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THE FARMER AND MECHANIC 3 Sprouted Oats for Winter Feed There is a general unanimity of opinion among experienced poultry T,;en that poultry do bestmipon some farm of green or succulent food dur ing the winter months. The function or such succulent food is probably largely in the nature of a digestive stimulant, rather than as an addition tr, the actual food constituents of the ration. A green winter feed that is greatly relished by fowis is sprouted oats. Experience' has shown that in order to make a satisfactory green food, how ever, the oats must be grown very ciuickly. In order to get quick growth THE OCELL ATED TURKEY. The wild species of turkey, known as the Ocellated or Honduras turkey, was originally a native of Honduras and other parts of Central America. borne describe it as most beautiful in coloring, enual to tv,o Trfi,.n pheasant, if not richer. The head and i.vc-k or inis wild variety are naked and no breast tuft is present. The caruncles of the head and neck dif fer somewhat from those of other turkeys. Oats Started to Sprout. It is necessary to have three things: first, warmth; second, plenty of mois ture; and, third, sunlight. By sowing oats in shallow, flat boxes about two inches deep, and by sprinkling and keeping the box in a warm, sunny place, the oats will sprout very rapidly, making a growth of from 4 to 6 inches in a week or ten days. The flats in which the oats are sprouted must be thoroughly scrubbed with half water and half formalyn every time before they are used, or the oats will mold in the sprouting. The best way to sprout oats is to build a small closet into wrhich the fiats can be slipped on cleats and sup ply the closet either with a steam-pipe or if that is not feasible, a small stove, either for wood or kerosene, or some times a large kerosene lamp may be used to maintain heat. Soak clean and sound oats over night in a pail of water. Next morn ing fill the fiats about two inches deep and put in the sprouting closet. Place the freshly filled flats near the top of the closets, so as to get the maximum amount of heat and in that way start the sprouts quickly. Rake the sprouts thoroughly two or three times a day until they have be come from half to three-quarters of an inch, long, then do notdisturb them in any way. The oats should be kept quite wet. They must be sprinkled at least three times a day. As the oats grow, the flats are moved to different 'positions in the closets. The taller the material gets, the nearer the flats are moved to the floor, as they then need less ' heat. Feed wrhen the sprouts are from 4 to 6 inches in height, at the rate of a piece of the matted oats about 8 or 6 inches square for each 100 birds per day. Break up so that every vbird in the pen may have some. " The ground color of the plumage is a beautiful bronze-green, banded with gold-bronze, blue and red, with some lands of brilliant black. It is to be deplored that this va riety cannot be bred successfully as a domestic fowl in northern climates. The writer cannot learn that it has ever been successfully bred outside of its native heath. DECEMBER ON THE FARM. I Sprouts Two Indies Long. It should be clearly understood that the purpose for which green sprouted oats are fed is their tonic and stimu lative influence on the digestive or gans. They are not fed for the food value of the oats themselves. If one wishes merely to feed oats they can be most economically fed not sprout ed. The point of sprouting is to fur nish fresh, succulent, green food dur ing the winter months. It seems strange that Southern farmers who have always been thought by many northern farmers, to be unprogressive, are the first to take up co-operative selling. The Farm ers' Union has among its members over 5,000 co-operative concerns, big and little, and they are getting more for their produce than ever before. This movement is spreading over the entire country slowly, but surely, and farmers of the north and west ought to give it more thought than they do. I haven't a very high opinion of the month of December from the standpoint of active farm operations. .While not usually a wet month and immediately pre ceded by one that is usually even dryer, yet my observation is that the subsoil in clay lands is usually too wet to plow deeply. The days of December are the shortest of the whole year and the sun shine and sunheat are correspondingly short. It is moreover the month that has only three weeks work in it the only one of the twelve so distinguished, for who works much during Christmas week from December 24 to January 21 Yet there is much that may be done by the active, en ergetic farmer. The old year's work must be rounded up and got out of the way. In deed, I used to start on the new year's work early In December. For a number of consecutive years I contracted with regular wages laborers from January 1 to Decem ber 1, retaining when practicable, one man for each pair of plow teams, so that the winter plowing might be finished if not closed up by the last of November. There is nothing, in my judgment, that may be planted in the