a box of convenient height and size turned upside down to act as a
table on which to place the sling-bags when full. The best apples
are packed in small boxes, with paper between the layers. The second
quality are put into barrels. Put a layer of hay in the bottom of the
barrel, fill it with the fruit, and end with a layer of hay. The small
ones may be used for cider and for feeding stock.
Onions are ready to harvest when the tops fall down and dry. Choose a
dry day to dig them up. Leave the bulbs lying on the ground for several
days, then carry into a shed, where they can be spread out for two or
three days more, while the work of cutting off the roots and tops is
being completed. We have a room over the woodshed which we use for
onions, as they are apt to sprout in a cellar that is moist enough to
keep other root-crops in good condition. We had tiers of shelves, made
of slats, put up all round the walls, on which the onions are spread
out, and, as a precaution against frost, they are covered with bags or
dry autumn leaves as severe weather approaches. Bore holes about nine
inches apart in the sides of the barrels; fill with the onions, leaving
the head of the barrel off, and stand in any unused room.
Potatoes should be dug as soon as the tops die down. Choose a dry,
bright day and cart at once into a dark place to dry. Don’t leave them
in the light on the field, but spread out for a few days, then pack
them in the cellar in barrels which have a few holes bored in them, or
in bins which have a bottom made of slats.
Carrots, turnips and beets should be packed in boxes or on tiers of box
shelves. In either case, they should be well covered with sand or soil
to prevent the roots shrivelling. Put a few boards in a sunny place,
and stand the squash and pumpkins on them. They should stay there
about a week or ten days, and be covered at night with bags or an old
blanket, after which put them in some dry, cool place.
Cauliflowers are pulled up with as much soil as may be attached to the
roots, and hung head down from ceiling of the cellar; Brussels sprouts,
the same. Cabbage is pulled up in the same way and packed in rows of
two or three abreast on the cellar floor. These are for use in very
bad weather. The main quantity is stacked in a pit in the garden and
covered with earth, straw and brush.
Celery is partly protected by being earthed up for bleaching, so it can
be left in the garden until the first of October, or even the fifteenth
if mild, but it must be brought in before heavy frost. About nine
inches of soil is spread on the floor all along one side of the cellar.
The celery is dug and brought in with what earth adheres to the roots,
and then set in the soil just as if the plants were expected to grow,
only they are put very close together and about three abreast. When the
row is completed, boards are set upon end, the full length of the row,
and another set of heads is packed in the same way, each additional row
being divided by boards. This is done to prevent the celery heating,
and rot setting in, as would be the case if the entire mass was
allowed to touch. After the setting-up is all done, earth is scattered
heavily between the heads.
There is usually a large quantity of green tomatoes still on the vines
in the fall, and the full-sized ones can be packed in shallow boxes,
with paper between the layers, and kept in a cool, dark place. Later in
the season bring out a few at a time to ripen in the window of a warm
room.
Grapes must be carefully cut, the bunches examined and any faulty
grapes removed with a pair of scissors. Put slats across a box about
two inches from the top, tying the bunches of grapes to the slats
and letting them hang down into the box, leaving a space between the
bunches. Fill the box up with finely-cut tissue-paper and keep on the
shelf in the cellar.
The cellar for storing fruit must be well ventilated and free from
damp, though a cement cellar is apt to be too dry, which causes the
fruit to shrivel. In such a case, stand a tub or a couple of pails
of water in the cellar, and do not fail to change it once or twice
a month. A dry cellar with an earthen floor is usually about right,
though, if rapid thaws occur during the early spring, such a floor is
likely to become very damp; as a remedy, put one or two wide, shallow
boxes, filled with unslaked lime, into the cellar, which will absorb
the moisture.
FORCING RHUBARB AND ASPARAGUS
We had little more than settled on the farm when I read an article in
some farm paper about forcing rhubarb in a dark cellar. There was a
lot of rhubarb in the garden, and a lot of room in the cellar. Several
roots were dug up and packed in one corner of the section we kept for
vegetables, but as the article had not mentioned that any heat was
necessary, and that it was necessary to expel all light, the venture
was not a success, for there was a window in the wall near the chosen
corner, which allowed the light to shine right on the roots, and the
temperature was much too cold. There were dozens of spindly little
stalks, with large green leaves at their ends, but nothing worthy the
name of pie-plant.
