VOL. XXIV.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., DEO. 28, 1889.
NO. 52
Written for the Indiana Farmer.
Butchering.
JOHN M. STAHL.
I beleive farmers ought to raiso and
butcher the animals needed for their meet
suppy. When we cure our meat we may
know what we are eating. For the last two
weeks Quincy has been agitated by the discovery that lumpy jawed cattle en route to
Chicago, have been dropped off at Quincy
and disposed of to Quincy butchers. If the
cattle were taken on to Chicago, they
would be condemned to the. soap factory,
hence it was plain policy for the shippers
to drop off such animals at Quincy. Quincy people aro mad because they have been
sold beef from disceased animals, but farmers wise enough to grow and butcher tlieir
own meat can not share the feelings of
their city cousins. Notwithstanding the
strictness of the laws and the efforts made
to enforce them, there are butchered in the
cities many animals the flesh of which is
not fit to be eaten; and it would not be
eaten did the consumers know what it is
like. The only safe plan is to butcher and
cure at home the meat you need. If you
buy meat can not know
whether it is wholesome or
very unwholesome.
Again, I cannot perceive
how it can be cheaper to
sell live animals and buy
meat than to butcher the
animals at home. Truely
, in the large butchering establishments an animal can
be handled at a cost less
than of its butchering on a
farm. But this saving is insignificant compared with
the additional expenses of
selling animals and buying
back the meat. The local
buyer of the animals must
have wages and a profit; the
railroad transportation
charges on the animals must
be paid; and before, the animals are cut up tliiy must
pass through the hands of
two or three parties, all of
whom exact pay for their
labor, and also a profit
Then the meat must pass
through the hands of two
or three dealers and be transported back to tho farmer,
and the dealers and the rail
roads must be paid. Then
all these charges are added
to the meat, surely it must
cost us considerably more
than if we butchered tho
animals ourselves.
It is not my intention to
attempt minute directions
for butchering, but I wish
to give a few general hints.
Do not feed the animals
for twelve hours before they are killed; that is, do not feed them the morning
of the day on which they are buthered or
tho evening before. They should have no
water on the morning of butchering day.
If thus deprived of food and drinkrtl_eir
intestines will not be distended, making
removal easier, also making easier the removal of the fat from the intestines.
Further, the animal's temperature will be
lowered and the meat may be cured more
easily and safely.
The best manner of killing is with a rifle.
The shot gun is not so certain and destroys
more meat. Wherever a shot may lodge a
blood clot will form, and this may be the
starting point of a decomposition that
destroys tho whole piece. "Knocking
the animal in the head" with an ax
or other weapon seems barborous;
needless suffering is often inflicted upon
the animal, and too much meat is spoiled
whon an animal is a hog. Use the rifle.
Aim for the middle of line drawn from an
eye to the opposite ear, if the animal is
looking square at you. If its head is lowered aim a little higher.
After the animal is killed, work fast.
The quicker tho entrails are removed tho
better. As soon as they are out wash the
carcass down inside and out with cold
water, using it freely. Use an old towel to
remove blood clots that hold on well. Then
place a stick sharpened at both ends to
hold tho carcass open and dash several
buckets of water into it.
Do not cut up the carcass until it has lost
all its heat and has stiffened, but do n it
allow it to freeze. If the meat is frozen it
will not absorb the salt. Because of this,
as well as the discomfort of those who do
the work, a very cold day is not best for
butchering; but a moderately cold day,
when the meat will cool quickly, should
be selected.
Quincy, 111.
Written for the Indiana Farmer.
Spring Seeding.
BY N. J. SHEPHERD.
To avoid the winter's thawing and f reez
The broadcast seeders will, if properly
handled, do this work much better and
more rapidly than is possible by hand, securing a more even stand and also saving
seed. If sown on land that is already
seeded to wheat or where it is not considered necessary to harrow or brush in after
tho seed is sown, tho best plan is to sow
after a freeze when the ground is thawing
out. Witli nearly all kinds of seed tlio
weight will be suflii-icnt to cause it to sink
sufficiently in the soil to germinate.
Many consider that a light fall of snow is
a-good time to sow grass seed. Tho objection is that, on land that is rolling, if the
snow melts off rapidly it will wash moro or
loss of the seed away and a good stand will
not be secured. Yet under many conditions this is one of tho best plans of sowing this class of seeds.
If tho ground has been well plowed in
the fall, it will often pay to wait until the
soil is in good condition, and then sow tho
seed and cover with light harrow or brush.
If clover is to be sown with the grass it
will best as a rule to sow the grass seed
from a week to ten davs ahead of the clover
lain dormant all winter will have a renewed start by being brought agaiivto tho
surface. Much labor and expense of time
can bo avoided by breaking black ground
in the fall, clay and upper sandy soils in
the spring. It. W. W.
