FARM & FILED

Lake County Press, Issue 2668, 8 February 1917, Page 7

FARM & FILED

ORIGINAL ARTICLES ;By F.C.8.) BREEDING BRONZE TURKEYS. I Bronze Turkeys usually give best rei suits, and aro raised extensively._ They generally grow the largest size in the I shortest time, mature early, and are • more hardy and domesticated in their • habits than other breeds. But, to be profitable, turkeys require much care ; and attention when young, and they ■ should be kept from other fowls. Young ) turkeys lay more eggs, and generally , hatch more of them, than older hens, I but the gobblers should be two years j old and of entirely different blood. To i have thrifty young poults the male l bird should be changed every year, always using a thoroughbred. When | the hens begin to lay keep them conj fined in boxes, having a separate box j for each hen; also have the hens j marked with different coloured strings, i or some other device, so that they may be known, and always have the same hen in the same box. After a week's time each hen will have become accustomed to her particular box, and will go there each day to lay. In that way there is no loss of eggs. Collect the eggs each evening, and keep them side by side in flat boxes in a cool place, as it is important that they do not become chilled. About forty degrees of temperature is right. It is also quite important that they be turned three times a week. Eggs kept in that way will hatch even if five weeks old, and in that time a large number can be secured, and perhaps there may be three or four turkey hens wanting to sit. If one should get broody before the rest, let her sit awhile, even a week, until there are others with the same notion. Always set as many eggs at one time as possible. If there are more eggs on hand than the turkeys can cover, the remaining eggs may be placed under chicken hens. One should strive to have the flock all hatched at one time, as it lessens the trouble ins feeding. Of course, there will still be some hens laying. In that case the cggs_ may be saved until a large number is obtained, and then they can be used as previously. The nest boxes should be kept fastened, except for about an hour in the afternoon, when the hen should be allowed off for food. Sprinkle sulphur in the nest and on the hen every week.

[ KEEPING PICS. | Hitherto there has been too great > a tendency to breed from immature j animals of both sexes. Well-developed animals not only produce the qualities - for which they were bred with more '. uniformity, but also that they produce animals of a higher grade than those ; animals that are undeveloped. It is now conceded by intelligent breeders . that the correct and safe method to , pursue is to breed only from developed animals having the blood lines ono desires to perpetuate, and the more ! highly developed the animals are the better. In a general" way it may be said that for breeding purposes they should be kept as long as they will breed well, excepting that occasionally sometimes males become too heavy for ordinary use, while they are still capable of begettingj and females sometimes become vicious,, while they are still capable of producing good litters. In either event they shovdd not be kept longer. Males well managed and cared for should be of most value from one year upward as long as they are active and retain unimpaired begetting power. The limit of best usefulness, all things considered, is usually over when they have passed the fourth or fifth year, but there aro instances in which sires should be kept to a greater age when they have shown an excellent prepotency. Sows usually furnish and rear best litters from about eighteen months to the age of four or five years, but in some instances they should be kept to a greater age. They are too old for the best service in breeding when the litters produce pigs uneven in size and when the dams become so clumsy that they overlay and thus destroy some of the young. No age limit can be fixed in a hard and fast way, as some sows can bo kept with profit two or three years longer than others. In the matter of feeding it may be observed that pumpkins fed to pigs along with corn exercise a very beneficial influence on the digestion, and have a cooling influence on the system. When thus fed it has been observed that pigs aro less subject to ailments. The mode of feeding is very simple. The pumpkins are thrown on the ground or floor and broken open. It is not necessary to feed them heavily to pigs that' aro being fattened, but to store pigs or brood sows they may be fed Avith much freedom. The Use of Lime. An important function which lime performs when applied to cultivated land is that of a liberator of "lockedup" or inrctive plant food. The nitrogen and mineral constituents of the organic—vegetable and animal—matter in the soil exist in great part in forms in which they are available to plants only with extreme slown'ess; but, when brought under the influence of caustic lime,' the organic matter undergoes more rapid decomposition, and its useful constituents are liberated, the nitrogen as ammonia and nitric acid, and the mineral constituents as soluble compounds. Thus, then, we are enabled to explain that wise old maxim—"The more dung, the more lime." Land that j is well. manured at regular intervals J in a rotation of crops with farmyard >. manure would become loaded with or- [ ganic mift'ter rich in slowly available > plant food; but, by judicious use of lime upon land thus treated, the un- ; necessary and unprofitable accumula- '• tion of dormant plant nutriment is pre- \ vented. The beneficial action of lime J upon the soil is not, however, confined [ to the organic part of it, but also ex- ' tends to the mineral part. Potash, ' i silica, and other useful substances exist !' in the soil, mainly in the form of insolublo silicates, in felspar and other undeeomposeu minerals that formed part of the rocks from which the soil ' ' was derived. When lime is mixed with ; the soil, it gradually liberates these substances from their insoluble combinations, and renders them available for , vegetable growth. f A good dairy sire is always desired. [' Time and manure are two things commonly much undervalued. No one need fear that his mental ! or physical activity will suffer on the farm. A little soot spread over the soil

! before onion seed is sown, will prove ' r beneficial. I -; ' i Fruit, to the value of nearly £10,000,000 sterling, is consumed in England every year. > Hay made from oats when in the milk stage makes an excellent feed for dairy cattle. , When horses knaw the bark of trees or eat leaves it is because they crave grass and cannot get it. '■. Brush out the heels of a horse at night: if dirt is allowed to cake, scratches and greasy heel may result.