However, before the following winter I had secured technical knowledge
and vicarious experience, to start on. The window was boarded up, and
two lanterns were kept burning near the roots. We had rhubarb charlotte
and rhubarb pies, and stewed rhubarb for breakfast, just as often as we
liked, from December until March, and what is more to the purpose, we
sold eighty-two dollars’ worth.
After we built the mushroom-cellar, a section was partitioned off
for rhubarb and asparagus, and both became profitable adjuncts to our
winter income. One great advantage about both of these crops for home
use is that there is no necessity to use manure or any great amount of
moisture, and for that reason there is no objectionable odour to sift
through into the living-rooms.
Naturally, when large quantities are to be raised for market, it
is better to have a special room for work, but even that does not
necessitate any serious outlay. A neighbour built a house twenty-eight
feet long on the dugout plan, on a side-hill at the back of his house;
just boarded up the front and ends with rough slabs, which cost him two
dollars and fifty cents. Three rolls of tar-paper, at one dollar and
ten cents each, were used to exclude light and draft. Stove-pipe cost
another two dollars. He had an old stove, but even if he had had to buy
one, it would only have meant another eight or ten dollars, and the
first crop brought him in one hundred and thirty dollars.
There is often some old building around a farm which can be utilised
for this work, but if there is no hillside or building available, it
is better to excavate to a depth of three feet, making the house about
nine feet wide and as long as you like. This will allow a two-foot path
through the middle, and a little more than three feet on each side,
in which to store the roots. Side-walls need be only a foot above the
ground, but it is best to have a peaked roof, the centre of which is
three and a half feet above ground, so that there will be plenty of
headroom in the centre of the house.
Place a door at one end, with an extension shed and storm door beyond
it, unless the house can be built adjoining some shed or outbuilding
into which the door may open. Cover the ends and roof with tar-paper,
and bank the sides up with earth. Then in the centre of the house make
a pit, about two feet below the floor and large enough for a stove to
stand in, and run the pipe from a double elbow to each end of the house.
The reason for making the pit for the stove to stand in is to get the
pipe as near the ground as possible. It is possible to do without the
stove if the floor of the house is covered with manure and a goodly
supply is packed around the sides of the house, but as that would be
more expensive and much more laborious, I advise you to adopt the
stove plan, especially as it involves none of the harrowing niceties
usually attached to running hothouse heating apparatus, there being no
water-pipes to freeze or injury to crops if the fire happens to run
down or even go out altogether. My neighbour, who built the house on
the side hill, tells me that he had no coal-stove at first, and used
the kerosene cooking-stove from his summer kitchen.
Having decided where and what quantity is to be raised next winter,
the preliminary work must be begun at once. If you have a lot of old
roots in the garden, dig up the greater number just as soon as it
is possible to put a spade in the ground, and cut the roots into
good-sized chunks, being careful to leave from two to four eyes (embryo
buds, which are unmistakable) in each clump.
If you have a strip of ground on which corn or potatoes were grown last
year, scatter barn-yard manure over it. If it is heavy loam, plough
deeply, but if light sandy soil, the furrows need not be more than six
inches deep, and in addition to the barn-yard fertiliser it will be
well to use a heavy dressing of wood ashes. We spread the barn-yard
manure about three inches deep all over the surface of the ground
before ploughing, then broadcast ashes, harrowing up and down, leave
for about two weeks, and then harrow from side to side.
When in good condition, the ground must be marked off into rows about
four feet apart. Run the plough twice in the same furrow, and the
trench will be deep enough to admit of a little more manure being
scattered, then covered lightly with soil before the plants are put in.
Set them three feet apart. Cultivate well through the summer to keep
clean and promote growth.
