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I J»f â- 0* arm (rop Queries Conducted by Professor Henry G. Bell The "bject of this department li to place at tha e«f» •lea of our farm reada.t tha advica of an acknowledged •uthority on all tubjecta pertaining to tolls and crops. Add.ess all questions to Professor Henry 0. Bell, li» ^ •â- re of Tha Wilson Publishing Company, Limited. Toronto, •nd BPs.vers will appear In this column In tha order In Mhlch tpey are received. As space Is limited it is advis- able w! !-e Immediate reply is necessary that a stampsd â- nd addressed envelops be enclosed wlH) tha question, when tr.a aniwer will bo mailed direct. Profitable Winter Work on the Farm Henry L.l'. : â€" 1. Is wheat, oats and barley a. of the barrel and allow it to dram, i good mixture to sow for pasture? 2. ' Spread the grain on a dry floor and 1 have ten acres of fall rye on a Ught !•;««? '}J^'l':^t "''^•='-^'''7"^ T!.! '1'" ,, . ... ,j ... .i..!<Iry. The higrh temperature of the wa- , piece o. land. >\ould like to ^eed It , ^^^ ^;,, ^j,, ^j,^. ^p^^^, ^j ^^e disease; to elovt-r. What is the best time to viHich adhere to the surface of the bar- j sow clov<.>r? 3. What is n^eant by sub- ; ley seed. The u^e of oats as a crop in soilinM:^ I. What is the best soil for ! a young orchard is advisable if the soil alsike? I is fairly rich in nitrogen. If the soil Answer: â€" 1. Ontario Agricultural is too rich in nitrogen there will be College i.s reporting good results from too rapid growth of wood. However, a mixture of wheat, oats and bailey, if the soil is relatively poor, it may abou": a bushel of each per acre, for be that a more rapid growth of wood summer pasture. 2. It is of course too would be desired in the tree.s. Under late tu sow clover in your rye this such conditions, growth of oats as a fall. However, very satisfactory re- ' cover crop would tend to rob the soil suits have been obtained by scattering of some of the nitrogen which it may the clover seed over the rye field be- be advantageous for the tree.* to use. ^re the frost leaves the soil in spring. ' Under such conditions, I would advise '. As the fros: goes out, the opening of a legume crop such as vetches or any | the cracks provides for the burying of kind of clover rather than the growth the cKivcr seed and a satisfactory of oats. catch freo.-.iently results. You can| E.H.: â€" 1. Can you advise me about . #nake more sure of a satisfactory catch planting cedars for a hedge? Best if you li>p-dres3 the rye with 150 to time of year, soil, size of trees, etc? 250 pounds of fertilizer carrying about 2. What is the h«!st mixture for seed- 2 per cont. nitrogen and 6 to 8 per ing low land? i cent, phosphoric acid. This should be - .-Vnswer; â€" 1. Cedars for a hedge applied .ifcer the frost is gone out and can be planted most any time of the when the ground is dry enough for the ' year. Howeviir. since the young horses to wallr across the rye field transplanted trees require a consider- with a n:;nimum of injury to the crop, able amount of moisture, early in the 3. Sui)-soiling is the stirring of the fall or early spring is probably the soil below the depth at which the aver- best time to set out the hedge. The age plow stirs it. This is accom- soil should be well prepared and rich plished by an attachment for the in its plantfoods. since the young ordinary plow which stirs the furrow tree's pruned r )ots will not be able to underneath that turned, over, but does reach out into the soil after more not bring the under soil to the sur- food for a considerable length of face. i. As a rule a medium clay time. Barn manure ami fertilizers loam is b'.'st for alsike. It should be w^ill be of material benelit in increas- a fairly rich soil since the roots of ing the chances for a rapid growth alsike aro comparatively shallow and | of the hedge. When the trench for make rnvximum use of the plantfood the trees has boon dug, the scattering ne.ir tlio surface. \ of a handful of medium rich fertilizer Reader: â€" Kindly describe the hot â€" say one carrying from 2 to 4 per water treatment of barley for smut. cent, ammonia, and 8 to 10 per cent. Is oats a good crop for a young phosphoric acid -where each tree is to orchard? . . , be planted will materially help the .Answer; â€" The hot water treatment growth of the trees. .\s to size of for kiHing the smut of barley is as fol- 1 trees, a more even growth can be ob- lows: Place the grain in a bag and tained by planting trees not over two emerge tiie bag in water which has or three feet in height. 