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Newspaper
Bath Independent
Location
Bath, Maine, United States of America
Date
Dec 16, 1916
Page
11
All communications for this department should be addressed to J. F. Upton in Winneganee Maine. Tel 301-W. Additional Farm and Home matter may be found on page 11.
A guide to farm produced presents for urban friends. Suggestions include home made jellies, pickles, small fir trees, Mayflowers in pots, pressed vines, eggs with stickers, candies in birch bark boxes, nuts, cookies, fruit cake, apples, potatoes, ferns, and laurel as festive bouquets. The piece encourages stocking gifts with farm grown goods and careful packaging.
A brief admonition against anxiety improving work pace and outcomes. It encourages steadiness and confidence that efforts will likely succeed despite worries.
A Kennebec Journal letter to the Merchants' Association argues local merchants discriminate against cash customers and overprice local goods, urging cash pricing, delivery charges, and reduced store count. It supports mail order competition and calls for reform of local distribution.
A farmer finds a round wire rat trap in the barn filled with 238 rats after a morning milking. He drowns them and lays the carcasses on the grass, noting the large and small sizes from old to young, and wonders why the trap had not caught any sooner.
In Sagadahoe county the recent apple season yielded few fruit and Bath buyers paid well for the small supply. Observers noted an absence of worms including brown tails and tent caterpillars with no brown tail nests visible on trees, suggesting continued pest freedom next year.
The College of Agriculture at the State University of Maine Orono announces January and February short courses in Dairying General Agriculture Horticulture and Poultry Keeping. Courses run four weeks for dairying and general agriculture starting January 8 and three weeks for horticulture and poultry starting February 5. Courses are free with only travel and living costs. Open to men and women, sessions include lectures discussions and practical work on soils fertilizers crop systems dairy rations milk testing cream ripening butter orchard care small fruits incubation chick rearing and poultry marketing. A bulletin with details is available on request from Dean Leon S Merrill or County Agent Harold J Shaw.
A Bath fruit store sold pecan nuts allegedly colored with a coating to appear fresh. A wife and child became sick after eating, leading a doctor to suspect poisoning though the exact danger is unclear. The family stopped eating the nuts and officials may investigate alleged food fraud.
West Bath farmer Clough reports cabbage prices high as season offers little stock. A homemaker bought 250 pounds for sauerkraut and a tested method is given: layer cabbage and salt in a barrel with leaves, press firm, repeat until full, weigh down and ferment for three weeks, then top with water if needed.
A Bath wheelwright recalls his first sauer fermentation attempt. He discarded the batch thinking it rotten, only to learn the odor was normal and fermentation would improve with patience.
The author argues poultry and farm stock must be fed even during moulting or nonproduction. He notes old practices of feeding flats hay and laborious harvest methods near tide-water, contrasting with modern time saving methods and high labor costs. He laments small workforce and rising costs.
State Live Stock Sanitary Commissioner Royden Bearee says hog cholera largely comes from swill fed hogs rather than farm-fed stock. He notes city garbage feeding without fresh water causes sickness and proposes safer swill practices and a daily fresh supply of clean water for hogs, including a salt and ash mixture in their box.
L. W. Lighty argues pigs thrive in pasture from spring to fall with fresh water and movable fencing. He condemns costly pig houses and year round confinement, noting lower losses, less work, and cheaper pork when pigs graze and are sheltered moveably.
Poultry manure is more valuable than manure from other farm animals and is well suited to gardening. Poultry raisers should use it on their own gardens or sell it at a good price.
A. E. Perkins of the Ohio Experiment Station argues that cream is a luxury not rich in extra nutrients. He says milk remains cheaper and more nutritious and warns against substituting cream for milk due to digestive concerns. He notes a quart of milk equals three quarters of a pound of beef in food value and that skim milk is a more economical option.
E L Donham of Harpswell Street Brunswick killed two eighty pound pigs last week and salted one. He peddled the other and said the animals were eight months old, corn fed, clean, and handsome pork. Total costs were 24 dollars for pigs and feed plus 5 dollars for killing.
The proposed embargo on grains used for whiskey and beer sparks a public debate. Proponents argue it could lower food costs, while opponents warn it would waste edible grain for commerce, worsen poverty, disease, and raise taxes.
Mrs. Charles C. Mosely of Freeport raises White Wyandottes. She hatched 1,200 chickens in February and March and raised nearly all of them. She sold cockerels for about 50 cents each, saved 200 pallets, and began getting eggs in August. Now she gathers about four dozen eggs daily and ships to Boston at 59 cents a dozen. Feed is corn plus other grains and fish scraps from the market.
A reader asks how to prevent Russets from shrinking and becoming rubbery before mid winter. Advice: evapo ration causes the problem. Store Russets in barrels in a cool cellar, cover closely, and they should remain plump and firm. Water standing in a cellar may help long keepers, and carrots beets and turnips benefit from light loam covering for crisper quality.
Farmers were advised to consider goats in a recent agricultural exchange. The text recalls a past Maine boom for this stock, noting that those who adopted it were generally glad to abandon it.
Three young Frenchmen were captured by police in Lewiston on Saturday and 14 live hens recovered for their owner Alcide Couture a Bowdoin farmer.
In Bath, Joseph Mc Cutcheon notes bags of harvested apples on his farm. He says freezing them for cider is beneficial, claiming no harm from freezing and that flavor improves while juice presses more easily. The apples can remain outdoors for a period before processing.
A Hoards Dairyman writer lists factors behind unusually slow cream churning. Check cream ripeness and thickness, ensure a 62–64 degree temperature, avoid overfilling the churn, and consider cow factors such as milking duration and possible strippers or a single troublesome cow. Also note scalding of milk from problematic cows and thorough sanitization of equipment.
Department of Agriculture study finds co operative stores in America struggle not from principles but from business methods. Survey shows co ops tend to lower prices and reduce profit margins benefiting farmers. It urges hiring a capable manager with higher pay. average manager salary reported was $106 a month.
Mrs. Benjamin Keay of Bowdoinham achieved the highest score in the butter exhibit in Augusta last week with a 97.1. The bulletin 753 outlines specialists advice to large potato growers and notes possible access via the Department of Agriculture.
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