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BRANDING DAIRY PRODUCTS, inument »od, added nitrogen la likely «M V * .. D rr rk ♦ to *>• « necessity from the sUrt, and Mer^ant, _j*y^'*__f^-'^, ;^^*"~ I In relatiyely Urge quantities. If one * ""' will cut and remove the hay from the <)ues. â€" ^What are the regulation* re- farding the branding of packages containing dairy products? Ana. â€" Every package containing whey butter, or a mixture of whey and creamery or dairy batter, or bat- ter from a mixture of ordinary cream as separated from milk, and cream which has been separated from whey, must be branded at the time of pack- ing with the words "whey Butter." Every package containing a mixture of dairy with creamery butter, or sod orchard it will be found necessary i to replenish the nitrogen supply with| generous applications. And let usi say right here that such a practice will be disastrous to the fruit crops unless the orchard soil is retentive of moisture. If one has a convenient and cheap source of mulching material, such as straw or ' wamp hay, which can be applied around the trees so as to form A Valentine Party By Msurgaret M. Scott boxes similar to those used for cream- f «"<=k layer of decaymg organic mat- ery butter that are packed with dairy, ^r-jery good results can be obtained butter, most be branded "dairy but-!'^*'' «>''ly moderate quantities of mt-j ter." Parchment paper used for, ~Kf" »' P^^^^'y """%'»* »"-,^..,,' wrapping blocks, squirt, or prints of! /he best measure of «>« Jl»f t'ty, dairV'bulter muit be bninded "Dairy »' "^f*" ^^^ ^J ^he trees i.s the butter." Skim-milk cheese must be «rt>^ they make. Young apple trees so branded within twenty-four hours ^-kI**, *^ ""^« *f ^'^'^Iv" ^^^""T. of leaving the press. So must every '»" ^f *>«? *«""*) «^^^ °" 7"'^ box or pLkage containing skim-milk! »' the leading shoots When the trees cheese. All packages containing bat>; J"â„¢* *"»« ''f""^. twelve to fifteen ter or cheese must be branded ac- ^'=^«',r? ^ T""-^'- . A cording to their contenU in letters ^^^f J^at are beginning to crowd not less than half an inch long and S'!?.f^'" " ^^l'^^^} "'T ''T^^'' three-eighths of an inch wide except B«t it is probable that rarely does a in the case of parchment wrappew, I "^^^^^^ . t'-f ?â„¢w»ne less than four when the letters must be not less than »<> «*^ '"<=*'^, »* **»!. ?<^! °' """^ HANDSOME HUSKIES FOR QUEBEC DOG DERBY Soma of the dogs which participated. In the International Dog-Sled Derby | at Quebec last year. These beautiful animals were close runners up and are | competing again this year. .^__^__ 1 POULTRY a quarter of an inch wide. branches produce satisfactory crops. It follows that if trees are growing less than the amounts indicated there GOING THE NITROGEN LIMIT should be applied enough nitrogen to Time was when the introduction of, get the desired growth. This may be any considerable quantity of nitrogen i anywhere from 100 to 300 pounds to into an orchard fertiliser was sup- 1 the acre of nitrate of soda or equiva- posed to be about as disastrous to the lent quantities of other nitrogen- 1 trees as putting a liberal quantity of carrying fertilizers, arsenic into the balced beans for the church supper would be to the hun- gry eaters. Now we apply nitrogen- ous fertilizers with a prodigality that would have dismayed the fruit grow- ers of ten years ago. One of the biggest things the ex- periment stations have ever done for fruit growing has been to dissolve Even larger quantities may be pro- fitable on light poor soils, especially if the orchard is producing heavily. In most cases the limit is imposed not by stimulation of excessive growth and decrease of fruitfulness, as was formerly thought, but by a failure to secure high color of fruit. This cornea about through excessive g^rowth of this old fear of nitrogen and ^i,^^^<^^J f^oot^th^t^had^ th^Jp^it and that it is reaUy-the most valuable of | % P^^°'*^*'?'^ "^ ^^^ ^"'^^ f"*"* all fertilizer elementa in the orchard If ** ^^}^ "^^^ consequent de- and the most likely of any to bring ^^^ ripenmg In most cases the profitable retnrns. Ten years ago the usual fertilizer grower wants to get his early fruit on the market as quickly as possible, and with late-maturing sorts the on- recommendation for orchards called | gaming fall season may prevent the! for a relatively high proportion ot\ ^^.f^t maturity of the fruit potash,' a moderate proportion of phosphoric acid and little or no nitro- gen. The fear of nitrogen arose from When there is a reasonably heavy; growth of a cover crop the trees will I rarely, if ever, be suffering from the belief that it promoted vigorous j starvation. The production of a good growth of the trees. This was thought cover crop in a cultivated orchard is to be mischievous m two ways. One of extreme importance for many rea-i was that the trees would go into the gong, n prevents soil washing and' winter with soft immature wood, and ^oidg the surplus nitrates over win-' most hkely suffer killing from low ter and, decaying, releases them again temperatures. The other arose from fop the use of the trees. i the belief that vigorous growth wasi The older the trees and the heavier' opposed to fruitfulness. One could the crop borne, the more nitrogen is! have either, but not both, m a given needed. It is rare indeed for an or- tree. This belief has been completely ^hard of aged trees to bear well with- overtuiTied, and now we know that, out some help from added nitrogen, within limits, growth and fruitfulness Yet it does occur in some cases when ti.