn states of the Mississippi Valley the annual yield is considerably reduced because the corn is planted as thickly as would be advisable on fertile prairie or bottom soils. Here the thinner planting practiced in regions gen- erally less fertile could be adopted with advantage. Corn should not be planted on soil so poor as to necessitate the placing of the rows five or six feet apart. The distance for planting in a particular soil should be decided upon and the planter adjusted to plant accurately and regularly. Spots missed by the planter, as well as those depleted by crows, in- sects, etc., greatly decrease the yield per acre. The custom of planting many times thicker than the stand of stalks desired is not a good one. It is a waste of seed and also of labor to thin or "chop out." If the seed germinates poorly it should not be planted, for although a stand may be obtained by very thick planting the stalks will not be thrifty, and a reduced yield will result from using the poor seed. It is not only a waste of land to have missing hills in a cornfield, but also a waste of labor in cultivating them. If a field has been drilled in but one direction, and for any reason a poor stand is ob- tained, it can be replanted with a checkrower set to drop one kernel at a time and operated without the tripping chain. The checkrower is driven at right angles to the rows of the first planting and is oper- ated so as to plant just as it crosses each row. For this purpose two men will be required, one to drive and one to trip the checkrower as it crosses the corn rows. THOROUGH EARLY CULTIVATION. The most successful corn growers realize the importance of thor- ough early cultivation, thus preventing any check in the growth of the plants because of weeds or crusted soil. The farmer should see that, from the time of germination to the maturing of the corn, the plants are not subjected to any unfavorable conditions, but are given an opportunity to make a steady, vigorous growth. As a consequence of heavy rainfall the stalks may Increase rapidly in height, and at the same time, for lack of cultivation or of soil fer- tility, or for other reasons, they may be slender or of poor color. Thrifty corn plants are thick, strong, and of dark green color. Horse weeders and harrows should be used when needed to break a Burface crust, check insect depredations, or kill young weeds that start before the corn is up or large enough to be worked with other implements. During the first cultivation, or while the plants are very small, narrow shovels that throw the soil but very little should be used, and fenders are usually found desirable to prevent the covering of the plants. Experiments are in favor of shallow cultivation. There are but few occasions when deep cultivation is preferable. If excessive rains have packed the soil and kept it water soaked deep cultivation will help to dry and aerate the soil. Breaking the roots of the plants must be avoided so far as possible. After plants have reached a height of two or three feet, the soil even in the middle of the rows should not be cultivated deeper than four inches, and usually a shallower cultivation will prove better. For retaining soil moisture a loose soil mulch two or three inches in thickness should be maintained. Corn should be cultivated often enough to keep down weeds and to maintain constantly a loose soil mulch till the corn has attained its growth. A greater number of cultivations will be necessary when rain falls at intervals of about a week, causing the surface soil to run to- gether and crust. This crust must be broken and the soil mulch re- stored or evaporation will rob the soil of its moisture. Too frequent cultivation during long drought is a mistake. After a fine mulch of about three inches has been produced its frequent stirring is not nec- essary except to keep weeds from starting. The object of cultivation is to restore the soil mulch as soon after rain as the condition of the ground will permit. If this time is allowed to pass and the ground becomes hard and baked dry the crop will suffer greatly. Cultivation of hard dry ground breaks it up into clods allowing the air to pene- trate to greater depths and causing more damage than if cultivation had not been given at all. Many crops are cut short by stopping the cultivation, because the corn is too tall for use of a double cultivator without breaking down the stalks. If the condition of the soil demands it, shallow cultivation should continue, even though the corn is tasseling. KIND OF CULTIVATORS. With a good riding or walking double cultivator one man can cultivate as many acres as two men with a one-horse cultivator, and with the improved types he can accomplish the work more easily and as well. Because of this saving of labor double cultivators should be used whenever practicable. Two-row cultivators equipped with four gangs of shovels and drawn by three horses are meeting with favor in the Prairie States. As one of these completes the cultivation of two rows of corn each time it crosses the field, one man can cultivate fifteen acres per day. In many sections it is often difficult to obtain laborers when they are needed and, with these two-row cultivators one man can cultivate as many acres as two men with double cultivators. Some forms of these two-row cultivators are mounted on two wheels, like tw'o-horse double cultivators, while others made for plowing listed corn are carried on runners or low, broad wheels designed to follow the rows made by the lister Three-row cultivators of this type are used to some extent on large fields free from obstructions. Very stumpy land or tall corn may necessitate the use of one-horse culti- vators. GOOD SEED CORN C. p. Hartley, Bureau of Plant Industry. A good corn for any section Is a corn that matures in time to escape frost or drought and that produces grain or shelled corn of good quality abundantly. An error is very frequently made in north- ern sections in attempting to grow a corn that is not sufficiently early in maturing. On the other hand, a corn should be sufficiently late in maturing to utilize the entire period of good growing weather, as longer growth is favorable to greater production. DESIRABLE STALKS. A desirable stalk is one without suckers, or offshoots, thick at the base, with well developed rcots, gradually tapering toward the top, and bearing a good ear or ears slightly below its middle point. It is not advisable to obtain a taller growth of stalk than ten feet, and in the extreme North the short growing season does not permit of more than half this growth. The stalk should be free from smut or other disease, possess well-formed blades, preferable twelve to sixteen, and have its ear attached by an ear stalk, or shank, not more than ^four or five inches in length. The stalk is the individual and corresponds to thfe individual animal, which, with good breeders, is so carefully chosen. DESIRABLE EARS. An ear of cylindrical shape, well rounded at each end, affords the largest percentage of grain per cob as well as kernels of the most uni- form shape. The cob should be neither too large or too small, and should iiossess the property of drying well and quickly, causing it to be of light weight and of a bright healthy color. The kernels should fit compactly together throughout their full length on both sides and edges, and should be uniform in shape and length on all portions of the ear. In poorly selected strains of corn undesirable ears of almost every possible size and form appear Length is a very desirable char- acter for the kernels of a corn to possess, as it is by increased length in proportion to the diameter of cob that the percentage of grain is increased. Soft, chaffy kernels, though long, or kernels with pro- longed chaffy caps are not desired. It is much better to select for increased length of kernel than to select for small cob, reducing the size of the ear. It is also an easy matter to reduce the size of the cob to such an extent that the pressure of the kernels causes the ear to break. The shape is that of a wedge having straight sides and edges. This shape admits of the kernels fitting together so compactly that little or no space is wasted. The germ, the most nutritious portion and the portion in which is located the embryo plant, should be large, smooth and firm. Breeding a productive strain should be begun with the best corn available. The experience of the farmers of a given locality, and experimental tests made at the State Experimental Station may help CO decide with what corn it is advisable to begin the work. If the soil or climatic conditions are peculiar, it is advisable to begin with a native strain adapted to these peculiarities. If a uniform strain bred in some other locality proves as productive it should be given the preference because of its better character. The strain having been decided upon, the next step is to fix in mind the ideal stalk, ear, and kernel, and preserve for reference from time to time a sample ear that approaches most nearly to the ideal. A field of several acres in extent of the kind of corn chosen should be carefully gone through, and a hundred or more desirable ears se- lected from the most desirable stalks that can be found. WHEN TO SELECT SEED. If one feature desired be the production of an earlier corn the best time to perform the selection work is at the time the earliest stalks ripen and the ears begin to dry. Seed ears can then be taken from the earliest stalks, thus causing the strain to grow earlier from year to year. In the central and southern sections the corn can be allowed to become quite dry before gathering seed ears, but the work should not be delayed long after the corn ripens. CLOSE EXAMINATION. The hundred or more desirable ears which have been selected should be placed on boards or tables, with the tips of the ears pointing in the tame direction. One by one each ear of the lot should be com- pared with the sample ear, and any which do not conform to type should be discarded. Two or more kernels, one a third of the distance from the butt and another the same distance from the tip, should be taken from each ear and examined and measured. If these kernels are too short, or are found defective in any character the ear should be discarded. The ears that have proved suitable should be thoroughly dried and well preserved till nearly planting time, when they should be shelled by hand, the poorly shaiied kernels at the extremities being discarded and the good kernels placed in small paper bags, the ker- nels from each ear in a separate bag. SELECTING A BREEDING PLAT. In the breeding plat the best seed ears are planted in separate parallel rows, one ear to each row. This is -necessary in order to determine which ears possess the invisible character of great pro- ductiveness to the highest degree. One who has never tried this method of planting would suppose that there would be little or no difference among the rows, but the characters of the ancestors ap- pear with surprising plainness. "It is essential that the soil of the plat be uniform and that the various rows be given the same opportunity in all respects. Dead furrows and back furrows should be avoided. In case they are pres- ent, the rows should be planted at right angles to them; otherwise a row close to a dead furrow or back furrow might be placed at a great advantage or disadvantage. If one side of the patch is higher than the other the rows should be planted so that each will have an equal amount of high and low land. These points are exceedingly important, for unless the rows all have an equal chance the results of the test become unreliable. The breeding plat shouid be located on land of the same nature and degree of fertility as the farm or the soil in general on which the seed produced in the breeding plat is to be planted. It is a mis- take to give the seed plat extra care in the way of heavy fertilization or irrigation. The object of the breeding plat is to increase in a strain of corn the property of producing heavily under the natural conditions of the locality. By locating the seed plat on soil similar to that of the neighbor- hood the strain of corn from year to year becomes better adapted to soil of that nature. In all corn-breeding work isolation is essential. The breeding 9 plat should be separated from other kinds of corn by at least forty rods. A greater distance is safer, though if strips of timber or hills intervene tliere is less likelihood of the winds carrying to the breed- ing plat pollen grains from the inferior corns. The tasseling of volun- teer corn stalks near the breeding plat must be prevented. The size of the breeding plat can be suited to the size of the farm and to the labor available for the work. From forty to sixty corn rows of exactly the same length from 500 to 600 feet long — would form a plat of very desirable size. PLANTING OF THE BREEDING PLAT. It is better to drill the corn in the breeding plat rather than to plant it in hills. If planted in hills it is impossible in some cases to distinguish suckers from the main talks. The grower should use the utmost care to get a uniform stand of stalks in all the rows. The fertility of the soil and the available moisture will decide how thick the stand of stalks should be, but it should be the same as for other cornfields planted on similar soil. For convenience in labeling the seed selected from the various rows, it is best to number the rows by means of stakes at one end. In order that all the rows may be similarly situated, a few border rows should be planted entirely around the breeding plat. Such border rows will often protect the breeding rows from depredations of crows, squirrels, chinch bugs, etc. The seed used in planting the border rows should, of course, be from very select ears. Usually enough is left of the ears used in planting the breeding rows to plant the border rows. The breeding plat should be given the same good cultivation that other cornfields require. DETASSELING TO PREVENT SELF-POLLINATION. Before the corn comes into tassel, or even earlier, a few rows may exhibit marked weakness. Such rows should have the tassels pulled from all the stalks as soon as the tassels show plainly in the top of the talks and before pollen is discharged. In the same manner the tas- sels should be pulled from all the undesirable stalks in all the rows. Undesirable stalks consist of barren stalks, stalks with many suckers, feeble or very slender stalks, smutty stalks, etc. If detasselled in time the transmission of these characters to the next generation will be prevented. In order that seed may be selected that has to no extent been self-pollinated, one-half of each row is detasseled. Each row is detasseled from one end to the middle, alternating ends of adjoining rows being detasseled. Under ordinary field conditions a portion of the kernels are pro- duced by self-pollination, and there is every reason to believe that those kernels which are the result of self-pollination are reduced in power of production. Pulling the tassels from the stalks before they discharge any pollen entirely prevents self-fertilization. In order to do this work thoroughly the plant will have to be gone over every two or three days at tasseling time. COUNTING THE STALKS. After the detasseling is finished there is no work to be done in connection with the breeding plat until the stalks turn brown and the ears begin to dry. An exact count should then be made and recorded of the total numbers of stalks, including suckers, contained in each row. When the majority of the stalks are ripe and the husks and ears are fairly dry, the detasseled portion of each row should be gone over separately and the ears from all desirable stalks removed, weighed and at once spread out to dry, the row number being kept with each lot of ears. When dry enough to harvest, the ears from each row should be gathered and weighed, and the weight of corn from each row added to the weight of the seed ears that were previously gathered from the 10 same row. This addition gives the total number of pounds produced by each row. Having calculated the average production per stalk of each row in the breeding patch, except the very poor ones, the best ears from the ten or dozen highest ranking rows are examined, kernels meas- ured, etc., and six to ten of the very best ears from each of the highest ranking rows preserved for next year's breeding patch. THE INCREASE FIELD. It is not supposed that sufficient seed for general planting or for sale will be obtained from the rows of the breeding plat. To obtain seed for general planting and for sale, an increase field is grown from the remaining seed obtained from the desirable stalks of the de- tasseled portion of the highest ranking rows. Due precaution is taken to prevent the increase plat from being cross-fertilized with inferior strains. Otherwise it is planted and cared for as any other cornfield. Corn bred for several years for increased production will produce, with exactly the same treatment, ten, twenty or even forty bushels more per acre than unselected seed. Corn can be considerably improved and rendered quite uniform by selecting from year to year the best ears from the best stalks, without regard to the producing power of individuals or without em- ploying the aid obtained from detasseling. The improvement, how- ever, in such case is not so rapid. Some think it necessary to obtain new seed every few years, claiming that their corn has "run out." A good strain of corn, like a good breed of animals, will "run out" if pains are not taken to propagate from the best individuals. In- stead of allowing a strain of corn, through neglect, to "run out," it can be "run up" in producing power by some such system as has been outlined. CARE OF SEED CORN. The next step in importance after the growing of good seed corn is its care from the time it is gathered until it is planted. It is advisable that all corn which is to be used as seed — for the breeding plat, for general planting, or for sale — should be preserved in the best manner possible. Good care consists in carefully drying the ears, and at the same time seeing that they dry quite rapidly. This should be done as soon as they are gathered, and they should then be stored in a dry place of even temperature and where they will not be reached by damp air. Seed corn, although it may have become very dry, will absorb moisture if it comes in contact with a damp atmos- phere. When first gathered, seed corn may be greatly injured in one day's time if allowed to freeze or to heat. One satisfactory way of drying seed corn is to place it in thin layers on a series of floors made of narrow strips of board laid just close enough together to keep the ears from falling through. These floors should be in a shed or building that can be well ventilated, and which can be closed during damp weather. Where freezing weather comes as soon as the corn has matured, or even before, arti- ficial heat is needed to keep the corn from freezing; but the heat should be used in connection with an abundance of dry air, as corn is not dried by heating, unless a means is provided for the moist air to pass out. In southern sections, usually no trouble is encountered in drying seed corn, but it often becomes necessary to treat it in order to pre- vent its destruction by weevils, grain and flour beetles, and the Angoumois grain moth. TESTING THE GERMINATION. Seed corn should be so well cared for that it will contain no ears that will not germinate, and seed testing should be employed as a demonstration of the fact that the seed has received proper attention. If through accident or carelessness seed has been so damaged that a 11 test of 100 or more ears proves that less than 97 kernels out of every 100 germinate, and better seed can not be procured, it is advisable to test the ears separately and discard the poorest. This test can very easily be made by numbering the ears and then taking five (or ten) kernels from each ear and placing them in numbered rows in shallow hexes of moist sand, arranging them so that the kernels from ear No. 1 are in row No. 1, etc. If the boxes used are two or two and one-half inches deep and a damp cloth is spread over the top after the kernels are placed in the sand, no further attention will be necessary for five or six days, when the results of the test can be recorded. The box should be kept in a warm place where the temperature does not fall below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. SELECTION AND CARE OF SEED CORN. Some farmers may not have the time to breed their seed corn, nor opportunity to purchase. The crop depends largely on the seed, however, and no farmer can afford to neglect to save and select his seed corn by some careful method. Those who cannot breed their own seed corn or buy carefully bred seed of suitable kind are 'irged to follow the best method of selecting seed from their field crop, and to give the selected seed the best of care. It is important that the seed corn be thoroughly dried out before it is subjected to severe freezing. Select the seed corn early in the fall, before there is danger of freezing. Light frosts would not injure the seed, but the selection should not be delayed too long, as a severe freeze might greatly injure the vitality of the seed. Select your seed from that portion of the field which is uniformly the best developed. Husk this portion of the field early in the season to be sure that those ears saved for seed will have been husked and preserved before freezes occur. The seed corn selected should be placed in a dry, well-ventilated room where the ears can be spread out. They should not be piled in a heap, as it is important to expose them to a free circulation of air, so that they will dry quickly and thoroughly without molding. It is important to dry out the seed corn quickly and thoroughly, and the use of some artificial heat is in most cases desirable. It is thus important, especially in damp, cold seasons, to place the seed corn in a room where there is a stOve in which a fire can be main- tained at least a portion of each day for about two weeks, or until the corn is thoroughly dried out. After the corn is thoroughly dried out, all the ears should be examined carefully, and a sufficient number of the very best and largest ears should be selected to plant the next year's crop. In mak- ing this selection the giower should carefully examine each ear, select- ing those having deep and well-formed kernels, which will give the gioatest weight of shelled corn per ear. The imperfect kernels at the tips and butts of these selected ears should be shelled off and dis- carded before the ears are finally shelled for planting. BARNYARD MANURE MAKES BIG CROPS W. II. Beal, Depaitmeut of Agriculture. It is hard to ixMsuade the farmer to abandon time-honored prac- tices ami adopt methods with which he is unfamiliar. He also hesi- tates about incurring the necessary expense of building suitable re- 12 ceptacles for the storage of manure, frequently assuming that this is greater than it really is. It is to be feared that the introduction of commercial fertilizers has not been without effect in increasing the apparent indifference with which this valuable farm resource is so often regarded. Too many farmers lose sight of the fact that, as a rule, commercial ferti- lizers should supplement and not entirely replace the manurial sup- plies of the farm. MANAGEMENT OF MANURE. Barnyard manure is a material which rapidly undergoes change. Where it is practicable to haul the manure from the stalls and pens and spread it on the field at short intervals the losses of valuable con- stituents need not be very great, but when (as in winter) the manure must be stored for some time the difficulties of preservation become greatly increased. Under these conditions, deterioration of manure results from two chief causes: (1) Fermentation, whereby a certain amount of the nitrogen is lost, and (2) weathering or leaching, which involves a loss of the soluble fertilizing constituents, including potash and phosphoric acid as well as nitrogen. The careful regulation of the fermentation is necessary to the successful rotting of manure. If the heap is too loosly built the de- composition is too rapid. The materials useful for the formation of humus in the soil are destroyed, and the nitrogen especially that of the urine, escapes into the air, partly as ammonia, partly as free ni- trogen. On the other hand, if the manure is too firmly packed the decomposition may be too slow and the manure will not become sufficiently disintegrated to produce the best effect in the soil. A powerful means of controlling fermentation is the supply of moisture. French authorities maintain that the principal precautions necessary to prevent losses of ammonia consist simply in regularly and properly watering the manure with the leachings. The need of keeping manure moist is especially marked in case of horse manure, which is naturally dry and decomposes with great rapidity. The same is true in a less degree of sheep manure. The common and harmful "fire-fanging" is the result of an insufficient supply of water and may be readily checked by sprinkling. The sprinkling, however, should be regularly done and the heap kept in a constant state of moisture, otherwise the alternate wetting and drying will result in a loss of ammonia. LEACHING OF MANURE. Leaching is the second cause of the deterioration of manure. When manure is exposed to the action of the elements and the leach- ings allowed to drain away it rapidly decreases in value. Both the organic and the mineral constituents originally present, or which have been made soluble by fermentation, are carried off and lost. Experi- ments indicate that horse manure thrown in a loose pile and sub- jected to the action of the elements will lose nearly one-half of its valuable fertilizing constituents in the course of six months, and that mixed cow and horse manure in a compact mass and so placed that all water falling upon it quickly runs through and off is sub- jected to a considerable though not so great loss. PRESERVATION. It is a well known fact that certain of the organisms which cause decomposition of manure are voided with the dung and commence their activity at once. In cases of horses and sheep these organisms cause a considerable loss of ammonia in a comparatively short time. It is necessary therefore to adopt prompt measures in order to reduce loss from this source to a minimum. The means which are available for this purpose are the use of absorbents (litter) and pre- servatives. The liquid is taken up by the litter preserving it from decomposition, and also absorbs to a considerable extent the am- 13 luonla produced by fermentation and prevents its escape into the air. F^eat and peat moss are the best absorbents. They also furnish the largest amounts of fertilizing constituents. Peaty soil is also an ef- fective absorbent, and the use of'a mixture of peaty earth with straw as litter has been strongly recommended. An addition of from 35 to 40 pounds of loam per head daily has been found advantageous, and where straw is i-carce it has been replaced to the extent of one- fourth or one-third by earth. The amount of litter required for any given animal depends largely upon the character of the food. A safe general rule is that the litter should amount to at least one-third of the dry matter of the food consumed. The following -amounts per day for different animals are recommended: Sheep, three-fifths pound of litter; cattle, nine pounds; and horses, six and one-half pounds. In order to reduce the loss to a minimum, manure heaps should be made compact and kept uniformly moist. Under cover the last result is secured by collecting the liquid manure and at frequent in- tervals sprinkling it over the heap, or when the supply of this is de- ficient, by sprinkling with water. Where the manure heap is ex- posed to the rain in pits from which there is no drainage it probably does not require so much attention, but still care must be taken to prevent loss by alternate leaching when heavy rainfalls occur and dry- ing out in time of drought. The use of completely covered barnyards for protecting manure has in recent years met with much favor in certain parts of the coun- try. The manure from the horse and cattle stables and the sheep and calf pens is spread out evenly over these yards, covered with coarse litter, and the whole kept firmly packed by allowing animals to run over it, thus preventing injurious fermentation. Many stables are so situated that by adding a cheap lean-to, "a receptacle for caring for the manure is easily provided. The out- side boarding of the lean-to should be, for a part of the way at least, put on horizontally and hung in the form of flat doors, so that the manure can be easily loaded on a wagon standing on the outside of the building." Whatever the system adopted, the following general rules should be observed in the storage of manuie: (1) Spread the manure out uni- formly; (2) guard as much as possible against the. access of air; (3) keep the manure always moist, but not too wet; (4) protect the heap from extremes of heat as of moisture. WHEAT CULTURE M. A. Carleton, Department of Agriculture. With wheat, as with many other crops, the proper treatment of the soil may be considered half the battle. In wheat growing a great deal depends upon local conditions of soil and climate, and as these conditions in any particular locality can be thoroughly understood only by long residence in that locality, the experiment stations in the several states should be able to give the most reliable advice relative to the adaptability of wheat to any particular section. On large farms there is much actual area lost by sheer wasteful- ness in cultivation. For instance, a wide strip is left for turning ground and then perhaps not utilized; and again the plow may be al- 14 lowed to run quite a distance before it begins turning a furrow. If the amount of land thus thoughtlessly wasted could be calculated, the result would be surprising. It is found, as a rule, that very early deep plowing is best. This is especially true in arid regions, where conservation of moisture is a very important matter. In such districts subsoiling may be practiced also to advantage. For spring sowing plowing should generally be done in the fall, and for fall sowing plowing should be done soon after harvest. In spring wheat districts summer fallowing is sometimes practiced. This gives a much needed rest to the land during constant wheat cropping. Root or forage crops may, however, occasionally serve the same pur- pose, besides being a source of additional profit from the land. Experience and investigation has formed the conclusion that a roller should never be used on the Western plains, exc^t in the case of late plowing, and even then it should be used only before drilling. This is owing to the fact that roughness of surface is valuable for holding moisture and checking the injurious action of dry winds. The seed-bed should be made very fine and mellow before drilling, and wherever possible the drill rows should run east and west. TIME FOR .SEEDING. The proper time for seeding varies, of course, with the latitude, while depending also occasionally on the locality and on the variety used. But whatever the conditions otherwise, it is a safe rule to sow at a period which is considered early in the locality where the sowing is done. Experiments show somewhat remarkable increases in yields due to early seedings. In the case of four different seedings made at intervals of one week, the average results for two to four years showed a difference in yield of from ten to twenty-six bushels per acre between the earliest and the latest seedings, the difference being in favor of the former. In apparetit contradiction of the foregoing statements, it seems to be pretty well established that spring varie- ties, when used for fall planting, must be sown quite late. The con- tradiction, however, is perhaps only apparent, for in regions where the character of the climate permits an extremely late fall sowing, say as late as December, may as correctly be called a very early spring sowing. Turkey, Odessa and allied varieties, in ordinary seasons, may be sown in western Kansas and Nebraska in any month of the winter with equal probability of success. In the northwestern states especially, only hardy winter varieties should be used for early fall sowing. Spring varieties will kill out in such localities, although abundantly able to make a good start when planted early in the spring. Varieties best adapted to winter seeding in the northern states are perhaps yet to be found. SELECTION OF VARIETIES. One of the first things to bear in mind is the uselessness of giv- ing attention to announcements made by quack seed growers of new varieties that make such astonishing yields as fifty to sixty bushels per acre where the farmers best average before had been only twenty- five bushels. The very fact of such a claim being made for a variety at once stamps it as a fraud. Besides the exaggerated claims made for the new variety, there is always an excessive charge of perhaps $15 per bushel which is generally a second evidence of fraud. Reliable seeds- men should not be compelled to compete with such quacks. What- ever may be in store for the future improvement of cereals there is not at present a known variety in the world that will of itself without proper attention to rational methods of farming give an excess yield of as much as ten bushels. It is the province of the experiment stations to determine what varieties are best adapted to particular localities in each state, and if they are not informed others are not likely to be. The judicious selection of varieties is a matter of much import- 15 ance. There are, no doubt, certain scientific principles wliich, if better known could be almost wholly and safely relied upon in choos- ing varieties for a certain locality. 1. There are three great groups of wheats with which this coun- try is particularly concerned: (a) The soft bread wheats, (b) the hard bread wheats, and (c) the durunis, or macaroni wheats. 2. Dividing the United States crosswise into three divisions of approximately equal width, the three wheat groups may, in a rough way, be assigned, according to their adaptability, to these three di- visions, as follows: (a) The hard wheats to the northern states, (b) the soft wheats to the states in middle latitudes, and (c) the durums to the southern states. In actual experience such distribution is, of. course, not exactly attained, because the durums are but little grown in this country. When tried here, however, they do best in southern latitudes, as, for instance, in Texas, where they have been grown with success; and, moreover, the hard and soft bread wheats are grown in- terchangeably as to latitude. However, the general distribution of the three groups is about as above. 3. The terms most commonly applied to the three groups are hard wheats, soft wheats and durums. The last named are also hard wheats, but are very different in character from the first group. The soft wheats are called club, square head, white, etc. 4. The hard wheats are, as a rule, hardy and especially drought- resistant. They resist the orange-leaf rust quite well, are perfectly adapted to roller-milling, and contain a large per cent of gluten, thus making the best bread. 5. For the general market, therefore, special attention should be given to raising these hard wheats. No ordinary bread wheat does well in the extreme South, but there should be greater effort to push hard wheats into middle latitudes, such as in Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, southern Illinois and Indiana. This Las already been done to some extent and should be continued. 6. In foreign markets Kansas hard-winter wheat flour has al- ready gained a reputation distinctively its own. and is classed by some as next to the best Hungarian grades in quality. 7. The sooner millers make a more general use of hard wheats* the better, for these are sure to be the varieties most in demand, and those which will grow most successfully in the greater portion of the wheat belt. It is little more than a decade since hard wheats were rarely seen in the region south of Iowa and Nebraska, but now they are the kinds generally grown in the states of the plains. 8. Much of the work of adapting hard wheats to middle lati- tudes has been done by acclimatizing northern spring varieties, thereby gradually changing them to winter sorts, but it is a question whether it is not better to in introduce hard winter varieties direct. 9. The finest class of bread wheats in the world is grown in southeast Russia. As this region is characterized by a deep, black earth, an arid climate, long and severe winters, and hot dry summers — conditions very similar to those which prevail in our own wheat belt — these wheats should by all means be more extensively tested in the United States than they have been. The wheats in question are both winter and spring-sown varieties. The plants can be readily distinguished at some distance when grown with different varieties in small plats, as they are dark green, slender, with long narrow leaves; small, narrow, compressed heads; small, very hard, red grains, and often (in spring varieties) have a velvety surface. The Turkey, Ames, various sorts called Odessa, Meekins, Mennonite, Krimsh. Do Theisse, Girka, Budapest, etc., are examples of such varieties. The high-grade Chubut wheats of southern Argentina are also of much the same quality. 