field to -advantage in this month. Some belated farmers, it may be, have not yet finished sowing oats and some may have sown no wheat until now. Ac cording to -my observation those who de fer sowing, either wheat or oats until the last month of the year do not habitually make fine crops of either. It is too late to sow cover crops of any kind excepting rye, and no great things joay be expect ed of even rye.; but by heavy seeding on rich soil, say i to 2 bushels per acre, benificent results in moderate degree may be expected. If one has not sown oats before December, better wait until after the middle of February and then fertilize and seed heavily on well prepared soil. December is a good time to "clean up" generally repair fences and clean out ditches and make new ditches, recover out buildings, stop the cracks. A good time to get in a good supply of wood for fuel, although it were better to have done this work in November, or even earlier. Some farmers have not yet made provision to protect their mute livestock from snow and sleet, wind and rain. The open shed, or lined with cracks, is still occasionally in evidence. December in Garden and Orchard. In the garden everything should be got in readiness for sowing seeds as early In the new year as the season's may per mit. The manure from stables may be spread and be permitted to freeze, and to be turned under whenever the ground is not too wet. Seeds should be sown only In hot beds, or cold frames except in the extreme South. Fruit trees may be pruned, or a beginning may be made, where there are large areas to be attended to. Seup pernong vines should be pruned, if needed, before Christmas, if we wish to be s.nfe against bleeding. Immediately after the leaves have commenced to yellow and fall is the proper time, although it might have been done immediately after the crop ripened. If not already done the raspberry and blackberry bushes should be cut back to about three feet in height, all laterals cut to six or eight incnes, an oeaa cane removed and a forkful or two or good stable manure heaped around each bush, or cluster of canes, to be spread and worked in in the sprln REDDING. A Remarkable Corn Grower. (Kinston Free rress.) One of the most remarkable corn grow er in this section is Mrs. Patsy Brown, aunt cf Kev. S. W. Sumrell.'-of Content Neck township. Mrs. Brown lives with Mr and Mrs. Sumrell at their home. She is in her ninety-second year and enjoys eood health, with a mind as clear as a bell. Last July she planted a roasting e:ir patch in an onion patch. She d'd all the work herself, opening and covering the hill and dropping the corn. During the weeks following she cultivated her crop. In in earlv week of this month she gath ered the corn, then in roasting ear con dition Not content with that, she shucked and cleaned it and got it ready for rook t And that was not all. After it had : ,. i a ntf (it it frf-elv. seem' ii2 I to enjoy it as much as anybody else did. Geee mav be plucked for the "live geese feathers." so-called, at the end of the breeding season and again when the feathers are grown out and become so mature that there is no blood left in the quills. Good Farniinu (Wadesboro Ansonian.) A good yield of corn is reported by Mr. M. L. Home, who has a farm, including a part of the valuable Brown Creek bottoms. This year he raised 7 3 bushels of corn on one and one-half acres of land with no fer tilizer at all. The expense was the labor and this amounted to only $6.50. He raised two bales of cotton of fertilizer. If this creek was prop on an acre of land with 600 pounds erly drained, it would add a million dollars to the value of Anson counts dirt- A Simple Saddle. The stirrup-saddle is on" of th most convenient things to have about the farm, ns it come? in mighty handy where th-re Is no other sadd'.e !ft time of emrgeny. a pAir of jitirrup 3 V 1 in me oarn in a It is simply WOMAN I A" WISDOM. (December Farm Journal.) "The halls of knowledge have both roofs and floors, But Wisdom trains her experts out- of-doors." j An old rule for roasting turkey is "an hour for each year." Before chopping raisins, rub a little butter on each side of the chopping knife. When tea is spilled on the table cloth, as soon as possible cover the stain with common salt. Leave it on i washed all the stain will have disap peared. Stuff the breast of your Christmas turkey with pared sweet potatoes. They will get a line flavor from the juices. Use seasoned bread-crumbs and some fried sausage for the rest of the stuffing. Boast some nice wheat in the oven, add a little good butter and. New Or leans molasses, grind it in the coffee mill, and have some of the finest ce real coffee you ever drank. Some money, too. Corn-cobs make excellent fuel, but they also make a dirt if kept in a basket, as the loose particles sift through. It is better to put them in a box. The cobs from table corn can be dried for kindling or fuel, although the cattle enjoy chewing them when fresh and tender. A nice home-made candy for the children is made as follows: Boil two cupfuls of sugar and one cupful of corn syrup until crisp when dropped in cold