\"f:ether. The mors growth the the orchard is located on a soil of When saving winter eggs for hatching, try and keep them in a temperature between forty and fifty. degrees. Eggs that go below thirty-: five degrees may be chilled. If they: go about sixty degrees a rapid de- terioration results. It pays to gather the hatching eggs often in winter, so that most of the eggs are taken from under hens. Visitings the laying pens every hour from nine until early af- ternoon, will usually save most of the eggs produced from being chilled. Eggs that weigh close to two ounces each are the best for hatching pur- poses. There is a tendency for hens to lay eggs close to the size of the eggs that produced them. We do not wish to oversize eggs as it costs too much to produce them. Small eggs are not desired by the best markets. A standard two-ounce egg is just about right for both market and hatching purposes. \ Dampness in the poultry house is reduced by frequent cleaning of the dropping boards. The droppings con- tain a large amount of moisture. Overcrowding of the poultry house soon contaminates the litter and; makes the house damp. | Keep up the supply of green food' for the hens that are laying eggs for' hatching. The vitamines in both green , feed and milk seem to enable hens to lay eggs with stronger germs. Many] failures with early Incubation are due to the quality of the eggs and not to , the incubator. Breeding stock that; lack green feed and exercise contrib-l ute many eggs that are either infer-] tile or develop chicks that die in the ; ?hell. I Nearly every farm flock, no matter, how carefully culled, contains a few birds of much better quality than the' general run of the flock. If these hens ' can be isolated during the breeding, season and mated with the be?t cock- erel ootainable, it is a great help in viduals in the flock. The large num- ber of cockerels which can be raised from the special mating can be care- fully culled and used as breeders for the free range flock the next year. O SHEEP In my experience in keeping sheep I find that fresh air is an inexpen- sive but important item in the com- fort of the flock. So long as the sheep are dry they will scarcely ever of their own will and accord seek pro- tection from chilling winds and cold weather. Housing breeding ewes too closely is poor practice. Like many a flock owner, I have closed the doors of the shed on stormy nights and forgotten to open a few windows. The follow- ing morning the air in the shed would be stifling with the sheep logy from rebreathing the foul atmosphere. I In arranging for an ample supply i of fresh air, I planned to pre"ent| draughts from hitting the animals.' This is easily done by opening win-' dows on the side of the shed opposite the direction from which the wind, blows.â€" L. C. R. Have you ever wanted to give a valentine party yet hesitated because you could not think up anything new to do? If so, take heart, for here are some suggestions that may cause you to scout the old saying, "There's noth- ing new under the sun." | This invitation, written on a red| heart, sent out in a white envelope; with tiny red heart stickers might be uaed: Hear ye, hear ye! List what fun Is in store for everyone! Come check your heart At my front door â€" February 14th, "24. You might suggest that colonial costumes be worn, if you want a| dressed-up party, for colorful clothes' add so much to the decorations. Or you could arrange to have each girl wear a different-colored dress, and then give fancy caps to the guests aa soon as they arrive. The door knob wi;i taki on a festive air if it pro- tudes through a heart. Just inside you might have a gayly decorated booth presided over by Cupid, where the guests must check their hearts (the invations). i A musical hunt begins the program.] Small paper hearts are placed, but not hidden, all around the room. Part- ners for the occasion are chosen by gi\ang a heart to each girl. She tears it in two uneven pieces â€" one she keeps the other is put in a basket which is passed to the bcya. Each boy finds the possessor of the other half of the heart he drew. Then each couple re- ceives two yards of heavy thread and; two big needles. â- When the music sounds, partners march in a double row around the room, continuing until the music stops when they break ranks, thread the needles, tie a knot in the middle aad* working together, each pair triea t» collect and string on the thread xaoTm