10. The average per cent of di'y gluten contained in ordinary bread wheats is about ten, but many of these hard Russian sorts con- tain over fourteen per cent. 11. Hard wheats do not usually give remarkable yields, but their 16 average tor a series of years will often exceed that of soft wheats, and they almost invariably weigh more per bushel. VARIETIES FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES. In wheat growing it is of imiiortance to note that certain kinds of wheat are best adapted for certain uses. As already stated, the hard wheats, as a rule, make the best bread. The kind of flour de- manded in foreign m-arkets, however, depends much upon the locality to which it is exported. It is said, for example, that our northern wheat flour is not as desirable in Central American markets as that made farther south. At the Galveston elevators it is claimed that it does not keep so well in transit. The bulk of the hard wheats shipped to England is nearly always mixed with soft wheats before grinding. The manufacture of macaroni has recently given promise of much success in this country. It is claimed, however, by some, that the quality of the Italian products is unmistakably better than that of the home product, and that the preference given to the latter by many is due chiefly to the difference in price, the American brands usually selling at two and one-half cents per package less than the Italian. It is doubtful if there is much truth in this, but if so the difference in quality in favor of Italian brands is most likely due to the difference in varieties of wheat used in the manufacture. In Italy the durum wheats grown so generally in the warm regions near the Mediterran- ean Sea are used exclusively for this purpose. It will be seen, there- fore, that the further encouragement of the macaroni industry in this country will possibly develop a considerable home market for durum wheats, which give promise of successful growth in the Southern states, especially Texas. Investigation will show that American maca- roni is already finding its way into foreign markets. In the manufacture of crackers the best quality of soft white wheat flour is required. The great bulk of the flcur used for this pur- pose in England factories is imported by them from the St. Louis mills, which turn out soft wheat flour mainly. CROSS-BREEDING OF WHEAT. This is a comparatively new feature in agricultural science, but its effectiveness in improving the wheat plant is nevertheless now well reccgnized. There is no doubt a vast field for improvement of cereals in this way. Cross-breeding adds so much vigor, and wheat is such a strictly self-fertilizing plant, that it would probably be of much value to at least occasionally practice cross-pollination. If a hardy bearded variety which is well adapted to a certain lo- cality and a good yielder is crossed with a bald variety of merit the beards may be gotten rid of and the good qualities still retained, or varieties which are liable to rust but are otherwise good may be made more rust resistant if crossed with a variety possessing this quality. SELECTION OF SEED. Too much attention can not be given to this subject. Many choice varieties have been developed by selecting from a field certain un- usually good heads planting the grains of these separately and there- after selecting the best each year. It has already been satisfactorily proven that the old idea that rust shriveled grains give as good re- turns as large healthy ones is erroneous. Nothing would be of more benefit to the wheat grower than the establishment of special small seed plats of, say one to five acres, from which to select seed each year. The following plan is recom- mended: At harvest time cut from a good field a strip of the best portion, first eliminate all rye and other foreign heads and large weed seeds. After threshing the wheat from this strip, grade it by means of a fanning mill, with special sieves made for the purpose, so TS to obtain only the largest and most vigorous grains. Use the best grade of wheat, both for sowing the small plat and for the general 17 crop the next season. The next year use none of the field crop for seed, but after grading the wheat from the small plat, as before, use the very best of it for sowing the small plat and all the remainder for sowing the large field, and so on from year to year. In this way seed is never taken from the general crop, which cannot be given -the same care as the small plat, and there is a constant selection of seed, which is more and more rigid every year. THE CULTURE OF TOBACCO otto Carl Butterweck, Brooksville, Fla. Having procured the best seed for the locality and soil, the grower should maintain and improve the quality, by proper selection of seed from his own crop or by the production of seed plants in other ways. The production of tobacco seed requires careful attention because some varieties deteriorate while others improve in a given district. HOW MUCH SEED TO SOW. Tobacco seeds are very small and an ounce contains about 300,000 seeds. A large percentage of these will not sprout however. Some are infertile and others have a coat so hard it resists moisture. Experienced planters usually sow at least three times the amount of seed that they expect to need in order to provide themselves with sufficient plants when the time comes for setting them out. A bed three by fifty feet, producing from 10,000 to 20,000 plants in the ag- gregate, can be used for sowing about one-third of an ounce of good fresh seed, but it is safer to sow three such beds for this number of plants. The Cuban grown seed is generally light and chaffy. In saving seed for sale the Cubans frequently allow not only the single spike to go to seed, but the suckers. They are careless also in mixing small and light pods containing many undeveloped seed as well as those which have been injured by insects. They do not winnow the dust and hulls from the seed as well as it is done in this country. It is necessary in planting imported Cuban seed to sow three times as much as of domestic seed. Before sowing the tobacco seed it is well to test the germinating power. To do this, take 100 seeds carefully counted out, place them between two wet blotters, put these between two china plates so they will remain moist, and keep in a warm place at a temperature of from 70 degrees to 80 degrees. The blotting papers must be kept moist, but not wet. After ten days, separate the blotting papers and count the number of seeds that have sprouted. This will give the percent- age of good seeds, and will be a valuable guide as to the quantity of seed to sow. THE SEED BED. A southern exposure is always best. Where possible it is ad- visable to locate the seed bed near water because of the moisture and more uniform temperature in such location. Often there is some dan- ger of frost in such a locality, and in the North it is necessary for 18 this reason to make the beds on the high, warm land and supply the moisture artificially by means of watering. Make the bed if possible en new land, as there is less danger of larvae, insects, and weeds and grass seed. As damp locations are more subject to parasitic and fungous diseases, many growers prefer to make their beds on high dry warm soil near the house and keep it damp by frequent sprinkling. In the South and Cuba an open space in the woods where the midday sun shines is the favorite location for a seed bed, because of the protection afforded by the trees from cold winds and exces- sive drying out of plants and soil. The conditions are more uniform and there is less danger from frosts and insects. In the North the seed bed is usually made near the house like a cold frame with muslin over it as protection from insects and exces- sive evaporation. Seed beds are usually burned in all localities ex- cept the perique district of Louisiana. In the North the burning may be done late in the fall or during a mild spell in the winter. In the South the land is burned over just before the seeds are sown. It is necessary to do this unless the land has been kept thoroughly clean for several years, or unless it has been mulched the preceding year, as the ground will be so foul with weeds and grass that the young tobacco plants stand little show when vegetation begins. Burning is also a protection against grubs and insects. BURNING THE BEDS. Anyone can readily burn a seed bed. Where any clearing has been done, the site of a burned log heap is as good a place for a bed as can be selected. The material at hand must determine the way in which the bed should be burned. If the material recently cleared from the land is brush, spread it in a thin layer over. the ground and burn it, adding more from time to time so as to keep the heat near the ground. It is not economical to have a high pile, as much of the heat will not then be effective on the soil. If the material at hand consists of rails and logs lay down a few rails or poles several feet apart to keep the burn- ing wood off the ground and to admit air. Lay the wood on these poles from one to several inches apart according to circumstances. Start the fire on the leeward side so that it will burn slowly. A steady slow fire will make a better burn than a flashy quick one. The mois- ture in the soil to a depth of several inches must be converted into steam. This steam in forming uses up a quantity of heat. The fire must be continued long enoiigh to steam the ground thoroughly to a depth of several inches. The upper layer of the soil to a depth of one-tenth of an inch or so will have the appearance of a burned brick when the operation has gone far enough. PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. After the bed has been burned and has had time to cool it should be broken with a hoe or other suitable implement to a depth of about two inches and the surface thoroughly pulverized. The roots and trash must be carefully raked off with a garden rake and the surface left in a level, loose porous condition. A pound of some good commercial fertilizer or guano should be applied to each three square yards and thoroughly raked in. The surface of the bed must be thoroughly pulverized and loose, so as to permit the delicate plants to grow readily, which they will not do in lumpy soil. The bed should not be worked deeply as this would tend to pre- vent the moisture from rising from below and might bring to the sur- face seeds of grass and weeds which had been buried deeply and es- caped the heat. If there is danger of washing by heavy rains it is necessary to protect the bed by shallow ditches on the sides subject 19 to the flow of water to prevent the sides from being washed away or from being covered up by a deposit of sand and clay. In the perique tobacco district of Louisiana the making of seed beds is unlike the same work in other states. It begins in October, when cow manure is applied to a depth of six inches to a chosen spot in the forest and turned under with a spade. In December the bed is worked but not burned, and ditches are cut through to secure drain- age. The soil is mostly humus and the beds cannot, therefore, be burned. In ordinary seasons the seeds will be up in two weeks after planting. After the first leaver appear the plants seem to grow very slowly, although the roots are developing then quite rapidly. In two weeks after the plants have appeared they become more vigorous and begin to grow rapidly, especially if watered with weak liquid manures. In from six weeks to two months after the seed is sown the plants are ready for transplanting to the field. Growers usually make it a rule to plant seed beds a week or ten days apart, as a protection against unexpected cold and other causes of loss. When a bed is killed out with the cold it is immediately re- sown. When the plants are too thick in a bed they should be imme- diately thinned to allow space for a good root development. Each plant should be allowed at least a square inch of space for the roots to develop. PROTECTION. In any locality it is well to have the bed inclosed with a cold frame and covered with plant muslin. For this purpose, after burn- ing the seed bed and before sowing the seed, inclose the bed with a frame made of one-inch plank, eight or ten inches wide, placed on edge, and nailed at the corners with diagonal strips of one by three- inch plank, countersunk at the corners and securely nailed for addi- tional safety. If there are no planks available, take two poles, four or five inches in diameter, and place one on top of the other, instead of the plank. The bed may be of any desired dimensions, but it is well to have it not over three feet wide in order that all parts of it may be reached from either side. If there is any slope to the land a ditch should be dug on the upper side of the bed to prevent washing, and the earth thrown in against the side of the bed for additional protec- tion against washing and cold winds. SOWING THE SEEDS. As the impervious nature of the seed coat is the reason for many of the seeds not sprouting, a very simple method can be employed to obviate this trouble. Spread a newspaper on a table and lay a sheet of the finest emery paper on it. Pour a few seeds on this and with another piece of emery paper rub the seed gently. This will scratch their thick envelopes and enable them to absorb water. It is well to place the seeds in a damp i)lace for a day or two before scratching, for if they are very dry when scratched they are apt to be hulled when treated in this way. After scratching the coat, place the seed in a bowl and pour just enough w'ater on them to cover the seed. Let them stand for forty-eight hours, by which time they will have ab- sorbed all the water. Then mix the seed in the proportion of a quar- ter of an ounce of seed to two quarts of wood ashes, corn meal, or sterile earth and sow them carefully and evenly over the bed. Do not soak the seed unless you water in sowing. Meal or ashes are pre- ferred to earth, because it is easy to see from the color if the sowing has been evenly done. The seed should be sowed when the wind is quiet. The seed may be sown by the thumb and fingers, or like grain, except that the hand must be held close to the bed and the sweep of the hand limited. After sowing the seed, sweep the bed over care- fully with a brush or broom simply disturbing the surface of the bed and being careful not to bury the seed too deep. The importance of covering the tobacco seed very little will be appreciated when it is remembered that tobacco seed is very much 20 smaller than timothy. After the seed has been sown and brushed in, it should be thoroughly sprinkled to firm the earth. It may be firmed by carefully tamping with a spade or hoe or by laying down a board and standing upon it, turning the board over and repeating until the bed is gone over. it may be tamped with square boards eight by ten inches, se- cured to the feet with straps. The firming is best done by simply thoroughly sprinkling and keeping the bed continually moist. The sprinkling should be repeated twice a week or even oftener. In hot dry weather sprinkle daily. The beds should be kept covered with canvas or cloth fastened on the side of the frame by means of headless wire nails driven in such a manner as to hold the cloth, or the covering may be fastened to small poles or one-inch strips a few inches longer than the length of the bed placed two feet apart with the cloth fastened to them. Such a covering can readily be rolled up and stored away and will last several seasons. A bed so covered will be protected from insects of all kinds. Moisture will be conserved also. A week or two before transplanting the covering should be re- moved about one-half hour after sunrise for an hour or two and the time cf exposure increased from day to day until two or three days before planting, when the covering should be left off entirely to harden the plants so they will stand transplanting. TIME OF SOWING SEED. There seems to be a general rule for sowing the seed in each state with reference to the frosts which are likely to occur in the spring. Seed beds should be planted from six weeks to two months, according to the variety of the seed before the latest date at which killing frosts has occurred in the locality. This is for domestic seed. Imported Cuban seed should be planted a month later, and im- ported Sumatra six weeks later than acclimated seed. Very vigorous varieties will grow large enough lo transplant in six weeks, other varieties eight to ten weeks from time of sowing seed. Transplant- ing should be done as soon as possible after the date on which the last killing frost has occurred in the locality and should be completed within a month. It is frequently advisable to plant earlier and take the chance of a crop being caught. Early planting save much labor in worming, and where air curing is practiced the benefit of the warm weather for the barn curing is quite an advantage. Many prefer to plant as late as the season permits because the warm sun of sum- mer is believed to produce a sweeter product. As a rule, planting secures the benefit of the winter and spring rains and secures comparative freedom from insects, with the ex- ception of the cutworm. Where the transplanting is done late in the season there is more danger from drought and greater risk of a poor stand. Where irrigation is practiced tobacco can be planted at a later date, provided it will mature during the growing season. In localities south of the twenty-eighth degree transplanting is done in February and March. In Louisiana, March 15 to April 15; Tennessee, May 1 to 20; Kentucky, about May 20; East Georgia, about April 10; West Georgia, May 1: South Carolina, April 10; North Caro- lina, May 1; Virginia, May 10; Pennsylvania, New York, New En- gland and Wisconsin, June 1 to 20. The date of the earliest autumn frost marks what should be the end of the tobacco growing season. Tobacco is very easily injured by frosts and it should be housed by the time the first killing frost is liable to occur in the autumn. It is easy, therefore, to calculate the season in which the crop has to develop and mature. However, the first killing frost of the autumn varies considerably from year to year, 21 and the average date is from one to four weeks later than the earliest date in most of the localities given. PLANTING. The field selected for the tobacco should be plowed in the fall. This will bring it into good tilth and help to destroy larvae of all kinds. Where the ground freezes it is well to plow in the fall for the purpose of destroying the cutworms. At the fall plowing apply all rough manures, which need time for rotting. In the spring the land is plowed again as early as possible, and the fertilizers are then harrowed in. Two or three weeks from planting the land is again harrowed and laid off in rows either py throwing a furrow each way with a turning plow or with a ridger. The distance apart varies some- what, but a general rule is from three to three and one-half feet apart each way. Sometimes the land is checked three by four feet, in order that the cultivation may be continued longer. In this case, if in the North, the wide furrows should run north and south for addi- tional sunlight for the crop. With Sumatra tobacco, as grown in the South, four feet are allowed between the rows. In the Northern States sunlight is sought after, while in Florida and Cuba shade is desired. Tobacco raised in an orange grove in Cuba always brings a better price than tobacco raised in the open field. In Florida open lattice sheds, with strips three inches v/ide and three inches apart overhead, are provided to shade the tobacco field. This method is growing in popularity. For the smaller and finer varieties of manufacturing tobacco the checks may be three feet or three feet three inches square. In Su- matra, where the coolie does all the labor by hand, the rows are made two feet apart, and the plants stand two feet apart in the row. In Cuba and in southern Florida, where hand cultivation is still largely practiced, the rows are made two feet six inches apart, and the plants are set from twelve to eighteen inches apart in the row, according to the strength of the soil and the amount of guano applied. Such close planting as this could not, of course, be adopted where horse cultivation is practiced. The plants are set out when they are from four to six inches high in the seed bed. This is an invariable rule in all the tobacco districts of this country; but in Cuba they are allowed to grow much larger, even as much as eight or ten inches high. In drawing the plants the seed bed is thoroughly watered, so that it will be loose and will not tear the roots much in drawing the plants. Have as much of the soil adhere to the roots when taken up as possible. The drawing should be done in the early morning while the dew Is on the plants, as the leaves are less liable to be injured. The plant should be grasped in one hand between the thumb and finger and gently lifted by means of a fork or small jiointed stick to prevent as much as possible injury to the stem and roots and to bring up some of the dirt adhering to the roots. The plants are then put in baskets or small boxes, the roots together. The package is then covered with a damp cloth and placed in a shady, cool place until it is time to set out the plants. In the early spring, especially when the day is cloudy and damp just after a rain, plants may be set out at any time in the day. Later in the season, however, as the air becomes drier and the temperature higher, plants are usually set out after noon. The later the season the later the time of setting out. Also the more southern the locality or the higher the temperature the later in the day plants should be set out. There are two methods of planting, either by hand or by the use of a planter. In hand planting the plants are dropped at regular intervals, usually by boys, girls or women, while another hand follows with a dibble made of a round stick one and one-fourth inches in diam- eter and ten inches long. With this he makes a hole into which he inserts the roots of the plant, holding the plant firmly with the leaves 22 between the thumb and finger. The dirt is then pressed around the roots with the dibble to firm the soil, and then loose earth is brought up around the plant and the whole surface left in as loose a condi- tion as possible. Sometimes the holes are made with a staff — that is, a smooth, round stick aliout one and one-fourth inches in diameter and four teet long, sharpened at one end. A hand takes the staff and makes the holes with a brisk jab the desired distance apart as he walks along; another follows with a basket of plants, the plants being dropped near the holes; another follows and sets the plants in the holes. The plants should be so firmly imbedded that they can not readily be pulled up by pulling on the top of one of the leaves. WATERING. If the soil is damp when the plants are set they will grow with- out water. If the soil is dry watering will have to be done immedi- ately before planting. A hand precedes the planter and fills the holes with water just before the plant is set in. If the season continues dry the plants may need watering until they establish themselves, which Is usually about a week from the time of setting out. It is usually better to make a hole near the plant with the dibble and put the water in that and cover it over with loose dry soil to prevent evaporation. Where possible it is much better to wait for the spring rains to moisten the ground and get it in order for planting. On large plantations in Cuba no holes are made to set plants in. They "bust out the middle of the row" with a scooter or shovel and set plants in the furrow. The plants are set so that the bud will come just above the level of the field. The furrows are freshly made as the planting proceeds, so that the soil shall not dry out too much for planting. The plants are usually longer than in this country, and if they are of extra length they are planted in a sloping position or are bent in the furrow so that the bud only will be above the level of the field. After planting the rows are leveled with a hoe. Replanting is done where necessary otherwise the soil is not disturbed for about two weeks, or until the plants are established. After that the field is continually worked and is kept like a garden. The Cubans claim that with setting larger plants less loss occurs than with small ones. The method of transplanting with machines is now very gener- ally practiced in the northern cigar tobacco states. The machine waters the h^les uniformly before planting, sets the plant, and firms the earth uniformly and firmly around it. It is claimed that machine set plants usually grow off better than hand set ones and a better stand is obtained. CULTIVATION. A tobacco field should be kept clean and in good tilth, both to promote the grow^th of the plant, and by removing grass, weeds and trash, to lessen insects of all kinds. In ten days or two weeks after the plants have been set out, hoe between them, removing the dry dirt and drawing fresh moist earth to them. They should then be cultivated with a shallow instrument, such as a cultivator or a sweep, throwing a little dirt to the plant. The cultivation should be shallow. Do .not cut or disturb the roots of the plant as it checks its growth and tends to make a fibrous, woody leaf. As a rule fields should be cultivated after every rain, as soon as the soil is in condition to work. The surface should be stirred after the rain, both to admit air and to prevent excessive evaporation. When the plants get of large size and begin to throw out buds they will be too large for horse cultivation. The field should then be kept clean from weeds and grass with a hoc. In cultivating, always work the soil to the plant. It is better to pull up a few weeds and bunches of grass near the plant than to use a tool, because of the danger of injuring the roots. FERTILIZERS. In fertilizing the tobacco plants it is necessary to consider both the yield of crop and the effect of certain fertilizers upon the quality 23 of tlie finished leaf. Cprtain substances cannot be used without injur- ing the burning qualities of the leaf. Chlorine, which is contained iu common salt, muriate of potash, Kainit and generally in the lower and cheaper forms of potash salts, is decidedly injurious to the burning qualities of tobacco. Sulphate of potash, when used in excess, is be- lieved to be injurious to the burning qualities of the cigar leaf. Ex- cess of phosphoric acid is injurious, as it affects the color of the ash. According to observations, the more phosphoric acid there is in a soil the more of it is taken up by the tobacco plant. Excess of nitrogen, especially that In the form of raw animal fertilizers and fresh animal manure, makes a coarse, thick leaf which is unfavorable for the wrapper types, but favorable to some manufac- turing and export types. Care must be taken in the production of cigar wrapper leaf and in the bright yellow leaf of Virginia and North Carolina to use only moderate quantities of stable manure or animal nitrogenous manures of any kind, as it is not desired that the leaf should be thick and coarse. With the heavy export types great quantities of these manures may be used to advantage. Large quan- tities of mineral manures are used in the production of both the wrap- per leaf for cigars and the bright yellow tobacco, as these are both grown on very poor, sandy soils, which depend mainly for their food supply upon the minerals furnished. From 200 pounds to a ton of commercial fertilizers are commonly applied per acre to the tobacco crop. Sometimes as much as two tons are used where a high-grade wrapper leaf or thin, bright tobacco can be produced. The fertilizer may be either broadcasted or drilled in the row just before the plants are set out. Sometimes the fertilizer is applied in two or three applications during the season. TOPPING. In a plant like tobacco, which is valued for the quality of the leaf, it is necessary to remove the seed head as it forms, in order that the nutritive substance may remain in the leaf. When the bud is removed the plant throws out suckers at the junction of the leaves, and these also must be promptly removed or the leaf will lose part of the nutri- tive matter which has been stored up in it. Just when the i)roper time to top is a disputed question. It de- pends upon the variety of the plant, the vigor of growth, and the con- ditions of soil and climate, as well as upon the use for which the to- bacco is intended. To retain the greatest amount of nutritive matter in the leaves and to induce a uniform ripening of the plant, the bloom bud should be removed as soon as it appears. Just how much of the top should be removed in taking out the bud also depends upon the variety of tobacco and upon the strength and vitality of the plant. Strong, vigorous plants are topped high. When a good stand is obtained at planting, the plants will bud about the same time, but all the plants of a field will not be ready to top at the same time, and a great deal of judgment is required to know when to remove the liud. This judgment is based upon the vitality of the l)lant and for what purpose the leaves are to be grown. It is ne«es- sary, therefore, to go over the field several times to remove the buds, and after the first time the suckers are removed at the same time the buds are taken out. It must not be understood that suckering is not necessary before this time. Some plants send out suckers at an early period of their life, long before the bloom bud appears, and these suckers must be removed as they appear. In the cigar-tobacco districts from fifteen to twenty leaves are left on the plant. When the tobacco is intended mainly for cigar fillers a less number are left on, as it is desired to have the leaves stronger than where wrappers are produced. On the heavier types of manufacturing and export tobaccos from ten to twelve leaves are left on. More are left in very vigorous plants than on delicate ones. Experienced toppers do not count the leaves but use their judgment 24 as to the ability of the plant to maintain a certain number which they think should be left on. In Cuba and Florida a good vigorous sucker is allowed to remain when the plant is cut, and this develops into what is called a sucker crop, which while inferior to first crop, is good for filler purposes. CUTTING. There comes a time when the plant ceases to draw food from the air and from the soil and devotes itself to the purpose of concentrat- ing the nourishment that was previously scattered through all its parts. At this period the leaves begin to change color, light yellow spots appear upon them, and the leaf or plant is said to be ripe and ready to cut. As the leaves ripen from the bottom upward, the rational system is to pick or prime the tobacco as the leaves ripen. This is done in the bright tobacco district and to some extent in the cigar districts in Florida. In other districts, including the cigar districts of the North and manufacturing and export districts, the plant is cut when the middle leaves are ripe. If the plant is not fully matured at the time of cutting it is liable to cure dark, or if the weather happens to be dry or cold, so it dries out quickly, it may cure green and be worthless. The time when a plant is ripe and ready to cut is a mat- ter of judgment and experience. There is a slight change in the color of the leaf, perceptible in looking over a field of tobacco, which shows the experienced grower that it is ready to cut. When the leaf is observed to change color from a rank green to a lighter shade of green, and yellow spots appear it is a certain indication that the constituents of the leaf have performed their duty and are going back to the stalk, to be carried to the upper leaves or to be used for other purposes in the economy of the plant. Another test of this is to fold the leaf between the fingers, and if the leaf snaps or retains a crease where it was folded it is said to be ripe. A plant that is topped low, with only eight or ten leaves w-ill ma- ture more uniformly of course, than one that is topped high, like the Sumatra, where eighteen or twenty leaves are left on the plant. Cutting or priming should not be done when dew or rain is on the plant as it is liable to leave black spots on the cured leaf. In the South cutting is not done until afternoon in midsummer, as the mid- day sun is liable to sunburn the tobacco in a few moments. Where priming is done the leaves are placed in baskets or shallow boxes to be carried to the drying sheds, where they are strung on twine or on wires. The leaves are put face to face and back to back, thirty to fifty to a string, according to the size of the leaf. The twine or wire is then stretched on a four-foot lath with a slit about two inches long sawed in each end, and hung in its place in the barn. In harvesting plants it is necessary to go over the field a number of times, and cut them only as they ripen. Where the whole plant is cut it is allowed to wilt for several hours before being carried to the barn to prevent breaking the turgid leaves. Plants are cut and laid in rows on the ground to wilt, several rows being laid in one for convenience in handling. With the finer grades of cigar wrapper the plant is not allowed to lie on the ground directly, and in many localities the wilting is done after the plant is put on laths, upon which it is to be hung in the barn, and the laths supported on small trestles in the field or in racks arranged for the purpose. When sufficiently wilted the tobacco is hauled to the barn, either on rajcks made for the purpose or carefully piled on the wagon bed. In hanging the tobacco the butts are either pierced with an iron-pointed lath, or the stalk is split all the way up and the plants strung on the laths in this way. Before being hung remove all worms and eggs from the leaves, as the latter are liable to hatch and the worms do great injury to the leaves while hanging in the barn. All 25 the suckers should also be removed, or they will continue to grow and absorb the nourishment of the full-grown leaves. In Cuba and southern Florida the plant is cut in sections in the field. The three top leaves, usually the finest wrappers, are cut in one section, the rest of the stalk is cut in sections of two each. Two rows are taken at a time, and the sections are assorted according to their grade and position on the plant. The field is gone over several times until all the ripe plants have been cut. Boys accompany the ex- perts and receive the sections on their arms, the stems being turned alternately to prevent the loads from falling. When a turn has been received the boys slide the sections on to poles placed on forked stakes at convenient places in the field. These poles when full are carried to the barn. The Cubans use long poles, usually thirteen feet in length. This system has the advantage of sorting the tobacco as it goes into the barn. As the curing progresses in the barn the leaves are separated more and more for a better circulation of air. Cut tobacco must not be left exposed to the sun and wind, espe- cially when lying on the ground in small piles. It must be hauled to the wilting sheds or barns as soon as the leaves are sufficiently wilted to avoid being broken in handling. Where priming is practiced the leaves should be left to mature further than where the entire stalk is cut, for while the stalk is hang- ing in the barn a translocation of the matters from the stalk to the leaves takes place and from the leaf to the stalk, and the leaf ages and matures, therefore, while hanging in the barn. When the leaf is once severed from the stalk, however, in the process of priming or cutting in sections, there is no opportunity for this transfer except to the very small portion of stalk which is left on the section. SAVING SEED. The grower should maintain and even improve the quality of his crop by a judicious selection of seed plants. To this end the field is gone over several times during the growing season and typical plants picked out possessing the greatest possible number of good points. After finally deciding upon the plants which should be saved for seed, these are allowed to grow to full maturity without removing the seed head when the rest of the field is topped. As the seeds of a plant are produced from the food material prepared in the leaves, the leaves should be left upon the seed plant until the seed is ripe. It is advis- able also to have plants close together in order that they may fertilize each other by the exchange of their pollen. Only the central spike of the plant should be left for seed, the suckers being removed as they develop in order that all the nourishment taken up by the plant should go into the central spike to make heavy seed. The largest pods will contain the heaviest seed, and these should be selected for planting. The heavier seeds can be separated from the light by winnowing in a light wind or by screening. Seed plants of different varieties should be separated as far as possible to prevent crossing through the intervention of insects, air currents, etc. Exchanging and mixing seed of the same variety grown some miles distance is good practice, as it tends to make the seed and plants more vigorous. Tobacco seed will retain its vitality for ten to twenty years, but it must be remembered that all seeds begin to lose their vitality from the moment of ripeness. INSECT PESTS. Trouble with insects begins from the moment the seed is sown, and continues even after the tobacco is harvested, and in the curing shed. Ants in the seed bed, cutworms at the planting of the crop, and tobacco worms throughout the growing season of the plant have to be continuously sought for and destroyed. For cutworms it is best to spread over the field before planting cabbage or turnip leaves, 26 bunches of grass, or meal dipped in a solution of paris green, a table spoonful to a bucket of water. Where the int a) is used one table- spoonful of Paris green should be mixed with a gallon of meal or flour. Two applications are recommended. After the plants are set it is also well to dust them with a mixture of Paris green and meal. There are several remedies proposed for the destiuction of the to- bacco worm but the most satisfactory, although the most expensive, is to search for them in the early morning and destroy them by hand. Later in the day they are hard to find. When looking for the worms destroy the eggs of the moth wherever found. These eggs are ,about the size of tobacco sefed and nearly the color of the leaf itself, and are hard to find. Attempts have been made to catch the moths in various kinds of traps, and considerable relief afforded thereby. The field should he gone over three times a week. Destroy the early brood if possible and there will be fewer later in the season when the main brood appears. PIG MANAGEMENT George I\I. Ronuiu'l, Bureau of Animal Industry. ^^^^^'^^r^^''^^—^~7^^ r'"^^ The first place in hog raising in the United States is easily with the corn growing sections, and here corn is the first grain thought of when the fattening of hogs is considered. The chenpness and abundance of corn in the corn sections have often led farmers to use it as the exclusive grain feed. But breeding stock so fed does not thrive so well and is not so prolific as when given a varied ration, and when used for fattening an exclusive corn diet is not generally profitable. The increasing price of corn has forced farmers to economize in its use as much ay liossible. Any locality that will grow clover of any species, or that is fa- vorable to the production of alfalfa, peas, or beans, or wh"re grains are readily grown — not only corn, but barley, wheat, oats or rye — will be a favorable situation for the successful production of pork. If it is also a locality where dairying is common, no better advantages are required; for, given leguminous pasture, with a grain feed that can be readily grown, and also dairy by-products, the very highest grade of pork can be produced at a minimum cost. Variety of feed alone it an item of immense importance in feeding. The fev/ states comprising the corn belt are the source of supply for a great amount of the meat product, especially hanT^ and bacon, that is consumed in other portions of the jcountry. Yet the advan- tages of many of these corn-belt states are little, if at all, superior to those outside of that district. The South has an abundance of vegetation. Cow peas, velvet beans, and peanuts are leguminous crops that are peculiar to that section. Corn grows readily in all parts of the South, and in the sub-tropical portions the experience of feeders with cassava seems to indicate that it has considerable value for pork production. In addition, there is generally an abundant water sup- ply; the climate is mild, and there is a long period during which green feed is available; the expense of shelter and winter feeding is very greatly lessened. In the extreme West the alfalfa of the irrigated valleys and the clover of the coast districts give a splendid foundation for successful pork production. In most of these regions there is an abundance of 27 small grain, particularly barley, that may often be fed economically, while in some localities corn is a successful crop. Barley is of so much interest and importance in the production of prime pork that it demands more than a passing notice. This grain has not been relied upon to any great extent in America as the princi- pal part of a hog-fattening ration, but the practice of Danish farmers and the results of experiments can very well be studied with profit by American feeders. Farmers in those parts of the country where barley is a prominent crop can well devote attention to their oppor- tunity for pork production; besides, in addition to this grain, some of the leguminous crops can often be grown for pasture, thus furnish- ing materials for a well-balanced ration. HOUSES, INCLOSURES, FENCES, ETC. Hogs are easily affected by extremes of heat and cold, and the character of their shelter will therefore depend on the locality. If the locality is one of severe winters, warm quarters are a necessity. In erecting a piggery in northern latitudes four things should be espe- cially considered — (1) light, (2) ventilation, (3) warmth, and (4) cleanliness. Under cleanliness, ease of cleaning and dryness must be regarded. A well-drained location should be chosen; one that will give the hogs a good climb to reacli it will provide needed exer- cise. The house should be on a north and south line, so that both sides may receive direct sunlight during a part of the day. The size of the house and its equipment will depend upon tlie size of the herd and the resources of the owner. Not more than fifty breeding hogs should be confined in one house; sanitary considerations make a smaller number much safer. Out of doors the number of hogs in an inclosure may be in- creased without danger. The arrangement of the pens will depend largely on the climate and the convenience. A very common plan is to have only the sleep- ing pens under cover, building feeding pens of the same size just out- side the hog house and adjoining it. If these pens are floored sub- stantially with concrete they will last well. The house should be well constructed and warm. If boarded up inside with good matched siding, such a house will be comfortable in zero weather, and sows may farrow there with safety. Concrete or brick floors are expensive, but if the initial expense can be incurred and the floors are well laid they will pay good interest in the saving of manure and the dryness of the house. Animals should not be compelled to sleep directly on such floors, for rheumatism and colds are very lilvely to result. The best floor for a sleeping or farrowing pen is one of wood on concrete, the wood being two by four inch timbers, laid from one-fourth to three-eights inch apart to allow drainage. If not constructed in this way concrete and brick floors should be kept well littered. A clay or ordinary earth floor is excellent, and by some preferred to any other. It is the warmest floor, but not so easily kept clean as one of brick or concrete. If a house is constructed with earth floors care must be taken that the floors are well drained, both underground and on the surface. The greatest necessity for a good house is at farrowing time, for it is then that more pigs die than at any other. If the sow farrows in a damp or cold place or in drafts, serious results to the sow or the pigs, or to both will follow. At this time the sow is seriously weak- ened, and she is very susceptible to exposure, while newly born pigs are easily stunted or killed by chilling. Rheumatic ailments are common with pigs, and are often caused by damp, chilly sleeping places. HOUSING IN MILD CLIMATES. In the South and in much of the country west of the Rocky Moun- tains the winters are so mild that they obviate the necessity of con- structing buildings of much warmth. Not only are the winters mild, 28 but tney are comparatively short, and green feed is available much longer than in other parts of the country. In such localities a shed will often suffice, but it should be well constructed, in order to pro- vide protection from storms and damp, chilly weather. PENS AND PASTURES The question of pens and pastures must be determined by each one for himself. A good rule to follow is to favor large inclosures rather than small ones. A number of pens and several pastures will be found a convenience and are particularly valuable when disease makes its appearance, as hogs affected may then be isolated at once. A quarantine pen with an absolutely tight fence should be arranged on every farm where hogs are kept. Here all newly purchased hogs should be confined after arriving at the farm until all danger of in- fection is past. It will generally be a satisfactory practice to keep hogs away from other stock except when following fattening steers. Pregnant brood sows should never be allowed to run in the same yard or pas- ture with cattle, horses, or mules. Many good sows have been ruined by the playfulness or viciousness of the larger farm animals. The pen and yard for the boar should