water. Add to this the whites of two eggs well beaten. Beat this for five minutes until nearly stiff. Drop by spoonfuls on oiled paper. If you have been unfortunate enough to tear a dress of thin material and are at a loss how to make the rent invisible when mended, try threading a hair into your needle. I know of a nw brown mohair skirt that w.as mended in this was', and the skirt rounded out a long and useful life Without this scar upon its smooth sur face being detected. A hair is strong, fine and pliable, and if reasonably long can be used to advantage by skil ful fingers. c A Missouri Story. Near Exeter, Missouri, a farmer discovered a large gray eagle, swoop ing down upon one of his lambs. He ran toward the bird but arrived just as the lamb was being lifted off the ground, firmly clutched in the eagle's talons. He grabbed the Iamb by the legs and struck at the eagle, but was CUT dragged along the ground more than fifty feet and into a barbed-wire fence which so lacerated his hands and face that he was obliged to let go his hold. The eagle never wavered in its de termination, however, and sailed away with the lamb and soon disappearea from sight. buckled to a 5trap. lut a blanket on the horse, throw the strap with the stirrups over this, and get into th saddle. It's a good sight better than riding bareback. Try it and see. STICK TO TIIH l ANMXt; MILL. Xo fanner can get any one to take the same pains in grading his seed that he would himself. Some farm ers claim that it does not pay to clean grain. It is a fact that it does not pay very largo returns to clean and grade grain before selling it, but by grading our own seed we can materially in crease the yield of our small grain crops. The corn crop of this country has been increased millions of bushels by intelligent Feed selection. All other grain crops can bo improved by grid- Good Com Yields in Moore. (Southern Pines Tourist.) Mr. J. M. Hussey, of Ritters town ship, on Deep Ricer. raised ninety bushels of corn on a measured acre. The soil is a clay and sand mixture. The land was broken to a depth of 11 inches. Mr. J. M. Thomas. of Jackson Springs, Mineral Springs township, raised 110 1-4 bushels of corn on a measured acre. His soil is the ortho dox sandy soil of this region. Mr. Thomas broke it up In the fall of 1910 to a depth of 9 inches, following a cover crop of rye with a spring plowing 15 inches deep. He planted Biggs Prolific and In spite of the long drought reached the fine figures al ready given. Another Jackson Springs man who has done a fine thing in corn grow ing this year is Mr. L. J. Hi n son. He had the sandy soil of the sandhills to work with, plowed deep, cultivated often and shallow and followed the modern methods that have become so well known as hardly to need repeti tion. As a result he gathered. 121 bushels of as fine corn as can be found anywhere from his one acre. It will be noted that the man who i raises a big crop of corn plows deep i and cultivates often and as near the i surface as possible. ing the seed, so that only good, plump, healthy grains, free from all foul weed-seeds may be grown. The fanning-mill, judiciously used, will do much to increase the yield of every small-grain crop and assist in keeping our fields free from noxious weeds. It will take cockle out of wheat, buckthorn, plantain out of clover, in fact it can be adjusted so as to han dle all kinds of grain and weed seeds. If you decide that it pays to sow good seed and to keep your field. free from noxious weeds, then do not hesitate to invest a few dollars in & fanning mill. AX OLT-FASinOM :i K A MUTT TRA 1. Make a box with a sliding door to woric up and down easily. Run a stringer over the centre peg and fasten the trigger which has a little notch in it to hook behind th top board and to hold up the trap-door. San Jose scale will attack an apple tree irrespective of its age. It i lust as serious a pest on seedlings as it Is on trees seventy-five years old. The only effective means of controlliag San Jose scale is the lime-sulphur mixture. The ready-made lime-sulphur preparations, as a rule, are '.cry effective in controlling this insect. Likewise are the miscible oils. When the rabbit gnaws at the bait h pushes the trigger back, which tdidea through the hole and lets the slide door fall. This can be made out of any strong box. by a boy who i handy withools. in half an hour, and it never fails to work. Pick out the very smoothest and most likely shoatu for the winter killing, keep them in clean quarters and feed so as to make well balanced meat not too much fat. Don't think thai you can pg away, day in and day out. and then som time come to the spot where you can have a good time. It i.s much safer and better to take a little at a timo as you go along. FT n 1 T "H A If the leading State th- South. liu you a farm there and be Independent, have ben there and can tell you the tet section to go to. I'or full information ( Address) W. L. WATTLRSOX. Baskervii!. Virginia.
The Farmer and Mechanic (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 12, 1911, edition 1
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