2. For seed- liecn hea'ed to about 115 to 120 de-|ing low land which tends to be damp, greos Fahrenheit. .\fter the grain i the following mixture is recommend- has been in this water for a few mi- 1 ed: nutes. transfer it to another barrel . where water is from 130 to 135 de- 1 grees Fahrenheit. Allow it to soak in this v.ater for about ten or fifteen | minutes, after which pull the bag out I Timothy 4 Ib.s. Red Top 10 lbs. Alsike 4 lbs. Total 18 lbs. per acre. If the object Is to improve the egg qualities of the flock, It is imporUnt that sires be purchased that have been bred from hens with high egg records. Too many males are used tha,t have nothing but their "looks" to recom- mend them. ."void using the hen that moults early, because these hens lay but very few eggs in the year. Avoid the hen that is not a busy one. Avoiil the hen that is constantly suiuiing herself, roosting late in the i HIGHEST PRICES PAID For POULTRY, QAMB, EQQS A FEATHERS Pleas* wilt« for partloulari*. r. Fovuv * CO., 3* Buuaaooois Maxkat, Xoatraftl HIGHEST PRICES PAID For RAW FURS and GINSENG N. SILVER aao St. Paul St. W. Voittra*!. P.Q. Reference, t'nlon BIl of Csnudu RAWrURS OUR ADVICE Ship to us at onco and Reap Benefits of High Prices now prevail! rtg. Prica List and Shipping Tags FREE SiercefurGrl itichiira M rui-ii-. M.->i>m;«.i im^t' 3r.J .â- Vex3.-id^:wmmi . (^Snada We Also Buy HIDES dod SENrCA ROOT RAW FURS Red Fox, Mink, Bearers, Martens, Mii3krats are now wanted atid ar« in jfood demand. Writ« for our price list, Calendar, and shipping atatiorierj'. HOERNER WILLIAMSON it. Co. 378 St. Paul •*, W. T MONTRBAL morning and early at night. Avoid the hen that on the roo.-:t at night has an empty crop. Avoid a cockerel that is not up to weight. .'\void any cockerel that is constantly being driven by other cock- erels, or a cockerel that won't flght. Any bird that vv'i; fight has good vig- or, vitality and strength, and these are essential. Avoid any male bird that crows lit- tle or seldom, because the very act of crowing sho\\s the masculinity of the bird, and to be a good breeder he should be strongly sexed. Do not use a male bird that is not a good, upstanding, deep, wide-chested, broad-backed and proud bird, because if he does not possess these character- istics he will never do to head any mating pen. .\n authority says that hi.* secret of making new blood is to pick out a pen of females as nearly unrelated as possible, and put them in a pen and mate to that pen two cockerels; these cockerels should be entirely uru-elated to these hens, and entirely unrelated to each other. Use one cockerel on the pen of hens for five days; then take him out and put in the other one for the same length of time; and in that way blooil is manufactured that is marvellous for mating to almost any hens, and marvellous, too, for lay- ing. I -â€" ♦ Do Spring Buying Now. Join with neighbors and order fer- tilizers, lime, spraying materials and any implements that may be needed next spring. If carload lots can be ordered the delivery will be made more quickly than on small lots. Goods ordered now may not be delivered be- fore they are wanted for use in the spring, and if delivered sooner the feeling of securi'y resulting from hav- ing these things on hand is worth the slight interest lost on the money drawn from tlie bank to pay for them i before they ai'e needed. The rail- roads are blocked with freight, Hnd| though conditions in this respect may grow better it is best to take no: chances. Order goods way in advance' of the time I'-ey are wanted, other-' wise it may "oe necessary to gn with- out them when they are needed. Thig^ advice applies ti> seeds quite a.'' much .IS to fertilizers and tools. . The cause of milk fever is frequent- 1 ly attributed 'o milking the cow out clean soon after calving. It is advis- able not to empty the udder the tlrst day or two. By T. J. Heretofore it has been customary for us to talk about the planning of the summer work on the farm, but we have not spent any particular thought upon the winter's work with the pos- sible exception that we have indicated a few things that might well be done in the winter so that the time might more efficien'rly be spent in the sum- mer. In the face of the present lab- or situation the one word that has come to the front more than ever be- fore is "efficiency;" another word, "3er\ice," is now rapidly coming for- ward. It will- be necessary now to do the work of the farm with one hand, where before it was done with trwo, and this can only be possible through exercising such supervision and systematic management that the moments of the working day wiil be spent "^3 