be separate from the rest of the herd and out of sight of it. The pen should be so strong that the boar can not tear it down or go through it, and a tightly fenced pasture of one-half to one acre in area should adjoin. A sow about to farrow, if she is to farrow in the piggery, can have the run of the alley for exercise. If she has a house to herself, a small yard should adjoin. FENCING. No man should attempt to raise hogs without adequate fencing of yard and pastures. For pastures woven wire is the best fencing material, all things considered. Such a fence may be purchased ready-made or may be made on the farm by machines, of which there are several good kinds on the market. From motives of economy it may be desirable to run a fence of woven wire around a field to a height of thirty to thirty-six inches, and above this to stretch two or three strands of ordinary barb wire. This will make a hog-tight fence, and if horses are necessarily placed in the field the fence will be safer than the or- dinary one made entirely of barb wire. Midway between the posts the lower strand in the fence should be securely stapled to a small post or stake; this will prevent hogs from working their way under the fence. A further precaution against this may be secured by plowing a furrow against the lower strand. In building any kind of wire fence, ground wires may be put down to moisture at frequent intervals to give stock protection from lightning. A board fence makes, perhaps, the most secure inclosure for hogs, but its expense precludes its use generally except for yards and pens. Barb wire is very poor material for a hog fence. If can hardly be made close enough or strong enough to prevent a shoat from crawling through. In this respect it is only a little better than a hedge, which is expensive and unsatisfactory when used to confine stock. Gates must, of course, be carefully made, hung and fastened. THE FOUNDATION HERD. The start should be made with a few animals; five sows should make a large enough herd for the first year. It will be much better to buy one high-class sow than five poor ones. It will be well if a beginner can obtain the assistance of an old and successful breeder in making a start. The expression "the male is half the herd" is repeatedly quoted. Therefore, if the boar is half the herd, the sows certainly make up the other half, and their selection is a highly important matter. They may be purchased, already bred, some time before the boar, 29 and quite an item of expense will thus be saved. Then by the time the sows have been watched and studied for a season and have each raised a litter of pigs, the owner will be much better prepared to se- lect a suitable male, and he can then get one to use on both dams and offsprings. The sows selected should be nearly the same age, which should be about twelve months, and all should be safe in pig, preferably to the same boar. Their individual characteristics should, perhaps, be first looked to. The smoother forehead and lighter, finer neck are points of distinction from the signs of masculinity in a boar. The forehead should be broad betw-een the eyes, the throat clean and trim, the neck moderately thin, and the shoulders smooth and deep; the back should be fairly wide and straight, and ample room for the vital organs should be provided by a good width and depth of chest, well-sprung ribs, and straight, deep sides — a deep, capacious body from end to end. Depth of chest and abdomen are specially import- ant in a brood sow. It is generally advised that sows with much length of body should be selected for breeding purposes, length of body being regarded by some as an indication of fecundity. It will certainly do no harm to select sows that are especially long, but care should be taken that quality goes with the increase in length. Many very short-bodied sows have proved to be wonderfully jirolific breeders. The surest means by which to select prolific sows is to keep an accurate record of the herd and cull out all sows that do not yield a certain percent- age of pigs annually. Each sow should have at least twelve well- developed teats, thus providing for the proper nourishment of large litters. The important qualifications of the market hog should be looked for, namely, smoothly covered shoulders, a wide, straight, deeply fleshed back, well sprung ribs, straight, deep sides, broad rumjis, and deep well rounded hams. A broad, well developed pelvic cavity will generally insure easy parturition in a sow. The body should stand on moderately short, :-traight legs, with a moderate amount of bone. All hogs, particularly breeding animals, should stand ';:ell up on the toes. There is a tendency more marked in some breeds, for the pasturns to break down, and the animal walks on the pasterns instead of on the toes. It is a weakness that seriously impairs the usefulness of the animal and appears oftener in boars than sows. Uniformity in a herd is the surest index to worth of stock and skill of breeder, and has many advantages. A uniform lot of pigs will feed better, look better when fattened, and command a higher price on market than a mixed lot. With a bunch of' sows closely con- forming to the same standard, whose reproductive powers are similar, uniform pigs may be expected. SELiFXTlNG THE BOAR. A boar with the male characteristics strongly developed should be selected preferably as a yearling, or else as a pig that has been purchased at the same time as the sows and allowed to come to maturity before being used. He should have a strongly masculine head and a well crested neck. His shoulders should be developed according to age, but strong shoulder development in pigs under a year or eighteen months is objectionable. The same indications of a good pork producing carcass that the sows required should be seen in the boar. The boar should be selected to correct any defects that may be common to the sows. For examnle if the sows are coarse in bone and loosely built, the boar should have high quality, fine bone, skin and hair. If the sows tend to over refinement and deli- cacy the boar should be rather rangy and stronger boned. It is believed that the male influences the extremities and gen- eral appearance of the offspring, and the female the vital organs •60 (heart, lungs and viscera). The visable organs of the reproductive system should be well developed and clearly defined. The boar should stand up on his toes. There should not be the slightest indication of weakness in the pasterns of a young one; in a mature boar (two or three years of age) that has seen hard service it may be expected that he will be a little down on his pasterns. Look carefully to the set of the hind legs. The hock should be carefully set and straight. FEED AND MANAGEMENT. Hogs require attention, regardless of condition, age, or sex, but the management of the brood sows is the surest test of the breeder's skill. If sows are carelessly fed during pregnancy, trouble of some kind is sure to ensue at farrowing; if overfed after farrowing, losses may occur among the pigs from scours and thumps. At no time is the development of the pigs so easily influenced as while they are depending on the sow's milk— the first month of life. The accidents during farrowing, an attack of scours due to the milk of the dam, or a chill while following the sow in pasture on a wet day may stop growth temporarily, leaving a permanently stunted pig, or may result fatally. It is assumed that sows that are bred are purchased as the foun- dation stock. If these sows are not all from the same herd they should not be placed together until they are all known to be free from vermin and contagious disease. They must be washed or dipped and quarantined from each other at least thirty days. If they come from the same herd no quarantine will be necessary. It is always well for a purchaser to ascertain from the seller the details of management and feeding to which the animals were accus- tomed before changing owners. This system of feeding should be conformed to, or, if this is not possible, the old ration should be grad- ually replaced by the more convenient one, taking frorn ten days to two weeks to make the change. Newcomers should be fed lightly the first few days. During pregnancy two facts should be borne in mind: First, that the sow is doing double duty. Not only is she keeping up her own bodily functions, but the development of the foetal litter is a con- stantly increasing drain on her system. Although feeding at this time will not need to be so heavy as after the pigs are farrowed, it should be liberal. The sow's condition should be good, neither too fat nor too lean. If she became too tat it would probably be least injurious. It is beyond reason that a sow can give birth to a strong litter of pigs after going through a four months' fast. Bad results undoubtedly may be brought about by overfeeding, especially as sows are naturally indolent, and loath to exercise, but a counteracting influence will be found in ample exercise that may be provided by a large pasture or even by driving slowly a mile or two each day. Secondly the demands upon the sow are the building of new tis- sue. Hence the kind of feed is important. Bran, peas, beans, oats and barley, and to a moderate extent wheat should be fed. Forage plants are specially suitable to pregnant brood sows, clovers and al- falfa, peas, beans, vetches, etc. The ordinary pasture grasses are also of much value. Feed should be given in such form that the system of the sow will be at its best. All breeders lay special emphasis on the condition of the bowels during pregnancy, and particularly 'at far- rowing, the special danger to be avoided being constipation. To this end the greater part, if not all, of the grain ration is given as slop, and toward the close of the period of gestation oil meal or a small amount of flaxseed meal is introduced into the ration. Corn should not be fed in large amounts to breeding stock. During the winter more care will be needed to keep the sow in good health on account of the absence of pasture. Not only does the hog's system crave green feed, but more or less bulk is demanded. This is especially needed when a considerable amount of confinement 31 is necessary. To offset the lack ot green feed nothing surpasses roots. These may be sliced or puUied and mixed with the grain or may be given whole, as a noon feed. Some care must be used in feeding roots, as they are laxative in effect, and if fed in excessive amounts may bring about profuse action of the bowels. Some Eastern farm- ers recommend the use of silage. If neither is available, clover or alfalfa hay, sheaf oats, or corn fodder may supply the bulky require- ment of the ration with good results. Chartoal, ashes, and salt should be accessible at all times. These act as a vermifuge and pre- vention of disease and meet the hog's craving for mineral matter in the feed. During rhe entire period care should be taken to keep the system well toned. The sow should become accustomed to being handled, and should look upon her attendant as a friend. All the brood sows may run together up to within two weeks of farrowing time; then ii: is well to separate them, placing each sow by herself in a yard with l\ small house, which should be dry, airy and clean. The farrowing pen should be provided with fenders around at least three sides about six or eijht inches from the floor and six or eight inches from the wall. These should be strong enough to support the weight of the sow should she lie on them. They will, to a great extent, protect the pigs from being lain upon during the first few days of their lives. This will go far to prevent a very fruitful cause of loss among young pigs. The little fellows will soon learn to creep under these fenders when the sow lies down. FARROWING TIME. Sows vary little in the period of gestation. This period is about one hundred and twelve days from the date of breeding. This date should be known, to avoid mistakes that may result in loss of pigs. As the time for farrowing approaches the sow should be watched care- fully, in order that assistance may be given, if necessary. If she has already farrowed a litter, and has been properly fed and caved for during pregnancy, little difficulty may be expected. With young sovvs, particularly those bred at an immature age, there is a considerable element of risk at this time not only to the pigs, but to the sow herself. The bedding of a sow at farrowing time should be sufficient only for cleanliness and dryness. If furnished in large amount, the pigs will burrow into it and get lost or be crushed. The best bedding is rye straw and wheat straw, and if the straw is cut it makes an almost ideal bed. Chaff is excellent if it can be obtained. Oat straw is not so valuable. The management of sows during farrowing will depend largely on the animal and on the weather conditions. Assistance should be at hand if needed, but the sow should not be helped if she is getting along nicely alone. If the sow's nervousness or ill nature leads her to eat her pigs put her into pork at the first opportunity. When farrowing occurs during warm weather little attention will be needed. The pigs are less likely to chill and will generally find their way to the teats unaided. If a sow farrows in very cold weather the pigs will likely chill unless the house is heated. When farrowing is over place the pigs to the teats, care being taken to see that each gets his share. Burn the afterbirth immediately on passing, as it may teach the sow to eat her pigs, if she eats it. For the first twenty-four hours the sow needs no feed. If she snows signs of hunger a thin slop of bran and shorts, or thin oatmeal gruel may be given. Tepid water should be given for drink. Don't give cold water. For the first three or four days feeding should be light and a week or ten days should be spent in getting the sow on full feed. THE SOW AS A MOTHER. No time should be lost after farrowing in getting the sow into 3pen air. If the pigs are farrowed in winter months, care will be 32 Deeded, and it may be necessary to let the pigs reach the age of two weelis before turning them out. They can, however, get considerable exercise in the piggery or in the lot with the sow. Avoid particu- larly allowing the pigs to run out during a cold rain. The appetite for something besides the dam's milk may begin to assert itself by the time the pigs reach three weeks of age. They will be noticed nibbling at grass, rooting a little, and even investi- gating the sow's feed. A pen should be arranged adjoining that of the dam and separated from it by a partition, with sufficient room at the bottom to allow the pigs to run under. In this inclosure put a low, shallow trough and place in it a little skim milk or a thin gruel similar to that recommended for the sow the first day after farrowing. This gruel may be made with any concentrate that is free from woody matter. If ground barley or oats is fed the meal should be first sifted to remove the hulls. There is a great variety of feeding stuffs that can be used. The main point to be observed is that the pig's stomach is very easily deranged at this age and feeds must be given that will digest readily. The trough in which the pigs are fed should be kept clean. No stale feed should be allowed to remain in it from one feed to the next. As the pigs learn to eat the feed may be increased. Skim milk should be used liberally, using rather large quantities at first — from six to twelve pounds of milk to each pound of grain. During this pe- riod comparatively little corn should be fed, as a rule. More growth can be obtained with a narrow ration, and the corn should be with- held until the fattening period comes. The pigs should be kept grow- ing constantly, and the best results will come with feeding a little under their capacity rather than all they can consume. To counteract the tendency to become too fat they should have plenty of exercise. Scours and thumps often cause very serious losses among young pigs. The former is caused usually by overfeeding, by feeding badly spoiled feed, by an abrupt change of feed, or by a change in the feed of the dam that affects her milk. Thumps is generally caused by overfeeding and lack of exercise. WEANING. If the pigs have been properly managed for the month after they first begin to eat, and are taking feed in amounts sufficient to make them more or less independent of the sow's milk, weaning will not be a difficult process, and will be brought about zo that it will be scarcely perceptible, so far as the effects on the pigs are concerned. The time to wean will depend on the way the pigs are eating and the conven- ience of the breeder. If they are not thoroughly accustomed to a grain and skim milk ration the time must be delayed, and if there is no occasion for breeding the sow no harm is done by allowing the pigs to run with her for twelve weeks, or more. The method of weaning will depend on circumstances. If the pigs are so little dependent on the sow's milk that she is gaining rapidly in flesh and lessening in milk flow the weaning may be abrupt, the sow being taken away out of hearing. If she is still milk- ing considerably she may be returned to the pigs once a day for several days, or the pigs may be taken away in detachments. Whether the weaning is done direct or gradually it should be complete and decisive. The pigs should be placed apart from the sows without any means of communication. THE PIGS AFTER WEANING. Those that are to be retained as breeding animals should be continued on a growing ration, that is, one which will develop bone and muscle largely. Those fattened for market should be ted moie liberally and carbonaceous food. To build a successful breeding animal, give ample range, plenty of exercise and a narrow ration. Keep growing and feed plentiful. Don't give pigs so little feed and large range that bone only will develop; neither so much to eat that 33 they will become indolent and will not take the exercise necessary for laaking bone and inusclp. Exercise stieiigthens the sinews and de- velops strong muscles, as well as firm joints and strong legs, and £. well filled stomach will nourish these. Gilts should not be served before the age of eight months, bring- ing first litter at twelve months. As soon as determined what pigs are to be fed for market start fattening at once. Young animals fat- ten cheaper than old ones, and delay in finishing is a loss. Corn should be part of the ration now, and a variety of feeds given to give keen aiipetite and digestion good. Feed milk feeds, dairy by-products, and succulent feeds and good pasture. If skim milk, whey and buttermilk are at hand they are a great help with other ration. Start with two pounds of milk to one of grain at wean- ing time, reducing until the pigs are finished on grain alone. A pig gives best results on dairy by-products, while young fattening pigs .should gain one to one and one-half pounds daily, and should weigh 250 to 300 pounds at nine or ten months. Gains made after this time cost double, and a 'well bred pig at about 250 pounds fills the market requirements. Pigs which are to be used for breeding purposes should be se- lected when the pigs are with the sow. If the breeder is raising hogs for niarl^et he will select sows only, castrating all boars. Castrate during cool weather as soon as the testicles descend into the scrotum. The practice of speying sows is not general, and is more difficult than castration. MANAGEMENT OF THE DRY SOWS. Aftei' the pigs are weaned the dry sows should be placed in a pas- ture by themselves and given very little grain. Those that show themselves to be prolific and good mothers should be retained as breeders; those having a deficient breeding record or are otherwise unsatisfactory in any way should be fattened and sold as soon as possible. If a second litter is wanted during a year the sows should be put to the boar during the first heat after weaning. There is little rea- son why a sow should not have two litters a year. The use of a breeding crate is growing in popularity. When a small sow is to be bred to a large, heavy boar it is almost a necessity. MANAGEMENT OF THE BOAR. When the boar arrives at the farm he should be dipped, as a precaution against vermin. A quarantine pen should be ready for him, especially if ei)idemics are prevalent. His feed before change; of owners should be knov.n, and either adhered to or changed grad- ually to suit the new conditions. If he has come from a long distance it will be well to feed lightly until he is well acclimated. His permanent quarters siiould be a clean, dry, warm, well-lighted, and well ventilaled \>vn. ten or Iv.elve feet sipiare, with a yard ad- joining, whcie .sows may hv l)rought for service. This yard should be large enough to give' him some exercise dui'ing the brooding season, when it may be inconvenient to allow him the run of a pasture. Ad- joining the yard should be the boar's pasture, from one-half acre to an acre in extent, consisting of clover, alfalfa, or good pasture gi'asses that tliiive in the locality. L!:feders generally advocate the practice of keeping a boar to himself during the entire year — out of sight and hearing of the sows. However, a boar is often allowed to run with the sows after they are safe in pig: but during; the breeding season it is by far the best policy to keep -kim by himself, admitting a sow to his yard for mating, and allowing but one service. This produces best results in many ways. The male is not overtaxed, he will serve a larger number, and the litters will be larger and stronger. For the hoar when not in service, mainly pasture and cut green for.ige in summer and roots in winter 34 are best, although some grain shonid be given to keep him in condl' tion. Mill feeds, shorts, middlings, bran, some oil meal, and leguminous grains with a little corn. On approach of the breeding season in- crease the feed so the boar will be in good condition. See that the boar gets exercise while not in service, even if the whip is necessary. During the breeding season he will not get so much exercise, and care must be taken not to w^aste his energies by unnecessary service. Careful feeding will do much to counteract this disadvantage. A fully matured boar should not serve more than two sows daily, one in the morning and one m the afternoon. He should serve fifty to sixty per season without difficulty. SANITATION IN THE HOG LOT. The greatest drawback to the hog industry in this country is found in losses which occur from hog cholera, or swine plague, tuber- culosis, or infestation of animals, especially young pigs, from parasites. PREVENTION OF DISEASE. Preventive measures must be most relied upon. The animal must be given dry and well-ventilated quarters, which must be kept cltan. Hogs have some habits v.hich raise them above other domestic animals from the standpoint of cleanliness. For example, unless com- pelled to do so, a hog will not sleep in its own filth. If part of the floor of the pen is raised and kept well bedded with straw, while the rest is not, all excrement will be left on the unbedded po'-tion of the floor, and the bed itself will be always clean. In addition to cleanliness, close attention should be given to the feed which is supplied, that nothing may be fed which will convey the germs of disease, especially tuberculosis, to the herd. If the hogs are fed milk in any form obtained from cows kept upon the same farm, the cows should be subjected to the tuberculin test. Animals dead from any disease should not be fed to the hogs until the meat has been made safe by cooking. Skim milk or refuse from a public creamery should not be fed to hogs until it has been thoroughly ster- ilized. Feeding and drinking places should be clean and the water sup- ply pure. Unless the origin is known to be uncontaminated and there has been no possibility of infection during its course, hogs should not be allowed access to any stream. Wallows should be drained out or kept filled up as much as possible. At least once a month the quarters should be disinfected with air-slacked lime or a five per cent solution of crude carbolic acid. These precautions will be found valuable aids in the destruction of the various animal parasites, as well as a pro- tection from some more serious troubles. Whenever any animals are brought to the farm, or when animals are brought home from shows or from neighboring farms, they should be kept apart from the rest of the herd for at least three weeks. If they have been exposed to hog cholera or swine plague the diseases will be manifested within this time, and the sick animals can be treated or killed and disposed of at once. TREATMENT OF DIGEASES. As soon as sickness appears in the herd the unaffected hogs should at once be removed to clean, disinfected quarters, preferably without much range. Their feed should be carefully regulated, and, if they have previously bfcn on pasture, should include some green feed, roots, or an abundance of skim milk. The quarters in which the sickness first appeared should be thor- oughly cleaned, all beddiiig and rubbish burned, and loose boards and old partitions torn out and burned. If the pen is old, knock it to pieces and burn it. Disinfect pens and sleeping places, using air- 35 slaked lime on the floors and the carbolic acid solution on the walls and ceilings. Whitewash everything. VERMIN. Hogs often suffer very much from vermin. Lice are introduced from neighboring herds, and the losses in feeding are often severe, especially among young pigs, when death is sometimes a secondary if not an immediate result. When very numerous, lice are a very serious drain on vitality, fattening is prevented, and in case of ex- posure to disease the lousy hogs are much more liable to contract and succumb to it. In severe cases where the whole herd is affected, thorough spraying or dipping should be resorted to. AN IMPROVED HOG COT In a previous article an A-shaped or wigwam hog cot used at the Wisconsin Station was described. Since that article was written the cot has been "considerably modified and improved in order to adapt the main additional features are a permanent floor, a door in each end, and a ventilating system, all of which greatly increase the stability and utility of the structure. It is constructed by nailing inch boards on 6 joists 2x4 inches by 8 feet long for the floor. Beneath the joists are nailed 3 stringers 2 by 6 inches, 8 feet long, which serve as runners for moving the house. Next is spilled a piece 2 by 8 inches, 9 feet 4 inches long, at the ends of the joists, having the bottom of the 2 by 8 even with the bottom of the joist which will allow it to project above the floor 3 inches. It will also extend out 7 inches at each end. This 2 by 8 forms a plate to which the rafters and roof boards are nailed. The 7-inch extension of the plate at the ends supports the lower corners of the roof which otherwise would be easily split off. These 2 by 8's, besides strengthening the house, raise the rafters and roof boards nailed to them at least 3 inches off the floor and thereby materially increase the floor space and the capacity of the house. If the house is to be used in extremely cold weather an easily manipulated door is necessary. The cut shows a door 2 feet wide and 2 feet 6 inches high, made to slide up and down and held in place by cleats. It is suspended by a rope which passes through a pulley at the top and is fastened to a cleat at the side near the roof. The cut also shows two iron eyes, bolted into the front joist of the building, to which the hitch is made when the building is moved. A rear door, identical in size with the front door, is held in place by cleats nailed across it on the inside and by buttons fastened on the outside. This door is not opened regularly, but provides ventilation in summer and aids in handling sows at farrowing time. Above the 36 rear door is a sma.l sliding door, 8 by 12 inches, to admit light and air. Another important feature of this house is the ventilator, which is a small cap covering a hole at the top and center of the roof. The hole is made by sawing off opposite ends of two roof boards and cover- ing it with a cap so arranged as to leave openings 3 inches by 12 inches on each side of the roof. This is sufficient ventilation for two or three animals when all the doors are shut, and if more ventilation is desired it can easily be secured by opening the small sliding door in the rear. This simple plan of ventilation avoids any direct drafts upon the animals and proves very efficient. With these improvements the cost in building the A-shaped house is somewhat increased. All the boards except those used for the floor should be dressed on one side. The following lumber is necessary to construct this portable houre as shown in figure 2: Nine pieces 1 by 12 inches, 16 feet long, and 11 O. G. battens 16 feet long, for roof; 5 pieces 1 by 12 inches, H feet long, for ends; 1 piece 2 by 4 inches, 10 feet long, for ridge; 2 pieces 2 by 8 inches, 10 feet long, for plates; 7 pieces 2 by 4 inches, 16 feet long, for rafters and braces in frame; 3 pieces 2 by G inches, 8 feet long, for stringers; and 4 pieces 1 by 12 inches, 16 feet long, rough, for flooring. THE STAVE SILO The value of silage, properly made and properly fed, is no longer questioned. "Especially to the dairy farmer has the silo become an almost necessary adjunct to the equipment of the farm." This being true, the proper construction of silos becomes a question of the high- est importance. A silo adapted to general use must be cheap, durable, simple in construction, and effective in preserving the silage. Accord- ing to a bulletin of the New York Cornwell Station the stave silo fully meets these requirements and "is the most practical and suc- cessful silo which can be constructed." The same bulletin makes the following suggestions regarding the construction of stave silos: Convenience in feeding should determine the location of the silo. Its bottom should be on a level with the floor on which the silage is to be fed. It is cheaper to elevate the silage at the time of filling the silo, when it can be done on a carrier by steam power, than to ele- vate it in baskets at time of feeding when it must usually be done by man power. The practice of digging pits into which to put the silage is not to be commended, as it causes an unnecessary expense at the outset and is afterwards a source of extra labor and annoyance when the silage is fed. The silo may be placed inside or outside of the barn as circumstances render advisable. In calculating the amount of silage which will likely be needed, it is customary to estimate that a 1,000-pound cow will consume about 40 pounds or 1 cubic foot of silage per day. This gives a basis upon which to calculate the capacity of the silo required to carry a certain amount of stock A foundation 3 or 4 inches deep should be laid of stone and gravel well packed down and finished with cement. The diameter of this foundation should be at least 2 feet greater than that of the proposed silo. 37 The posts (a,a,a,a) should be of G by 6 material and run the en- tire length of the silo. These should be first set up vertically and stayed securely in place. * * * The scaffolding may be constructed by setting up 2 by 4 scantling. Boards nailed from these 2 by 4 scantling and to the 6 by G posts will form a rigid framework across which the planks for the scaffold iilatform may be laid. Before the scaffolding is all in place the staves should be stood up within the inclosure; otherwise diffi- culty will be experienced in getting them into position. No better material can be obtained for the staves than Southern cypress. Hemlock is one of the cheapest, satisfactory materials which can be purchased, and it is probably as good as any of the cheaper materials. It should be sound and free from loose knots. If the silo is to have a diameter of 12 feet or less, the staves should be made of either 2 by 4 material unbeveled on the edges and neither tongued nor grooved, or of 2 by 6 material beveled slightly on the edges to make the staves conform to the circular shape of the silo. If the silo is to have a diameter of more than 12 feet, the staves should be 2 by 6 material and neither beveled nor tongued and grooved on the edges. * * * r^^i^^ staves should be surfaced on the inside so that a smooth face may be presented which will facilitate the settling of the silage. * * * f^-^Q first stave set up should be made plumb and should be toe nailed at the top to one of the posts originally set. * * * Immediately a stave is set in place it should be toe nailed at the top to preceding stave set. It has been found that the work of retting up and preserving the circular outline may be ma- terially aided by the use of old barrel staves. For a silo 12 feet in diameter the curve in the stave of the sugar barrel is best adapted; for a IG-foot silo the flour barrel stave is best, and for a silo 20 feet or more in diameter the stave of the cement barrel is best. * * * If when the silo staves are put in place they are toe 38 nailed securely to the ones previously set; if they are fastened firmly to the permanent upright posts; if the barrel staves are used as directed above, the silo will have sufficient rigidity to stand until the l.jops are put in place. However, if it becomes necessary for any reason to delay for any considerable time the putting on of the hoops, boards should be nailed across the 'op of the silo. When it is found impossible to secure staves of the full length de- sired, a joint or split must be made. For a silo 30 feet deep, staves 20 feet in length may be used. A part of these should be used at their full length and part should be sawed through the middle, thus making staves of 20 and 10 feet length. In setting them up the ends which meet at the splice should be squared and toe nailed securely together. They should alternate so that first a long stave is at the bottom then a short one, thus break- ing joints at 10 feet and 20 feet from the base. For the hoops five-eighths inch round iron or steel rods are recommended, although cheaper substitutes have been found very satisfactory. Each hoop should be in three sections for a silo 12 feet in diameter; in four sections for a silo 16 or more feet in diam- eter. If the method of construction shown in fig. 2 is followed, then the hoops will need to be in four sections each, the ends being passed through the upright 6 by 6 posts and secured by heavy washers and nuts. * * * The bottom hoop should be about C inches from the base of the silo; the second hoop should be not more than 2 feet from the first; the third hoop 2% feet from the second, the distance between hoops being increased by one-half foot until they are 3% feet apart, which distance should be maintained except for the hoops at the top of the silo, which may be 4 feet apart. * * To hold both the hoops and the staves in place during the summer when the silo is empty, staples should be driven over the hoops into the staves. The hoops should be drawn fairly tight before the silo is filled, but not perfectly tight. They must be tight enough to close up the space between the staves, thus preventing any foreign matter from getting into the cracks which would prevent the staves from closing up as they swell, thus allowing air to enter. * * * ^phe hoops should be watched very closely for a few days after the silo is filled. If the strain becomes quite intense, the nuts should be slightly loos- ened. If during the sumiuer when the silo is empty and the staves thoroughly dry the hoops are tightened so that the staves are drawn closely together, when the silo is filled and the wood absorbs mois- ture and begins to swell the hoops must be eased somewhat to allow for the expansion. The doors, 2 feet wide by 2i/2 feet high, should Ije located where convenience in feeding dictates. The lower door should be between the second and third hoops at the bottom and other doors will usually be needed in every second space between there and the top, except that no door will be needed in the top space, as the silage when settled will be sufficiently low to enable it to be taken out at the door in the space below. Plans should be made for the doors at the time the staves are set. When the pl^ce is reached where it is desii'ed to have the doors, a saw should be started in the edge of the stave at the points where the top and bottom of the doors are to come. The saw should be inserted so that the door can be sawed out on a level, making the opening larger on 39 the side of the silo. This will enable the door to be re- moved and put in place only from the inside, and when set in place and pressed down with silage the harder the pressure the tighter will the door fit. * * * After the silo is set up and the hoops have been put on and tightened the cutting out of the doors may be com- pleted. * * * Before cutting out the doors cleats 2 inches by 3 Inches in length equal to the width of the door, should be made which will conform to the circular shape of the silo. One of these cleats should be securely bolted to the toj) and one to the bottom of where the door is to be cut After the bolting the door may be sawed out, and it is then ready for use. When set in place at time of filling the silo a piece of tarred paper inserted at the top and bottom will fill the opening made by the saw and prevent the entrance of any air around the door. If the silo is built outside of the barn some sort of roof is nec- essary. This should be sufficiently wide to protect the walls of the silo as thoroughly as possible. ICE HOUSES FOR THE FARMS An ample supply of ice is of greater economic importance in the country home than in the city residence. City people can purchase perishable supplies as needed, but the remoteness of the country homes from markets often renders it necessary to use canned, corned, or smoked meat products during the season of the year when the ta- ble should be supplied with fresh meats. Not only is ice appreciated because of its use in the preservation of fresh meats, butter, and other table supplies, but the production of high-grade domestic dairy pro- ducts is almost Impossible without it. Many markets to which milk is now shipped demand that it be cooled before shipment to a degree not attainable without the use of ice. Ice is one of those luxuries which in many sections of the coun- try can be had for the gathering. The cost of harvesting and stor- ing it is not great as compared with the comfort that it brings. 40 INEXPENSIVE ICE HOUSES An inexpensive ice house which will give good satisfaction can be constructed as follows: As a site for the structure choose a well-sheltered location convenient to the place where the bulk of the ice will be used during the season. If the area is not well drained naturally, grade the surface so that no surface water can ever flow into or through the building and so that the water from the melting of the ice will be quickly disposed of. In some instances it may be necessary to provide tile drains laid 15 or 18 inches below the sur- face to care for this water. Having properly provided against water, both from without and from within the ice house, set a line of squared or flattened poles 4 feet apart, so as to form a square of the dimensions desired. The height of the poles should be the same as the length of the side of the square, if the greatest economy of space and the best keeping conditions for the ice are desired, i. e., a building 14 feet square should be 14 feet high. A house of this size will provide storage for a cube of ice 11 by 11 by 11 feet, which, without allowance for voids, is equivalent to about 38 tons. (A cubic foot of ice weighs approximately 58 pounds, and 1 ton of ice occupies nearly 35 cubic feet.) To complete the ice house, cut the posts to a uniform height and nail a double 2 by 4 inch or 2 by 6 inch plate on top of them. The sides may be inclosed by boarding both inside and outside with rough lumber. To give a neat outside appearance the outside boards may be planed and ship-lapped, or ship-lap siding may be placed over the rough sheating. The space between the two board walls may or may not be packed with shavings or sawdust. If packed, the packing material should be perfectly dry. The roof may be either a simple even-span one-third pitch roof, with the gables boarded up, or a hip. In order that the house may be filled without unnecessary labor a confnuous door should be provided in the middle of one end. The door should be made in two or three sections, and as the house is filled loose planks of proper length should be at hand to place across the opening of the doo' to hold the packing material in place as the heap of ice grows in height. The ice must be placed on a bed of sawdust, shavings, or other packing material at least 15 inches deep, and the rick of ice should not approach the side walls closer than 15 or IS inches, the interven- ing space being filled with packing material and thoroughly rammed. MASONRY ICE HOUSES Instead of the cheap, temporary construction just described, ice houses of a permanent nature can be built from brick, stone, or concrete. In these, as in frame-constructed houses, tne mass of ice should approach as closely as possible a cube in form. If the mas- onry house is to be used in the same manner as the temporary house no inside lining will be necessary. The packing used about the mass of ice may be allowed to come in direct contact with the wall. A 13inch brick wall or a 12-inch concrete wall will provide the nec- essary strength. The masonry walls are not as good nonconductors as timber walls. It will therefore be necessary for the protection of the ice to rely on the packing material rather than on the wall it- self. If the house is to be used for storing ice without the use of sawdust or shavings this construction must be followed. The lining must be as complete on the floor and ceiling as on the side walls in order to provide safe insulation. Masonry houses may be constructed entirely above ground or partly below the surface, as convenience or necessity may dictate. 