Farm and Dairy.

Lake County Press, Issue 2188, 26 September 1907, Page 2

Farm and Dairy.

ORIGINAL ARTICLES LAiiL Rights Resbkved.] Increasing the Corn Yield. It generally believed and understood that it is advisable to procure sead from that which has previously grown in the neighbourhood in preference to that grown in a distant locality, under different climatic conditions. The best way is to set apart a plot of ground on which to raise the seed for the following year; the plot should be fertilised with barn yard manure and put in the best possible condition for planting. The yield may be materially increased by the selection of well matured, solid, heavy ears, with a good size grain. Generally each locality has its favourite variety, and it may be necessary to determine which variety to plant in order to select the seed. It is a good plan to plant four or five varieties, say about ten rows of each kind, and keep a record of date of planting, where the seed was procured from, method of cultivation, the condition of the season. Gather each variety separately and weigh it. Note which variety has the most good, solid cars, and select the very best to plant for the succeeding crop.

Dairy Notes. When the thousand and one chances for loss in the dairy come to be considered, it appears that either the ignorant dairyman ought soon to find himself in the bankruptcy court, or the man that uaderstands what is so far known about the business ought to make money very quickly. There is no farm industry that requires more careful attention to details than dairying. If the cows do not receive a plentiful supply of nourishing food, butter-fat is lost; if they are not sheltered and well cared for during winter, part of the food is wasted; if the.y are not milked by persons in sympathy with them, who milk them clean, but-ter-fat is again lost; if the dairyhouse or cow stable be unclean, and the milk is exposed to foul odours, the flavour of the butter is injured, and its value falls from one penny to threepence less on the market. If the milk is not set very soon after it is drawn from the cow in water below 42dcg., or passed through a separator, a large percentage of the fat Rets into the pig-trough instead of into the butter-tub. If cream is not properly ripened the loss of fat in the buttermilk is just about double what it should be, and the butter suffers in flavour. Churn at too high a temperature and the grain of the butter will be injured; if at too low a temperature a portion of the fat is left in the buttermilk. Churn a minute too long and the grain is well nigh destroyed; and the same thing results if the butter is worked too long. The very finest butter ever made, if packed in dirty looking vessels, will not bring within several pence per pound of what it is really worth. These are but a few of the opportunities for losing money in the process of makinjr butter. Some dairymen are becoming wealthy, by guarding against those errors, while others remain poor because they do not know sufficient about their business to stnf> the leaks.

The Tobacco Plant. The great popularity of this plant is very easily understood if we will only remember its easy culture and its many good qualities. It is grown in very large quantities for the outdoor garden in summer, and its use in this matter is continually on the in-

crease, liut it docs not appear to be :•!) :;cnerally known that it is equally if 1 ot more serviceable for the green House or conservatory, either piantecl out or in pots, ;.nd it can in this way be had in bloom for six months out oi the twelve. It is very easily raised from seed, and in the way of bloom there are few plants that are able to fi'ivc a better return than Nicotiann affinis. Seed may be sown now in boat, the, sooner the better, using a compost of throe parts loam and one of sifted peat or lcaf-moulcl. T-n case

the loam is of a heavy nature, it will be as well to use rather less than the foregoing quantity. The seed should be sown in pans, and as the seeds arc very small, it will be as well to prepare the pans by thoroughly saturating the soil before sowing. After sowing, care should be taken to shade the seed pans from strong sunshine, placing them in a temperature 60deg. or higher. It will be a good plan, after sowing the seed, to coyer the pans with paper or moss till the seed germinates. When the seedlings are large enough, prick them off into pans or boxes, still shading them, -as the young seedlings are very tender. For planting out in the open in pans, one shift out of the seed-pan will be sufficient if ample space is allowed between the plants in the boxes to prevent drawing. When ready to plant lift with good balls of earth around the roots, and plant in a sheltered position. To do well these plsnj want abundance of water, especially in dry weather, also feeding with liquid manure. Management of Young Chickens. One of the most important of all things in the successful rearing and management of young chickens, and one that is not nearlv enough insisted upon, is that the mother hen should not be permitted to overtax the strength of her little ones during

the first week or two of their existence. As is only natural the hen, after the long- period of incubation, is very hungry, and, unless kept under some restraint, will drag the chicks around in pursuit of food until fully one half of them perish. To prevent this it will be as well to keep the hen in the coop for about a week and if a run is provided for the young chickens covered with wire-netting something after the style of that shown in the accompanying sketch, so much the better. The, chicks should be confined in the run for the first two or three days, and then they may be allowed their liberty to run outside for an hour or so, gradually increasing the time as the youngsters g■•;• stronger. Until they are a month or six weeks old, however, they should be protected from morning dews and sudden showers. The utmost cleanliness must be observed, and when they are occupied both coop and run must be cleaned out every day.

Temporary Frames. 1-tames composed of rough slabs ot w rod are very useful for hardy things, especially if the joints are protected on the outside by leaves or litter. Perhaps the most useful of all forms is a frame composed of stout wood, not less than one inch thick, well put together, and removable to any place or position. These, however, although enduring, are rather costly. Makeshift frames are usually formed of cheap materials, because not required permanently, yet such things are often.

times exceedingly valuable aids to gardeners in many ways. A capital substitute for a frame is that shown in the above sketch. It merely consists of taking; out a trench in the garden, 2ft. 6in. deep, and 2ft. in width. Into this place a good laver of manure, sufficient to reach, when well trodden down, to within 9in. of the top. If a layer of cocoanut-fibre refuse is placed on the manure, cuttings and seedlings in boxes or pots may be brought along well, while by placing a layer of line soil instead of the fibre refuse, young plants may t>e set out. In the illustration "A " shows the manure, " B " fine soil or cocoa-nut fibre refuse, and "C ' i 1