Franklin, Dec. 9th.
Here sits old Santa taking a minute's rest before ho opens his sacks and bundles and begins the pleasant task of
filling up the stockings suspended above him. The merry, littlo old man seems to be smiling at tho thought of
the joy he is bringing to tlie boys and the girls when they waken in the morning- He wishes a Merry Christmas
to all good children, and so wish we.
ng many prefer to sow grass and clover
seed in the spring rather than in the fall.
If this plan is followed care should be taken
to make such arrangements that the seeding can be done in good season. Oats,
grass and clover seed should be sown as
early in the springas the condition of the
soil will admit. Much of the necessary
work of preparing the soil can bo done in tho
fall. Then if the necessary quantity of seed
is secured there need be no delay.
With grass seed it is very important - to
secure fresh seed. With some varieties,
seed that is over a year old will possess but
very little vitality and should not bo depended upon. For this reason it will nearly always be.found a good pjan to test seed
that is purchased before sowing. With
grass whether for meadow, soiling or for
pasture a thick even stand is quite an item
in securing the best yield, and not only
must the seed be of a good quality, but
plenty of it must bo used and then ft must
be scattered over the surface as evenly as
possible. ,
so that tho seed will have an  opportunity
to germinate first.
If tho clover is sown first it will often secure such a start that it will smother more
or less of the grass plants out.
Orchard grass and clover ripen at the
samo time, but nearly all other kinds of
grass ripen later.
Eldon, Mo.
      .   o -.	
"When to Break Clover Sod.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
An item in a Farm Journal says, "break
clover sod in tho fall." This is right, providing it is a black, rich soil, but if tho
ground is c*ay soil or a sandy loam, it is
much better to wait until spring; about
the last of March. If clay ground is broken
in tho fall, tho rains, snows, thaws and
freezes of the winter will havo a tendency
to form a thick crust, which will necessitate extra plowing iii the spring to get the
ground ready for that year's cereal crop.
If the ground is broken in the fall and
again in the spring, the weeds that have
The Winter Evening.—It matters a
groat de.il to tlie farmer how his son spends
the winter evenings. The boy's character
is in tho formative state. His tastes aro in
tho process of development. Ho is choosing, not so much his associates for life as
the class of his associations. If, during
these earlier years, his thoughts turn to
the serious business of life, if hesetshimsclf
to the improvement of his mind, to storing it with facts, to the acquisition of
knowledge, to the formation of habits of sobriety, industry and thrift, all will be well,
whether ho takes up his father's profession
or engages in mercantile or professional
pursuits. If, on the other hand, he spends
his evenings in the town, or at the country
dance, or in idle gossip with neighbor boys
and girls, tho chances aro that ho will
never take hold of the serious work of life,
and if he continues to farm,
will be a mere routine farmer, always in trouble, or if
he enters city life, will occupy some entirely subordinate position, a mere hewer
of wood and drawer of water.
We have watched the course
of farm boys for *50 years,
and this is the net result of
our observation. The best
blood of the city is from tho
farm. It is made up of tho
reading, thinking boys, and
not the triflers.
The farmer himself is
largely responsible for tho
direction his boy takes. If
ho has good blood in him, is
a reader and thinker himself, his boy will be, in all
probability, of tho same
mould. Ho certainly will
be if his mother is also a
thinker. Many boys how-
over, are driven from homo
during tho winter evenings
by tlie lack of anything
fit to read. Even whero
reading matter is provided
they are drawn off by tlie
lack of tho parent's interest
in anything that interests
the boy. There is a lack of
companionship and of intelligent discussion of matters of common interest,
that compels tho boy to seek
diversion and entertainment
elsewhere.
There is nothing that
should so deeply interest
both tho farnier and his
sons, as the business of the farm itself
and the problems connected with farming. Nor is there anything that will increase that interest and throw so much
light on its various 'problems, as a fisrt
class agricultural paper. It comes each
week freighted with the best thoughts of
tho best farmers. It takes up tho various
problems offarm life in their season. It
is suggestive rather than exhaustive in
its treatment, not doing tho thinking, but
rather st imulating thought in others. Its
range of discussion is within tho reach of
the boy and not beneath the range of the
farmer   himself.—Iowa Homestead.
The town of Pinesville, Ky., was visited
by a destructive storm of wind and rain
early Sunday morning. Several dwellings
and three business houses wero swept
away by the cyclone, which only passed
through the center of town. Grant and
James North, brothers, received serious
injuries. These were the only ones hurt,
though several people had miraculous escapes.   The loss is estimated at §50,000.