41 TO MEASURE TIMBER For five-inch timber multiply five-twelfths of the length by the width. For six-inch timber, multiply one-half the length by the breadth. For seven-inch timber, multiply seven-twelfths the length by the breadth. For eight-inch lumber, multiply two-thirds the length by the breadth. For nine-inch lumber, multiply three-fourths the length by the breadth. For ten-inch lumber, multiply five-sixths the length by the breadth. For eleven-inch lumber, multiply eleven-twelfths the length by the breadth. For twelve-inch lumber, multiply the length by the breadth. For battens, or two and a half inch plank, multiply five twenty- fourths the length by the breadth. P. S. — The above rules give the contents in feet of board meas- ure. THE DAIRY HERD Henry E. Alvord, Bureau of Animal Industry. Dairymen are divided in opinion as to the kind of cow which is most profitable. Some prefer a "general-purpose cow," which is a member of a specially developed milk-producing family from one of the beef breeds, or grades of such stock. An animal is thus secured which has a large frame, is easily kept in good flesh, and fattens soon when not milking heavily; such a one also has large calves, profitable for veal or for growing as steers. Even if such animals are not so productive while in the dairy, their meat-making proclivities may make up for it. There are two or three of the established breeds of cattle which claim to possess combined qualities for meat and milk. On the other hand, many dairymen prefer cattle of the distinct class of type especially adapted to dairy purposes alone. This class includes various families and breeds, all having the marked characteristics which distinguish the milk producer. Owners of such cows expect them to be so profitable as milkers that their beef-producing qualities and the final disposition of their carcasses may be entirely ignored, and the calves, except so far as wanted to raise for the dairy, are given little consideration. Which of these lines of policy should be pursued every dairyman must determine for himself. To succeed in his business he should select his herd or its foundation with a view to profit. FORMATION FOR THE DAIRY HERD. It may l)e done by buying or by breeding or combining the two. Purchasing is practiced frequently by those who produce milk for town 42 and city siipplj'. Cows are bought at their prime, judged exclusively by their milk yield, are highly fed to keep them gaining- in flesh and are sold for killing as- soon as they cease to be profitable milkers. The bull may be of any kind, so long as he gets the cows in calf, as these calves are only valuable as causing "fresh" cows and are disposed of as soon as possible. Good cows n:ay be kept several seasons, and heifers may be raised from some of the best milkers to replenish the herd. Rare judgment in buying and abundant capital is necessary in this method. Another way is to begin with a few well selected ani- mals, and gradually build up by breeding and natural increase. This method takes time, and is safe and satisfactory. A desirable way is to buy a number of good cows at the start, also if possible a few extra fine cows and a first class bull. Let the cows selected have had two or three calves, to judge of their development and yet be young enough to improve and be in full profit for some years. Begin at once with these the work of breeding and improvement. PURE GRADE DAIRY CATTLE AND GRADES. If the sole object and dependence is to be the profits of the dairy herd it will hardly be possible for most dairymen to buy at once a full stock of pure bred cattle as the expense is too great. The proba- bilities of success however are on the side of pure bred registered stock and in the hands of experienced men they prove most profitable. Successful dairying has proven that the greater profits comes from the best cows, whatever their kind, whether pure bred or common cows. It is better to pay $300 for three first class cows than the same money for four or five ordinary ones. A really superior dairy cow of a supe- rior family and which gives assurance of calves as good or better than herself is always worth a large price. Such an animal adds much to the average value of any dairy herd. In buying registered cattle deal only with men of reputation as breeders and of strict integrity. "The best part of a pedigree is the name of the breeder." THE BULL AND HIS TREATMENT. In getting a bull, get the best; or at least approach that standard as nearly as possible. Make a study of the animal's pedigree and the dairy history of his ancestors, and especially of the females among his nearest of kin. Then see that the good qualities of his progenitors ap- pear to be reproduced in the animal in question. A common error among dairymen is to use immature bulls and to dispose of good ones before their merits as sires has been fairly proven. Bull calves are cheap, and young bulls are considered much easier to handle. But it is good advice to the buyer to purchase a bull of some age, whose progeny prove his value as a breeder, rather than a calf of exceptional pedigree; and to the owner, having a sire of proved excellence, to keep him and use him for years, or as long as he shows himself potent and prepotent. Of course the question of too close inbreeding is not forgotten and must not be overlooked by the breeder. In rearing a bull, accustom it to being handled from calfhood, but without fondling or encouraging frolic. Give it kind, quiet, firm, and unvarying treatment, and keep it always under subjection, that it may never know its strength and power. Insert the nose ring before it is a year old, keep this renewed so as to be always strong, and always lead and handle the animal with staff in the hands of a discreet and trusty man. The bull should never run loose in yard or pasture, but should be provided with abundant and regular exercise, always under restraint and full control. It is much better to keep the bull as much as possible in the presence or in full sight of the herd than stabled by himself in a lonely place. Let him be in the same room with the cows during the stabling season, and at milking times the rest of the year. CULLING THE HERD BY ITS RECORD. As soon as the herd is established and in working order, the study of every individual animal should begin. • To guide rational 43 treatment and insure greatest profits, the owner must become familiar with the characteristics of every cow. The record should include a concise history aud description of every member of the herd,_with a summary of the dairy preformance. The latter requires a daily record of the milk yield of every cow, with notes explaining irresrularities, etc. If the quality of milk is of importance, a fat test should be made of the milk of every cow, as often as practical. Good judges believe that in the entire country one-fourth of the cows kept for milk do not pay the cost of their keeping and nearly another fourth do not yield profit. Every dairyman should keep a record of quantity and quality of milk, cost of production and weed out the unprofitable members of his herd. ACCOMMODATIONS. The cow house should be on the ground level, not in a basement, aud be light, dry and roomy. A room open to the roof, which is fairly high, is better Mmn a low level ceiling above the cows. Where the climate permits cows should stand on dry ground, the clay packed hard and raised somewhat above the level around the build- ings. Shallow gutters behind the cows, and a feeding floor in front of them. Box stalls 8 to 10 feet square would be best and the cow left untied if possible. At least give each cow her own stall, wide enough for comfort of cow and milker, and well protected from the neighbors on either side; oVa ^eet in width is little enough and 4 feet is better. From the great variety of cattle ties one should be selected which combines, in greatest measure, freedom of movement, comfort, and cleanliness. There are serious objections to all stanchions; if some form of this device is insisted upon, let it be one which is so hung as to move a few inches in any direction. An open, level feeding floor in front of the cows seems to be better than any form of boxes; if boxes are used, they should be as large as possible and yet have every part within reach of the cow as tied, and they should be so constructed as to be easily cleaned. A manure gutter behind the animals aids in cleanliness, but while it should have good width — 16 to 24 inches — it should not be too deep; if enough to hold the droppings of a night, that is sufficient. The length of stall from fastening to gutter should suit the size of the cow; it is bad practice to have them so long as to induce filthy udders and legs, and also to have them so short that the cows stand habitually with hind feet in the gutter. Arrangements should be con- venient for removing the manure and for supplying absorbents for the urine, and a part of the bedding. I^iberal use of land plaster about the gutters and the floors over which the cattle pass is very desirable as a disinfectant and conserver of ammonia. Lime should be used with equal freedom as whitev/ash on the walls of the cow house, but not en its floors. The stable should be provided with windows to admit light and air abundantly and arranged to let sunlight as nearly as possible into every portion of the apartment where the cows stand during some hour of every clear day. Yet the windows should be shaded when desired, and they should be fixed to open partly without subjecting the cows to direct drafts of air. The extremes in providing water for the cows are to be avoided. The best plan seems to be to provide one or more tanks in the yard and one or more in the stable, at each of which but one cow should drink at a time. These should fill quickly after use and freely over- flow, that every cow may find the surface fresh and clear. Bring water in severely cold weather to a temperature of about 50 degrees F., if it can be cheaply done. Attached to the cow house should be an exercise yard for the daily use of the cows during the stabling season. Roomy, open sheds should form a j;art of this inclosure, and the whole may well be roofed 44 over, if arranged for the free oirculatiou of air and for admitting sun- shine to a larg(^ share of it, while excluding wind and ttorm. HEALTH OF THE HERD. Get perfectly healthy stock, strong in constitution and of healthful vigor. It is advised that all be tuberculin-tested and this of course, should be done by a competent veterinarian. Besides the ro- bust character of the individuals the breeding stock from which they are descended, and the herd, stables and farm from which they come, should be closely examined, on the score of health. Breeding and rear- ing animals needed to replenish and increase the herd, and refusing to allow strange animals on the farm, are the best safeguards against the introduction of disease. On every farm of any size a well-secluded building for a stock quarantine and hospital, suitably arranged and equipped, is a useful adjunct. There are many of the ordinary accidents and ailments to which domestic animals are subject which can be managed by an intelligent owner, or under his direction, without professional assistance. But in case of uncertainty take no chances, summon a veterinarian. Close confinement, with impure air and lack of exercise is prejudicial to the cow's health. Every member of the herd should be examined daily and the least symptoms of disorder, like dullness, loss of appetite, rough coat and irregularity of milk, manure or urine noted and given attention. FALL FRESH COWS MOST PROFITABLE. Much has been said about best time for cows to drop calves. Opinions differs and the larger number are allowed to "come in" in the spring. September however is the best month in most parts of the country for a heifer to drop her first calf, in order to best develop as a cow. Calves born in the fall are easier reared and make better cows than those born in spring or summer. The cow or heifer calving in the fall needs the most healthy and nutritious pas turage just following the strain and while coming into full flow. Just at the time when some falling off is likely to occur, the animal is brought to the stables and receives good care; the winter feeding and the returns from it may be depended upon to exceed the midsummer results for any like period. At the stage of milking and of gestation, when another dropping off in the milk yield may be looked for, the fresh pasturage induces a fresh flow, lengthens the milking season, and increases the year's total product. December and January are good months in which to control and super- vise the service of the bull. Midsummer and the dogdays are a good time for the cow to be dry and preparing to calve again, and a most unprofitable and annoying time to make milk or handle it. With fall- fresh cows the greatest product and the richest comes at the season when milk and butter are always comparatively high in price. In actual practice four fall-fresh cows have been found to equal five which calved in the spring, in twelve months' product, and at about four-fifths the cost. DRYING OFF COWS AND CALVING TIME. When the time comes for drying off a cow the grain food should be gradually withdrawn. This may of itself cause milk to cease form- ing. If not, omit one milking a day, then milk but once in two days, and thus extend the drying period over two weeks. The udder must be watched, and if any hardening or unnatural heat is shown regular milking must be resumed. If a sow continues to secrete milk it must be drawn. No cow should be forced to "go dry" -ninst manifestly natural resistance to so doing. On the other ban , if an unpleasant pungent or "smoky" taste appears in the cow's milk she may as well be dried at once, regardless of dates, as her milk will not be good until she is fresh again. The dry cow may be kept on pasture alone, not too luxuriant, or on a low stable diet, mainly of coarse forage, until about two weeks 45 before calviug. Yet the ration, while comparatively "wide," should be nutritious, and it should include a share of succulent food — roots or silage. Then a slow but steady increase of feeding may proceed, of a nourishing, cool, and laxative kind, so as to become narrower in ratio. Wheat bian is good material to use at this time, but new process linseed meal is better. A week before calving remove the cow to a roomy, comfoitable, quiet box stall, preferably within hearing of the herd, if not in sight. Be sure the bowels are quite loose and moving freely for two days before calving. ABORTION AND MILK FEVER. In case abortion occurs in the stable, yard or pasture, take the animal to the hospital at once and use every exertion to thoroughly clean and disinfect the place where the accident occurred. The aborted cow should be carefully nursed, and the genital organs dressed with antiseptic solutions. The animal should not return to the herd until fully cured, clean and free from all vaginal discharge. Milk fever is another scourge twin to abortion. It comes without warning, attacks the deepest and richest milkers, is sudden in attack, rapid in progress and generally fatal. Symptoms are a chill, twitching of head and muscles, failure to eat, chew the cud, or pass manure, distended udder without milk, insensibility of the hind quarters when pinched or pricked, later cow becomes unsteady on hind legs and presently drops. Good cows should be watched for forty-eight hours after calving, and if such warnings appear a veterinai'ian cannot be called too soon. Preventative measures are best in this disease. The cow should have abundant exercise up to the week before calving, and tnen quiet and good care, with daily grooming and active rubbing. Keep the bowels active with pioper food, or purgatives, if necessary. Insure comfort, guard against cold, and endeavor to maintain active circulation on the surface of the body. A strong dose of physic and brisk grooming may be used immediately after calving in the case of cows believed to be predisposed to milk fever. CARE OF CALVES AND YOUNG STOCK. Among dairy cattle the best practice is to remove the calf from the cow within twenty-four hours after birth and at once teach it to drink. The eaiiier the calf is taken in hand and its feeding regulated the better for the calf. The younger it is the easier it learns to drink. It is also better for the dairy cow to be regularly milked by the hand than to suckl-e a calf. The milk of good cows is often too rich for their calves, and the latter aie apt to take too much if left to help them- selves. The calf should have the milk of its dam or some other fresh cow and receive it v.'hile warm, and at least three times a day (pre- ferably four) for a week or m.ore. During this time, if the milk is rich, it should be diluted with warm water one-fifth to one-third its own bulk, according to the richness, or the milk may be kept a few hours, the best of the cream removed, and then warmed and fed. To make a good calf, three feedings a day should be kept up for a month or six weeks, and the milk should be fed warm for a longer period, especially if the weather is cold. But after ten days or so milk set twelve hours and lightly skimmed will do, and after ten days more the skimming may be gradually made closer, until at the end of a month, or soon after, a skim-milk diet is reached. No rule can be given for quan- tity in feeding calves, they differ so much in size and food require- ments, .ludgment must be used, the feeding effects observed, and the calf given enough to thrivp and be active, but not too much. More calves suffer from overfeeding than from scant diet. Keep the calf a little hungry and eager foi- more rather than fill it to dullness. The endeavor should be to lucvent the l-eginning of indirrestion, which leads to scouring and perhaps fatal diarrhoea. Absolute cleanliness about the feeding vessels is essential, with frequent scalding. If grit- ting the teeth or other symptoms of indigestion appear a little lime 46 water In the milk or a little baking soda will usually prove a correc- tion. Kepp the calf dry and clean, fairly warm, but in pure air, and allow it to exercise. If its box is small turn it daily into a covered yard. Young calves like company, but if kept together learn bad sucking habits. The calf referred to above is not for veal, but to be raised for dairy stock. The treatment should be accompanied by early lessons inducing it to eat sweet hay and a little grain. The sooner it learns to eat hay or rough forage and the more it eats the better, but keep up the milk feeding as long as possible if only once a day. Grain should be fed sparingly, oats and bran preferred; perhaps a little linseed. Don't turn out to grass too soon. If a spring calf carry it over to the second summer without pasturage. A fall calf will be in good shape to get its living from pasturage during its first summer. Prom the time milk ceases to be the main food of the calf until the heifer drops her first calf, at which time she becomes a cow, the feeding of the animal should be with a view to nourishment and growth, without accumulation of flesh. If pasturage is good nothing is better for the calf after six months. If grass is short or dry supplement with clover hay, wheat, bran or oats. At other times let the food be mainly for- age of bulky kinds; the digestive organs need to be developed. Give long forage, fodder or roughness, the preference with young stock, and use grain sparingly. A fall calf well bred and healthful should come in when about 2 years old. Everyone should be quiet, even-tempered and gentle, regular and cleanly in habits. Cows hate unclean persons. Tobacco is ob- noxious in dairying. All work should be done by system and regular- ity, stable cleaning, grooming, exercise, watering, feeding, milking, a fixed time for everything. Quickness is an essential feature in milk- ing. The quicker the milking the richer the milk, if the work is done well and completely. The milk fat or butter fat comes from the cow, but it is the expert milker that gets the most of it. It pays to have milking done in the very best way and by the best milkers that can be found. The milking room being scrupulously clean, with plenty of pure air, there is almost no "animal odors" in milk which are really stable odors or odors from the milker. Except extra large milkers, or for short periods, when the yield is largest, there is no gain in milking cows more than twice a day. PASTURE SEASON AND SOILING. As soon as the spring grass gets high enough for the cows to get a bite let them have it. At first the time daily on pasture should be very short, for the good of both pasture and cow. The latter should be gradually changed from stable feeding to pasturage, especially if the feeding has been of dry material or mostly so. And the stable feeding should continue unchanged, undiminished, until the cow herself indicates that she is getting enough grass to replace a part of the stable ration. Then, as the pasturage improves, indoor feeding may be lessened and finally discontinued. Shade and water should be carefully looked after in connection with pasturage, as well as the grass. In very large pastures there should be watering places in different parts of the inclosure, as well as shade, that the cows may not be compelled to travel far to find either. Until flies become troublesome cows had better stay in pasture by day and in stable by night, or be left out all the time. But in the worst fly time, and perhaps when the sun's heat is greatest, it is good practice to stable the herd during the day in an airy but shaded cow- house, and turn it on pasture at night. If the pasture has not abund- ant shade and water this course should certainly be followed. Heat and flies reduce both quality and quantity of milk product. The trouble from flies can be larg pounds of seed to the acre are not unusual in the West. Twenty pounds per acre is the amount usually recommended, however, and even this must be increased 54 where the danger from weeds is serious and it is necessary that the alfalfa plants cover the ground from the start to prevent the weeds from becoming established. A pound of ordinary alfalfa contains about 220,000 seeds. As there are 43, SCO square feet in an acre, each pound seeded would give about 5 seeds to the square foot. At the rate of 20 pounds per acre each square foot would receive 100 seeds. Many of these fail to grow, and the young plants meet with many accidents. The following recommendations as to the rate of seeding are made for the different sections of the country: Atlantic and South- ern States, 24 to 2S pounds per acre: states east of the ninety-eight meridian and west of the Appalachian Mountains, 20 to 24 pounds; semi-arid sections of the Great Plains, from 5 to 15 pounds, depending on the average rainfall; 15 pounds is commonly seeded in the irrigated sections by the experienced growers. TREATMENT THE FIRST SEASON. If seeded in the late summer, or early autumn, alfalfa will require no treatment that autumn unless a growth of more than 12 inches is made before cold weather. If this occurs, the plants should be clipped back so they will go into winter with 8 to 10 inches of growth. In this condition they will be best able to stand the winter and renew growth the following sprifig. First cutting should be in late spring. On the other hand if seed has been sown late in fall, or in spring little more than a clipping can be secured in the late spring or sum- mer. This clipping should be made preferably when the basal shoots start and should be made :> or 4 inches high, as the plants will be slow in recovering if cut too low. It may be necessary to cut at some other time than the ideal time indicated, as, for instance, when' the weeds threaten to choke out the young plants, when the blossoms appear, or when the plants begin to turn yellow. Except in the latter case the clippings are usually left on the ground as mulch. If the plants have turned yellow owing to some disease, the clippings should be raked up and removed. A top-dressing of nitrate of soda will sometimes invigorate the diseased plants. The same statements govern subse- quent cuttings the first summer, except that the growth is usually too heavy to be left on the field. TREATMENT THE SECOND SEASON. Ordinarily no treatment is lequired during the second season except to cut the hay when the plants are about one-tenth in bloom, or, better, when the new crown or basal shoots are starting. It is important to get the hay off the field as soon as possible, in order to allow the new growth to commence uniformly over the fieM. If the windrows or cocks are allowed to remain too long on the ground, the alfalfa plants will be smothered out and then bare spaces will form the centers from which weeds will spread. No pasturing should be allowed during the first or second sea- son, as the crowns have not become sufficiently well developed to withstand the effect of trampling. About three-fourths to a full crop may be expected the next season after late summer seeding in the humid regions. Nearly a full crop is usual the second season after spring seeding if the weeds of the first summer have not seriously injured the stand. TREATMENT DURING SUBSEQUENT SEASONS. As long as an alfalfa field shows a perfect stand, with no tendency to run to weeds, it is not customary to give the field any special treatment. If the weeds begin to prove troublesome, it is advisable to disk the alfalfa after cutting. This process loosens up the soil and aerates it. which is decidedly advantageous to the alfalfa. The tap- roots of the alfalfa plants are not usually injured by this practice if 55 the disks are set nearly straight, while the weeds are, to a great extent, destroyed. A spike-toothed harrow may follow the disk to level the ground. In the East an implement known as an alfalfa renovator is meet- ing with sticcess. It is a modification of a disk harrow with spike teeth on the disks. It is atlapted to loosening up the ground and destroying the weeds without serious injury to the alfalfa. Many growers who have a large acreage of alfalfa disk their fields each season. Disking, however, is apt to be destructive to the alfalfa in sections where the alfalfa does not thrive. If there is a considerable growth of fall weeds or grasses these may be burned off the following sining before the alfalfa starts. The field should be burned before a strong wind to avoid injury to the alfalfa crowns. In sections where soils require liming, it is sometimes advantageous to make an application of lime either in the spring or after the first cutting. Slacked lime may be used, but ground unburned limestone is preferable, as this will not injure the alfalfa plants. A top-dressing of well-rotted or weed-free barnyard manure may be made during the early winter with advantage on most of the soils in the eastern half of the Ignited States. IMPORTANCE OF THE LEAVES FOR HAY. One of the dangers to l)e guarded against in alfalfa hay making is the scattering of the leaves. Only two-fifths of the total weight of the alfalfa plant is in the leaves, yet three-fifths of all the protein is contained in them. That is 44 pounds of the leaves, contain as much protein as 100 pounds of stems. Analysis show that the leaves are somewhat richer than bran for feeding purposes. Much of the loss of leaves ordinarily occurring during harvesting may be saved by proper attention to the curing operations. ALFALFA PASTURE. Alfalfa should never be pastured during the first or second season of its growth. Even an old field of alfalfa should be grazed rather sparingly if a uniform stand is to be maintained. The last crop of alfalfa is freciuently pastured off, as other grazing is often short in the autumn. Care should be taken not to pasture too closely in the late autumn, as the plants should be allowed to go into the winter with some growth upon the crowns. This will enable them to with- stauil the winter better and also to store up reserve food material for a vigorous early growth the following spring. The evil effects of the trampling of the stock while grazing can be overcome by disking to loosen up the compacted ground. EFFECT OF ALFALFA ON THE GROUND. Alfalfa acts in a manner similar to red clover and other legumi- nous crops in increasing the yields of the succeeding crpps. The roots add nitrogen directly to the soil and are efficient by reason of their deep-feeding habit, bringing up other mineral constituents from the lower layers of the soil and thus rendering them accessible to the shallow-feeding crops. SEED PRODUCTION OF ALFALFA. The alfalfa seed producing sections of the United States are much more limited in extent than are the sections where the hay can be successfully raised. Alfalfa sets seed in paying quantities only when there is a comparative shortage in tlie moisture suijply. In the irri- gated sections it is the practice to v.'ithhold one irrigation when seed is desired. In the sections where the alfalfa is raised without irriga- tion, a seed crop is usually secured in the dry years only. .Mfalfa requires a dry, hot season for the best development of the seed crop, and for this reason it is customary to save that crop for seed which will mature during the hottest and driest part of the summer. This is ordinarily the second crop, but south of central 56 Kansas it may be the third crop, and in the northern sections may have to be the first crop, owing to the short growing season. In sections where the second crop would come only a little too late for the heat of midsummer, it is the practice to clip hack tlie first crop when half grown. The alfalfa then comes on more evenly than had it not been cut back, and in addition blooms considerably earlier than had the full first crop been matured. When allowed to make seed the alfalfa should be cut when from two-thirds to three-fourths of the pods have turned brown, as this will insure greatest quantity of good seed. The methods of har- vesting the seed vary widely in the different sections. A self-rake reaper, a mower with a dropping or bunching attachment, or a self- binder with the tying attachment removed is sometimes used. These leave the alfalfa in convenient forkfuls which reduce the amount of shattering in handling. Alfalfa is threshed from the field if possible, but it is often neces- sary to stack the crop before threshing. An alfalfa huUer built along the lines of a clover huUer is usually most satisfactory, but few sections produce enough alfalfa seed to justify the use of these spe- cial hullers. Very satisfactory results can be secured with fhe ordinary grain thresher by screwing down the concaves and provid- ing a set of alfalfa sieves. A thin stand of alfalfa is best for seed-producing purposes. The yields usually run from 2 to 5 bushels to the acre, but occasionally much higher yields are secured. Most of the alfalfa seed is produced in Utah, Idaho, Colorado, California, Arizona, Montana, Kansas, and Nebraska. The supply of seed raised in this country is far short of the demand. BARLEY: GROWING THE CROP By H. B. DERR. Bureau of Plant Industrv. Barley is supposed to be a native of western Asia, where wild forms still exist. It was one of the first cereals cultivated for food. Barley belongs to the grass family or Gramineae, and to the genus Hordeum. There are two groups of barley, the two-rowed and the six-rowed. Further subdivisions are made into bearded and hooded (beardless) types, including both the common and the hull-less varieties in each type. This crop w-as introduced into America by the early colonists. Improved varieties were first distributed in the United States about 1845. Among the most important introductions were the hooded types, including hull-less forms. In recent years a number of val- uable varieties have been introduced by the Department of Agri- culture from Europe. 57 The greater portion of the crop is produced in the States of Minne- sota, California, Wisconsin, Xorth Dakota and South J.iakota. i'he six-rowed barley is most widely grown in the United States. The best yielding varieties are Manchuria, Oderbrucker, Odessa, Gataini, and California. Anions; the best of the two-rowed varieties may be mentioned Chevalier, Hannchen, Swan Neck, Kitzing, and Hanna. The hooded (beardless) and hull-less barleys yield well in the semi-arid and Rocky Mountain States. In the Southern and Cen- tral States the winter varieties are the most profitable ones to grow. Barley requires a well-drained, porous soil for its best develop- ment. Loamy soils give the best yields. Barnyard and green manures should be plowed under for some time previous to the planting of this crop. If fertilizers are used, they should be rich in phosphates. Barley should follow corn, potatoes, or other cultivated crops in the rotation. It is an excellent nurse crop for legumes and grasses. .In preparing" the soil for barley it should be well worked and free from weeds. All light seed and impurities should be removed by fanning and screening or by the skimming process. In the Northern States barley is sown from April 1 to May 1-3, while in the Central States seeding is generally done from March 15 to April if). In the Pacific States this crop is sown either in the winter or spring. Winter barley in the Southern States is usually sown from September 15 to October 15. The usual rate of seeding in humid regions is 2 bushels; where the rainfall is slight, best results are obtained from the use of 4 to G pecks. Drilling gives better results than broadcast seeding. In the semi-arid regions harrowing after the plants come up is often beneficial. Considerable barley is grown under irrigation in the Inter-mountain States. To obtain the best quality of grain, barley should be cut when in the hard-dough stage. Some growers prefer to cut when fully ripe. The grain should be shocked in oblong rather than round shocks, as the oblong shock allows it to cure Ijetter. Where there are no high winds, the shocks should be capped. The grain is of much better color and quality if the crop is stacked insteail of being allowed to stand in the shock till threshing time. In threshing barley the con- caves should not be set too close, or there v,'ill be considerable broken grain. The grain should be carefully housed after threshing to pre- vent injury from moisture and insects. Barley is subject to both loose and covered smut. Loose smut can be controlled by the modified hot-water treatment, while treating the seed with formalin will destroy the covered smut. The growing grain is sometiTues injured by the "green bug," chinch bug, and Hessian fly. Rotation of crops, and, for the Hessian fly, rotation with reasonably late seeding, are the most efficient remedies. Insects which attack barley in the bin can be kept in check by fumi- gating with hydrocyanic-acid gas or carbon bisulphid. Numerous tests of varieties of barley have been made at the var- ious State agricultural experiment stations. Oderbrucker, a six-rowed variety, produced the highest yield at the Wisconsin station. At the Minnesota station Manchuria and Russian were the best six-rowed varieties; Hannchen, Chevalier and Primus are the best two-rowed. At the North Dakota station Russian was the best six-rowed barley and Moravian the best two-rowed. At the Edgeley and Dickinson substations the two-rowed varieties led in yield, while at Williston the six-rowed were best. The best six-rowed barley yielded slightly more than the best two-rowed at the South Dakota station. At the Highmore substation and the Bellefourche Experiment Farm the two- towed varieties yielded best. At Manhattan^ Kans., Tennessee Winter 58 barley led in yield and Manchuria was the best spring variety. At McPherson, Kans., the six-rowed spring varieties yielded best. At the Montana station the largest feed returns were obtained from the hull' less varieties. The two-rowed barleys were superior to the six-rowed at the Wyoming station. At Akron, Colo., and Modesto, Cal., these two groups differed little in yield. At Nephi, Utah, the six-rowed barleys are the most profitable. In order to prevent its running out or deteriorating, the seed grain should be thoroughly cleaned and graded before planting. This will insure strong, healthy plants and a good quality of grain. Where no fanning mill is available, the skimming process gives excellent results. A small breeding plat, in which is planted the seed from selected heads gathered from the standing grain, will enable the farmer to improve the yield and quality of this crop. OATS: GROWING THE CROP C. W. WARBURTON, Bureau of Plant Industry, Oats were probably first cultivated in eastern Europe and western Asia, where the original wild form is supposed to have existed. The oats belongs to the grass family and is known botanically as Avena sativa. This crop grows best on soils with good water-holding capacity, as it requires a great deal of moisture. When grown for grain, phos- phorus is usually the most important fertilizing element which can be added. Very rich soils, especially if deficient in phosphorus, cause rank growth, with lodging as a result. When grown for hay or for- age nitrogenous fertilizers may be used. Oats are usually grown in rotation after a cultivated crop, and are used as a nurse crop for grasses or clover. They are some- times grown in combination with other crops. When grown with barley large yields of grain for feeding can be obtained, while with Canada field peas or vetch excellent forage is produced. Oats do best on rather loose, well-prepared seed bed. The com- mon method of sowing the grain broadcast on cornstalk land without preparation and covering it with the disk harrow is careless and uncertain. Thorough preparation of the seed bed is strongly advised. Only plump, heavy oats should be used for seed. The seed should be treated for smut before sowing. The formalin treatment is effective and easily applied. Drilling usually gives better germination, a more nearly uniform stand, and higher yields than broadcast seeding. The rate of seeding varies with the locality and other factors. In the upper Mississippi 59 Valley 2y2 to ?, bushels are usually sown to the acre. Oats should be sown as early in the spring as the ground can be worked. In dry-farming sections harrowing drilled oats while the plants are small increases the yield. Spraying with a solution of iron sulphate to kill weeds is recommended by some of the agricultural experiment stations. The lai-gest yield of oats per inch of water applied is usually obtained in the irrigated sections by the use of 15 to 20 inches. Oats are usually harvested with the grain binder, set up in shocks of ten or more bundles, and allowed to cure for ten days or two weeks. They are then stacked or hauled direct to the thresher and threshed. In the humid regions a better quality of grain is usually obtained at slightly increased cost from stack threshing than from shock thresh- ing. Where there is little rainfall there is no advantage in stacking. The mixing of grain in the separator and the introduction of weeds from neighboring farms by the thrashing outfit should be carefully avoided. 1 he threshing machine should be adjusted to remove all the grain from the straw and to remove the trash from the grain. The grain should be stored in clean, dry bins, well protected from the weather, and kept free from vermin. The average yields of oats vary from 15 to 25 bushels in the Southern States, from 25 to 40 bushels in the Northern States, and from 35 to 45 bushels in the Rocky Mountain and Pacific States. Yields of 100 to 150 bushels to the acre are sometimes produced in the Northwestern States, particularly in the irrigated regions. The cost of prduction is estimated at from 20 to 25 cents a bushel. The cost per bushel of very low yields is considerably greater. Many varieties of oats are grown in the United States. These varieties differ in the size, color, and shape of the grain, the length of time required to attain maturity, the shape and size of the head, the yield, and in winter hardiness. The number of varieties adapted to any particular section is comparatively small. In general, reddish brown (Red Rustproof) or gray (Winter Turf) oats are adapted to the South: early oats, usually yellow in color (Sixty-Day and Kherson), to the Central States; and white, large-grained, later varieties (Swed- ish Select, Clydesdale, Silverniine, etc.) to the Northern States. The improvement of the crop can be effected through the seed by grading and sowing only the large, plump grain, by bulk selection of the best plants, and by individual plant selections. The latter is the only method by which pedigreed varieties can be established. Good varieties are sometimes obtained by importation from foreign countries. The principal diseases of oats are smut and rust. Smut may be controlled by the use of the formalin solution; good preventive meas- ures against rust are the sowing of early varieties and sowing only on well-drained land. The principal insect enemies of growing oats are the spring grain- aphis, the chinch bug, and the army worm. The remedies applicable to other small-grain crops apply to oats. Grain weevils and moths do rather less injury to oats than to other grains, because the hull of oats serves as a protection; fumigation with carbon bisulphid or hydrocyanic-acid gas is recommended for these insects. 