Historic Paxton, her days and her ways, 1722-1913

During the summer omit warm mash. Feed instead oats soaked over night. Give the last feed an hour before sundown. To Sprout Oats Soak the quantity of oats needed about 10 hours, drain and empty into a long shallow box in the bottom of which holes have been bored to permit drainage. Keep box in warm place. Sprinkle and turn oats every night and morning. Feed as soon as sprouts are % inch long. Start fresh quantity each day. Lice Powder 5 pounds of sulphur. 5 pounds of napthaline flakes. 25 pounds of wheat middlings. Rub well into the feathers. Common road dust may be used instead of middlings. POULTRY NOTES Liquid Lice Killer 2 pounds of sulphur. 2 pounds of napthaline flakes. Place in bucket and fill with kerosene. Stir, then let it settle, and afterwards pour off clear oil into another bucket. Spray coops and roosts every week during the summer and once a month in winter. Roup Preventive Enough permanganate of potash placed in drinking water each day to make water slightly pink. Continue during the fall and the early winter months. PLANNING THE COUNTRY GARDEN (Told by Miss Lizzie Butherford, Aged Eighty Years.) Often I am asked, "Please tell me how to have a garden like yours? Everything grows for you and you never seem to have failures?" My answer is: "I love flowers and am not afraid of hard work. Only last fall I planted over a thousand bulbs myself and there was scarcely a day last summer that I did not weed among my posies." Unless you are fond of flowers and willing to work hard to have them, DON'T plant a garden. Given those two traits, have one if it be but the size of a pocket handkerchief. Do not fear the cost. My garden, measuring about 60x120 feet, averages about $10 a year for labor. I have a man to dig, weed and prepare the ground in the spring and cover the plants with manure each fall, and occasionally I have a woman to help weed. With the small yard, which is what most women will own, this cost is much reduced. The amount spent depends upon the individual. A garden grown from seed is very inexpensive, while experienced gardener friends are usually delighted to donate cuttings and divided roots to the beginner. I suppose I average from $5 to $10 a year on the plants I buy. Fertilizing The first essential to a successful garden is fertilizing the ground. The best fertilizer is well rotted cow manure. This is easily obtained in a farming district, but if it must be bought costs about f 1.00 a load. I cover the ground in the fall and dig it in, with more in addition, in early spring. All my deep digging and making of beds I do in the fall. If a new bed is to be made I usually dig it, at least, two and a half feet deep. I allow about six inches spread over the surface and then dug in. Bone meal is another good fertilizer and more easily handled if a woman is working her own garden. It costs five cents a pound and about ten to fifteen pounds should be used on a small garden. Put on about like sowing seed. Many consider pulverized sheep manure gives better results. It costs the same per pound as bone, but goes farther and can be used more freely, as it does not burn. Use bone meal instead of manure in making up bulb beds, as unless the manure is very old and dry it rots the bulbs. Planting for Succession