greater advajitage. There is not a single man but who tjin go back over a day's work and find some way in which more could have been accomplished by the laborer. It may be little things, such as the fact that the man does not take the jug of water to the field with him; it may be that the plow has not been scoured and that forty or fifty minu'es of the day spent in the field must be used in digging the rubbish and. ac- cumulated dirt off the plowi-hare; -or it may be that a burr comes off and loosens a bit of machinery, to fix which will require the greater part of an hour's time, wliere two or three minutes spent in going over the ma- chine each morning would keep it up to standard and would make it possible for the operator to spend all of his time operating rather than running around after old bolts and nuts. This year it will be necessary for the workers on the farms to be as busy during the winter as through the summer, and there are a number of jobs which are ordinarily done in the summer that wdll perforce have to be done this winter. Some Field Work Possible. While we have thought it, hereto- fore, well nigh impossible to do any field work in the winter, the comlitions of this winter will force u.« to think othemise. On most farms the job of hauling manure has been left until the rush of springâ€" this year this job mu-t be done through the winter in order that the busy days of spring may be oc- cupie<l with such essentials as plowing and caring for crops that are to be harvested. Further than that, it is good business management of re- sources to put the manure on in the winter lime since larger loads can usually be hauleil with the only incon- venience of it being a little harder to get int<i the field, but one season with another, it seems to me to be about as easy to get onto a field in the winter through the snow as to get on- to it in the spring or summer time through the mud or soft plowed ground. Occasional fields here and there cannot be covered with manure this winter because of their rolling nature, but all level fields should by all means have the application during the winter, since there will be no ap- preciable leaching away and the job will be done when the rush of spring work comes. Moreover, there are on every well ordered farm .some fertilizers neces- sary in raisitig the crops and these should be ordered at once for .lan- uary or February delivery so that they may be on hand when they are wanted. The matter of allowing the fertilizer order to go until a week be- fore the material is wan"ed and then have to delay the planting season or work the ground unnecessarily a sec- ond time, will certainly not do this year, since it results in so much incon- venience and inefficiency. Fences and Orchards .* great many farmers are deciding this year to use limestone to correct soil acidity and thus make it possible to grow more clover in order to add more organic matter to their farm.'*. If the freezes and thaws are kept well in rnind this limestone may be hauled from the station in the winter and spread upon the field exactly where it is wanted. In this connection, how- ever, it should be said that the best re- sults have invariably been secured by spreading ground limestone upon fields that have been already plowed and for this reason the limestone can JIathevvs. t)e spread through the winter upon those field.s only that have been plow- ed last fall . Even fences may be made through the winter. In some cases it may be necessary to have the post poles dug and the posts set in the autumn before makine the fence in the winter, while in other cases it will be perfectly pos- sible to dig the holes during the winti.-r .season. The wire can easily be stretched and staples put in some of the good days. If it has not been possible previous- ly to get at the berry bushes and the orchard trees on the farm, here is another field job that ought to have attention before spring. The old canes on the brambles which have passed their period of usefulness should be ..•ut out and the new shoots trimmed back. It is a saying among orchard men that the o'^ly good time to prune trees is when the pruning knife is sharp, and so the pruning knife ought Co be sharpened up and used judicious- ly during the days of winter when it is possible fur a man to be out in the field. Preparing the Seed There is no good reason why the oats that are to be use»l for seeding ne.\t spring should not be fanneii out and treated for .