60 MILLETS THOMAS A. WILLIAMS, Assistant Agrostologist. PLACE OF MILLET ON THE FARM. On the whole, it is doubtful if there are many sections in this country where millets should be made a primary crop. Their place is rather that of a supplementary one — a "catch crop," when the corn L.:d been destroyed by hail or otherwise; a substitute for corn where that crop is not easily grown; a crop to be grown on a piece of land that might otherwise lie idle; a readily available crop for use in short rotations; an excellent thing to grow on foul land to get rid of weeds, giving practically the same results as fallowing, or summer cultiva- tion, and in aildition a crop of forage; a supplement to the regular and permanent pastures and meadows. It is in such ways that the millets are most valuable on the average farm, and such is the place they should be given in American agriculture. PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. For this crop a fertile, mellow soil is preferable. Loams with but little clay and not too much sand give the best results. Heavy clay soils require considerable working in order to get them Into proper condition. For spring sowing the land may be plowed in the same manner and at about the same time, or perhaps a little later, as for a crop of corn. Millets draw iheir nourishment largely from the surface soil; hence the supply of plant food should be concentrated in the upper layers of the soil and should be in forms readily available to the plant. If the surface soil does not already contain sufficient available plant food, this should be supplied in the form of barnyard manure or com- mercial fertilizers; those containing large percentages of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash in readily available forms are most valuable. Among such are muriate of potash, ground bone, cotton- seed meal, and tankage. The barnyard manure may be scattered on the land and plowed under, but the others had best be sown on the land after it has been plowed and worked into the soil with a harrow. The amount and the exact character of the fertilizer required will, of course, depend upon the kind and condition of the soil. In most instances a mixture of muriate of potash, nitrate of soda, and ground bone or superphosphate will be found beneficial, and on some soils lime may be used to advantage. A light dressing of barnyard manure supplemented by a light application of some such mi.xture as the above will usually give good results in the East, while on the rich prairies of the West little, if any, fertilizing will be found necessary. 61 In case the land is cloddy, as frequently happens when much clay is present, the harrow or roller should be used to reduce the surface to a smooth condition. This is necessary, because it is of prime impor- tance that the seed bed should be in condition to insure prompt ger- mination and an even development of the grass; it also facilitates the harvesting operations. In the West it is the common practice to delay the preparation of the land for millet until near the close of corn planting. This allows t-he first growth of weeds to get well started, and the thorough plow- ing required in preparing the land leaves it so well cleaned that the millet easily keeps ahead of the weeds. If the land is very foul, the crop may be cut early, before the second growth of weeds goes to seed, and the land plowed again. Used in this way, millet is one of the best crops that can be grown for the purpose of ridding the land of weeds. When millet is sown late in the season as a catch crop or as a second crop after rye or some oiher maturing crop has been harvested, it is not always expedient to go to so much trouble in preparing the land. The seed may be sown on the freshly plowed stubble; or, if the land is quite loose and mellow, as is the case in parts of the west, the stubble may be "disked" or gone over with a cultivator to kill the weeds and the seed sown and harrowed in. This "disking" or cultivating is the most common practice when millet is used as a catch crop after the main crop of corn or small grain has been de- stroyed by hail, as is not infrequently the case in the ^liddle West. Another quite common practice is to sow on newly broken ground, either without any other preparation than simply breaking up the sod, or, as is more often the case, the "breaking" is torn up with a "disk" or heavy iron-toothed harrow. SEEDING. When millet is handled as a primary crop, seeding is generally done during the latter part of May or early in .Tune in the North, and, of course, correspondingly earlier in the South; or. if the moisture conditions are favorable, it may be delayed as late as August 1 in the latter region. It is a general rule to sow millet as soon as the corn is planted. The foxtail and broom-corn millets and some of the Barnyard millets are quite sensitive to cold, and hence seeding should be postponed until the ground has become thoroughly warm and dan- ger from protracted cold is past. It should, however, take place before the dry period of the summer begins. A succession of crops for soil- ing or silage can easily be obtained by sowing at periods of two or three weeks from May 10 to late in July. The seed may be sown broadcast or with a grain drill. Ordinarily, there is but little if any choice between the two methods when the crop is to be cut for hay, except that the drilled seed gives an evener stand and a little less seed is required. For a crop of grain or for soiling or ensilage, drilling will generally give better results. On some soils it is a good plan, when ;;rowing for seed, to plant in drills far enough apart to allow cultivation to prevent packing of the soil and loss of moisture, particularly when barnyard millet is planted. The (onimon practice is to sow from one-half to three-fourths of a bushel of seed of foxtail or broom-corn miilets, or one-fourth to one-half of a bushel of barnyard millet per acre for a crop of hay and somewhat less for a crop of grain. Rich, w^ll-prepared land will require less seed than that which is poor and thin; and it is not necessary to use quite so much seed when the crop is to be ensiled or fed in the fresh state as when it is intended for hay. Thin seeding is likely to result in coarse-stalked plants, which are not desirable for hay. Some of the varieties may require a smaller quantity of seed than others on account of the greater tendency of the plants to "stool" but as the amount of "stooling" depends so much upon soil and climatic conditions, it is not usually safe to allow very much for it. 02 HARVESTING. Cutting foxtail millets for hay should never be delayed until the seed has begun to ripen, particularly if it is to be fed to horses. On the other hand, it is best not to cut too early, as the hay is liable to have a more or less laxative effect upon the animals eating it. How- ever, it is better cut early than late. The hay may be safely cut any time during the period from complete "heading out" to late bloom. Professor Chilcott, of the South Dakota experiment station, who has had much experience in growing and feeding this crop, says: "The best time to cut millet for hay is when a majority of the heads have distinctly appeared." The tough, fibrous nature of the stems and the stiff beards on the heads of millet that has been allowed to approach too close to maturity detract much from the palatability of the hay, and, all hough something Is gained from the seeds by way of nutri- ment, enough is lost in palatability and increased fiber to more than make up for it* Moreover, the earlier cut hay is a much safer food for all kinds of stock. On account of the succulency of the stems and leaves the curing takes place rather slowly, and the seeds may make a great deal of development after the plants are cut; hence, if cutting is delayed until after the seeds are well formed, they will often de- velop sufficiently during the process of curing to germinate. Cutting for soiling or for the silo can be done a little later than for hay, but should take place before the seed has begun to ripen. For soiling or for early hay, barnyard millets may be cut as soon as the grass "heads out," or even before. The best quality of forage will be obtained by cutting during the blooming period, and when the crop is to be cured for hay this is the best time for harvesting. For silage the crop may be cut any time between "heading out" and the formation of the seed, preferably when most of the plants are in late bloom. The quality of the forage seems to deteriorate more J-apidly with age than in the foxtail millets; hence it is more impera- tive that cutting should be done while the plants are at their best. On account of the greater succulency of the stems, barnyard mil- let is more difficult to cure than either the broom-corn or the foxtail millets, but when properly cured the quality of the hay is better than that of the other millets, and in some localities the yield is said to be greater. One of the best methods of preserving this crop is by the use of the silo. Those who have tried this method have obtained excellent results. A tine quality of ensilage may be made by using barnyard millet and a leguminous crop like soy beans or clover. The broom-corn millets are not difficult to cure, and the same methods may be employed as for any coarse grass. What has been said regarding the time for cutting barnyard millet for various pur- poses applies as well to the millets of this group. The forage deter- iorates rapidly upon reaching maturity, and hence cutting should not be delayed too long. The common practice is to use a horse mower or a scythe when cutting for hay or soiling. In localities where curing takes place rap- idly and there is little or no rain during haying time, the self-rake and the self-binder have been used with good results. The bunches left by the self-rake are allowed to lie without further attention until cured; or possibly, in the case of a heavy yield, they may be turned over once or twice to facilitate drying. When the self-binder is used the bundles are loosely made and are set up "two and two" in long shocks extending north and south, so that the bundles may get the full benefit of the sunshine. It is not often that this method can be employed in cutting for hay, but when practicable it saves much labor and leaves the hay in condition to be stored easily and well. Another way of using the self binder is to allow the millet to be dropped unbound to the ground, the bunches then being handled as when the self-rake is used. One of the best methods for curing the hay is to allow the grass to lie in a swath until partially dry, then gather into cocks and let stand until thoroughly cured, after the manner of curing alfalfa and clover. Hay cured in this way is of better quality than that allowed to lie in the swath exposed to the sun until dry. Millets may be harvested for the seed in the same manner as small grain of any sort. One of the best ways is to cut with a self- binder, place the buuithin the "boot" the dwarf sort is more subject to injury from rains at harvest time than the standard. Water collects in the "boot" around the head and causes it to redden, which reduces the value of the crop by about one-half. If weather conditions are favorable, dwarf broom corn can be harvested in first-class condition and with less labor per acre than can standard, but doubtless the greater yields of the latter make it as easy to bend down the tall stalks and cut a ton of brush from o acres as it is to pull a ton cf dwarf corn from 5 acres, these being the averages, respective- ly, of the two kinds required to produce a ton of brush. TABLING. The greater height of the standard Ijroom corn nuide necessary some method of bringing the heads down within easy reach for cut- ting, and the system of tabling is universally used because of its con- venience and because the brush is thereby kept clean and dry after it is cut. Tabling consists in bending at a height of 2V2 or 3 feet the stalks of two adjacent rows diagonally across the intervening space so that the portion of the stalks above the sharp bend is supported in a horizontal position, with the seed heads of one row extending about 2 feet beyond the opposite row. The operator walks backward, ben The most popular of all grasses for hay and the standard to which all other hay is compared. It is a perennial, doing best on a moist, tenacious, rich soil. On light soils the yield is generally scant. The best results are had by sowing timothy with a mixture of red top and clover. Timothy does not make a desirable pasture as there is little growth after being cut and tramping of stock soon destroys it. Hay should be cut just when it has stopped flowering. Quantity of seed per acre varies with the character of the soil. On heavy soils sow one-third to one-half bushel per acre, on light soils less. KENTUCKY BLUE GRASS Agriculturally this is well called the King of all Pasture Grasses. However, it is not such a general purpose grass as is red top. Wher- 108 ever this grass does well, generally on lime soil, land there at once commands a high price, as it becomes the animal breeder's ideal loca- tion. .This grass requires some time to establish itself. For a couple of years should only be liglilly grazed. Time for sowing depends on the locality. There are three principal times of sowing, in the fall, in the early spring and again in .June. Sow three bushels (14 lbs. to the bushel) per acre. This seed should never be covered, but only rolled after sowing, as the seen germinates better in the light than in the dark. THE NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS (1) Kafir corn and (2) the duras. By C. W. WARBURTON, Bureau of Plant Industry. The non-saccharine sorghums are important as grain and forage crops in regions of slight or moderate rainfall and high summer tem- peratures. As they are of tropical origin they cannot be grown in the extreme north or at high altitudes. Although some progress has been made in securing early strains, at the present time they can hardly be depended on to mature seed very far north of the south- ern boundry of Nebraska. Some of the varieties are of value as forage crops, however, for a considerable distance farther north. In all the middle and southern portion of the Great Plains, in the semi- arid Southw^est, and in the central valleys of California these sor- ghums make the most acceptable substitutes for corn which can be grown. They are especially valuable for growing on "new land." Kafir corn is most useful in Kansas, especially the western two-thirds of the state, and in Oklahoma and Texas. QUANTITY OF SEED NECESSARY. The quantity of Kafir corn seed to plant to the acre varies ac- cording to the method of planting, the use to be made of the crop, and the conditions under which it is grown. When grown in rows for the maximum yield of both fodder and grain, G or S pounds to the acre in 3y2-foot rows are desirable, although this quantity is frequent- ly reduced"^ to 3 or 4 pounds. Thin planting, however, produces coarse stalks which are not readily eaten by stock and a small number of large heads which yield less grain than the many small ones result- ing from thicker seeding. When the stalks are a considerable dis- tance apart, the heads fre;ator. The principal objects of this operation are the following : (1) — To reduce the width of the strip that is subsequently to be thinned by the hoe; (2) — To destroy vegetation; (3) — To put the soil into the best condition for retfiin.ing moisture in dry weather and for the growth of the roots of the young cotton plant. Chopping or thinning. — As soon as possible after the operation of scraping or barring off, the plants should be thinned by means of a hoe. This first hoeing is called "chopping." Usually either one or two plants are left at the desire 1 distance apart. Much subsequent hoe work is saved if, at the time of chopping, the plants can be safely thinned to a single one at the required distance apart. However, it may be wise to leave two or more plants in a place, or twice as many hills as will finally remain, if chopping is done when the plants are extremely small, or if many of the young plants are expected to die as the result of disease or of unfavorable weather. Second cultivation cr "siding." — The ol)jects in "siding" cotton are as follows: (1) — To throw close about the plant, for its firmer support, eartli that may have been removed from it in the first cultivation or in hoeing. (2)"To form a mulch that will retain the moisture in the soil layer just below it. (3) — To destroy weeds. Since one purpose is to throw a little earth towards the plants, 12G the scrape or sweep now used may be wider than that used at the first cultivation. To prevent the small plants being covered, it may still be necessary to use a fender attached to the stock or cultivator. This second tillage or cultivation is done by running the cultivat- ing implement close on both sides of each row of plants. Hence, for scraping, two furrows per row usually suffice, where a single scrape or sweep is used. Siding should sometimes be done as soon as practicable after chop- ping. But in order to give time for grass to be smothered by the earth thrown on it in "barring off," siding may be delayed. Third tillage or cultivation, or "cleaning middles." — If the "siding" just described has been performed with only two scrape furrows per row, there is usually left a low ridge of soil, called a "balk or middle." halfway between each two lines of plants. If this strip becomes com- pact or weedy, the next step is to cultivate it. This is usually done by a single furrow of a rather large sweep or scrape, which splits the "middle," lapping part of it on each of the adjacent rows. When a double cultivator is employed it cultivates the plants on both sides and throws out the "middles" at the same time. Even when a single scrape is used in "siding," farmers often prefer to throw out the "mid- dle" immediately. Subsequent tillage. — The operation of "siding" is repeated as of- ten as necessary to destroy all young weeds and grass and to prevent the formation after each rain of a crust on the soil, which would has- ten the loss of water by evaporation. Likewise, the middles are cleaned or thrown out as often as necessary for the same purpose. The larger the plant becomes, the wider, as a rule, are the scrapes or sweeps employed. It should constantly be borne in mind that one of the principal objects of tillage is to form a mulch of loose dry soil through which the moisture from the lower layers cannot rise and be evaporated. Subsequent hoeing. — The hoeings subsequent to chopping are nec- essary only when vegetation grows along the line of plants in spite of the earth thrown upon the young weeds in siding. Hoeing is a cleaning rather than a true tillage or mulching process. Next to pick- ing, it is the most expensive operation in cotton culture; hence, as far as practicable, the horse implements should be made to lessen the necessity of hoeing. Amount and frequency of tilling. — There can be no fixed rule as to how often cotton should be cultivated. The general rule is to culti- vate it before the formation of a crust following each rain. Four "plowings" may be considered the minimum and six or more are often advisable. The total number of furrows per row required in good till- age is usually between twelve and sixteen. In addition to this, two or more hoeings are usually given. Depth of cultivation. — The same principle applies here as in the tillage of any other crop. At the first cultivation, the depth may well be shallow, medium, or deep, as the judgment of the farmer dictates. But in the subsequent fillings, the depth should be shallow; that is, just deep enough to check evaporation. Usually a depth of 1V> to 2 inches meets these requirements. The finer the soil particles forming the mulch, that is, the more com- plete the pulverization effected by the tilling implement, the less the thickness of soil-mulch required to check evaporation. A three- inch mulch of small clods is less effective than an inch mulch of well pulverized soil. Sowing seed among growing cotton plants. — When it is desired to improve the soil by growing during the cooler months, some soil- improving plp'it, such as criniJion clover or hairy vetch, the time se- lected for sowing the seed is usually immediately after the first pick- ing. By choosing this time, no cotton is knocked from the plants by 127 the one-horse cultivator used in covering these seed. On some farms fall-sown oats are sown among the growing cotton plants and covered as just indicated. To permit the use of harvesting machinery in the oats, the cotton plants, if large, are loosened in winter by means of a narrow plow, or by the use of a sub-soil plow, and then pulled and re- moved. Distance between rows. — In deciding on the space between rows and between plants of cotton, the general rule is as follows: The richer the land, the wider must be the rows and the greater the dis- tance between plants in the row. This rule is exactly the opposite of the practice in spacing Indian corn. The reason for planting cotton farth::- apart on rich land is the fact that cotton is a branching or spreading plant, and hence on rich land requires much space for the outward growth of its long branches. On the other hand, corn has no branches and may be crowded as closely together as is permitted by the supply of plant-food and of moisture, both of which are of course more abundant on rich land. The usual distance between rows of cotton on upland, where a crop of one-half liale or less per acre is expected, is 3i/^ feet. On high- ly fertilized upland, the distance may well be increased to 4 feet. On bottom land and other very rich land, a distance of 5 feet is advisable, and occasionally even wiiler rows are preferable. The wider the rows can be made without reducing the yield, the cheaper is the cost of cultivation, since work with cultivators is cheap- er than work along the rows with the hoe. Distance between plants in the row. — Much of the cotton grown in the United States is unduly crowded in the row. A distance of 12 inches may be regarded as the minimum even for very poor land. With almost any character of medium or fair soil, capable of produc- ing one-half l)ale of cotton or more per acre, it is usually better to space the plant at least 18 inches apart. Results of distance experiments with cotton. — Most of the experi- ment stations in the Southern States have conducted experiments on this subject. Naturally the results have varied greatv- as influenced by differences in soil, in fertilizer, in rainfall, and in the variety of cotton under observation. In a series of experiments at the Georgia Station, where the yield was a little more than a bale per acre, slightly higher yields were made where the plants stood 1 foot apart than whei'e they were 2 feet apart ; a distance of 3 feet between plants af- forded a slight reduction in yield; and where the space between plants was increased to 4 feet, the yield was notably decreased. SUPPLIES FOR REPAIR OF HARNESS, CARRIAGE TOPS, ETC. Every farmer should have on hand supplies for the repair of har- ness, and many will find it an advantage to have also some materials for making the simpler repairs on carriage and buggy tops. Ready- made harness and bridle parts of all kinds can be secured from many of the larger establishments. In deciding what tools and materials to purchase, always give preference to those most frequently and urgently needed, passing over those that will be rarely used. Keeping a machine or vehicle in good repair and well oiled not only increases its efficiency, but lessens the power required in using it. The proper maintenance of farm machines not only saves money but avoids danger to those who operate them. Keeping the harness and vehicles in repair may prevent a dangerous runaway. So far as practicable let the repair work be done when regular farm work is not pressing, as on rainy days and during the winter season. Pursue the repair work as a kind of recreation or rest from the regular farm operations. Do not have several places for the storage of repair tools and supplies. Have one place, and see that all tools are kept there when not in use. Tools and materials should be kept in their proper places. Do not keep all sizes of bolts or screws mixed together in a single re- ceptacle, but fit up suitable boxes or bins, so that the supplies may be accessible on short notice. Keep all tools clean and free from rust, and all edge tools sharp. CHEESE MAKING ON THE FARM HENRY E. ALVORD, Bureau of Animal Industry. The ordinary process by which our American cheese is made in factories is not applicable to the farm dairy, because it takes too much time, and is so complicated that it requires years of practice to become sufficiently familiar with the varying conditions in which milk comes to the vat. The various changes that take place in milk and which are troublesome in making cheese nearly all develop in the night's milk kept over until the following morning. So, if milk is made into cheese immediately after it is drawn, no difficulty need be experienced. By employing a simple and short method of manti- facture, anyone at all accustomed to handling milk can, with the appliances fotind in any well-regulated farm home, make uniformly a good cheese. DETAILS OF MANUFACTURE. Aeration and Cooling. — The best time to make farm dairy cheese is immediately after milking. First pour the milk from one vessel to another in some locality where the air is pure and fresh, raising the vessel well so that the air can pass through the milk as it is potired out and carry off the animal heat and odor. Then pour the milk into the vat, or, if no regular vat is at hand, use a large wash boiler. COLORING. — If it is desired to have more than the natural color, so that the cheese will look rich, add abotit a teaspoonful of cheese color to 16 gallons of milk. To do this properly take a large dipper half full of milk, mix in the color thoroughly, and stir the whole into the vat of milk. Rennet. — Now add rennet extract at the rate of 1 ounce to 100 pounds, or 12 gallons, of milk. Mix the extract with half a dipper of cold water and then pour into the milk. Rennet tablets may be used instead of the extract, one small tablet for every 5 gallons of milk, or one large tablet for 25 gallons. Small tablets are about the size of a dime: large tablets are about as large as a silver quarter of a dollar. Dissolve the tablets required in a small quantity of cold water, then pour into the milk. The rennet extract or the tablets may be procured from any dairy supply house and at many drug stores. Temperature. — Great care should be taken not to have the milk at a temperature below 86 degrees F. nor above 90 degrees when the rennet is ptit in. Curdling. — After the rennet is put into the milk, stir gently two or three minutes, then let stand until the curd is firm enough to cut. The milk should begin to curdle in from ten to twelve minutes. To ascertain when the curd is ready for cutting, push the forefinger into the milk at an angle of 4.5 degrees until the thumb touches the milk; make a slight notch in the curd with the thumb, then gently raise the finger; if the curd breaks clean across the finger without any flakes remaining on it, the curd is ready for cutting. A little practice will soon enable the operator to tell the best time to cut. Cutting. — For cutting, regular cheese knives are best, one with horizontal blades and one with perpendicular blades. In case it is intended to make only a few cheeses, a wire toaster may be used, the wires only about a half an inch apart. First cut lengthwise, then 129 crosswise of the vat or boiler, until the curd is cut into cul^es about the size of small kernels of corn. Cooking.— After cutting, stir the curd gently for aljout three min- utes, then heat slowly to :)8 degrees or 100 degrees F.. constantly stirring gently while the curd is being lieated. Keep the curd at this temperature lor about forty minutes. To tell when the curd is sufficiently cooked, take a handful and press it gently, hold for a moment, then open the hand, and if the curd falls apart it is firm enough. As soon as the curd is sufficiently cooked, draw off the whey. Then the curd is ready to put into the cheese mold, or hoop. Molding. — Fill the mold by taking a double handful of curd at a time and pressing in gently until the mold is full and well rounded up. Regular Gouda molds' are best, but any tin or wooden receptacle will answer if small holes are made in it to allow the whey to escape. The cheese should be from 8 to 10 inches in diameter and about 3 inches thick. Then take the cheese out of the mold and turn it upside down and replace it. Put on the cover and put the cheese to press. Pressing. — The press may be a simple lever and weight described as follows: The lever should be about 12 feet long: a broken wagon tongue answers the purpose very well. Set a strong box, on which the mold may be placed, about M feet from a wall, post, or trese; on the latter nail a slat and umler it put one end of the lever. Put a circular board about 6 inches in diameter upon the mold and on this rest the stick or lever. A pail containing a few cobblestones will answer for the weight. Do not apply full pressure at first, but let the VN'eight hang about halfway between the mold and outer end of the stick. Let the cheese remain a few hours in the press: then take out and dress. Dressing. — To lants as well as valuable for other purposes; their cultivation is therefore a benefit to the bee keeper. It is often profitable to sow some plant on waste land; sweet clovers are often used in this way. The majority of honey-producing plants are wild, and the bee keeper must largely accept the locality as he finds it and manage his apiary so as to get the largest possible amount of the available nectar. EXTRACTED HONEY. Extracted honey is honey which has been removed by means of centrifugal force from the combs in which the bees stored it. COMB HONEY. Comb honey is honey as stored in the comb by the bees, the size and shape being determined by the small wooden sections provided by the bee keeper. Instead of having comb in large frames in which to store surplus honey, the bees are compelled to build comb in the sec- tions and to store honey there. A full section weighs about 1 pound; larger ones are rarely used. THE PRODUCTION OF WAX. Beeswax, which is secreted by the bees and used by them for building their combs, is an important commercial product. There are times in almost every apiary when there are comlis to be melted up, and it pays to take care of even scraps of comb and the cappings 144 taken off in extracting. A common method of raldng out the wax is to melt the combs in a solar wax extractor. This is perhaps the most feasible method where little wax is produced, but considerable wax still remains in old brood combss after such heating. Various wax presses are on the market, or can be made at home. If much wax is produced, the bee keeper should make a careful study of the methods of wax extraction, as there is usually much wax wasted even after pressing. PREPARATIONS FOR WINTERING. After the main honey flow is over the management must depend on what may be expected later in the season from minor honey flows. If no crop is expected, the colony may well be kept only moderately strong, so that there will not be so many consumers in the hive. In localities where winters are severe and breeding is suspended for several months great care should be taken that brood-rearing is rather active during the late summer, so that the colony may go into winter with plenty of young bees. In case any queens show lack of vitality they should be replaced early, so that the bees will not become queenless during the winter. The important considerations in wintering are plenty of young bees, a good queen, plenty of stores of good quality, sound hives, and proper protection from cold and dampness. If, as cold weather approaches, the bees do not have stores enough, they must be fed. Every colony should have from 25 to 50 pounds, depending on the length of winter and the methods of win- tering. DISEASES AND ENEMIES. There are two infectious diseases of the brood of bees which cause great losses to the bee-keeping industry of the United States. These are known as American foul brood and European foul brood. Both of these diseases destroy colonies by killing the brood, so that there are not enough young bees emerging to take the place of the old a^ilt beps as these die from natural causes. The adult bees are not attacked by either disease. In the hands of careful bee keepers both diseases may be controlled, and this requires careful study and constant watching. In view of the fact that these diseases are now widely distributed throughout the United States, every bee keeper should read the available literature on the subject, so that if disease enters his apiary he may be able to recognize it before it gets a start. The symptoms and the treatment recommended by the Agricultural Department are given in a publication which will be sent free on request. POULTRY RAISING Poultry raising is now One of the m and it is rapidly advancing every day. 145 piufiiablc industries known Poultry culture has the confirlence of the general public and while many will always fail from lack of application and proper regard for necessary conditions, it will be in no greater proportion than may be found in any industry that tempts the unworthy or unfit by its un- usual profits. To anyone who is willing to give it his earnest atten- tion and application it offers a pleasant and profitable occupation. LOCATION OF THE POULTRY PLANT. In selecting a site for your poultry plant you are not obliged to choose high priced land. If you can select well drained, well watered gravelly soil it will be desirable. If somewhat wooded it is also in its favor as shade is a valuable factor in poultry raising. Choose a plot sloping south or southeast if possible. Avoid a clay soil. Face your house a little east of south if possible as in this man- ner you get all the sun possible during the winter months when es- pecially needed. This position will shelter the front of the building from the west and northwest winds. If you have some good meadow land it will be of groat value, for thereon you can grow clover, or it will produce corn and other cereals. It has been found that clover can be made the base of profitable feeding, and a poultry farm so situated that it may produce an abundance of green food is well se- lected. Before you start to build, consider carefully the question of drain- age. The surface water should run from the house — not towards it — and you must be careful that moisture cannot collect underneath the house to seep up through the floor. If water can collect under the house, you cannot well dry it, even with ventilation beneath. Cess pools under the house will endanger the health of the fowls. BUILDINGS. Various locations may require different kinds of buildings and con- ditions of climate should be properly considered. It is imposible to state which exact variety of house is the best for you, without know- ing just how you are located and all the noints which enter into the subject. A house should be selected with due regard to its natural suitability to the conditions. The fowl consumes more oxygen from the air than any other breathing creature according to its size. It has no sweat glands, never sweats, and gives off all mo'sture by the breath. They must have plenty of pure, fresh air in order for them to obtain their natural, and necessary, amount of oxygen. We can understand that moisture coming from the breath, directly into the cooler air, without having a chance to slowly evaporate like it would in coming through a coat of hair or feathers, will condense very quickly; therefore there must be an unusual ventilation to carry off this moisture or the house will become damp and, in cold weather, a hoar frost will form on the in- side walls. The poultry house does not need to be in any way fancy, either in fittings or design, but there are a few certain rules which cannot be overlooked if you are to expect success. DRAINAGE. If circumstances compel you to build on land that is not natur- ally dry you should make it so by building up your ground. Carry your foundation walls up to a height of eighteen inches or more if necessary above the level of the ground and fill in a foot of this with small stones coarse gravel and cinders and the remaining six inches with sand. Then slope up the outside to the bottom of the sills and you Avill have an artificial drainage that will turn away the surface water and keep your floor dry. 146 SUNLIGHT. The next important thins is plenty of sunlislit. It not only makes the house cheerful but provides natural sanitation which tends to les- sen disease, and aids in curing it and also gives light for the fowls in scratching. Have about the right amount of glass surface as too much makes a house too warm in the day and too cold at night. Do not allow more than one square foot of glass to twelve square feet of floor space and see that the windows are placed correctly. Set the windows high and up and down so they will allow the sun to pass over all the floor space, drying and purifying same. YARDS. As you will have to plan for yards when you are planning for buildings, a word about them will not be out of place. Long and nar- row yards promote more exercise than those wider and shorter. For a given number of square feet, the long and narrow yard is further around than the one nearer square, and it gives the fowl more range and better chance to exercise. It is an excellent plan if you can provide a double yard for each house, as one set of yards can be plowed and planted, while the others are in use, and the fowls can have fresh yards in rotation. A run will become unsanitary if used constantly, no matter how much worlc may be expended upon it. Yards should be also provided with shade, either naturally or artificially, as it is an absolute necessity. HEATING FOR POULTRY. The only warmth needed in a poultry house is that given forth by the fowls' bodies; therefore the higher you build your house the colder it will be. A low house is much easier warmed than a high one. If you will make it as low as you can and still give you room so that you will not bump your head, you will have plenty of air space for as many fowls as the floor space of from five to six square feet per fowl will allow. A house of dimensions 1.5x12x6 feet will give you 1,080 cubic feet of air space, or 36 cubic feet per fowl for 30 fowls, a little over seven cubic feet per pound — live weight — providing that they average five pounds each. That is six times more air space than would be necessary for horses, cows and sheep, and the fowls need it on ac- count of the amount of oxygen they consume. ROOF. The cheapest form of house to build is the square one, and the nearer it is square the warmer it will be, but there is the valuable factor of sun radiation to be taken into consideration, and we would advise that the depth of the house be not more than fourteen feet and twelve would be better. The sanitai-y rays of the sun are of much more value than the slight difference in temperature and cost. The cost of a poultry house is influenced by the shape of its roof. We would advise the single span, shed roof as the easiest to build and the most advantageous. It gives the highest point at the front, or south, and the best shelter at the back. It sheds all water at the back and keeps the front dry and cheery. It also allows the arrangement of the windows to be such as to throw the sunlight back into the house. As it slopes towards the north, a tarred paper, or prepared roofing, will last much longer as it is not exposed to the vertical rays of the sun. and it makes the house much cooler in summer for the same reason. FLOOR SPACE. From 5 to 6 square feet of floor sqace, and from 30 to 3G cubic 147 feet of air space, for each fowl, is about the right basis of measure- ment in planning a poultry house. A house 15x12x7 feet high in front, and five feet high at the baclv, with a single span roof, will have 180 square feet of floor space and 1,0S0 cubic feet of air space, which al- lows a flocli of thirty fowls ample accomnioilation. VENTILATION. Look out for dampness, as It is fatal to profits. The warmer the air is in a house the more moisture it will hold and, when this comes in contact with a cooler surface it condenses in the form of hoar frost in winter, and makes the air soggy and damp in summer, and it is common to say that the house sweats. The remedies for these con- ditions are, first. INTERIOR OF HOUSE. Without resard for the particular kind of poultry house that you may s^iect, there are features that should be followed as the results of the experience of others, and this experience is a capital in your business which costs you nothing, which you cannot afford to neglect. FLOORS. Have the floors of your house clear — that is have no fixtures on the floor level. Roosis, feeding troughs and drinking founts should be on platforms elevated from the floor, as it will be very much easier to keep the floor clean if it is free from fixtures of all kinds. ROOSTS. Roosts should be made of Hxll stuff set edgeways with corners sliglitly rounded. Many patent roosts have oil cup attachments to prevent mites from crawling on the fowls at night but, while they are excellent, they are not absolutely necessary, as the poultryman can keep the houses entirely free from mites and other vermin by using the proper exterminators and attending to them frequently. DROPPING BOARDS. One of the greatest necessities is a droppings board under the roosts. It should be made easily removable for cleaning and is one of the best safeguards for sanitation known. The usual way of arranging the roosts is to have them close to the north wall, and at about half the height of the wall. Below the roosts is the movable droppings board and below the droppings board are the nests which are easily movable and set on the floor. Entrance to the nests should face toward the rear of the house, which will prevent the fowls froiri throwing material into the nests while scratching, and it will also lulp to keep the nests dark and prevent egg eating. BOARD FLOORS. In laying a board floor, allow for an eight inch space beneath it, with openings for ventilation and for the cat to get in and out to drive out rats and other marauders. Have floor tight and level. CEMENT FLOORS AND FOUNDATIONS. Concrete is not as expensive as stone, where the stone is laid in mortar and pointed up, and is much more satisfactory. It is equally as rat proof, less liable to heave by frost or moisture, and is easier to make. SELECTION OF BREEDS, This subject may well be considered the foundation to success or failure in the poultry business and it should receive your careful thought. You are going into the business for profit, so do not be con- tenc with scrub stock for it makes a poor investment. 