Cut out any flower-stalks which may appear, for one flower-stalk takes
more strength from the root than twenty fruit-stalks, so they should
never be allowed to mature, even in the ordinary garden-beds.
The clumps left undisturbed for the summer supply should have a good
dressing of manure worked into the ground around them now and again
after the gathering season is over, so that they will be in good
condition to go into the cellar in December.
When old clumps have been divided and set out in April, they will be
large and strong enough to use for forcing the following December,
but if young nursery plants have to be bought, it is better to defer
forcing until the second winter.
About November 15th we dig up the roots and leave them to be frozen;
then about December 1st, or even a little earlier if the nights have
been frosty, one-half the roots are piled up in a shed, and the other
half packed on the earth floor of the forcing-house. A little earth is
scattered between them, and then they are sprinkled with water in which
nitrate of soda has been dissolved, one ounce of the latter to one
gallon of water.
The stove is started, a wash-boiler of water put on, and then the work
simply consists of shaking down the stove, putting on half a scuttle of
coal and filling up the boiler night and morning.
In from three to four weeks the first gathering is made. Stalks should
be from twelve to fourteen inches high, and four usually go to a bunch.
The roots will yield good crops for from three to four weeks, but
gathering should cease when the crop shows any sign of declining.
When you decide that the roots shall stop bearing, let the fire go
out. Three or four days later the roots can be removed and piled in a
shed, and those that have been held dormant brought in and spread on
the cellar floor. Proceed as with the first lot, and at the end of
the season simply let out the fire again and wait until the weather
will permit outside planting. Then divide the roots into two or three
pieces, according to size, and plant in rows as before. They will be
ready for forcing again the second winter, so that, once started, the
supply is always on the increase.
Asparagus can also be forced in the same manner as rhubarb, the only
difference being that asparagus roots don’t divide well, so seed has
to be sown each year to keep up a stock for forcing. Plants cannot be
used until the third season, and they are not supposed to be worth
replanting for forcing.
Asparagus can also be forced by placing hotbed frames and sashes over
the plants, and banking up all around the frames with stable manure,
to generate heat. This method only slightly hastens the crop. There
is nothing quite as satisfactory or profitable as the dark house
or cellar, because growing roots from seed is comparatively little
trouble, and the supply once started, it is an easy matter to keep up a
succession of three-year-old roots. Time can be saved the first year by
buying one- or two-year-old plants from a nursery, planting them in the
garden, and the following year use for forcing.
RAISING PIGS
A country home large enough to maintain a cow should certainly keep a
pig, if things are to be run on a profitable basis, for the skim-milk,
buttermilk and waste vegetables cannot be satisfactorily disposed of,
unless there is a pig to consume them. Build the sty first. Ours is
built on the English plan, a sleeping-compartment six feet square, five
feet high in front, three feet at back. Outer compartment of same size,
with walls three feet high, floor slanting slightly to the front. There
is a trough in each corner of the open compartment. The floor of the
sleeping-room is six inches higher than the outer compartment, and the
whole building, except the roof, is made of concrete, so can be easily
and thoroughly cleansed.
If several sows are to be kept, each must have a sty, and there should
be one or two large ones for young stock. The piggery should be as far
from the house and water-supply as possible.
If funds have to be very carefully dispensed, start with a pair of
young ones, which usually can be bought in any farming district in
the spring for about six dollars a pair when six weeks old. They will
need a little extra care at first, a warm bed of common hay or dry
leaves over straw. It is advisable to watch them at feeding-time to
see that they eat. The first week boil a quart of wheat-bran, pounded
oatmeal (hulled oats very coarsely ground), coarse corn-meal and white
middlings, and twelve quarts of water for half an hour. Let stand until
cold, then add skim-milk sufficient to make it like rather thick gruel.
Give four quarts three times a day for two pigs. Gradually accustom
them to vegetables. Outside leaves of cabbage, lettuce and other
greens, potato-peelings and peapods can all be utilised. Boil until
tender, mix a little bran or round oats with them, and feed once a day.
After a week or ten days gradually reduce the gruel and substitute
regular feed, bearing in mind always that frame must be built before
fattening is attempted.