^mut during the win- ter. Fanning the oats has been shown to be a good practice because it re- sults in a quicker growh in the spring and early oats are usually freer from rust. The treating can be done just as well during winter, the oaly pre- caution being that the oats should be put back into sacks that have been soaked in the treating solution . Even seed potat.-es may be cut dur- ing the winter. It has been proven to be a worth while practice to allow cut .seed potatoes to sear over before they are planted and these potatoes may be cut with no appreciable loss , during the winter. This wiil save some hours of time when it comes to the planting season. I Then, of course, the seed com should be gone â- >vcr, the cull ears thrown out and the remaining ears tested for vitality. (Tertainly it will not pay to spend good time planting and caring for corn that is only fifty or sixty per cenr. r,f what it might have b«.en had a few hours been taken in the winter time to be sure that the seed would all grow. ) ' Then. too. there is the matter of overhau'ing the machinery and wiR ons. \\\ parts that are broken or bent should be listed and these sent for at once. The broken ones may thnn be replaced and the supplies will be on hand when the bent part gives way. The wheels and parts can be taker, into the tool house or work shop and repaiiited and even though the average farmer is not a professional painter, he will be able to make his tools look better, not to mention the fact that the repainting is a form of insurance and will pay in the extra life of the tool. Head Work Head work is essential al.^o during the winter. Crop rotation systems should be planned out and l\w work so distributed that help may be hired during the entire year. The fields I should be gone over carefully with re- ference to their past histor.- and a <ie- ' finite outline should be made out to be fol'owe<i during the next five or ten years. The first of the year should see an invtntory taken of the farm business so that the total assets of the farm may be compared with its assets one yi>ar hence. The numbers of bushels of the Hicferent kind of seeds necessary to do the year's planting I can easily he arrived at and these ' should be at hand when the planting ' season draws en. This will make for : better use of the labor of both the former or his han<is. All of the field work possible should be done in time, the indoor work being ; reserved until the last. The head work necessary to run the farm through an- other year should occupy considerable ' attention and after this has been thor- oughly settled such perennial jobs as oiling harnesses, making pig troughs, painting wagons and buggies, fanning seed grains and cutting seed potatoes ; should come in for attention. Great ' efficiency as well as satisfactior will result if these matters are completely , out of the v^'ay when the rush of spring work takes precedence o\ ?r other jobs. -_ _,.„ ..WW Wi p«|rfw> W...7 ,-. • Krr.ped a.nd add'esaed enveiope ia enclosed Address all correspondince for tnis depa.tment to Mrs. Helen Law, 23J Wcedoine Ave., Torontc. RS.B.: â€" ksM. youi- dea'er to get the kind of fish you want and give him no peace until he has brought them on the market. There are hundreds of women like yourself who are willing to try the new varieties of fish but aro finding it itard to secure them. Fish is the natural substitute for the beef and bacon that are being extensively struck off the menu. The fishermen are ready to supply you with all the fish you want. You are ready to use them . Then approach the middleman and induce him to bring unfamiliar varieties on the market in increasing quantities . If you want to know all al>out them and the l)est way to cook .liem write to the Office of the Food Controller at Ottawa for a useful lit- tle book entitled "Eat more fish: How to prepare, cook and serve Canadian fish, and so conserve Canadian beef and bacon f;r the soldiers at the front." ^ L.R.F.: â€" We are glad to be able to inform you that the reporu-i received at the Food Controller's office regard- ing the saving in restaurant^ through beeiless'and baconless Tuesdays and Fridays are most encouraging. Re- ports from only ij;! large hotels and restaurants throughout the Dominion, out of the I'i.oOO public eating places, show a saving for October, 1917. of 2153.1100 pounds or 1314 tons. The saving in bacon for the same 33 establishments was no less than 40 '-.j tons. .\..'