148 The poultry business is no exception to the rule if you desire paying results, you must have a foundation for success, and no man can succeed who builds with poor stock. It costs no more to feed a standard fowl than a mongrel, and you cannot realize high class results from the latter. You would not attempt to conduct a dairy without obtaining the very best grade of stock, nor would you expect the best crops without planting the best seed obtainable. This is the point on which many poultrymen fail, so make it a point to start right. Select the lireed that has made the best showing in your locality; see that your birds are of guaranteed strain, and from vigorous stock, and you will make no mistake. Care should be exercised and investigation m;ide regarding the best stock for the climate and location, before going into the business blindly and with lack of ordinary precaution. FEEDS. If you are running a machine, the quality and quantity of your output must depend very much upon three points: the kind of ma- chine you use, the quality of raw material which goes into the machine, and the kind of a man you have to run it. In this connection the do- mestic fowl may be compared to the machine. The feed is the raw material which goes into the machine and it must be balanced cor- rectly to produce eggs or meat — whichever you are trying to obtain. PROTEIDS. Proteids the foods which renew the waste of the fowl. In any animal there is a continuous process of waste which must be as con- tinuously renewed. The following list of foods are very high in proteids and are, there- fore, called protein foods: Cottonseed Meal, Flax Meal, Linseed Meal, Gluten Meal, Brewers' Dried Grains, Malt Sprouts, Wheat Middlings, Bran, etc. CARBOHYDRATES. These can be called tne fuel of the body, as they furnish the heat. Carbohydrates furnish the steam to warm the egg factory and the strength with which to manufacture the proteids into eggs and new material. Carbohydrates also produce fat and make a fowl lazy and inactive unless the fowl can be made to exercise. Exercise consuiues the carbohydrates in the blood, leaving the blood rich in protein to make the egg and to build up, and keep up, the wearing parts. Car- bohydrates are the starchy foods, such as Corn, Cornmeal, Cob Meal, Hominy Meal, Grotmd Oats, Barley, Buckwheat, etc. ANIMAL FOODS. Animal foods are full of protein and take the place of bugs, worms, etc., that the fowl finds in her natural season for laying. They are Beef Scrap, Pork Scrap, Blood Meal, Green Bone, etc. GREEN FOODS. These take in all manner of fruit, vegetables and growing grasses and grain. Alfalfa Meal, Clover Meal,, and like the others help fur- nish the domestic fowl with its properly balanced food supply. BALANCED RATIONS. A balanced ration is one so made that it furnishes just what the fowl needs. Balanced rations are selected and compounded from the foregoing according to our knowledge of what is required, at vari- ous seasons, to produce eggs and meat and to maintain normal health and vigor. We must take into consideration that we demand vastly more from the fowl than nature ever did; that we twist the seasons so that the fowl will lay in winter, and that we have to supply food to meet these r< quirements over and above what nature would 143 provide when the fowl was idle. We are giving a few formulas for feeds and, while they are excellent in themselves, they should be con- stantly changed. Growing feed. — Equal parts wheat, cracked corn, kafir corn and hulled oats. Use no oats with hulls nor barley or buckwheat until chicks are at least three months old. Chick feed. — Mixture of 1 part each, by weight, of corn, wheat, hulled oats or pin head oat meal, and kaffir corn, cracked, screened and sized suitable for chicks. To this add one part of millet seed, half part grit (chick size), and a fourth part charcoal (chick size). Mash feed. — Equal parts by weight bran, ground oats, corn meal, or substiuite middlings for oats if of good quality, or where oats with- out hulls cannot be obtained. Coolced vegetables can also be used, steamed alfalfa or clover, for 25 per cent of the weight. Beef scrap should constitute 12 to 15 per cent or, if blood meal is used, about half of that amount. Scratching feed.^Mixture of wheat, oats, corn (whole or cracked), barley, kafir corn, buckwheat, and millet seed. Sunflower seed can be added. Cut out buckwheat in summer. Grit, oyster shell or mortar, charcoal, green cut bone (or other animal food) and pure fresh water, are the items which should never be forgotten. It is a wise idea always to have su'ch food before the fowls. Exercise is as necessary as food, and fowls cannot thrive without it. See that they are made to work for their living. Unless the fowls have tree range, it is wise to feed all grain by scattering it in a six-inch litter of straw, cut alfalfa, leaves, or anything that will make them work by scratching. Remember that their food will do them but little good if they are troubled with lice. Lice will take away their vitality and their flesh faster than food can furnish them. Wptch out for lice, and fi.ght then at all times with the best lice killers that you can procure. INCUBATORS AND BROODERS The average farmer, his wife, his son, or his daughter, should not expect to learn all about the management of an incubator from the ] erusal of written pages. Experience comes from the work itself. This work is easy, interesting, and fascinating. It occupies the mind and leads to investigation. More than that, it leads to success and profit. Hut great results can not be expected in the beginning. The poultry business is a tiade and must be learned. Many a person is idle today and looking for some sphere of usefulness who could learn how to operate an incubator to both mental and financial advantage. But the work, slight as it is, must be done properly and at the right time. The poultry business is honorable and profitable, but it requires study and experience. We serve a long and faithful apprenticeship to learn other more laborious and less remunerative trades, when the same amount of application would in less time make us experts with an incubator and give us a trade in a line not affected by strikes or lockouts, o: liable to be overcrowded. 150 Nothing has played so important a part in elevating the poultry business, from a simple pastime to a great industry, as the incubator and brooder. The requisites of a perfect incubator are first, a perfect radiation of heat, controlled by an active thermostat that will legulate the slightest change of temperature in the egg chamber; second, the necessary amount of ventilation. Study your incubator. Acquaint yourself with all its pans. Read the manufacturer's directions for setting it up. Set it up carefully and according to instructions. Never try to run an incubator in a draft y place, nor near a stove, nor where the sim shines upon it. Set fertile eggs only. Waste no effort upon those that are doubtful. Learn how to trim and clean a lamp. Keep the lamps full and the wick and tube clean. Avoid smoke. See that the eggs are clean and di-y before setting them. Balance all eggs, large end up, a few hours before placing them in the tray. Do not overfill the tray. Turn every egg the third day. Cool the eggs every morning. Be sure your hands are clean when handling eggs. Test all eggs by the seventh day. Test again by the eleventh day. Test again by the fifteenth day. If the air space is too large, supply moisture; if too small, put a saucer of dry lime in the room and run without moisture a day or two. Do not expect to learn all about the air cell the first hatch. You will learn that later. Do not disturb the eggs after the evening of the eighteenth day. Have a regular hour for incubator work. Do not tinker too much with the regulator. Get the adjustment right and keep it so. Heat your machine and make your adjustment before placing the eggs in the egg chamber. INCUBATION. After the selected eggs have been kept in your incubator for seven days, they should be tested by holding them in front of a strong light, concentrating the light so that it will pass through the shell. All eggs which appear perfectly clear are unfertile and should be discarded. These discarded eggs can be saved as they form an excellent food for the young chicks when hard boiled. A fertile egg at seven days in the incnbator will show a dark spot from which as a center, blood vessels aHI radiate in different directions. Ii, however, you discover an egg containing a dark spot, around which is a dark circle, discard it also, as this is a dead germ, killed by the bursting of a blood vessel as a result of overheat. The air cell in- creases in size as the chick matures until, on the eighteenth day, it should occupy nearly one-third of the egg space. Eggs should be tested on the seventh and twelfth days and all containing dead germs should be removed. If conditions are right, chicks should break the shell on the nine- teenth day and the entire hatch should be over by the twenty-first day. After. the chicks begin to hatch, the machine should be kept closed until they are ready to remove to the brooder. 151 MATING. No matter how well situated your poultry farm may bo, or Bow good its buildings, or how excellent your incubators and brooders, suc- cess cannot be obtained unless you can produce, or secure, strong and fertile eggs. The first consideration must be the health of your stock. The male birds must be kept in vigorous health and the number of females with which they are permitted to run must be limited. With the American and English breeds, one male to each ten females, with the Mediterranean, one male to each fifteen females, and with the Asiatic, one male to six or eight females, are about the right propor- tions. SELECTION OF EGGS. Care should be exercised in selecting eggs for hatching. There is a great difference in eggs and, although it is not generally known, it is possible to arrive at some idea of their hatching qualities before they are placed in the incubator. An egg which will produce a fine, strong chicken will have a shell of even texture. If, by holding it be- tween your eyes and a good, strong light, the shell appears to be porous or patchy, or if you detect a ridge or thickness encircling the egg, usually at the center, discard it. Again, the air cell in a fresh egg is always small. As the egg becomes older this air cell increases in size. A few practical tests will teach you the difference, so that you can surely and quickly make the proper selection. Some people make the great mistake of buying a good incu- bator, expecting to make a brooder of their own, or to provide some scheme to get along without one. We advise most strongly against thi.s error. It is a comparatively easy matter to hatch chicks, but to raise them is more difficult, and to accomplish this it is necessary to seek the aid of a high grade brooder. The brooder is made in two patterns the indoor and the out- door. Those arranged for indoor use are, as a rule, more successful although the outdoor brooders answer admirably. Absolute cleanliness in brooders is a positive ntcessity, as filth and disease generally go together, resulting in the death of the chicks. A brooder should be roomy, and well supplied with heat always from overhead, and provision should be made so that chicks do not crowd as they are apt to do if temperature is not right. If too cold they huddle together and smother. Fifty chicks in one compartment should be the limit and less is better. FIRELESS BROODERS. All the heat that is needed in a poultry house is obtained from the fowls' bodies if the house is correctly built, and the same prin- ciple is now utilized in the fireless brooder for little chicks, which is a well ventilated padded box that retains and evenly distributes the heat from the bodies of many little chicks together. In mild weather fireless brooders can be used out doors, but the logical place for their use is in a room or brooder house where the temperature can be maintained steadily above freezing. FEEDING YOUNG CHICKS. Young chicks should be given no food whatever for the first 36 hours after hatching, as the last process of incubation is the ab- sorption of the remaining portion of the yolk of the egg. This absorp- tion is nature's way of feeding the chick and should not be interfered with by giving them other food. Do not feed until chicks are removed to the brooder. A little fine grit or coarse sand should be within their reach when 152 they are first placed in the brooder and this should be kept constantly before them. Also plenty of cool fresh water, given in founts so that the chicks cannot get into it and get wet and chilled. Never feed chicks wet sloppy feed, even if you have to confine your feeding to small ground dry mixed grain and bran. After chicks are several weeks old wet feed will perhaps not hurt them, but dry feed is the surest plan. - The dry feed should be made up of dry grains properly proportioned and ground or crushed to the right size. Give the little chicks a little at a time and five or six times a day. Make them scratch in litter for it. After the first week keep beef scrap or some form of animal food before the chicks, as this is necessary for their proper development. Irregular care of little chicks leads to failure, and an hour's chill may cause a set-back impossible to be overcome. When the chicks are ten days old, begin to give them a little green food and increase gradually as they grow older. Onion tops, clover tips and leaves, cabbage chopped fine, potatoes baked, cooled and broken in two, grass cut into short lengths — less than i/^ inch, are all excellent for the purpose. For the younger chicks, a light litter of cut clover, hay, or straw is excellent in the brooder; they will scratch for their food in it, and what little they may pick up will be good for them. Correct feeding is the searching test of success in rearing chicks and should be attended to carefully and not wastefully. Keep the chicks just hungry enough to be willing to work for what they get. A careless feeder not only wastes the food, but will ruin the flock. There are three enemies to your care of little chicks and they are lice. Watch out for them constantly. There are three distinct kinds. The first to bother will be the head louse, which kills more little chicks annually than die from all other causes put together. Next is the body louse, which lives on the chick and will not leave his body until you make him. The last is the mite, which attacks only at night and leaves the body in the morning to hide in the cracks and crevices of brooder or house. No one appliance or remedy will kill all three and they need different treatment with different lice killers. TURKEYS The common varieties of turkeys in this country are the Bronze, Narragansett, Buff, Slate, White, Holland, Black and Bourbon Red. By far the most popular seems to be the Bronze, which is a cross of the Black (the English Noi-folk turkey) with the original wild bird of this country. The Bronze turkey is now the largest and hardiest of all the varieties. Next to it in size, probably next to it in popu- larity also is the Narragansett — also a cross with the American wild turkey, but with some Mexican wild turkey blood added, giving the mixture of white in the bronze and black plumage. Turkey raising is a profitable industry. It is something of a spe- dalty and requires a little different system from that of raising ordin- ary domestic fowls, but the im]iortanr differences are few and easily mastered. But the great thing is to actually do what's right. Know- ing and doing are very different matters. Turkeys adapt themselves easily to various climates and can be raised successfully whether you live far south in Texas or north in Canada, and thrive equally well under conditions so unlike as those found in New England and in California. Fact is you can raise them anywhere if you (1) start with the right stock and (2) give the right care. The righr stock is any stock that is itself individually strong and healthy. It must be kept so. Turkey stock quickly shows bad effects from inbreeding. The only way to keep up the constitutional vigor of the birds is to introduce new roms, selecting always vig- orous medium sized males and mating each with about five mature hen birds, making sure always that the hens are also strong and vig- orous. Some successful breeders consider eight to twelve hens a good proportion to each tom. Pullets dc not lay eggs so large as those laid by yearling and two-year-old hens, and their poults are not so strong. The right care means chiefly protecting the young poults from cold or damp, especially from wet grass and from insect vermin. Timbered land where there is not much underbrush is the finest for raising young poults, or pasture land where the grass is short and there are plenty of insects to be picked up. A flock of turkeys would benefit any farm by the amount of worms, grasshoppers, etc., thus destroyed. Right care includes also giving turkeys good, free range. These birds are still half wild and they will not thrive under the conditions that are ordinarily successful with domestic fowls. They grow very nervous and restless when too closely confined. If you are in the business for profit the right way is to give the turkeys plenty of good range, where they can get abundant natural food by foraging for themselves. But at the same time you must give them a nice grain feed every night as this will guarantee their return home to roost. Corn is the best grain, but you should add occasionally some wheat, oats or peas, as corn alone is too fattening. Since the turkeys will roost in the open air, however, they can stand this rich grain, as it keeps them warm while in the open. The rule is to feed a little at a time, but to feed often. A grain and insect diet suits them to a T. The young poults will begin to feed themselves ,iust as soon as they are out of the shell. In the natural state they live almost entirely on the insects and berries they pick up. Pretty nearly the whole problem in turkey raising is to start right with the poults. For while the grown birds are extremely hardy, the poults are the lenderest of all poultry to care for. Watch them care- fully up to the time when they get their first plumage and "throw the red," that is show their combs. After that they are easy to manage with the two main cautions already stated. The young poult should be fed the first two weeks a crumbly mix- ture of bread and milk and pot cheese, or curd — about one-fourth should be the cheese. Add to this a little chopped onion. Two or three times a day give the little poults all of this they will eat up clean and at least once a day give them some finely cracked corn, mixed with wheat and oatmeal, equal parts by weight. After the second week, increase this grain ration, and also give more of the pot cheese, cutting down the bread and milk in the ration. Pot cheese is considered b'etter tban beef scrap for turkeys, although, of course, beef scrap is a valuable article for them. Of course, as they grow older you gradually give coarser grain and finally the whole grain. Grit and charcoal should be before them all the time — this is always necessary with any kind of poultry. Water must be where they can help themselves, but it should be 154 In a fount such as will protect the young poults from getting wet. Turkeys should always have a good supply of water. To Fatten for Market. — Give the turkeys free range, if possible, else they will "worry." At night, give them all the whole corn they will eat. In the morning give ihem a mixture as follows: Six parts corn meal, three parts middlings, one part meat scrap, mixed with sour skim milk. Do not let this get too soft and sticky, but make a good stiff mixture. The last week of the fattening for market put the birds in darkened coops and feed the following "cramming" ration, which you can make up into pellets and feed by hand: Two parts corn meal, two parts ground oats (without hulls), one part middlings, one part scraps, mix to a stiff dough with sour skim milk as before. RATION FOR BREEDING SEASON. Equal parts by weight of ground oats, corn meal, wheat, bran, wheat middlings, meat scrap mixed with sour skim milk. Oats is the best all around grain at breeding time. During breeding season tur- keys should always be given free range all day and allowed to roost at home in the open. They like high roosts and fresli air. Let them have their way and you will succeed. Turkey hens lay from thirty-five TO forty eggs during the season. Time for incubation is 28 days. Some poultrymen use hens for hatching, but there is great danger from lice unless extra care is taken. However, by giving the first clutch to sit- ting hens you can keep the turkeys laying and dusting the nest and hen frequently with good lice powder will help destroy the pests. Lice will kill little poults very quickly. Young poults thrive best on wood- land range, where they will not get tangled in wet grass and can pick up most of their living. But if confined try to change their runs from dciy to day and disinfect thoroughly. Thoroughly clean all eating vessels. DUCKS This is another branch of the poultry industry which has not been fully appreciated. Duck raising is profitable. They are easier to man- age than chickens, have fewer diseases and mature more quickly. But it takes common sense to make a success of the business. Ducks are raised chiefly for meat, but their eggs are valuable and with proper feeding there is not that strong flavor which has been objectionable. Duck eggs generally command a higher price than hen eggs. Ducks commence laying when five months old. The Pekin and Indian Runner Ducks are now the favorites. Pekins are a large early maturing pure white breed, and will easily weigh over five pounds at ten weeks old. More Pekins are raised for market than all other breeds and they will reach ten or twelve pounds when full grown and are excellent layers. There is also additional profit in their feathers, which are pure white and command a high price. The Indian Runner meets the demand for a small carcass and good layer and especially for a winter layer, when most ducks shirk. The eggs of this breed are about the same size as the others. Ducks are hardy and Indian Runner the hardiest of all. If given a free range they will nearly rustle their own living. They feather and mature early. The drakes weigh about 5^/^ pounds and the ducks one pound lighter. DUCK RAISING. Start always with good breeds and fine stock. Select the breeding stock from the early hatches. Mate the drake in the breeding season with about six ducks and later increase to twelve. Water is an ad- vantage but not necessary in the breeding season, and when fattening for market it is a disadvantage, as they fatten more quickly without it to play in. Young ducks are ready for market in about ten weeks. 155 HOUSING Ducks can b<^ housed more cheaply than chicki'us. The only thing is to keep them dry as possible. Cold and snow they don't mind until they "get co'.d feet." Cold feet stop egg production instantly. The other important thing about housing is to have a rat proof Hoor. Keep the litter on the floor reasonably clean, as they will "roost" on the floor. Water should be where they can get at it day or night for drinking. They need plenty of water inside, but" the less they have to play in the better, as they will be sure to slop water over the floor and get it unflt for their own use. FEEDING. The duck has no crop, hence cannot stand much hard grain, but should be given mash feed. Ducks are heavy eaters, can be crowded for market, but of course there is a limit. Feed all they will eat up clean. Never leave stale food around to become fllthy and fermented and thus a source of disease. Always give them some green food un- less they are on range. As with chickens, do not attempt to feed the new hatch before 36 hours, but let the little birds fully absorb the yolk. Then give two- thirds part wheat bran to one-third part corn meal, moistening to a crumbly mass with a little water or milk. Mix in one raw egg with each quart, and also mix in a little sand or fine grit. Keep this before them for 48 hours, watching to see that it does not get stale. Give them clean water to drink in a fountain such that they can wet their bills and heads but can't get their bodies in the drinking water. At one week: Give three parts wheat bran, two parts corn meal, with about five per cent of beef scrap. Keep changing above so as to have equal parts wheat bran and corn meal at six weeks, with about fifteim per cent beef scrap. With this feeding the ducks will be ready for market at ten weeks. Watch the beef scrap and reduce the amount if the bowels seem affected. They certainly like green feed, but much will tend to make the skin yellow, and the marlvet demands white. Wheat is fine for giving this white skin, and besides it makes good strong bones. The feeding trotigh should be plenty long so all can feed at once. Breeding stock are best given free range during the day, starting them out after a scant breakfast so that they will be sure to exercise well in foraging. Laying stock will make good returns on the following ration: Equal parts corn meal, wheat bran and low grade flour. To this add one-fourth the bulk of cooked vegetables, such as potatoes, turnips, etc. Mix in beef scrap, about twelve per cent. Mix with a little cold water to a crumbly feed. Keep grii and ground oyster shell before them all the time. Also plenty of water, as ducks wash down their food with water. Usually the flocks are brought in from range the last of November or early in December, then put on laying ration and commence egg prodtiction in about three weeks after housing. As would be expected, the first eggs are more liable to be infertile. For hatching, the eggs should not be trusted to the ducks, as they are inclined to be unre- liable. Where most convenient hens can be used for hatching and brooding, but on a large scale the best way of course is to use incu- bators and brooders. Eggs will require 28 days for hatching. GEESE There are many places on the average farm that are not suitable for cultivation or for the raising of chickens, that could be profitably utilized for a goose pasture. Low, swampy places can be used provid- ed there is also some high ground. 156 Goose culture requires less capital than any other branch of the poultry business, as very little housing is necessary and they are turned onto the land very much like cattle. A rough shelter free from extreme drafts should be provided and a deep litter kept on the ground inside. The quarters should be kept reasonably clean, for although they will stand more filth and neglect than chickens it is not the proper way to care for them and good results cannot be obtained without considering the health of the flock.. Mating usually takes place some time in February and after the fowls have been penned together for a week or ten days it is not necessary to keep the various pens separate. Once the family ties are firmly established they will be lived up to during the entire season. Two or three females are all that should be mated to a male.- Geese are long-lived and ten-year-old birds are quite common. Fe- males of three years or over are the best for breeding purposes and their usefulness continues throughout their entire life. Young ganders are more desirable for breeders because of their activity. Old ganders also get quarrelsome with age.^ There is a difference of opinion as to which is the best bred of geese, but the Toulouse, Embden and African are the most popular for general purposes. A. goose will lay from twelve to twenty eggs before becoming broody, but twelve is about the right number for a setting for thebest results. Twenty-eight days are necessary for incubation. If goslings are well hatched little difhculty will be experienced in raising them. They can be given about the same feed as little chicks, with the exception that green food such as fine cut grass or vegetable matter should be given several times a day after the first day. The old goose should be kept in a coop and the goslings allowed to run about. After a month they can be let out to range and very little attention will be necessary. They are very light eaters and if the pasture is good only a little other food will be needed. A good mash feed for them is made by mixing two parts of bran with one of corn meal. A variety of vegetables such as beets, potatoes, turnips, cabbage, etc., should be given them. Because of their rapid growth and the small quantity of grain they consume, geese will be found one of the most profitable kinds of stock for the farmer. SQUAB RAISING The best variety of pigeons to keep for squab raising is the "straight" Homer. These magnificent birds are large and healthy; are good workers, always active and hunting about like Leghorn fowls; are the best of feeders; are of quiet disposition when properly mated; and their eggs are seldom infertile. For these reasons Homers are par excellence among all the pigeon kind for squab farming. FEEDS AND FEEDING. Though the houses may be we'.l constructed and the birds well selected and properly mated, no success can be expected unless proper kinds of feed are procured and the birds are regularly fed. While it is true that some breeders have had fair success for a while by feeding only cracked corn and wheat, long-continued feeding on these two staples alone invariably fails to produce as good squabs or as many as when a further variety of grains is fed. In their free state, pigeons can select a variety of grains, avoiding one kind and choosing another, as their appetites dictate, but when they are kept in a small inclosure they must, of course, take what the breeder gives them. Hence, it becomes highly important that the breeder have good judgment as to kinds and quality of food to set before them, and that he have interest 157 enough in his flock to avoid stinting the quantity, or feeding too largely of one kind because its price happens to be low. The feed room. — A room should be set apart for a store room. It should be supplied with a feed bin divided into the proper number of sections to hold each variety of feed used; or, instead of such feed bin, small barrels with lids may be used. Feeds and other supplies. — In these receptacles should be kept a generous supply of sifted cracked corn, Canada peas, wheat, German millet, Kafhr corn, and hemp. These are the six principal feeds. On the iloor of each pen keep about a peck of clean sand evenly spread. Procure three boxes about the size of small cigar boxes; fill one about one-third full of fine table salt, the second with cracked oyster •shells, pigeon size, and the third with ground charcoal, about as fine as ground coffee. These three substances are very essential to the health of pigeons. Clean out and replenish each of these boxes weekly. Do not fail to keep the salt box filled and before them all the time, for the health of pigeons demands it. Feeding troughs. — In each pen is pLiced a feeding trough, made of inch stuff, 10 inches wide, 4 feet long, and with sides 1% inches high. This trough is placed in the middle of the pen to avoid feeding in the open fly, where the birds and grain would both be subject to the weather. In feeding, a tin pail holding a peck is convenient, as is also a grocer's tin scoop No. 3, which holds about 3 pints. Rations. — For the morning ration give equal parts of cracked corn, wheat and peas, well mixed, using two scoopfuls of the mixture to each pen of 50 pairs of birds, and taking good care to see that all droppings are cleaned out of the troughs before feed is put in. The ration for the afternoon is composed of cracked corn, kafir corn, millet and peas in equal parts. If at any feeding time any of the previous supply has not been used, reduce the quantity. If. however, the troughs should be entirely bare, slightly increase the quantity. When a number of squabs are in the nests the birds will feed more freely and need a more liberal supply. Special feeds. — On Thursdays and Sundays use hemp in the ration instead of millet. Care must be taken that the birds do not get this feed too often, nor in too large quantity, as it is very fattening and if fed in excess has a tendency to give the birds vertigo. For the same reason caution must be used in feeding millet. A small quantity of rice may be fed once a week with advantage. Time of feeding. — Regularity in time of feeding should be strictly observed. The morning feed in summer should be given at 6:30 and in the winter at 7 or 7:30. The afternoon ration should be given at 4 o'clock in the summer and 3 in the winter. The afternoon hours are quite important, and must be adhered to in order that the birds may have ample opportunity to fill themselves and feed their young before nightfall. Be sure to attend to the feeding yourself. Always go alone; never permit anyone to accompany you, for birds are often very timid of strangers, and chilled eggs may result if a stranger should remain in the fly at feeding time. Go in quietly, making no noise or sudden movements; and. after the feed is placed In the trough, always leave the birds alone for a full hour that they may be absolutely uninter- rupted in feeding themselves and the squabs. Feeding indoors, — Never feed out of doors under any circumstances in either summer or winter. Besides the loss occasioned by sparrows taking advantage of the opportunity to help themselves, in summer the heavy dews and hot nights will cause any feed left over to sour, and in winter storm and sleet will prevent birds from feeding. A few cautions. — Cracked corn must be sifted, for fine meal can not be used by the birds, and in hot muggy weather it will sour over night, necessitating extra trouble in cleaning out the troughs. ir,8 Be sure that every grain is sound and strictly first-claps. Do not feed new wheat until it is thoroughly dry, usually not sooner than Oc- tober 1, and do not feed new corn until Christmas. Especially avoid musty grain. Because one of these feeds mentioned may sometimes be quite cheap, do not be tempted to feed largely of it, thinking to save money thereby. This practice so often causes trouble that caution is urged in departing from the proportions named. Too much wheat in the ration v\-ill almost always cause looseness of bowels and make the squabs skinny and dark. Bii-ds need a variety of feed, and it would be as injudicious and disastrous to feed exclusively on peas, a high-priced food, as on wheat alone or some other cheap food. How the squabs are fed. — Some wonder why squabs die in the nest or get on the floor or do not fatten up properly. Very frequently the reason is simply because the old birds are not properly fed. We should constantly bear in mind that a squab is very different from a chick. A newly hatched chick can run about and help itself to food and water. The squab, on the other hand, is utterly helpless at birth; it is unable to walk and must be fed in the nest with whatever the parent bird brings to it. For about five days nature provides a special food commonly called "pigeon milk." a cream.y substance contained in the crops of the pigeons and which they have the power to eject from their mouths into I he mouths of their tender young. After a few days of such feeding the squab is fed on such grains as the pigeon gets, and by the same process of transfer from the parent's mouth to its own; hence, it is essential that proper food be given the pigeons. Watering. — A generous supply of fresh, pure water for drinking purposes should be supplied. The flock should be watered each morning before the supply of feed is given. The water supply should be near the feeding troughs. Two-gallon stone fountains may be used in summer and galvanized iron ones in winter. These foun- tains are placed on the floors of the pens, one to each pen being sufficient. They should be thoroughly cleaned out each morning and filled with pure fresh water, which will last all day, although during the heated spell of summer it is better to put in a fresh supply of water before the afternoon feeding. For thoroughness in cleaning the fountains, it is well to use a small brush. About twice a week place a piece of s'one lime about the size of a hickory nut in each fountain. At least three times a month the fountain should be disinfected by using lU drops of carbolic acid to a two-gallon fountain, leaving the acid in the water for the birds to drink that day, as it will do them no harm. RAISING GUINEA CHICKENS On th? basis of experience, a southern poultry raiser considers that it is best to raise guinea chicks with a common hen or turkey as a mother, particularly since they can be kept out of wet grass and weeds in the early morning more readily than when hatched by guinea hens. In the experience of this writer attacks of mites and lice more often end fatally with guinea fowls than with other poultry, and whitewashing the trunks and branches of the trees where they roost is recommended. This writer also believes that after laying, sitting, and moiting the guinea hens should be caught and dipped in water and grease to free them from vermin. Another poultry raiser on the basis of personal experience recom- mends for newly hatched guineas a coop 8 or 10 feet long, 5 feet wide, and about 2 feel high, covered on the sides with 1-lnch mesh wire net- ting and on the top with 2-inch mesh netting. This coop, which cati be easily moved from place to place, has a door in one end, and In bad weather can be covered on top with boards. If fed in the coop and 150 fastened in so that they will roost there, the chicks will readily learn to return to the coop at night. H. de Courcy, in an article on the guinea fowl for British poultry raisers, recently published by the Board of Agriculture of Great Brit- ain, i:oints out the value of this class of poultry for the table and dis- cusses their feeding, care, and management. He suggests that when newly hatched the chicKs may be fed on any one of the commercial chicken meals, moistened with milk and raw beaten egg. They should also get green food from the start, and the best kind is chopped onions or leeks, but lettuce, dandelion, etc., may be used to advantage. When the chicks are a few days old plainer foods may be freely usi-d, and one of the most wholesome is coarse oatmeal fed dry. This may be varied by the occasional use of boiled rice, raw rice mfal hemp seed, millet seed, etc. At a later stage — say when three or four weeks old — some middlings and fine barley meal may be added to the mash. Grit of fine quality must be rtgularly supplied from the time the chicks leave the shell. There is nothing so wholesome for the chicks as insect food. Dried ants and ants' eggs are often used (in Great Britain) by those who rear pheasants and guinea fowls, but in many districts, especially where the soil is sandy, there are ant-hills in the fields. In such farms it is only necessary to place the coop in which they are kept near an ant-hill and the chicks will feed greedily on the insects and their eggs. * * * When a few weeks old the chicks should be given a free run with the old hen, and the best kind of range for them is an overgrown, weed- covered garden, orchard, or shrubbery. In such a place they can find as much insect food as they need to keep them in health; but if the run is small, or if too many birds are kept on it, it becomes necessary to feed the guinea chicks with a small quantity of meat in their mash. One of the prepared meat foods or finely chopped fresh meat and fresh bone may be used. POULTRY DISEASES AND REMEDIES Poultry Powder — Ground bone or slacked lime, 12 oz.; ginger, 2 oz.; gentain, 1 oz.; capsicum, 1 oz.; sulphur, 1 oz. Reduce to powder. Mix well and add a teaspoonful to a quart of feed. Lice — Cleanliness will usually prevent the appearance of lice. They are first found on the poorer and weaker fowls, and it is believed that they must be introduced by an infected fowl. This is a reason against buying grown fowls rather than raising from eggs. It has been esti- mated that a single pair of lice in three mouths will produce 100,000. A few drops of sweet oil or lard on the head, winas and throat of little chickens will prove best. Older fowls should be allowed na- ture's remedy — dust baths. Powdered sulphur or insect powder dusted into the feathers is good. Some put fowls in tight boxes, with head protruding, and fumigate with sulphur fumes for a few minutes. This is said to do no harm and kill all pests. If the poultry house is in- fected it should l)e thoroughly cleaned — whitewash, sprayed chlorides, or an emu'sion of kerosene oil (if spraying is done thoroughly) being recommended for this purpose. Chicken Cholera — Is more prevalent in warm than in cold climates. It is a bacterial disease and is highly contagious for the simple reason that the bacteria germs are ejected with the excrement and the health- iest and most robust siiccumb to its ravages alike with those that are more delicate. Investigation by the government officials shows that the first symptoms of chicken cholera is, in the great majority of cases, a yellow coloration of that part of the excrement which is secreted by the kidneys and which is normally of a pure white. This yellow coloring matter appears while the excrement is yet solid, while the patient presents a perfectly normal appearance and the appetite Is good, before there is any elevation of the temperature. In some cases the first symp'oms is a diarrhoea, the excrement being passed freely, and after a day or two it becomes a dark green in color. Tho comb is pale or bloodless and sometimes of a dark purple or blue. The duration of the disease varies; sometimes the bird dies within ten hours of the first attack of the disease, and again they will some times linger for several days. There are numerous remedies for the cure of chicken cholera. In the first place isolation is necessary. Give them a warm, dry and comfortable house. Disinfect the premises thoroughly with a solu- tion of eight ounces of sulphuric acid and two gallons of water; sprinkle the ground and everything in the house thoroughly with the disinfectant; remove all the droppings from the house away from the healthy fowls. To each gallon of drinking water add a teaspoonful of carbolic acid. This is also a good disinfectant and will act as a pre- ventive. The following recipe is one that will be found efficacious in the cure of the disease: Isolate those affected, and give each a pellet about the size of a grain of corn or a pea, three times a day, made from the following powder (use a little flour and water to make the pellets): 2 oz. capsicum, 1 oz. pulverized rhubarb, 2 oz. pulverized asafoedita, 6 oz. Spanish brown, 4 oz. carbonate of iron, 2 oz. sulphur. As a preventive, add a tablespoonful of the above powder to the soft food for every ten or twelve fowls, twice a week. Roup in Its Various Stages — One of the most dreaded diseases among poultry is that of roup, which usually begins with a cold. All fowls are subjected to colds, as well as humanity, and should have the same attention that we would give ourselves; for should we neglect to apply a remedy when we take cold, the result might prove quite serious. The same will be applicable in case your fowls take cold, which may be brought about in numerous ways, viz: roosting in damp quarters, cold draughts of air passing over them in their sleeping apartments, sleeping in brood coops on the ground where they are packed so close as to smother some during the night and those not suffocated are over-heated so that when exposed to the cold air in the early morning a severe cold is the result, and if a remedy is not speedily applied and the cause removed, roup will invariably follow, which of all poultry diseases is the most obstinate, sickening, and difficult to cope with, and if necesary precautions are not taken in tho start to arrest the disease, it will run through the entire flock and leave nothing but death and destruction in its path. In our opinion roup is more to be feared by poultrymen than the deadly disease, cholera. Symptoms of roup may be described thus: Fowls begin coughing, sneezing, and sometimes their breathing is heavy, accompanied by a wheezing sound. Eyes become inflamed, heads swell and they have a watery discharge from their nostrils which sometimes has quite an offensive odor; they are drinking almost continuously if they have access to water, which is an indication of their being feverish. As tho disease advances the head becomes inflamed, swelling on one or both sides, frequently obstructing the sight, the eye sometimes being en- tirely destroyed. It may be noticed when fowls are affected with this disease they have splendid appetites and eat until the last, provided they are not internally affected, in which case they are stupid and a discoloration of their excrement may be noticeable, which is much the same as that of fowls affected with cholera. Cure for Roup — When fowls are In the advanced stages cf the dis- ease, the best remedy is the hatchet, as they can seldom be cured, al- though in the early stages they may be cured by taking a small spring- bottom oil can and injecting in their nostrils and roof of their mouths a little kerosene oil; if heads are swelled, anoint the part swollen with sweet oil and alcohol, equal parts each day. Add some good condition powder to their morning mash. Put about one-half teaspoonful of 161 aconite into each quart of their drinking water. Keep them in good, dry, comfortable quarters, with an aLuiulance of sunshine in their room, and it should be well littered with straw or leaves, which must be changed frequent!