hearts than any other couple befor* the music begins again. After this pass out pencila and slip* of paper on which one or two line* of an old love song are writteik Aak the gueata to finish the verse. For instance: "Her face is like the snowdrift. Her neck is like the swan!" I tried to tell her all these thing*. But she said, "Aw, g'wan!" Yoa might award a prize of a heart shaped box of candy to the one wh« gives the most unexpected twist to his verse. Next you might play Cupid's Gam«, Give the boys a small heart for every g^rl thfct is present Then seat them around indifferently numbered nook*. Direct each grirl to go to a different nook, where she proceeds to propose to the young man she finds there. If he accepts, he gives her one of the small hearts. The girl goes on to the ne^t nook and proposes again. When the game is over, the girl who col- lected the most iiearts has to tell her method. After this St 'Valentine himself de- cides who shall be supper partners. His costume is made of two large hearts after the fashion of a sandwich man. The girls' names are put in one basket, and the boys' in another. St Valentine draws a name from each basket and "cries" them aloud as val- entines. Those whose names are coupled are partners. For the supper you might have heart-shaped sandwiches with pimen- to chee.se or ham filling, cherry ice cream, small heart cakes, and coffee. Little baskets of old-fashioned motto candies would make amusing favors. xn<»,> â- 'uit. i high natural fertility. Yes, Indeed! "Well, well, think of meeting you here!" "Yes, the world Is a small place increasing the per cent of fine indl-^ after all!' The Royal Winter Fair If then pitrogen is a most helpful j As to the beat time to apply nitro- element in 'the orchard fertilizer, cer- ' gen, the usual recommendation is to tain further questions arise: What put it on a short time before the form is to be preferred? How much leaves start in the spring. A3 good! ia called for? What time of year is results follow this practice it is the- it best applied? The final answers to best course to follow until it is shown; an these questions have not been given that some other time is better. An yet, but it is possible to give some abundance of avaUable nitrogen at kelpful suggestion. Taking up the this time favors the quick production^ first question, it is probable that any! of a largo leaf area. With lots of «f the usual notrogen-carrying mater- i leave* the tree Is in a position to iala will be beneficiaL Nitrate of manufacture large quantities of •oda, sulphate of ammonia, barnyard starch, and it is very generally manure or any of the so-called or- j agreed that a large starch reserve in fanie forms, aa dried blood, fish or, the tree always accompanies fruit-, tankage, are all good. For quick bud differentiation. Here lies the ar- ' results one of the readily available gfument for early applications of, forms, such aa nitrate of soda or sul-' quickly available nitrogen. If plenty, phate of ammonia, will be found sat- \ of nitrogren is available all through : kfactory. Probably nitrate of soda the summer the tree is likely to use! has been used by fruit growers more it to make new g^rowth all summer! than any other form, but sulphate of long, and in so doing use up the! ammonia may be just as good. It may : newly made starch, so that there is be necessary, however, to apply in too little on hand the next spring to •nch cases a dressing of lime in occa- ' help along the formation of fruit '•ional years, especially where it is | buds. Old bearing trees stop grow-! (desired to grrow leguminous cover , ing and form their terminal buds erops or a clover sod in the orchard.' much earlier than do young non-bear-! Sulphate of ammonia will, if used re- : ing trees. peatedly, bring about an acid condi-| The limit in the use of nitrogen is lion of the soil which is fatal to! that quantity that is most profitable. : ♦lover. Going beyond this may be merely a How much to apply is a question j waste of so much money or it may that cannot be answered definitely. A extend to a positive harm to the fruit. ! >onng orchard planted on a fairly i Most likely this will be in poor color- fertile soil and kept in cultivation of the fruit or in late maturity. j with a cover crop plowed under every 1 .\nother possible harm in overdoing spring may grow and just as , the nitrogen game is poorer shipping well bear for several years without quality. .