The Columbus Commercial

MEADOWBROOK NOTES FROM FARM
By William Fitt

Moldy corn is dangerous feed for the horses.
Provide roomy places for the cows. They do better than when kept in the rigid stanchions.
Don't get impatient. Much good lard has been spoiled by trying to work it when it is wet.
Early hatches do better than those brought off after the heat of the summer has begun.
Get the lambs to eating grain as soon as possible. They should have the grain diet ten weeks before weaning.
High-priced feeds will return a profit if put into a good cow, not a poor one. No kind of feeding pays in the case of the poor cow.
Raise colts, but don't try to do it with the poor, run-down, over-worked mares. Strong colts cannot be got ten in this way.
Be sure that you get a standard grade of cement and that it is mixed in proper proportions with the other materials if you want to get good results.
Give the boy some animal he can call his very own. Let him raise a lamb or a calf, and then have the money when it is grown and ready for market. In this way he will take an interest in things.
The blanket is needed to protect the horse against the sharp, chill winds of spring as much as during the cold of winter. Remember this when the horse has been warmed up by a long drive or a hard bit of work.
If you have overhauled the machinery during the slack days of winter you are in good condition and frame of mind to enter upon the spring activities. If you have not looked over the machinery and put it in good condition, do it at once.
Experiments have demonstrated that between the ages of six and thirteen weeks of a chicken's life it requires from four to four and three-quarters pounds of feed to produce a pound of gain. Between the ages of 13 and 26 weeks it required from four and three-quarters to five and three-quarters pounds of feed to produce a pound of gain.
According to a test made by an experiment station it was found that the eggs of the different breeds in order of their weight were as follows: Black Minorca, Light Brahma, Barred Rock, White Leghorn, White Wyandotte, Rhode Island Red, White Crested Black Polish, Buff Cochin. A great deal may depend upon the strain, as it is known that some hens of any breed normally lay larger eggs than others of the same breed.
If you wish to test the soil to see if it needs lime, take small samples from several points in the field and mix together thoroughly. Then take a cupful of the mixture and moisten it just enough so it will pack firmly in the cup. Thrust a knife down into this soil and work it back and forth so as to leave an opening. Be ready with strips of blue litmus paper. This is a form of blotting paper colored blue with a dye made from certain mosses or lichens. It has the property of changing its color from blue to red, and from red to blue when put into acid or alkaline substances. After the hole is made put a piece of this blue paper down into it and push the soil up around it. Let it stay there half an hour or more, then take the paper out and dry it. If there is much acid in the soil the blue color will change to a pink or red—the more acid the darker the color. If it does turn a pink or darker you may conclude that the soil needs lime. But make more than one test to make certain.
The drenching of animals is done in a most brutal and dangerous way as a rule. On this point Dr. Roberts of the Wisconsin experiment station has this to say: "Perhaps the best way of demonstrating the danger of drenching cattle is to advise the reader to throw back his head as far as possible and attempt to swallow. This he will find to be a difficult task, and he will find it much more difficult and almost impossible to swallow with the mouth open. It is for this reason that drenching cattle is a dangerous practice. If a cow's head be raised as high as possible and her mouth kept open by the drenching bottle or horn, a portion of the liquid is apt to pass down the windpipe into the lungs, sometimes causing instant death by smothering, and at other times causing death in a few days from congestion or inflammation of the lungs. We are constantly receiving letters at this station describing the sudden death of animals that were ailing with such minor ills as constipation or loss of appetite, and upon investigation find that they have been drenched and their death due to the operation. This is often times proved by sending out one of our assistant veterinarians to hold post-mortem upon such animals, only to find that a portion of the drench was still in the lungs. In other cases where death had been delayed, the animal later died of mechanical pneumonia."