214 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



barn to that depth. There may be under-sills, 

 resting on shoulders in the underpinning, to lay the 

 floor of the granary on. The floor should be made 

 of oak plank, two inches in thickness, and the 

 granary lined up to the sills of the barn with simi- 

 lar plank, to keep rats from intruding. The corn- 

 crib, on the opposite side of the barn floor, may be 

 made in a similar manner. If the corn is not sufii- 

 ci^>ntly dry to keep well in so deep a crib, dry rails 

 should be laid along, occasionally, through the mid- 

 dle of it, for ventilators. But what woidd answer 

 for cribbing corn in Illinois, might be ruinous in 

 the State of New York. 



A wagon and carriage house may be m.ade on the 

 upper side of the barn ; and there should be a build- 

 ing for a hog-house, some SO feet by 16, with a 

 corn-crib and hen-house over the two rooms for 

 hogs— thera being free access from their feeding- 

 room into a small adjoining yard. 



Perhaps as good a shelter for calves as any other, 

 is a rick of straw suitably built in a yai'd for them 

 — being brined, from time to time, around, near, 

 and at, the bottom of it. Sheep can find a comfort- 

 able shelter undei" the floor of the barn. 



Meiamora, III. B; C. W. 



TOOLS AITD IMPLEMENTS FOR A 100 ACEE FARM, 



" What Tools .^nd Implements are necessary to farm it proflta- 

 bty on one hundred acres, including Timber Lot, managed in the 

 usual way of Grain-Growing and Stock-Saising combined?" 



There would be wanted 1 two-horse scouring 

 plow, 1 one-horse scouring plow, 1 one-horse three- 

 shovel scouring plow, 1 harrow, 1 spade, 1 barn- 

 shovel, 1 wheel-barrow, 1 dung-fork, 2 pitch-forks, 

 2 hoes,. 1 wagon, 1 two-horse reaper and mower 

 combined, 1 horse-rake, 1 coru-sheUer, 1 of the 

 little cast iron grist-mills, provided they are found 

 to be durable and to do good business, 2 sets of 

 harness, 1 saddle, and 1 carriage. 



The best and most profitable way of planting 

 corn that I have noticed, is to drop with the hand 

 and cover with the hoe. When thus planted, it 

 comes up enough better to more tlian pay for the 

 extra trouble. 



No person can raise grain cheaper, by cutting 

 and threshing it with machinery ; but the same 

 help can grow much more with it than without it. 



Meto/mora, Illinois. B. C. W. 



RAISING AND PICKING GEESE. 



"When the good motherly goose wishes to set^ 

 give her eleven eggs, and shut her away from othei- 

 geese and ganders. Supply her with food and 

 water — give her gi-ass as well as corn, if the for- 

 mer is suflicieutly grown for gathering. In four- 

 weeks the young goslings will begin to appear, and: 

 will aU hatch in a day or two's time. Don't hurry 

 theiii from the nest, nor be over-anxious to have- 

 them eating ; they -u-ill be ready for that when they 

 become older. Feed them a httle bread and milk 

 at first — corn meal does not seem to agree "witli 

 them as well. Let them go to grass and water in 

 pleasant days. A shallow vessel, which they can 

 get in and out of readily, supplied frequently with 

 clean water, is as good as any, so fai" as raising 

 geese is concerned, though it is less trouble if one 

 has the pond for them. Be sure and shut them up 

 at night, in a warm, dry place, and keep them there 

 until the dew is ofl, in cold mornings. Shut them up- 

 on cold stormy days, a&o, feedmg them with hand- 

 fuls of fresh clover. If no accident befals them, 

 them will live and grow, without trouble. 



There is no machme for picking geese, that e\&t 

 I heard of; the thumb and finger must do that 

 work. The time to do it is when the feathers are 

 I'ijje^ which occurs abo^at four times during the sea- 

 son. Feathers picked when green — in the pin- 

 teather state — ai"e not fit to put into abed; they 

 can not be cured so as to be as light and sweet as- 

 ripe feathers are. "When picked, put the feathers 

 in a sack made of thin cioth — an old sheet is good 

 — and dry them perfectly in the sun. Afterward, 

 they wiU keep good in any dry place. K. ri. b. 



BUTTER MAKING. 



'• Can we make more Butter by Churning all the Milk than the 

 Cream only ?" 



Most assuredly we can. Almost every one who 

 has- had experience in making butter in hot weather 

 knows that before the cream all rises the milk will 

 be loppered, and sometimes it is found moldy. IIow, 

 in this case, are we to get all the butter that is in 

 the milk, unless we churn milk, cream and all? 

 One of my neighbors churns his milk and cream 

 all together, and after the buttermilk has stood 

 awhile ho churns it over again, and finds enough 

 butter in the buttennilk to supply his family with 

 what they want to eat. If you could compel the 

 cream to rise all up before the milk is loppered, you 

 could then get nearly all the cream of the milk, so 

 as to have the whole of the butter by churning the 

 cream only. A. l. smith. 



Nichols, Tioga Co., K. Y. 



FEEDING CORN-STALKS TO CATTLE. 



" The best Time, Place, and \l&y of feeding out Corn-Stalfcs- 

 to CatUe." 



Almost all farmers have a vsray of their own, and 

 they nearly all difier in regard to the manner and' 

 time of feeding out stalks, — and as a general things 

 perhaps, without much thougbt as to whether their 

 maimer of feeding is either economical or convenient. 



First, as regards the time of feeding. If tlie 

 stalks are keeping well, and are not where they 

 must be removed to make room for something of 

 Tuore importance, never fodder them out early in 

 the fall : they are not eaten half as well as wheo; 

 fed later, or after snow has fallen. 



Next, as to the place : feed them in the yard, by 

 all means, where, in the ci^urse of the winter, what 

 is uneaten will be thoroughly incorporated with, 

 the manure, and in a decaying condition suitable 

 for use the ensuing summer ; Avhereas,. if tlie stalks- 

 were fed scattered around the fields, what remained 

 uneaten would be almost valueless, as I have found 

 them, after feeding the stalks in the meadow,^ only 

 partially decayed several years after, — when if fed 

 in the barn-yard they make qmiQ a quantity of 

 goud manure. 



As to the manner of feeding, scatter them around 

 the yard,— taking care not to feed when the yard 

 is wet or muddy, and none will be left but the 

 butts of the stalks,— and they will be scattered 

 where they -will have the best chance to become 

 thoroughly mixed with the droppings of the cattle^ 

 .and assist in absorbing the juices of the yard. 



E. P. B. 