^R.: â€" Better late than never I You are by no means the only country woman who has repented her decision not to sign the food ple>ige card. A number of tardy people have come to see that f)erhaps there was some rea- son underlying the pledge card cam- paign after all. You can get these cards bv wTitmg to Mrs. Gurnett. secretary of the Women's A.uxiliary to *he Organization of Resources Committee, Parliament BuiidingB, Toronto, or the provincial secretaries of the Food Control offices at W'inni- peg, Regina, Edmonton. Vancouver, Montraal. Fredericton, Halifax and Chariottetown, P.E.I. Rose of Sharon: â€" .\ novel idea for a wedding present? Well, what do you think of this one? The W'omen'a Institute at South Tilley, X.B., has hit upon the scheme of giving all brides as a wedding gift a year's member- ship in their organization. The Upper Sackville Women's Institute, N.B., goes one befer and makes all school teachers, as well as brides, members f.)r one year. The habit once formed, they are likely to remain memliers and the very fiiic-^t or^nization to which the I ountry woman can belong is one of the Womer.'s Institute's ubiquitous branches. Speaking recen-Iy at the Sixteenth Annual convention of the Women"< Institutes of Ontario held at Toronto. Mr Hanna said that the wo- men of the Institutes could do a great deal to encourage the ;ncrease of hog prouuctit n. "vhich is of th>' utmost im- portance at the present time. He urged the women to forget minor dif- fe ences and to co-operate for food conservation. Mrs. L.RF: -There 1^ nothing like asking for specific information on iluest;ons over which you are in doubt. If one lump of sugar instead of three, or one teaspoonful in-t.ead of three were u?ed by the people of Ca.'iada the saving would greatly help out the de- mands of Italy. Great Britain and France. Italy's per capi.a consump- tion before the war was VZ pounds; that of France was 18 and of Great Britain, Jf. In North .\mer:.a each man. woman and ch:'d lonsumed 90 pounds of sugar a year. Ohm S/orres .V Christmas Party in I'oyland. It was bl twelve o'clock one night shortly before Christmas wiien the toys in the big top shop agreed to have a Christinas party. The minia- ture Santa Claus who stood on the counter, thought of the plan, and he said: "Let us have a Christmas party here in the children's big playroom and have one last romp together l>e- fore we are sold." Then Santa Clau^ called the toy policeman and asked him to help m;in- age the party. The policeman went out on the floor ami stiddenly stopped the motorcycle man, who was start ing out for his midnight spin. "Will you please carry a message for Santa Claus?" he said. "He wants all the toys in this Toyland to come to" the children's room for a Chris'mas party. S.i go as fast as you can to the departments and invite all the toys." .And the toy motor- cycle man broke all the speed laws i:i Toyland, and nearly broke his clock- work ni;'. hiriery as he rushed on his way. Soon the toys were in the' large playroom. First, the dolls and Teddy bears coasted down th'3 toboggan glide Then they all rotie on the merry-go-roiuid until they were diz- zy and tired, and later they visited the toy farms. Here they saw woolly Iambs that said "Baa-baa-baa-baaal" whenever they turi'.e<l their heads to one side, and horses that fairly pranc- ed along on their rollers. Next they saw a marvellous mili- tary parade and all the dolls clappe<i their hands and cheered and stood up to wa-ch the soldiers as they marched. .After that they went to the sand box where the toy battleships were drawn up for a naval exhibit. Next Santa Claus took them to a Punch and ,Iudy thow. and they all laughed and shouted. Then the dolls went to a big supper party. But the nueerest part was that, although the Jolls seemed to have quite enough, still the food on the plates and plat- ters was always the same. Then Santa Claus told the toy musi- â- ians to play, and they took hold of hands, and Santa I'laus danced with them around a tall Christ r.as tree until the policeman said: "See. the day i^ dawning; 1 am tne one appointed to uphold the laws of Toyland. Each one must go to his place at once and he ready for this day's sale. " "Yes. it is time to say good-bye," said Santa Claus; "but remember wherever you go it is your duty to make the children glad, for tha' ia why we toys are made. You dolls must consent to be hugged and loved by the little girls: you soKHers must march and. drill f' r the little 'ooys, and each toy has its place in the home to fill; and you will be h:fljp|f in your new life by br;ngimr happiness to the children." "We wiil. Santa (1:1:1.-. good-bye! Merry Christmas!" :'bouted all tha toys. Then, by train, trolley, automobile, fire engine, patioi wagon, anii airship, all the toys were carried .