-K liberal nitrogen supply ; added nitrogen as with it This has! may mean a softer-fleshed apple, more! been proved by ntany experiments. I easily bruised in handling. These; On very poor soils nitrogen may be.' possible bad results are most likely beneficial very early in the history j to be encountered in cultivated or- •f the orchard. For orchards in per- ehards than in those in sod. DA»Y The beet milking cows in my herd â- re the best eaters. A good appe- tn* leema to b* a prerequisite to htftwj performance at the paiL Sine* •â- irtain foods stimulate the appetite, I find that *h» good dairyman can ktv* mueh it^'ienc* over the milk •otput thnragh th* right sort of feed- When I f*d the cows large amounts 9t «T*r-rip* &ay, froaen com fodder vith much of the leave* ahak*n off, •r other fdMds of low digeatibl* vahiek then th* appetite* of th* anlntala •**m to bceoHM 'nor* or leas slof- (ish. Irat wii«n I plac* before th* â- am* cows some succulent food like silage or roots, improvement started in a very short time. They not o.ily eat the succulent food more ravetteus- ly, But their appetite for the dry f«*da t* Btimalat«L Plenty of good water, fresh air and a feed combination with a reasonable amount of succnlvncy, have gone a lonf way in bringing up my milk yield*. These provisions will do much for oth«rs, and sine* they are well within th* means of nearly every man who keeps dairy cows, there is not much excuse for so many low- producing cows with th* oo*t of milk aboT* th* incooM^ The second holding of the Royal Winer Fair at Toronto saw this na- tional exhibition of Canadian agri- cultural endeavor firmly founded and definitely established in the life of the Dominion. At a single bound the Winter Fair has become Canada's greatest farming exhibiion. Dominion- wide in representation and as com- prehensive in the scope of its variety and standard of farm products. In fact, the Winter Fair, in its brief development has gone beyond purely national limits and has taken on sui international hue, as is but natural cnsidering the eminent position Can- ada occupies among the agricultural, countries of the globe. | Whilst \-isitor8 were present from many countries and all sections of tho American continent many states of, the Union were actually represented in exhibits, notably Michigan, Penn-I sylvania, Massachusetts, Ohio andj Oregon- ' Whilst fairs and exhibitions held in every locality in Canada indicate the excellence of the farm production of those areas the Royal Winter Fair has, in a graphic manner summed up the Dominion's agricultural effort. The imposing aggregate of great di- versity illustrates in a clear manner not only the high standard of Cana- dian farm produce, but the addition experimentation is making each year, through the discovery of other crops possible of excellent production on Canadian soil and under Canadian conditiorus. ; AIX BREEDS OK CATTLE EXHIBITED. Beef cattle exhibits at the second annual fair covered all breeds, and were* the strongest exhibits of the show. Dairy cattle came from five provinces and two ftates, and included Jerseys, Holsteine. Ayrshire*, Guern- seys, and French-Canadians. The exhibition of draught horse* was probably the best seen in Canada for a number of years. The sheep ex-' hibits wore exceptional coming mainly from Ontario, where the raising of pure-bred sheep for breeding purposes has been long one of the foremost in- dustries. The swine exhibit was out- standing, a feature being the marked development towards the establish- ment of a national type in Canada. The poultry exhibit ro-nprised the; largest aggregation of fowl ever col- lected on the continent There were' interesting exhibits of water fowl,; African, Chinese, and Embden geese, Canada wild geese, Snow geese. East Indian and wild Mallard ducks. Rab-! bits, guinea pigs, pigeons, canaries and other song birds, all further in-] dicated the latitude of Canadian pro-- duction, whilst the exhibit of prize foxes has probably never been sur-1 passed anywhere. I Tho horso show continued its re-; markable success of the previous year and constituted what was probably! the best horse show on the continent in the season. The jumping class' made a particularly noteworthy fea-i ture of the entire exhibition, and Mr. | Cox and his associates are to be con-; gratulated for their perseverance in' adding this unusually interesting phase to the exhibition. An addi-, tional novel feature of 1922, consider-! ably expanded in 1923, was the ex-! ceptionally fine showing of live de-\ eorativ© fish which was probably as fine an one as has ever beert drawn together. 1 GRAINS, VEGETABLES AND FKVrT. ' All grains in such an excellent crop year were naturally of high standard, and of particular interest at the pre- sent time were excellent corn exhibits. The collection fruit and vegetables grave fair indication of the manner in' which these crops are expanding in' both volume and variety. The variety ' of blooms in the flower exhibits proved that the northern latitude is no han- dicap to floriculture. Fine honey came from every province, showing how apiculture is developing in the Do- minion. I An exhibit of primel nterest was a collection of nuts from an Ontario orchard of about one hundred bearing; trees. These Included the Japanese' and Canadian black walnuts, pecan filberts, almonds and English walnuts equal to anything grown in Califor- nia. The Ivuyal WInier Fair ha* become Canada's annual agricultural expres- sion, a yearly summary of what the farms of the Dominion are doir.j,'. for others to see. It is