FACTS FOR FARMERS.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 236, 13 November 1873, Page 2

FACTS FOR FARMERS.

In tlio ease of pigs with a cough, a cough is more a symptom of indigestion than of cold. .They should ha'v« some charcoal given to tlfom ; soinft wheat bran, sculdad and allowed to cool, would bo good for them. Sonp-snda is not to be recommended as a medicine for pigs ; a little charcoal, with a handful of woo lashes and a teasjjoonful of salt, given (0. thorn would be far belter. ' Respecting remedies for blont, or hoven, in cattle, " Observer " writes that he lias always succeeded in curing cattle by placing a round stick crossways in the animal's mouth, and holding it there by a ropo tied to each end and passing around the horns. The animal i* then driven briskly around the yard, nnd in its effort to get rid of tbe 6tick discharges the gas from the stomach. In regard to operating for hoven bv means of a trocar, as described in our issue of September 13th, it should be uiuwstooi that tic r jht-hand side of the aniinul is that side whicii corresponds to the right-ha.id tide of a man. Thin when a man faces an animal or looks directly at its face its right side is at his left. The protuberance on the side of a bloated cow is on its left aide, and w hen a man w lacing tho animal of course the protuberance is on his right. Advice to young farmers : -~Mnke up your mind to steadily improve the condition of your land; above all, kill tbe weeds ; under dram ; grow more clover, pea 3, and roots, and consume them all on the farm. Make more and better manure. Study tho chemistry of manure*. Thore are many placej where artificial fertilizers can bo used to great advantage. Improve your stock ; feed liberally. Raise a few thorough- heeds and gradually work your way into the businesi; but do not be in a hurry. Set your choice fruit tree 3 and tike care of them. Spend moderately. Live within your income. l)o not discount your prospects. And again I any kill the weeds. Cultivate the land thoroughly. Make the weed seed* grow, ahil then ki[l the young pi inta. Feel ( sure fiat the y >ung farmer who follows this advice will not | have to wait many years before getting his reward." Ai to gapes and lice in chickens, when the canse of the eomp'ai'it is known the remedy ii ensily found. The eaime of gti o id tho presence of worms in the chickens' throat, l'he w or us are supposed by some to be the larrm of lice tyhicli infeit the fowls. The chickens hatched are free from lire ; they must therefore come from tho hens. Lice abound in filth, and aro absent from perfectly clean houses and yards Therefore clean up the roosting places thoroughly; no half m azures will do. Let there be no wooden floor, but fresh earth constantly dug over or renewed. Tear out the building every cleat or board that leaves a joint wherein vermin can hide. Wash the house with hot lime-wash and fill every orack. Pa« the roosting polr« through a fire of «traw or scald them, and soak them every week with lard and kerosene oil or crude petroleum. Anoint the lousy hens with lard and carbilic acid or kerosene oil boneath the win*. In the same way make tho hens' nesta clean and free from vermin, rfunh a vigorous campaign against the enemy will rout them rompletely from lowls ; and with a good range and fresh places each days for the coops, and persistence in these preventive measures, there will seldom be a case of gnpo afterwards. Tumble down sheds and roosts over hog pens or filth will certainly harbour lice, but in decent houses especially appropriated to them fowls will rid themeelres of any vermiu that may annoy them ; and fowls decently kept pay well for tho decent accommodation. D. M'Donald writes on manure miking at follows: — I hare never had pluck to put my ungraramatical words in letter form, and thrust them in an editor's way, but I venture a short letter on manure making. Any one having a ditch bank, muck swamp, wood-pile dirt, or any wasto material can have a midden (manure heap) and those who have never had one will be surprised at the size their pile will got to be in a year's time. For instance : The last of October we made up a midden, and if 50 dollars will take it off these 25 acres the Ist of next April, then I am mistaken. How to make a midden : Select the most convenient place for house and privy, as from these two places come the life of tho heap, and most of it must bo wheeled or carried, while in most cases tho muck or whatever it maj be, will be carted on cart or waggon. Pour or five loads should be dumped together for a foundation ; leave the top with a tnllow in it, and into this hollow throw all soapsuds, chamber lye, refuse suit, (She. If a chicken, pig, dog, or cat die, throw it in ; add woo ' a«hea, wa«te lime j in fact anything not worth saving for awill should go on to the heap. The privy should be cleaned out m the fall, and well mixed with the whole pile, so that it will get well rendered by spring. That nothing be lost, kcop a barrel as near the door as decency will permit, anil whenever any one washes let them pour the water into this barrel, and when it gets full there is no danger but it will find its way to the dung hill. All kinds of flesh should bo covel'e 1 as soon as put on the heap, or the cats and dons will make away with an important part of the heap dm ing the year. Be sure to use pi nty of muck if it it to be liad, and you will not fail to make a midden worth many pounds during a year's time. A correspondent writing to tho Prairie Farmer says : — " i cheap, certain and practical method of arresting the decay of timber nnd e«pcciuUr offence posts would tore an enormous am >nnt of labour and expense in repairing fences every few j cars ; therefore 1 will endeavor to give a cheap and certain method for the preservation of posts — without cost of patent and yet it is a " white substance" which is easily obtained. It is salt. I examined posts this season which a friend had set twenty-five years ago, nnd yet they show very little sign of decay. How much longer they will last I know not, but presume from their present appearance that they will last fifteen or twenty years yet. Another friend has two lines of fence which were made as near alike as could be, except the posts for one line were salted, and the others were not. These two lines were built eight years ago and the difference i? now_ very perceptible. The posts which were not salted appear" to be tired of standing — for they are reeling in every direction — while those which were, stand firm and erect— just as though they defied the ravages of time. Now for the process. It is simple, cheap, and easy, and has been tested more than two years. Bore two holes in each post with an inch auger — one so that it will be about six inches under ground when set and the other nbout a foot above the surface — fill the holes nearly full of salt nnd plug them up with short pins. To have the greatest effect posts should be salted and *et while the timber is green, so as to prevent the sap from souring, which I thing is Ihe start of decay. The reasons why salt prevo ts the decay of wood, I am not chemist, enough to fully exphitt ; but facts demonstrate such to be the ea*e. Who ever taw salt barrel staves rot? Will they not lie around for years without showing signs of decay, if in the meantime some old cow does not lick them to death.