Farm and Garden.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 403, 28 January 1904, Page 2

Farm and Garden.

ORIGINAL ARTICLES, UTILISING THE, jBARLY SITTER : SgWETTDTG kaide the "question oE SSfc expansive incubatora and brooders, jgSm w hile at the same time admitting their desirability, if our purse would admit of their cEoßß*Bion, should try to utilise the early sitter, wlrich is usually either an early molted hen or an early hatched pullet, and if well fed and warmly housed since the beginning of cold weather, frequently becomes broody about midwinter and ready for a clutch of eggs. Being one of the very first to take to the deist she is valuable, and her value may be greatly increased by the aid of % little home-made device which will enable one -to .utilise her incubating qualities to the fullest extent. That can be done by making a cheap brooder, just large enough for one brood

of chicks. For that par pose a small box may be used. Make a door of the front end, and nail some strips crosswise inside and about four inches up from the bottom; on those a slotted frame should be placed, extending about half the length of the box;' on the frame a square tin tank about five inches high, and about as long and wide as the frame, should rest. A rimmed hole should be made in the top of the tank, and a large cork used to fit the hole; a cloth curtain should hang from the front edge of the cross strips to the floor of the box. Then when the early sitther hatches her first lot of chicks they should be taken from her and placed in a home-made brooder back under the tank, which should be filled with hot water. Morning and night the tank should be refilled with hot water, which will supply {sufficient warmth for the chicks huddled beneath it j they can be fed in the front part of the box while they are small, and later on can be placed where they may enjoy a little open runway and fed outside the brooder box. With the chicks thus cared for, the hen may be reset without any injury to her, and her utility thus doubled; if she be a mature hen of two years, it is possible to reset a second time, making three broods from her in nine weeks. Some breeders say that this is a good method to pursue either with the ordinary flock or with thoroughbred stock. The chicks thrive in close quarters during old weather, and with some breeders the percentage of loss among chicks managed as suggested m the single brooders is very small indeed.

THE ONION CBOP. We have from time to time written in these papers respecting the onion crop, and we have observed the great loss which has occurred through the onions being packed in bags. Bat recently we have observed that some farmers are using a form of package which seems very satisfactory. The crates are made from half-inch lumber eighteen inches long, eighteen inches high, and twelve inches through inside measure meat They are made thus: the ends, which are .two strips two and a-half inches wide, are laid twelve inches apart on iron plates. Take cross strips twelve inches long and any width handy from one and a-half to tour inches, have nails jast long enough to go through and clinch well, and nail the strips on, leaving a space between each strip of one inoh, except the top apace, which make one and a half inch, for there is where one will grip the crate in handling. Nail on for side and bottom pieces any narrow width, leaving the same spaces on sides as recommended for the ends. The bottom spaces should be about three quarters of an inch.' That completes the crate, ani if properly put together will last for years. These crates are very useful not only in harvesting onions, but also for potatoes, apples, cabbage, and useful in many ways. They hold exactly a bushel and a half. They weigh empty from seven to ten pounds; when fall of onions, potatoes or apples from eighty-five to one hundred pounds. Onions should not be handled when wet either by rain or dew, but selecting a fine day as soon as the dew is-off take a circular wheel hoe and run it beneath the onions, cutting off all roots. If the hoe be one foot wide, the same width of the onion rowß, it will at the same time cut up all small weeds. Go over the piece with the hoe, follow with a fine-toethed rake, taking three rows at a time, carefully avoiding bruising the onions. As soon as far enough advanced boys may begin picking up the onions and putting them into the crates. When filled they should be at once carted to the storage place, and the crates may be placed three or four high one upon another, and in that way a free current of air is passing through, greatly in contrast to the old method of placing the onions in' bags and stacking them, which if not quickly sold —aud they are often kept back in order to obtain high prices—necessitates their being pioked over from time to time, and the rotten ones thrown out. Now this losb of time and onions may be avoided by using the crates alluded to herein. The slats in the ends ot the crates which are on the inside prevent the crates being placed so close together as to shut out the air, and the condition of the onions is perfect, and no further handling is necessary.