If there is plenty of cash in the exchequer, time can be saved by
purchasing a mature sow due to farrow in April. When making your
selection, choose a placid-looking animal with a reputation for being
a good mother. A vicious, bad-tempered pig is a menace on a home farm.
Moreover, the vicious sow is generally a bad mother. Probably no animal
is more easily affected by the treatment it receives when young than
a pig. Treated kindly, they become tractable, gentle creatures; if
abused, surly and dangerous. For this reason it is perhaps better for
the amateur to commence with a pair of little ones, or one old sow.
Suppose you have bought a sow after breeding; you may expect little
ones in sixteen weeks. Her litter may consist of any number from six
to fourteen. Let her have plenty of exercise until a few days before
she is due, then restrict her range to her own sty.
For safety, it is well to make a fender-like frame that will stand
about six inches above the floor and the same from the side-walls. Then
if Mrs. Mother is careless enough to roll over, any baby that happens
to be in danger of being crushed can escape under the fender. We used
some old oak fence-rails, cutting them to fit snugly across from wall
to wall, and bored large auger-holes seven inches from each end. Strong
bolts and nuts were put through the corners, and blocks of wood six
inches square are placed for it to rest on; being bolted together, they
are easily taken apart and in and out of the pens, as they are not
wanted after the little ones are a few days old.
Have the sleeping-compartment thoroughly cleaned out and bedded with
straw and the fender put in place four or five days before the litter
is expected, and don’t disturb it after that until they are four
or five days old. Put a small quantity of clean straw in the outer
compartment during the last week. About a month before farrowing-time
let bran and ground oats predominate in the sow’s rations, and add
a little linseed-meal. She should be kept in full vigour, but not
allowed to get fat, for which reason corn is best eliminated from her
food. After the litter has arrived give nothing heavier than a little
bran-gruel for twenty-four hours. Feed lightly for two or three days,
then increase, giving her about all she wants; at the end of ten days
commence to add corn-meal in limited quantities and green food of some
sort, unless the weather is such that the family can go out to pasture.
There should be a little opening in the outer compartment large enough
for the youngsters to creep through, and outside a fenced-in yard, in
which there is no trough. When the babies are two weeks old give them
a little grain. They will soon learn to help themselves, and so reduce
the trouble at weaning-time. We take the mother away when they are
six or seven weeks old and let her run with the herd until again near
farrowing-time. If a boar is kept, he should have his own sty and a
separate yard. His food should be good, but not too fattening. The best
age is between one and five years.
To keep pigs successfully on the home farm, you must disabuse your mind
of the idea that they are naturally dirty creatures, for they really
are not. Given clean quarters, a stream to bathe in, and wholesome
feed, they are as self-respecting as any animal on the farm. If there
is no brook nor spring-place near the pasture, a large patch of sod
should be removed, and the hollow filled with water. After a few weeks
let it dry up, and make a new bath.
See that no horrible half-mouldy swill-barrels are kept around. Table
scraps, excepting meat, vegetable peelings, small potatoes, apples,
in fact all unmarketable vegetables, are boiled in the food-cooker
with about the same amount of salt that we should use in cooking for
the table. When everything is soft, bran, crushed oats, shorts or
middlings are stirred in to make it into a thick porridge, the whole
being closely covered and allowed to stand until cold. Sometimes
cornstalks are chopped and boiled in the same way. When a feed-cooker
is used, preparing the food is very little trouble, and most certainly
it goes further than uncooked. Each animal has a pailful night and
morning. Skim-milk and buttermilk, when there is any to spare, and
a forkful of ensilage in the winter when there is no pasture. Water
stands before them all the time in one of the cement troughs, into
which twice a week a pailful of coal-ashes is put to aid digestion,
and once a week an ounce of sulphur and charcoal is added to the feed.