-.afely back their places, and when th^' great store was opened for the work of the day, no one would have guessed that there ever had been h..'ld a Christmas party in To\ l;ind. INTERNA riONAL LESSON UEC'E.MBER .30. Lesson XIII. God's Redot-ming I.ove â€" (Review) â€" Psalms 123 and 12 1. Golden Text. Psa. 130. 7. Tin confidence of the prophets. .\ large part of the message and work of the prophet .statesmen who have been studied this quarter is sumniar- izetl in the topic: "God's redeeming love." Those great leaders of their nation and of humanity called the peo- ple to justice and righteousness In order that they might know God and experience him by thus expressing his nature in human relationships. They proclaimed the terrible wrath of Jehovah upon those who worked in- justice and unrighteousness. Thoy described the anger of God working out in historic consequences. They correctly interpreted the moral nature of the i.riverse. This was a great advance in religion, but there v.'as something more in their message. Undcriicatli this preaching of right- eousness and of the consequences of sin is a confidence in the lovtngkind- ness of Jehovah. Even in his anger they saw a beneficent purpose. It was not vegeance, but restoration that they proclaimed. The climax of this message included the powerful en- emies of Israel -those great conquer- ors who were about to grind her be- neath their iron heel. The prophets sjiW them turning to God and included them In the |:reftt fellowship tha' should dwell with him. Have we that message and attitude for our foes ? It is essential to the building of a new- world order. ' .\ great ad\ance. To call the peo- ple from immoral idols who could bo bribed to a God of righteousness and justice was an iinnioa-<iirable jirogress in religion. There is a still greater gain in the ktio-vledge of a God of lov- ingkindness. The gods of a primitive religion are terrible. The men vho worship Uiein live in a llo^^tile uui\eise =ikJSl. .. whicn hurts them continually, so they propitiate their gcds by bloody sacri- fices, even offering their children upon the altar. From such a religion men turn to skepticism. Then the heavens aie brass. There is no answer. The wise man is but an infant crying in the night and the universe ignores his cry. But the prophef.3 proclaimed the confident knowledge of a God who was the helper and defense of men. who was the friend and comrade of their struggles, who was on their side when they were seeking justice and righteousness because they were then expressing his nature. 'This concep- tion of God was fulfilled in Jesus s declaration of the Father which calls men to live in a new world with a tJod whose name is love. Small wonder that the English abandoning his conception of Goil, cried out. "The great compan- ion is dead." Those to-day who feel a personal fellowship with God are called to develop a similar fellowship on the part of the community and all humanity to be achieved through Working out his great purposes with him. The basis of redemption.- W'ith the certainty of the lovingkitidness of God comes the possibility of redemption. It is L(>ve that bears all things and still cleaves to the sinner. .After he h.od denied it, Peter well knew its n.-iture and says, "the longstiffering of the Lord is our salvation." Redemp- tion is H process. There is a great- purpose behiiui it all, but it is depend- ent upon us. It bears with our frail- ties, teaches, and leads us. In the' day of our weakness, iii the lime when the consci(rusiiess of universal sin bears hard upon us, when it seems as if there were no outcome to the strug- gle of humanity, here is a ground for confidence. The Eternal Love i.s great- er than the needs or weakness of men. Here is plenteous redemption, grace more abundant . It is a challengs not to idle trust, but to renewed effort. The lumps or swellings which may be found under the skin on the backs of many cattle from .January until .April contain grubs. If these grubs are allowed to remain, they will com- plete their growth, drop to the ground and transform into flies which may reinfest the cutile ciuring the spring and summer. The grubs weaken the cattle, cau.-^e them to fail <iff in flesh and milk, and decr'jase the value of the hide. Grubs may be pressed out through the opening at the top of the swelling. .A. sharp knife and a pair of tweezers will often make the work of removing the grubs easier. Care should be taken to crush all the grubs remov- ed, preventing their further develop- ment and transformation into flies. Electrical apparatus operated by a keyboard like that of a piano has been invented for ringing church bells either as chLt»^» or continuously. 7