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.