When pigs weigh about one hundred pounds, corn can commence to take the
place of their grain, for from then on fattening is the one end and
aim of management. The fleshy, small or medium pig, which weighs from
two hundred and fifty to three hundred pounds brings a better price
in the Eastern markets nowadays than the large greasy pig, so that
returns are realised more quickly, and it pays to force them with the
best of food. If by any chance a sow should farrow late in November,
it is more profitable to market the little ones as sucking pigs than
to try to keep them through the cold of January and February. Ham and
bacon is necessarily a staple in country households, and a real luxury
when home-cured. As soon as the meat is cool, it must be cured, for
should it become frozen, it is impossible to turn it into good ham and
bacon. Sugar and Wiltshire are the two preferred methods. There is
a small hand-machine on the market, specially made for injecting the
liquid for the Wiltshire method. The positive price I don’t know, but
I believe it is about ten dollars. However, I have used a white metal
syringe, which holds thirty-six ounces and answered very well for the
small quantity undertaken. The process given in an old English receipt
is as follows: Add to five gallons of water, twelve pounds of salt,
one pound of saltpetre, one ounce of salt prunella, two pounds of
brown sugar. Bring slowly to the boiling point, let simmer for fifteen
minutes, skim; when cool it is ready to use in the injecting machine or
syringe. Insert the syringe in the flesh, and inject the pickle. This
is to be done every few inches over the entire surface of the meat, to
insure the full piece being permeated with the liquid. Lay the meat on
the slab, powder with saltpetre, lay the rind side downwards and cover
the cut side with a thick coating of salt. The work should be done on
a stone slab, or hardwood bench with raised edges. Let the meat remain
fifteen days, and recover with fresh salt. After seven days more, wash
the meat with clean cloths, and hang up to dry for several days before
smoking. The dry sugar-cured method, is, I think, to be preferred in
this country, because it is more generally liked. Place the hams and
sides on a slab, and proceed as follows: Mix five pounds of salt with
three pounds of brown sugar and two ounces of saltpetre. Thoroughly rub
all parts of the meat, every third day for three weeks, after which,
wash and wipe and dry for smoking. Of course, you know that nothing
but hard wood must be used for the fire. Green hickory is the best.
Sausages should be composed of one-third bread--stale bread grated.
Never use new or moistened bread. Casings only cost five cents a pound,
so it is better to buy them already prepared. A good mixture is five
parts lean pork, one part fat, two parts veal or mutton. Pass through
the chopping machine, then to every eight pounds add one teaspoonful of
dried and finely powdered sage, thyme, and marjoram, two teaspoonfuls
each of mustard, pepper and salt. Add the bread-crumbs last, thoroughly
mix, and fill the casings. Make short, fat links.
CARING FOR HOUSE PETS
In all probability no creature on earth suffers so desperately from
human ignorance as the house pet. People who keep horses, cattle or
even poultry consider it necessary to know something about their wants
and requirements, but the poor pet animal is the recipient of much
affection and many cruelties, for it is cruel to ruin the health by
injudicious feeding, and vitality and happiness by want of exercise. A
wholesome, happy dog or cat is the best playfellow children can have;
an entertaining companion for any member of the human race, but an
ailing, unhealthy animal is a positive menace to the family.
The young dog just taken from its mother requires special care and
patient training, or it will not develop into an intelligent companion.
Even an older dog who comes from kennels of repute will require careful
guiding. Of course, I refer to the general house-dog; hunting-dogs are
usually broken to their special duties before being sold. But the house
or pet dog must understand a multitude of things, all of which vary
according to the idiosyncrasies of the family who adopt it, so it has
to readjust its habits to new owners and environment.
Have a kennel ready before the dog arrives. A dry-goods case covered
with roofing-paper will do if it has two heavy pieces of scantling
nailed across the bottom, to lift it three or four inches above the
ground, so that the air can circulate under it and prevent moisture
from the ground making the floor damp. Place it in a sheltered
position, out of winter winds or the glare of a summer sun. A good
straw bed every week in cold weather and a good scrubbing in warm
weather are sanitary precautions which should be observed. Have a
strong screw-eye at one side of the kennel and a chain with a swivel
snap at each end to prevent the chain getting twisted up to half its
length, and for convenience when handling a strange dog.