}', 'i'heir dnnkiig vessels should be cleansed with boiling water. The utensils in which they are fed their morning mash should be cleansed with boiling water, as this is absolutely necessary to accomplish a speedy cure, not forgetting to remove all sick fowls from those not affected, to prevent spreading of the disease. Gapes — Old fowls are never affected with the gapes. The disease is found only among chicks, and is caused by a worm or worms which infest the trachea. When once noticed on the premises it can never be entirely eradicated. It appears to be in the soil, and chicks each year will be subject to the gapes more or less after the place has once become contaminated therewith. Gapes among chicks may be cured by the use of horse hair. Twist one together so as to form a small loop at one end; insert this end down the wind pipe and if you turn it around several times the worms get caught in the loop and can be drawn out. Here is another remedy which, it is claimed, never fails to relieve the chicks of the gapes, and v/ith proper care you will not lose a bird. Take a tight box about three feet long, one foot high and one foot wide; place a partition crosswise about twelve inches from one end, made of lath or wire screen. Then place a brick or stone on the floor in small end of box; after this take a piece of iron and heat it ;'ed hot. While the iron i§ heating catch the chicks that have the "gapes and place them in the larger end of the box. Take the red hot iron and place it on the stone or brick and pour a spoonful of carbolic acHd on it. Close the box for a minute or two, then open and stir the chicks around so tl:at they all can inhale some of the gas, which will kill the gape worm. If some of the chicks are overcome, lay them out and they will soon revive again. Do not leave them in the box too long or the gas will s.itlocate them. The first application usually cures, but should there Le any that has not been cured with the first dose, repeat the second time, and it will never fail to cure them. Scaly Legs — Is usually caused by the chicks or fowls sleeping in filthy Quarters, It is also caused by a small parasite which works underneath the scales of the legs. I have seen fowls with scaly legs that were twice their natural size. If the legs of each fowl were anointed ouce each month with eciual parts of sweet oil or kerosene oil ;md alcohol they would never become scaly, but would remain in a fine, healtby condition. A good remedy is lard and kerosene oil, equal ]iarts; add enough pulverized sulphur to make a paste then apply this to the legs and bandage them, leaving the bandage on for a week. If at this time the scales are not all peeled off, repeat the application of the same ointment, as it is a sure cure. The bandage may be sewed on so that it cannot be scratched off by the patient. Dysentery — Dysentery in chicks is invariably brought on by irregu- lar lieat. If quite young chicks get chilled, bowel complaint will be the result. If overheated the same disease will follow, which is fatal in most instances; at least it retards their growth. Never allow chicks to get chilled or overheated if you wish them to do well. Us lally during the warm summer months the most difficulty is exjierienced in this line, owing to the warm days and cold nights we often have at this time of the year. Cure: To a pint of soft food add a table- spoonful of finely ground raw bone, which should be fed at least three times a week to the healthy chicks as well as to those affected. Boil two ounces of ginger ond one ounce of copperas in a gallon of water. Moisten the food with this fluid, but avoid feeding corn in any form when chicks have the dysentery. CATARRH This is an aggravated form of cold — an inflammation of the mucous mcmlirane. Some make quite a distinction, technically, between Catarib and Roup, but we class them under the same heading. Cer- tainly the method of treatment rpplics f'qr.ajly well to either. 1(52 TUBERCULOSIS Symptoms — Lack of life, emaciation with indications of indigestion, but there is in Tuberculosis a decided rise in temijerature and, during the last stages, violent diarrhoea. Treatment — Kill all which show any symptoms and burn and bury the ashes. Remove the balance of the flock to new quarters and, with a sprayer or sprinkling can, disinfect everything that the fowls have come in contact with. INFLUENZA Influenza, "epizootic," or grippe is a contagious, catarrhal disease dis- tinct from Roup, although it often appears with Roup. Its common form is like a Roupy cold and has the Roupy smell, with or without Diarrhoea. It may well be classed as Roup for all practical purposes, as the cause, symptoms, and treatment are the same. SWELLED HEAD While Swelled Head is generally an aftermath of Roup and its kind- red diseases, fowls may be found with hot and swollen heads without having had any severe case of Roup or Cold. Symptoms — Swelling of head with more or less closing of eyes^ etc. Treatment — Same as for Roup. Sometimes it may be necessary to lance in order to remove the pus. CONGESTION OF THE LUNGS This is caused by the sudden chilling of the surface of the fowl's bodies and is due to exposure of various kinds. It is more frequently found in moulting fowls when their strength is not up to standard and their bodies are not in condition to protect them from the cold. Symptoms — Stupor and lack of life, accompanied by difficult and rapid breathing. Tne comb may turn black or blue, and blood- tinged mucous may be discharged from the mouth. The disease ap- pears without much warning and may quickly cause death. Treatment — Owing to the fact that this disease is so quickly fatal, there is nothing that can be done to cure it. The prevention should be given all your thouglit. CROP BOUND This trouble is usually caused by improper feeding. Too much grain in the crop will distend it and impair its functions. It may be the result of the fowl eating a mass of dry grass, or wire grass, or in- digestible chaff, etc.. which forms into a hard ball and cannot pass beyond the crop. The contents of the crop ferment and the bird is liable to starve with its crop full. Symptoms — The symptoms are usually easy to discover as the crop is hard and greatly distended. In some cases, an ill smelling liquid will run from mouth and nostrils. The comb is pale, the beak is open as the pressure on the trachea makes it difficult to breathe, its feathers are ruffled and the bird has a general appearance of dejection. Treatment — Pour a little sweet oil into the fowl's mouth and force it to swallow. Grasp :.he legs with one hand, and, with the other, beginning at the top -^i the crop, gently press and work the contents of the crop, and endeavor to loosen up a small quantity of the matter that may thus be set free. Supply oil often while working, so that the contents of the crop may be kept as moist as possible. As soon as the crop is emptied, put two" or thi'ee grains of baking soda in water and k-ep it before the fowl. Do not feed anything for a day and tnen Vv.r/ sparingly and carefully of soft foods until recovery. 163 OBSTRUCTION IN THE THROAT A fowl will sometimes attempt to swallow a piece or food which, because of its saape or size, will lodge in the throat. Unless removed at once, inflammation and conseijue-.it swelling will result and without immediate relief death will follow. Symptoms — Frequent attempts to swallow, and often a hard sub- stance can be felt from the outside. Treatment — Give a small quantity of sweet oil and work the sub- stance out at the mouth by easy pressure and movement. EGG BOUND This happens with older fowls and during the latter part of the winter. It may be traced, in most cases, to an over-fat condition due to improper feeding. Symptoms — The symptoms are unmistakab'.e as the bird becomes listless and makes frequent attempts to expel the egg. If the bird is examined, the egg may be felt as a hard substance in the posterior part of the body. Treatment — In ordinary cases, inject a small quantity of sweet oil into the vent and then, by gentle pressure, assist the passage of the egg. When this is accomplished, reduce the feed and give green food in abundance, wiihho.ding all carbohydrates or fat-producing foods. EGGS WITHOUT SHELLS These are usually accounted for by a lack of shell-making mate- rial in the ration of the fowls. They may also be traced to the in- flammation of that part of the ovitluct where the shell is formed. This trouble leads to more or less irritation and should be corrected at once. This can be done by providing p'enty of crushed oyster shells, mortar, granulated or broken dry bone, wheat bran, etc. We do not advise the use of egg shells as this may lead to the egg-eating habit. POISONING Through careless distribution of insect killers, salt brine, salt meat, lye, fertilizers, copperas, phosphorus from matches, rough on rats, paint left in old cans, Paris green, etc., many fowls meet death annually. It is necesary to use the utmost precaution to prevent fowls from ob- taining access to them. Symptoms — Trembling, convulsions, and drowsiness. The fowls seek a dark place and draw their heads into their body. As a rule, the cause of the trouble is discovered too late to permit treatment. Treatment — If the nature of the poison can be discovered in time, an antidote for same should be given. Where the poison is due to salt, lye or fertilizers which contain nitrate of soda, give as drinks strong coffee, brandy or flaxseed and water after steeping. This flaxseed preparation is also good for arsenic poisoning. Sulphate of iron in driitklng water can also be used. Where poisoning is due to copper, zinc, phosphorus or lead, give white of egg in liberal quantities. EGG EATING While this is more of a habit than a diseat-e, it is often caused by a physical longing for oyster shell, or other lime-containing, shell-making matt rial, and the absence of sufficient animal food in the diet. It is a most annoying and expensive habit and a difficult one to break. No sooner is there an egg laid than it io eagerly eaten, and one fowl quickly teaches the oihers until a number in the flock may be seen to rut'.h for an egg as soon as it is deposited in the nest. Treatment — One of the best methods is to make a small incision in either end of an egg and allow the contents to run om. i hen make a mixture of soft soap and red iiepper and refill the egg, closing 164 the ends with court plaster and placing a number in the nests where the fowls can get at them. If these are eaten, fill others. It should not take long to sicken the fowls of the habit. If you see that fowls are kept busy, that shell-making material is provided, such as oyster shell, n^oitar, bone, etc., and that the nests are dark and well sup- plied with straw, you will have but little trouble from this cause. Remember to darken nests as much as practical, have china nest eggs, and always collect freshly-laid eggs as quickly as possible. How to Make Hens Lay in Winter — Give a portion oi: minced meat, mixed with their other food, every day or as often as convenient, and see that they have plenty of gravel, old plastering, or powdered egg- shell. The latter may be mixed with their food. Without some sub- stance of this kind, which cannot be obtained when the ground is frozen or covered with snow, there will be nothing to form the shell. Handling Eggs — Above all, eggs sent to marlvet should be clean and free from all disfigurement. If the nests are kept clean, the eggs will usually be clean, but soinetimes the first eggs of pullets are streaked with blood, and eggs will on occasion become soiled. A moist rag will usually clean them up without the expenditure of much time. Fattening for IVlarket — In fattening fowls, care should be taken to give young fowls some exercise in order to keep them in a healthy and vigorous conditfon. Old fowls require little or no exercise. Espe- cially should little exercise be allowed for a few weeks just before killing, if a choice quality of meat is desired. Close confinement im- proves the quality of the meat. THE ORCHARD One of the first questions that confronts a person who is starting an orchard is the problem of where to put it. It is true that fruit will grow and thrive under a variety of conditions, but there is ahvays one which is best. This condition is based on such factors as the soil, site, location, kind of fruit that is to be grown and markets that are to be supplied. Orchard soils should be rich, as it takes a great amount of soil fer- tility to supply the necessary elements to build up the wood in the tree, and this must always be done before the fruit can be developed. NEW LAND New land is very desirable for an orchard, and especially land which has just been cleared of a heavy growth of timber. The decaying foliage and roots of the forest growth leaves the soil with a generous supply of humus, and will produce a luxuriant growth of wood in the young trees. However, the land should be freed from all stumps and roots before the orchard is planted. In any land from which the timber 165 has just bf-cn removed it is always best to put the ground into some I ultivated or soil buildiug crop such as corn, potatoes, clover or cow peas for a couple of years before planting the trees. Stony land is not at all objectionable for orchards, as on steep slopes the stones help in protecting the soil from excessive washing, and no doubt helps materially in warming up the soil in the spring. A stony soil is usually a well drained soil. On lauds which have a very steep slope the stones can easily be made into terraces below the trees or ihey may be placed iu the form of terraces between each two rows of trees. Unless the soil is very thin stones may be considered as a benefit rather than otherwise, because of the value they are to the land in as- sisting in drainage aud in protecting the soil from washing. Where virglu soil cannot be had for the orchard, only rich land should be used. An orchard, will occupy the land for many years, and very thorough preparation should be given before the trees are planted. Never set the trees on poor laud or dry land for if they do start they are so stunted that they seldom make a satisfactory orchard. Lands which have been used for grain crops for several years without the ad- dition cf plenty of manure or green manuring crops should not be planted until the soil has been built up. Old pasture lands while per- haps fertile should have a cultivated crop for at least one season be- fore planting to oichard. Before planting trees thoroughly plow the land deeply. If soil is shallow and underlaid with hardpan follow the furrow with a subsoil plow to break up the hardpan under the trees. The young roots can then penetrate deeply and increase their feeding area. SELECTING A SITE FOR THE ORCHARD The site for the orchard has a great influence on its bearing qualities. Northern and eastern slopes are regarded as best for ap- ple orchards owing to the fact that they warm up later in the spring than others. This results iu retarding blooming and many times avoids injury from the frost. A site facing prevailing winds often has a marked influence iu the damage from frost. Soils on the northern and eastern slopes are generally deeper and richer than those found on southern or western slopes, possibly be- cause the sun does not strike such slopes so directly and does not burn out the humus so quickly. Southern slopes are earlier and permit of a longer growing season. Ti'ees which are situated on southern exposures receive more sunshine, and usually develop fruits of higher color than on the north and east. In regions where the growing season is short, it is always best to select a strong southern exposure for the orchard. In high altitudes this fact is often of great importance, as any element which will prolong the season for late apples and induce them to take on their full color should be favored. Early varieties in high altitudes will usually ma- ture on northern or eastern slopes. PREPARING LAND FOR AN ORCHARD A serious mistake that is commonly made in planting an orchard is to be in too great a hurry. An orchard is planted to last for years, and undue haste at the beginning will generally result iu a shorter life for the irees. This great hurry to get the orchard planted In most apparent ni lack of preparation of the soil. It takes time to put any soil in i'iO best condition to receive the trees, and frequently, to get the trees planted as cheaply as possible they are put into the ground before the soil is ready to receive them. This is especially true when orchards are planted on land from which the native growth has just been removed. Land that is to be planted to orchard should be under cultivation for at least two years before the trees are planted, and especially so on lands which have a heavy growth of timber. With such land all of 165 the stumps and rools should be removed, and this can be done at much smaller expense before the orchard is planted than afterwards. New land is always hard to cultivate, because of the roots which sprout and try to grow, and among young orchard trees such sprouts cause endless trouble until they are removed. It is best on such new land lo plant some green manure crop for a year or two. In pre])aring the ground for an orchard it should be plowed as deep as possible to loosen the soil and make the roots penetrate deeply into the lower soil. Shallow rooted trees do not live long. Use every effort to force the tree roots to go deeply and the wind will not then affect and blow loose the tree. The roots will also obtain more water in this way. LAYING OUT THE ORCHARD The plan for laying out the orchard can be arranged in any manner that suits the planter's convenience, although there are two systems generally used, the square or hexagonal. With apple trees the dis- tance for planting varies in different sections. The far western states' apples are frequently set as close as twenty feet, while in the extreme East they will be double or treble this distance. With pears the distance can be somewhat less, as most varieties are of a more upright habit than the apple. Peaches are generally set about eighteen or twenty feet apart, although when trained with an open center it crowds the trees after they have reached their maturity. Before laying out the orchard it is always best to figure out how the trees can be arranged to best advantage. They ought to be set so as to allow of ample room around the sides to do the necessary work without crowding against the boundary fence. It is better always (o plant the trees so that they have the same, or nearly the same, dis- tance on all sides, rather than to have twice the distance in one direc- tion as in the other. There are a number of different ways of laying out an orchard and some of the simple plans are very satisfactory. In using any plan the effort should be to get all of the trees set in perfectly straight rows, so that they may be sighted over in any direction and perfect rows can be seen. This is simply to improve appearance. WHAT KIND OF NURSERY STOCK TO PLANT There is always more or less uncertainty with the inexperienced as to kind of sfock to buy. It always pays to buy the best and is also advisable if not sure to write your state experiment station for their advice. One year trees are now the favorites for planting. It does not pay to buy trees just because they are cheap. Good trees cost money to grow, and the buyer must expect to have to pay a good round price for good trees. TIME TO PLANT Fruit trees can be set out in either the late fall or early spring months. In the Western states spring planting is preferred, as the soil is then in much better condition and more easily worked than in the fall. But in the rest of the country the land is generally in good shape in the late fall, unless excessively wet or unusually dry. Fall planting has the advantage of getting the trees into their new location with the least amount of time in storage, and trees set out in the fall will make some root growth during the winter and be in good shape to start into growth in the spring. There is generally more time for planting in the fall than in the spring and the work can be done in better shape. The amount of cutting back of the tops that is necessary at the time a tree is set depends on the age of the tree, whether peach, apple, p'.um, etc. Peaches are generally cut back to a whip. Apples are shortened back about one-half. Pears, plums, cherries, etc., when two years old stock are cut back about one-third, and where one year old about one-third the length of the trop. 167 HOW TO PLANT A TREE. Many persons inexperienced in handling trees lose numbers of them by lack of luiowledge. The roots should .lever be exi)osed to the air from leaving the nursery until planted in the orchard. Don't expose roots of trees to sun or wind. If not ready to plant when stock arrives heel them in, covering the roots with moist soil until ready to plant. The hole that is dug for the tree must be large enough so that the roots may be spread out naturally without crowding. The hole need not be wide but deep enough to set a little deeper than it stood in the nursery. All of the longest roots need to be shortened in to about six inches and cut with a smooth clean cut. Any roots that are broken or bruised need to be removed, and all cut surface need to be made smooth so they will heal quickly. Filling in the soil about the trees is a very important step in tree planting. To get the best results the soil must be packed closely about ibe roots, so that there are no air holes or crevicer. The best way to do this is with the hand. When the tree is in place spread the roots out and throw a shovelful of soil over them, shake the tree up and down several times and then work it into the crevices between the roots with the lingers. Throw in a little more soil and work into the remaining crevices, aud then with the feet tram]) the soil solid. Throw in more soil and tramp, repeating until the hole is full and the dirt about the tree is packed down solid and tight. Moving the tree up and down while the earth is being thrown in will assist materially in avoid- ing air holes and in bringing the soil in close contact with the roots. There is little danger of packing the soil too tightly about the roots. The greatest danger is in not getting it packed tightly enough and leaving air holes that will let the roots dry out and the tree die. The trees should be set just a little deeper than they stood wlien in the nursery, although not over an inch deeper. Setting too deep is as dangerous as not setting deep enough. The best guide is the line marking the change in color of the bark at the crown where the tree enters the ground. After the tree has been firmly packed in the hole throw an inch or so of loose earth over the packed soil to serve as a dust mulch and prevent from drying out. Watering at the time the tree is planted is not necessary in the Eastern or Middle Western states, but in the semi- arid country; where the trees cannot be irrigated immediately after being planted, it is often advisable to pour a bucketful of water about the nBwly planted tree. This should be done before the hole is filled with rioil, and the water allowed to percolate away. Then fill up with the dry soil and do not pack the surface, but rather let this soil lie loose and prevent the water from evaporating. A dust mulch will very effectively conserve the moisture in the soil for the use of the tree. ORCHARD TILLAGE. The ideal system of cultivation for any orchard, either East or West, is to combine the tillage with a cover crop. Stirring the soil is a necessity, not only for the purpose of improving the physical condi- tion of the soil, but for liberating the fertility. In soils that are plowed early in the spring air is admitted and the soil warmed up and drained of ex(;ess moisture through evaporation. In summer the plowed layer serves as a means of preventing the evaporation of moisture that is deeper down in the soil, by breaking the capilarity. It also increases the water holding capacity of the soil. By increasing the moisture in the soil decomposition of the organic materials is hastened, and their fertility made available for the use of the plants. The exact manner of cultivation in an orchard will be governed largely by the kind of trees and the location. It is best in most in- stances to put the young orchard into a crop of some sort which will necessitate the cultivation of the land. Crops like corn, cotton, pota- toes, strawberries, cantaloupes, or other crops of that nature make ex- cellent crops in a newly planted orchard. These crops are temporary, 1G8 and are planted for the profit that can be obtained from them. Their culture is intensive and requires a frequent stirring of the soil and tliese are the conditions needed for young trees. Every effort should be made tlie first few years to promote wood growth in order to get a large framework for future production of fruit. A tree starved when young will not be productive. Where strawl'erries are grown between young trees they will oc- cupy the ground for at least three years, after which time they should be plowed under, and the land planted to clover or some other legume. This is for the purpose of restoring nitrogen to the soil and stimulating the wood growth of the trees. Where corn, cotton or other "hoed" crop is grown, the land will be occupied by any one crop no longer than one year. It is considered to be the best practice not to plant the same Ivind of crop in the orchard for more than two years in succession. In fact soil experts will advise that any particular crop occupy the land but one year and then be followed by a crop of a different sort. This is because the &oil qtiickly becomes impoverished wiiere one kind of crop is repeatedly grown on the same area. In the young orchard this is especially true, as the trees are to remain lor many years and the soil's fertility must not be reduced. A good rotation of crops in a young orchard is to plant cotton or corn the first season and follow with po- tatoes the next year, following it the next season with a legume of some kind. Vegetables of all kinds may be grown in a young orchard in place of the crops mentioned, and will serve well in keeping the ground of the orchard well stirred and the trees growing thriftily. Sugar beets are extensively used in the irrigated districts, but are not always de- sirable because of the late watering that is needed to get the beets to mature. This late watering induces late growth in the trees and makes them liable to winter killing. Under no condition should small grain be planted in an orchard, as it will not permit of cultivation, and cultivation is necessary in a young orchard for reasons which have been mentioned. This state- ment applies to the growing of a grain crop that is to be allowed to reach maturity and be harvested either as grain or hay. Rye, wheat, oats and buckwheat are frequently planted in an orchard, but they are used altogether for green manures and under the best systems of culture are not allowed to remain for more than a few weeks, or over winter at the longest. In plowing the ground in a young orchard, the plov.s should be run six or eight inches deep, so as to provide a deep covering of plowed soil and to cut the surface roots of the new trees and make them penetrate into deeper soil where it is cooler in summer and warmer in winter. In the bearing orchard if any crop is grown it should be turned under, adding to the fertility of the soil. It takes an immense amount of soil fertility to produce foliage and wood and much more to furnish the fruit. Orchard land should therefore not be expected to produce a crop of some other sort also. COVER CROPS. Cover crops, called also green manures and shade crops, are such crops as are grown in the orchard for the purpose of clothing the surface of the soil during late summer and winter months. They are used to protect the soil from washing during the winter rains, and for this reason are always to be advised for orchards that are on steep, hilly land. In general orchard practice cover crops are sown late in the summer and allowed to remain throughout the winter when they are to be turned under the following spring and become a green manure. For such purposes a number of different kinds of crops are used, depending largely on the soil, climate and the needs in hand. ORCHARD HEATING Orchard heating is of very recent origin, although for many years 169 fruit men and gardeners have tried various plans of preventing frost from injuring their plants and blossoms. OIL AND COAL FOR FUEL From the experiments that have been carried on it seems appar- ent that the source of heat must come from any one of three available sources, viz.. wood, oil and coal. Which of these to use will depend on the cost of the fuel laid down in the orchard. In sections where wood is still the most aoundant and cheapest fuel, it will be the best to use. In sections where oil can be had cheaper than coal or wood, it will serve; and in other sections coal will be the cheapest fuel. Doubtless at the present time more persons are using coal for fuel in some way than any other material, and are more familiar with its combustion. Tn the work of orchard heating it has given great satis- faction and many orchards have been saved from frost by coal burners. In heating the orchard it is not necesary to run the temperature more than to the freezing point, or at most a couple of degrees above, as there is nothing gained. In fact it may be even objectionalde through causing the buds to grow a little and become even more tender than they would be if the temperature is held close to the frost line. To be certain as to the departure of the temperature above or below the freezing point it is necessary that the orchard be provided with several thermometers located at convenient places where they can be looked at frequently by the overseer of the operations. THINNING AND HARVESTING. Thinning is done for the purpose of removing a portion of the fruit on the trees so as to allow that which remains to reach a larger size. It is profitable only on trees t'lat are carrying a heavy load. To a cer- tain extent the thinning can be done by prunning away some of the fruit producing wood, but in other cases it will take hand thinning to properly distribute the fruit. It has been frequently argued that it costs too much to thin, but as a matter of fact, it will cost no more to pick the fruit when it is small than it will when it reaches maturity. In many instances it will not cost as much. It is money well invested at any rate, as the reduc- ing of a heavy crop works to the advantage of enlarging each indi- vidual fruit left on the tree, and allows the tree to form fruit buds for the next year. It is impossible to lay down any set rules for thinning as much depends on the size of the crop. Years of very light crops, thinning may not be necessary, but in heavy years it is advisable. Apples usu- ally produce fruit in clusters of three to six. All but the best should be removed. On the tips of the longest whips fruit is often formed, but will not develop into fancy fruit, so they had best be removed, allowing only the fruit on the spurs to remain, thinning out to only one on a spur. ' Pears have about the same habit of fruiting as do the apples, and need to be thinned in the same way. With young trees and with trees that are not carrying a very heavy load of fruit, thinning is not always a necessity, as if thinned on such trees the fruit may become larger than is most desired for market fruit. Very large pears are not wanted by ths average market, as when they have to sell at a price above 5 cents each ihe demands are not sufficient to warrant most dealers handling them. Peaches, plums and cherries are thinned to a large extent by the operation of pnmin.g. Peaches especially set a far larger number of fruit buds than Ihe tree can possibly bring to maturity, and thinning by removal of some of the fruit producing wood saves a large amount of labor later on. All of the fruit of the peach is produced on wood of 170 the last year's growth, and the middle portions of such branches will have one or two buds at each node. The thinning should be done before the peaches get any larger than a pigeon egg, and need to be thinned out so that the fruit on any one branch is separated by at least six inches from any other fruit on the same limb. In thinning stone fruits the work can be done by pulling the fruits off, but with apples and pears it is safest to clip the fruit with sharp pointed shears, as if pulled there is too much liability of breaking off the entire spur. HARVESTING. To know when to pick a fruit is a fine art. To know how to pick a fruit can be learned by practice, but not every one can or will learn how to do the operation with all of the care that is necessary in han- dling a high class crop. The commercial fruit markets of today demand fruit that is in excellent condition, and will pay prices that warrant all of the care that the grower can give the fruit during the harvest. Al! kinds of fruit must be picked by hand, rather than by raking off the tree, or shaking onto the ground to be picked up later on. Fruit that is picked from the tree must be laid carefully into a basket, bucket or bag and carried to the packers with the least possible shak- ing about. Most of tne fancy fruit is held in cold storage till late in the season and i:s keeping qualities will largely determine its price. Fruit which is ful'.y ripe but not over ripe and placed at once in storage keeps best. FRUIT PLANTING IN BRIEF APPLES. As a rule, the apple tree is as hardy as most of our native forest trees, and any soil that will produce good crops of grain or potatoes will be found to be adapted to the growth of healthy and vigorous apple trees. No other fruit occupies, in the north temperate zone, the command ing position of the apple. Whether it be in size, form or color; in flavor, sweet or sour, an infinite variety of shades; in crispness or tenderness, it will in some variety or other suit any taste. No or- dinary farm crop will, on the average, produce one fourth as much income per acre as a good apple orchard. The fact that six to eight years must elapse before a newly planted orchard will begin to bear deters many from planting. But, as a matter of fact, land can be used a large part of the time for crops, and no great investment is re- quired to plant at the rate of 30 to 50 trees to the acre. When on^e in bearing, with little actual time spent upon it each year, it will be an unfailing source of cash income. DWARF APPLES. The dwarf apple is very much appreciated by those who have small space for planting. Grafted on Paradise stock, the trees never attain large size. They are symmetrical and produce fruit at an early age — three years from planting. They can be set 5 or 6 feet apart and the fruit is easily gathered. For orchard purposes they are as productive as the standard trees, for the increased number of trees per acre produce as much fruit as the smaller number of large trees, and the fruit is more easily gathered, and trees can be more thor- oughly and conveniently sprayed. APRICOTS. The apricot is a fruit somewhat intermediate between the peach 171 and the plum. The tree is a round-headed, spreading grower, with dark, somewhat peach-like bark and very broad or almost circular leaves. The fruit, which generally ripens in advance of both the peach and plum, is peach-like in shape and color, with a smoother skin, rich ye; low flesh, and large flat stone. The flesh is commonly less juicy than that of the peach, and, as a rule, perhaps of higher quality. Cultivate as for peach. BLACKBERRIES. Plant on good land, moderately manured. Rows seven feet apart, three feet in the rows for field; prune as with raspberries. Form a hedge or tie to wire. Cultivate shallow. CHERRIES. The cherry thrives best on a dry, sandy or gravelly soil, and there attains its highest perfection, but will do well in almost any situation except a wet one. Cherries are divided into two classes: (1) Hearts and Bigarreaus; (2) Dukes and Morellos. The former are strong and vig- orous growers, making large, open, spreading heads; their fruit is large, heart-shaped, meaty and sweet. The Dukes and Morellos do not attain so large size, but are more hardy and less liable to injury from burst- ing the bark. Their fruit is usually sour. For dry soils we rate the cherry, and particularly the Morellos class, one of the most profitable fruits grown. The Hearts and Bigar- reaus are profitable for home market, but for shipping (except the Dikeman) the Dukes and I\Iorellos carry the best and yield the largest returns. Ordinary well-grown trees produce from five bushels per tree upwards. CURRANTS Ripe just before raspberries are gone, and continuing in prime order for several weeks, there is no more useful fruit than the currant, and it is among the earliest to cultivate. Plant in rows 4 feet apart each way, if practicable. Light and air will do as much to enhance the value of currant bushes a? with other plants. Keep the ground mel- Iqw, free from weeds, and in a good state of fertility, and prune freely every spring, bhould the currant worm appear, dust a little white hellebore powder, from a small coarse bag, over the bushes when the leaves are damp. In some instances it may be necessary to repeat this process, but the trouble and expense of exterminating the worms are trifling, if the powder is applied as soon as the worms appear. THE DEWBERRY A most wondeifnl berry, ripening an immense crop of fruit several .weeks ahead of any. king else in the blackberry line. In some loca- tions it ripens in May. Large, firm, of superior flavor, and attractive. A rampant grower and may be trellised like grapevines. Roots from tips like Cap Raspberries. Those who have grown it consider it to be the greatest berry ever introduced. GOOSEBERRIES. This fruit is so useful for cooking when green or ripe and may be canned with such facility that it is being cultivated extensively. Re- quires same cultivation and treatment for worms as the currant. The An^.erican varieties are best although not as large as the English kind, but are not subject to mildew. GRAPES. Thf vine conies quickly into bearing, yielding fruit usually the second year after planting; requires but little space, and when properly trained, is an ornament to the yard, garden or vineyard. The soil fur 172 the grape should be dry; when not naturally so should be thoroughly drained. It should be deeply worked and well manured, always bear- ing in mind that it is an essential point to secure a warm, sunny ex- posure. The best grape vine trellis is probably the wire trellis, with four wires, 18 inches apart. Pruning should be so done that each year two or three of last year's branches shall alone be left, at the spurs of which the present year's growth may start. During the season when the shoots have reached the upper part of the trellis, they may be pinched to prevent further growth. The following spring the canes should be cut back to two buds. Allow but one bud to throw out a shoot, and treat as in the previous year. This system of pruning should be followed each year. MULBERRIES. Mulberry trees are particularly desirable for shade on account of their rapid growth and hardiness. Some people prize the fruit highly for pies. The fruit is used by many farmers for feeding to chicliens and hogs, and a tree planted in the chicken yard is a valuable addition to it by reason of the dropping fruit. NECTARINES. Culture same as for the peach. The fruit having a smooth skin is liable to the attacks of the curculio, and must be sprayed as soon as the blossoms fall and again every two weeks during May and June. PEACHES. The peach tree requires a well-drained, moderately ricli soil; warm, sandy loam is probably the best. In. order to preserve the continued healthy growth of the tree and the fine quality of the fr.uit, the peach should have the shoots and branches cut back to one-half the pre- ceding season's growth every year, so as to preserve a round, vigorous head; this should be done the last of February, or as early in the spring as practicable. The land should not be seeded to grass, but kept in constant cultivation. PEARS. Cultivate as for peach. Imperfect fertilization. — Kieffer, Bartlett and some other varieties of pears, when planted in a solid block by themselves, do not properly fertilize. To obviate this difficulty, other varieties should be planted with them. Another active agent in helping the spread of pollen is a hive of bees. PLUMS. The plum does best in heavy loam; but it will do extremely well on a sandy or gravelly loam, especially if there be some clay in the soil. They should be thoroughly cultivated and not allowed to stand in grass. Plums should be pruned sufficiently to prevent a straggling growth, and to keep the head from being too crowded. "Black knot" must be removed as soon as it is discovered. The only remedy is to cut off the diseased part and burn it. Permit no black knot to exist about your premises or your neighbor's, if you can help it, but have it removed and burned. QUINCES. Plant 12 feet apart, 302 trees per acre. They should be thoroughly sprayed during the fruiting season. Cultivate as for peach and pear. RASPBERRIES. Coming immediately after strawberries, when there is a dearth of other fresh fruits, raspberries are equally desirable for planting in the 173 garden for home use, and in the field for market. They are very easily cultivated. Beds seldom require renewing. Their season of ripening is long. The fruit bears transportation well, and aside from the de- mand for it for immediate consuuii)tion, it brings highly remunerative prices for drying and canning. Plant in good soil and manure from time to time freely. The hills should not be less than four feet apart each way, with two or three plants in a hill. Cut out the old and weak shoots each year, preserv- ing not over six for fruiting. If the location is so much exposed that the plants are inclined to kill down seriously, they may be bent over in the fall, on mounds of earth formed at one side of the hills and cov- ered sufficiently to keep them down until spring. Surplus suckers take strength from the bearing plants. They should be cut away or hoed up frequently. RHUBARB OR PIE PLANT. Deep, rich, moist soil is best, but it is such a strong, vigorous- growing plant, it will thrive almost anywhere. Plant in rows 4 feet apart and the plants 3 feet apart. Set the roots so that the crowns are about an inch below the surface. Rhubarb is a gross feeder; the more manure it is given, the larger and finer the yield. STRAWBERRIES AND HOW TO GROW THEM. Strawberry plants are exceedingly hardy, and as a general rule, it is very easy to get a full stand. Plants begin growing within a few days after they are set out, especially when weather conditions are favorable. Should the plants not start growing at once, do not become discouraged, but continue cultivating and hoeing. This will make a dust mulch which will draw the moisture around the plants, encourag- ing the feeding roots to take hold, and a new growth will soon start from the crown. Sliould an occasional plant fail to grow the runners from adjoining plants may be layereil so they will fill in the vacant places. If, for any reason, your stand of plants is poor, give the plants which do live good care, and allow them to make a large number of runners. When hoeing, draw the soil with the hoe blade over the runners just back of the node where the young plant is forming. This will aid the young plant to take root quickly. In the fall when the soil is quite moist take up the best of these runner plants, allowing as much soil to adhere to the roots as will and set them wherever the plants failed to grow. By following this plan you easily can have every row completely filled in by October 1st or earlier. In this way plants will not be checked in growth and will give a good crop of ber- ries the following spring. TIME TO SET PLANTS. The best time to set plants is in the early spring months; the earlier you can get them into the ground the better. Fall set plants do not bring good results like those set in the spring. FERTILIZING AND PREPARING THE SOIL. The best of all fertilizers for strawberries is barnyard manure. It is the great plant and fruit builder. During the winter and early spring months scatter evenly over the ground from twelve to twenty tons of manure per acre, the quantity used depending largely upon the present condition of your soil. In the spring, just as early as your soil will do to work in, plow the manure under, following with the harrow as early as possible so as to pulverize the clods before they have time to become hard. Continue the harrowing until the soil is made line to the depth of the plowing. Then go over the soil with roller or float so as to press the soil grains firmly together. This leaves the soil in ideal condition for the tool which is to make the marks for the rows. If you are to grow berries in the single-hedge, double hedge or narrow-matted row, you should make the rows three 174 and one-half feet apart and set the plants two feet apart in the rows. For hill culture rows should be made from twenty-four to thirty inches apart, setting the plants from twelve to fifteen inches apart in the rows. THE CARE OF PLANTS. When plants are taken to the field to be set they should be kept covered in a cool shady place. The tip ends of the roots should be cut back from one to two inches, using shears or knife. MATING VARIETIES. In setting plants be careful to get the pistillates in rows between the rows of bi-sexuals. This insures perfect pollination, berries and lots of them. Be careful to have openings in the soil made large enough so that you can put the roots of the plants down straight into the soil. Press the soil firmly against the roots, being careful not to cover the crowns of the plants. CULTIVATION AND HOEING. As soon as plants are set you should follow up with a cultivator. You also should hoe shallow round the plants. This hoeing and culti- vation will make a dust mulch which will hold the moisture about the plants, encouraging the feeding roots to develop at once. Cultivation should be continued every eight or ten days throughout the entire growing season, unless the ground is wet. Always cultivate after a rain as soon as the soil will permit. The soil should be broken up shallow around the plants often enough to prevent crusts from form- ing. By cultivating and hoeing in this manner you will keep down all weeds and obnoxious growth. It will keep a dust mulch around the plants which will hold moisture and which will keep the plants grow- ing very vigorously. In a shoit time after plants are set they begin to blossom. All blossoms should be pinched or cut off as plants should not fruit the first season set. MULCHING. In the early winter cover plants with straw or marsh hay very lightly, just enough to slightly protect the plants. Leave the mulch undisturlied until the plants begin to grow the following spring. Then, with a fork or rake, part the mulching directly over the row. In mak- ing this opening in the mulching see that it is wide enough to allow the plants to grow without any ol^struction. The mulching should remain between the rows to hold moisture and to keep the berries clean at fruiting time. SPRAYING THE PLANTS. Fortunately, the strawberry has but few enemies. However, there are some insects which work upon the plants. For any insect which eat holes in the leaves of the plants spray with arsenate of lead, using three pounds of the lead to fifty gallons of water. Put the lead into a three-gallon bucket; pour over it enough water merely to moisten. Then with a mallet similar to a potato masher pulverize it thoroughly, adding water as you pulverize, until you have made it into a creamy paste. Add this to fifty gallons of water and mix thoroughly. Gen- erally one spraying will destroy any leaf-chewing insect. For any fungous trouble, such as leaf-blight or mildew, use lime- sulphur solution in the proportion of two gallons of solution to fifty gallons of water. This material may be purchased from any manufac- turer of spraying materials. However, it is unnecessary to spray at 175 all unless some insects are working upon yoiu' jilants or some fungus is present upon the foliage. PICKING, PACKING AND MARKETING. Do not i)ick strawberries when the vines are wet from dew or rain, unless the season is wet and local comlitions make it necessary to do so. Do not jerk the berries off, but pinch the stem with the thumb nail, leaving a short piece of stem to each berry, which will aid the berry in shipping and also will give it a better appearance. Berries which are to be shipped a long distance should be picked before they become fully ripe. Berries which are to be marketed at home may be perfectly ripe before picking. Pick over the vines every day or as often as enough berries ripen to justify it. TREATMENT OF PLANTS AFTER FRUITING. After the plants have fruiteil mow off the foliage, using an or- dinary twodioi'se mowing machine or sickle or scythe. The size of the patch will determine the kind of tool which should be used. If the foliage dries quickly after being cut off— say within forty-eight hours — the entire patch may be burned over by setting fire on the side of the patch from which the wind is coming. The wind will blow the fire over the field quickly and it will consume all of the mulching and foliage without injuring the crowns of the plants. Should condi- tions not permit the Inirning over, rake up the refuse and haul it off the field. After the mulching has been taken care of either by burn- ing or hauling away, take a common breaking j)low and throw a furrow from each side of the row into the center of the space between the rows. This will leave a ridge or back furrow between every two rows of plants. This may be leveled down either with a five tooth cul- tivator or with a harrow. It is well to use a harrow going both north and south, and east and west over the patch. This levels the soil and draws enough fine soil over the crowns of the plants to permit them to make their new root system. Should you not care to use a break- ing plow to narrow the rows, take a two-horse corn cultivator and tear out the sides of the rows, leaving only a narrow space in the center. Harrow the same as with the breaking plow, and be sure and use a harrow which will permit the teeth to be slanted backward, so that it will not tear out the plants. After the plants begin growing, cultivate and hoe the same as with newly set plants. When hoeing, cut out all the weaker plants, leaving only the strongest and best ones. By following these suggestions you can get a large crop of berries the following spring, making two big crops from one setting of plants. After the second crop of berries is picked, plow the plants under and sow forty to fifty pounds of winter-vetch seed per acre. This is one of the greatest legume crops ever grown, and the l)est crop to prepare the ground for another crop of berries. GRAFTING (By Prof. O. B. White, Colorado). It has been proven by long experience that if properly done, the grafting over of old trees by top-working brings (luicker returns than the replanting of young trees. In fact, it is not uncommon to see a fairly good crop on the three-year-old top of a top-worked tree. Top working, as a means of establishing a weak-growing variety on a stronger root system than its own, is coming into high favor. The practice of grafting is not a mysterious art. as many suppose, but is so simple that any careful orchardist- can and should do it him- self. All common fruit trees can easily he budded or grafted. The apple and pear may be inter-grafted upon each other, and this is true of the peach, plum, apricot and almond. However, such whole- sale mixing is not good practice, and the pear and apple never take a good union. 176 Peach grafts start vigorously upon apricots, and plums upon the peach trees. Growth in diameter of the tree only takes place in a very small region between the bark and the sap-wood. This part of the stem is called the cambium, and in this thin layer of tissue the cells are still active while the activity of each succeeding layer on each side grows less and less. The important point in grafting is to see that the cambium layers of the stock and the scion are matched at some point. When the growth is active we say the bark "peels." Budding is done during this period, not only because the ease with which the bark separates from the wood simplifies the work of inserting the bud, but as the growth is more active the tissues of the bud and the stock are more likely to unite. It does not pay to graft trees which show poor growth, and it seldom pays to top-work any crab. It is also questionable as to whether it pays to top-work stone-fruit trees. While good tops may be grown on either peach, apricot or almond, it is doubtful whether these crops will bear much quicker returns than young trees set in the place of the old ones. There are various methods of grafting, the most common in the West being cleft and kerf grafting. These operations are simple and are known to most orchardists. In cleft grafting, the limb is sawed off squarely, the stub split down about two inches with the grafting chisel, and the clefts wedged open with the scion inserted as a wedge. The first bud should be left a little below the top of the wedge, cutting the edge of the wedge opposite the bud a little thinner than the other. The scion is then driven firmly into place with the lower bud to the outside and a little below the top of the cleft. It is important that the inner bark on the outer edge of the wedge should be brought in contact with the inner bark on the stub. It is be- tween these parts that the union takes place. Kerf grafting is almost the same as cleft grafting, only the stub is prepared by saw cuts instead of splitting. These are made on oppo- site sides of the stub and trimmed to thin V-shaped grooves with a saddler's knife, the scion is then trimmed to fit, driven firmly into place and waxed as in cleft grafting. It is not good practice to remove the whole top of the tree the first year and graft all the stubs. Often this proves too much for the tree and it fails even after the grafts have made a good start. They may linger two or three years and then die. A better plan is to cut away only enough limbs to set scion for a good top, generally about half of the tree. Working of more stubs re- sults in too dense a top, or necessitates their removal later. The remaining limbs may be shortened, but some foliage is needed to protect the stubs and trunk from sun-scald, as well as to supply nourishment. PRINCIPLES OF PRUNING It is an easy matter to learn how to prune where one has the plants to work upon, and the time to watch their responses to the operations made upon them; but it is a difficult matter to tell others how to prune. No two plants are alike. No two bi*anches are alike. No definite rules can be formulated which will apply to every kind of plant in every locality in which it may be growing. While there Is more or less of difference in the style or sys- tem of pruning used in different sections of the country, there are certain well defined principles which will apply to all plants In any climate, or under any system of pruning. Pruning will modify the vigor of plants, and in some ways will cause them to produce larger and better fruits. It will keep the plants within bounds and may 177 change the habit from wood producing to fruit producing. Pruning allows the removal of superfluous parts and of injured branches or roots. Intelligent pruning will facilitate the operations of spray- ing, harvesting and cultivating the orchard, and will enable the oper- ator to train the plant in the form most fitting with his ideal. When the plants are making an excessive amount of wood growth they do not make fruit buds. Checking the growth on the top by pinching or summer pruning will tend to produce fruitfulness. And while fruit bearing may be to a large extent governed by the methods of pruning, the habitual production of fruit is better regulated by small amounts of pruning regularly done, than by heavy pruning at infrequent intervals, in the case of old trees which have been neglected, it may take two or three years after severe pruning before the balance between top and roots can reach an equi- librium and the tree become fruitful, i^ight pruning every year is much better for the trees than heavy pruning done occasionally. Pruning may be made a means of thinning the fruit by remov- ing the fruit producing wood. In the case of plants which produce their fruit on the long growths of the season before, as in peaches, (luinces, raspberries, l)lackberries and grapes, many fruit producing l)uds will be remove'd with each branch that is pruned off. In the case of trees that tend to an alternation in the years of fruitfulness, as in apples and pears, the tendency to alternation may be some- what overcome through pruning. SPRAYING The operation of spraying has come to be regarded as of vital im- portance to the horticulturist, taking rank along with each of the other important cultural practices. "Spraying is only one of the several practices which are of fundamental importance in the care of fruit plantations. Old and neglected orchards are hardly worth the labor and expense of spraying. Spraying is perhaps not always necessary unless insect or fungus troubles are present, but as these enemies are nearly always troublesome and no one can be sure of their absence, it is good insurance to spray. The risk is too great to allow the practice to be omitted. HAND AND POWER PUMPS. In orchard spraying there aie but two types of sprayers to be con- sidered, one the hand pump and the other operated by power, as gas, compressed air, gasoline engine or traction power. It is the opinion of all practical orchardists who are making a success of their spraying work, that the hand power outfits are not suited to an orchard cover- ing more than four or five acres. This is because the necessary pres- sure and speed cannot be obtained in hand power machines to cover the larger acreage in the limited amount of time that Is available. In point of time, any application of spray mixture must be applied when it will do the most good, and with insects this limits the number of working days to just a few, possibly ten days, when the insects can be most effectively reached. The spraying must be done during that time, as either before or after that period the spray mixture will not be so effective as the insects will have passed out of reach. The same thing is triie of fungous diseases and the grower must know something of the life and ha"bits of the pests he is combating. The time has long since passed when it is reasonable for any orchardist to ask if it pays to spray. That problem has been so thor- oughly proven and so widely advertised that anyone who asks such a question, especially if he has been anyway concerned in fruit growing or has read, even casually, any publication treating on the subject of fruit growing, cannot help being convinced that spraying does pay, and pay well, when properly done. 178 But to make it pay the best the spraying equipment must be suited to the conditions under which it must be used. The chief points to be considered in this respect are tlie kind of plants to be sprayed — that is, whether they are strawberries, grapes or tree fruits, and the acre- age to be covered. In all machines it is important that there be an effective agitator for keeping the liquids stirred constantly while being applied to prevent the heavier part of the material from settling to the bottom and causing irregularity in the strength of the mate- rial that is applied. SPRAYING MATERIALS. Since the discovery of effective means of controlling insect and fungous diseases of plants a great number of preparations have been devised for the control of special diseases on certain crops. Such a formidable list of these preparations have been published that it would seem at first glance that one would need an elaborate chemical labora- tory in order to prepare the materials. However, the years of scien- tific and practical experimentation along this line have eliminated many of these spraying materials so that the plantsman today needs to know how to prepare less than a dozen different sprays in order to control any of the diseases for which a remedy is known. TO PREVENT HORNS GROWING ON YOUNG CALVES When circumstances are favorable, as in the case of farmers who build up their herds by raising the progeny, the horns may be prevented from growing by a simple and practically painless method, and the custom of preventing the growth of the horns is becoming more popular and more generally practiced under all conditions ex- cept in the case of calves dropped on the open range The calf should be treated not later than one week after its birth, preferably whtn it is from three to five days old. The agent to be used may be either caustic soda or caustic potash, both of which may be procured in the drug stores in the form of sticks about the thickness of an or- dinary lead pencil and 5 inches long. These caustics must be han- dled with care, as they dissolve the cuticle and may make the hands or fingers sore. The preparation of the calf consists in first clip- ping the hair from the parts, washing clean with soap and warm water, and thoroughly drying with a cloth or towel. The stick of caustic should be wrapped in a piece of paper to protect the hands and fingers, leaving one end of the stick uncovered. Moisten the uncovered end slightly and rub it on the horn but- tons or little points which may be felt on the calf's head, first on one and then the other, alternately, two or three times on each, allowing the caustic to dry after each application. Be very care- ful to apply the caustic to the horn buttons only. If it is brought in contact with the surrounding skin it will cause pain. Be very careful also not to have too much moisture on the stick of caustic, as it will remove the skin if allowed to run down over the face. After treatment, keep the calf protected from rain, as water on the head after the application of caustic will cause it to run down over the face. This must be carefully avoided. HOW EARLY TO PLANT COOL WEATHER VEGETABLES. The seeds of which may be sown, or the plants set out very early, even before the last of the light frosts are over — temperature in the shade averaging 45 degrees: Asparagus, beet, brussels sprouts, broc- coli, cabbage, carrot, kohl-rabi, leek, lettuce, onion, parsley, parsnip, peas, potatoes, radish, rhubarb, salsify, spinach and turnip. Cauli- flower, celery, celeriac, corn salad, endive, kale. 179 >-.« s o 2S o t; OmOOOOOOOOOOO ujOOOCO oooooooo ooo w ^ +J^ . o o ^, <=■ , oj o ° O O o ' o o ■" o o ° O o - ex: o QQ < H u 2 u. 0^ : 03 C-l -fH rH ^ ' — -r '/i r-l ,-1 , M T)ClC/3.-l ^ . '+-' ^+-' —.«—. — .^ .« 'M tW *_> .^ .^ S-l tM ttH . o -r iXj - CO -^ '-^ C 1 C^i CI -H CO C 1 CO -1- -^ C/D O^ CO ? m t^ . M en (fl m 71 m «j m m (0 m « ui m m u2 yj [/J vj trj m ■/; M d ■ >.>. >. >. >. >, >. >. >. >. >. >. >. >. >. >. >, >. >. >. >. >. >. y •ojaiaiaidajaJaJoJoJoSajcdaiaSajcddriddaid m m m m m m in in m -SI m m m o .ooooooooooooooooooocooo .oooooooooooooc ni ■ o o- n! be— ^ be '^ 1' i-H — I >-H ai c3 'li ' o o o^; - - c _ O O oi o3 c3 ■" hL cnacd rt a caeca i; S -1^ -< -ii !^ S ► ISO POTATO CULTURE A rich sandy loam well drained and well supplied with vegetable matter is the best soil for the potato. Stiffer land may be improved as a potato soil by green manuring and drainage, and lighter soils can often be made sufficiently rich by the addition of green manure and fertilizers. Potatoes should not. as a rule, be grown continuously on the same land but should be alternated with other crops. Barnyard manure may be freely used but should as a rule be applied to previous crops in the rotation. If commercial fertilizers are used, a mixture containing nitrogen in the form of nitrate of soda, phosphoric acid as superphosphate, and potash as sulphate, and in which potash predom- inates, is recommended. Preparation of the land should be deep and thorough. Planting without ridging generally affords the larger yields, but a stiff soil and the desire for an extra early crop sometimes necessi- tates planting on ridges. The best time for planting depends on the climate of each locality. The planting should be at times so as to bring the period when the tubers are rapidly forming at a date when the average rainfall is ample. On mellow, well drained soil deep planting (3 to 5 inches) is best, especially when the season happens to be dry. For the early crop or on soil with a tendency to bake, the depth of planting may be decreased. The use of the harrow before the plants are all up and frequent shallow cultivation afterwards until the vines shade the land is advisable. Seed potatoes should generally be selected from varieties grown in the locality to be planted if possible. Cutting the seed pieces a few days liefore planting ap- pears to exercise no in.iurious influence, provided, of course, that the cuttings are carefully stored in tlie interim. The yield from planting the seed or bud end is generally greater than from the stem or butt end of the tuber. The eyes on the seed end are the first to germinate, and hence are especially important when an early crop is desired. Exposing unsprouted tubers in a warm place before planting hastens growth, but if continued until sprouts form (whicli are rubbed off) the yield may be considerably reduced. Experiments indicate that it is more important to cut the tuber into compact pieces of nearly uniform size than to so shape the pieces as to have a definite number of eyes in each set. No piece should be entirely devoid of eyes, and the majority of the seed pieces should be large enough to support at least two eyes, and better three or more. At distances of 1x3 feet, and with seed tubers averaging 4 ounces, an acre requires of quarters about 15 bushels. The total yield increases with every increase in the size of seed piece from the single eye to the whole potato. This increase occurs both in the large and in the small potatoes, but chiefly in the latter. The gross yield of salable potatoes (large and medium) also in- creases with the size of the seed piece from one eye to the whole potato. the net yield of salable potatoes (found by subtracting the amount of seed potatoes and the yield of small potatoes from the total yield) increases with every increase in the size of seed piece from one eye to the half potato. The half potato affords a larger net salable crop than the whole potato, on account of the excessive amount of seed required in planting entire tubers. Taking the average of many ex- periments, it was found that for every 100 bushels of net salable crops grown from single eyes there were 114 bushels from 1-eye pieces, 131 bushels from quarters and 139 bushels from halves, but only 120 bushels from planting whole potatoes. These results favor the use of halves as seed pieces if seed po- tatoes and crop are assumed to be of equal value per bushel, but when seed potatoes command a very high price quarters may be used to advantage. 181 THE KEEPING OF APPLES In a hiiretin of the New Hampshire Station F. W. Morse brings out in a very strilving manner the fact that the steady loss of weight which fruits such as apples undergo even under most favorable con- ditions in storage is due to a process of breathing similar to that oc- curring in animals, whereby oxygen is taken in and carbon dioxid given out. Since apples and other fruits have no body heat to maintain, the breathing process is not so active as in animals, and they may last months after being picked from the tree. Yet there is a steady, con- tinuous loss in weight as the weeks go by, although the fruit is sound and firm. This breathing or respiration is stated to be "partly a chemical reaction, and in apples, like most chemical reactions in the laboratory, it grows more rapid as the fruit becomes warmer and is slowed down when the fruit' is cooled." Professor Morse's experiments indicate that ihese chemical changes "take place from four to six times as fast at summer temperatures as in cold storage, and from two to three times as fast in cool cellars as in cold storage." There is a practical application of this law to be made to the care of fruit, especially at apple picking time. It is frequently the case that warm days with temperatures of 70 degrees P. occur in October, and sometimes continue for a consid- erable period. Fancy apples intended for long keeping in cold storage should be cooled as soon as possible and kept cold. The breathing process is at the expense of cell contents and must weaken the keep- ing qualities as it goes on. And this destructive action is from four to six times as fast out of cold storage as inside it. Another fact in connection with the respiration is important. It is not sopped in cold storage, but simply slowed. Apples can not be kept indefinitely, but keep about twice as long in cold storage as in a cool cellar. NUT CULTURE ■ Nut culture in the United States is in its infancy. Great strides are being made both in the number of nut trees planted and the im- provement in variety and quality. The constant and growing demand for nuts, and the immense quantities of them yearly imported to meet it have given a great im- petus to the planting of nut-bearing trees. So palatable and whole- some are the nut-kernels that they should become a staple article of food here as in Europe. The returns from established nut-bearing orchards, as well as numerous experiments, show plainly how success- ful nut culture may be made in America. Most farms contain land that would pay better planted in nut-bearing trees than in anything else; the nuts, in many cases, paying better than farm crops or fruits, while the trees are growing into valuable timber. BUTTERNUTS. This lofty, spreading tree is one of our finest native nut trees, valued for its tropical appearance and beautiful wood, as well as for its nuts. Produces large, handsome, elongated nuts with rich, sweet, oily kernel; very nutritious. Cultivation increases the size of the nuts. The tree grows rapidly and yieMs large crops in a few years. FILBERTS (HAZELNUTS) The filbert succeeds well on almost all soils, the little trees or bushes bearing early and abundantly. HICKORY. In flavor and quality of kernel this is generally esteemed the IHIi choicest of our native nuts — of all nuts, some experts have said. The tree is a handsome, stately shade tree, with tough white wood of great strength and elasticity. HARDY PECAN TREES. Interest in the growing of pecans is no longer confined to the southern states. It is a success far beyond what has heretofore been known as the "pecan area." The demand for hardy trees and varieties adapted to the middle and northern states has stimulated experiment. The object of these experiments has been to propagate pecan trees that would not only prove hardy in the northern states, but would produce and ripen their fruit. Hardy stocks on which these trees are grown, are produced by planting nuts from far northern states and growing the seedlings under northern conditions. The seedlings are budded when two or three years old. Trees from these northern nuts never "winter kill" even with low temperatures and variable weather conditions in the spring. ENGLISH WALNUTS. There is no question but what there is a great future in the culti- vation of English walnuts in the eastern and northern states, as well as in California and the south. It is generally considered now, that the acclimated trees will succeed wherever the peach thrives. The de- mand for the nuts is enormous and constantly increasing. It is a fact not generally known that more dollars worth of English walnuts are shipped from California each year than of oranges. Transplanting may be done with equal success in spring or fall. In planting, the tap root should be severely pruned so as to promote the growth of numerous fibrous roots as well as laterals. The trees should be mulched liberally with coarse stable manure as soon as planted and for the first two or three years the ground should be cul- tivated or hoed. The trees are very productive, usually bearing five years of age from $3 to $4 worth of nuts, and at six years are quite likely to double this quantity. CHESTNUTS. In America, we eat the nut after meals as a desert, and betv.-een meals. We do not look upon the nut as a food. Chestnuts differ from most other nuts in that they contain less fat, and more carbohydrates, being also fairly rich in protein. When taken into the animal body, protein forms tissue, fats are stored as fats, carbobydrates are changed into fat, and the mineral matter (ash) aids in digestion and in forming bone, teeth, etc. LOCATION AND SOIL. The chestnut orchard is possible in almost any locality, but should be located on well-drained gravelly soil for best results. It succeeds well on rocky hillsides with soil of sufficient looseness and depth, and with either a northern or eastern exposure. It will thrive on rather poor land, but is slow and uncertain on stiff, clayey clays. In gen- eral, it is considered more important to have a thoroughly drained soil than soil of a particular character. There are numerous methods of planting, but in all the most im- portant thing is to take care of the roots. They are very sensitive to sun and wind and should never be exposed long enough to be dried out. In planting, do not cramp the roots in any way, and see that the growing ends are down and not up. Place fine soil among the roots and pack it thoroughly; if scd has been taken out, turn it upside down on the ground, close to the tree. Young plants are sensitive to being planted too deep and so should not be deeper than they were in the nursery. When large roots have been broken or bruised, they should be cut off smooth with a sharp knife. Planting can not be done too carefully. 183 CULTIVATION. Trees in the permanent orchard should be set not less than 30 feet apart each way. They arc usually pruned to an open spreading form, with three to five main branches, and cultivation given to that of a young apple orchard. INSECTICIDE AND FUNGICIDE REMEDIES FOR PLANTS, TREES, ETC. insects That Eat Foliage, Fruits, Flowers, etc., whether they are bugs, worms, caterpillars or slugs, etc., are best destroyed by some poisonous insecticide, such as arsenate of lead, paris green or helle- bore. If for any reason it is not deemed safe to use a poison, the next best non-poisonous insecticides are Persian Powder, Slug Shot, Fir Tree Oil Soap, Kerosene Emulsion, Tobacco Extract or Tobacco Dust. Insects That Suck the Juices of Plants, such as lice, green and black fly, red spider, scale, mealy bug, etc., can only be destroyed by skin-irritating insecticides, such as Kerosene Emulsion, Extract of Tobacco. Tobacco Dust, or Fir Tree Oil Soap. Plants and Fruits Affected by Fungous Disease, such as mildew, s|)ot, dry I'ot, rust, etc., should be promptly treated with either P.or- deaux Mixture, Ammoniated Copper Solution or Flowers of Sulphur. For Tree Borers — Insects on trunks, eggs on bark, and to prevent crawling up the trunk, use Whale-Oil Soap or Tree Tangle Foot. Never apply insecticides or fungicides when fruits are in bloom; it kills the bees and affects pollination. Application of insecticide and fungicide is best done for fluid solu- tions with a spray pump, knapsack sprayer, syringe or vaporizing bellows. In powder form they are best applied with a powder gun, bellows or duster. Arsenate of Lead — A poison rapidly taking the place of paris green. Its great advantages are that it adheres well to the foliage and spraying doesn't have to be repeated as it does not readily wash off by rain. It also remains well suspended in solution so that an even (listril)ution can be obtained. It is white in color and shows just where it has been applied. It does not injure tender foliage. A. L. For young and tender vegetation 1 lb. to a 40-gallon barrel of water will usually be strong enough; for hard-wooded plants the strength can be increased up to 2 or 3 lbs. Apply as a spray. Bordeaux Mixture — A fungicide, curing and preventing black rot, mildew, blight, rust, scab and all fungoid diseases of fruits and plants. P M. Dissolve 1 gallon to .50 gallons of water, and apply in a spray. B. P. A combined fungicide and insecticide is best made by adding 1 lb. of paris gre^n to 150 gallons bordeaux spray prepared as above. Carter's Worm-Killer — For angle or fish worms in lawns, putting greens, etc. It is a non poisonous powder to be strewn evenly over the affected surface at the rate of half a pound per square yard and then The ground must be thoroughly saturated with water so the powder will soak in; this will cause the worms to immediately come to the surface and die, when they may be swept up and removed. Clubicide — An insecticide, germicide and disinfecting fluid partic- ularly valuable in addition to its other uses — as a soil sterilizer. It destroys all soil insects, ants, worms, slugs, maggots and fungous dis- eases and in consequence plants attain maximum root development and produce larger and better crops. It is a certain preventive of club root, maggots and root lice that infest carrots, onions, cabbage, asters, etc. Water the plants thoroughly with it once a week in proportion of 1 gallon of Clubicide to 3000 gallons of water, gradually increasing the strength to 1 gallon of Clubicide to 500 gallons of water as the plant.s apiironch maturity. Copper Solution, Ammoniated — A fungicide, the essential ingre- 184 dient, "carbonate of copper," being dissolved in ammonia In this, while in bordeaux it is counteracted by the lime. Bordeaux is the cheaper for all ordinary purposes, but for late sprayings! when fruits are near- ing maturity, or plants in bloom, copper solution is usually used, as there is no limy sediment left to be washed off. C. S. Dilute 1 quart to 25 gallons of water; apply in a spray. TO CAN AND PICKLE VEGETABLES FOR WINTER USE All vegetables must be freshly gathered and carefully prepared. Not a single law or rule can be modified or overlooked. To Can Asparagus. — Select perfectly fresh asparagus; wash it well; peel the butts and cut off the hard portion. Cover with boiling salted water, boil fifteen minutes and cool. Arrange the asparagus in wide-mouthed jais, Lutts down. Fill the jars with cold water, adjust the rubbers and put the tops on loosely. Stand these in a boiler, the bottom of which is protected Ly a rack. Surround the jars partly with cold water, cover the boiler, and boil continuously one hour. Lift one jar at a time, scr^w down the lid, cover the boiler and boil for another hour. You cannot lift the lids fiom any of the jars and lay them on the table, and then put them back on the jar, and have the contents keep. The liils must be screwed down without taking them from the jar. The lids should be solid, eithei' glass or other material without lining. To Can String Beans. — String and wash the beans. They may be canne