of particular in- terest to C-anadlans, and by reason of Canada's gradual ascent among other nations whose agricultural industry is of great importance, must, in the fu- ture, attract greater attention from other part* of th* w<orl4 Prospects for Market Cattle. Referring to the outlook for mar- ket cattle the Markets Intelligence Service of the Live Stock Branch at Ottawa, states that the prospects and^ present conditions in the live stock in- ' dustry are on the whole far more fav-j ourable than they were a year ago, as feed is plentiful and store cattle are cheap. The producer and feeder who is taking advantage of this is in a fairly secure position, especially] where intelligent methods of winter' feeding are practiced. j In emphasizing the influence com- 1 men stock has upon market prices, ' the same authority says: "Insofar as| the West is concerned, the general ! quality of the run ( November) was so mediocre that the so-called high grades decreased in price along with, the poorer grades." With the top price of steers, for the week ending December 20, 70 cents per hundred above what they were in the same week last year and calves 50 cents, and with prices in excess of wuV.*- they were the previous week, for all live stock except lambs, it must be admitted that the pnospects are at least promising. .A^gain, with all the slaughtering that is going on in Brit- ain on account of the foot and mouth disease, there is likely to be an in- creased demand in the future for cat- tle; as usual, the man having the right sort will reap the most profit. A study of the weekly market reports sent out by the Dominion Live Stock Branch will show how true this al- ways is. At Toronto, for instance, in the week ending December 20, good steers averaged ?6.36 per hundred and common $4.64; good veal calves averaged $10.51 and grassers $3.83: select bacon hogs averaged $9.05 and extra heavies S6.05; good lambs 10.28 and common $9.15, and light sheep, $6.09 and common $2.02. Surely there's a lesson in these figures. â€" « _ Cost of Maintenance. Considerable work was done during the winter of 1923 by the Department of Animal Husbandry, Ontario Agri- cultural College, to ascertain the cost of maintenance of the farm work hor- ses. For heavy horses at teaming work necessary around the farm, such as drawing manure, etc.. it costs from Sm to 36.6 cents per horse per day for feed, stabling and care. The cost of feed was 54 per cent of the total cost of maintenance and the cost of labor was 22 per cent of the total cost Horse labor during the winter cost 1;1.6 cents per hour. DAIRY HEIFERS. Records kept by the Department of Animal Husbandry, 0. A. C, on the cost of winter maintenance of dairy heifers, showed that the average cost of feed per heifer was 16.3 cents, and that the total daily cost of maintain- ing an averagre heifer weighing 830 pounds was 27 cents. The total cost of winter maintenance per 1000 lbs. of live weight was 32.5 cents. ; ♦- Mangels Versus Beet Pulp. During the winter of 1923 the Ani- mal Husbandry Department of the Ontario Agricultural College, con- ducted an experiment to determine comparative values of mangrels and sugar beet pulp. There was very little difference in the actual produc- tion of the cows when on each of the two feeds, but the mangels were a much cheaper ration. .> _ Fight cleanly, each for your ideas. Hit hard, but never below the belt â€" General Sir Ian Hamilton. Wintering Bees. A very comprehensive bulletin on "Bees and How to Keep Them," by the Dominion Apiarist, has recently been issued by the Department of \g- riculture at Ottawa. In the chapter dealing with wintering', the author calls attention to a number of points of importance. The bee cellar should be well ventilated but not draughty, and the best temperature. In the early part of the winter, is usually around 48 degrees F., but towards spring it should be lowered from three to six degrees, care being taken to keep tho bees as much as possible from rest- lessness. The air in the cellar should not be too dry, nor damp enough to allow moisture to condense on the floor of the hives. Good drainage is a necessity, and the bees should be kept in darkness and left undisturbed. The date that the bees should be taken out of the cellar depends upon their condition and the state of the wea- ther. Keepers of bees will do well to re- member that mice and rats are ene- mies of bees and will sometimes de- stroy colonies in the winter if care is not taken to exclude them from the bee cellar or wintering case. Colonies wi**cered outside may be protected by reducing the width of the hive en- trance to tSree-eighths of an inch so that mice will be ULC-b'" •'o ^* in; 'ui the ceUar they may be poisoned. • • Salt and Water for the Sheep. During the winter when the snow Is available and especially where a liberal supply of roots is being fed. tho flock will not suffer a gn'eat deal if water is not given, so says the De- partment of Animal Husbandry, On- tario .'A.gricultural College. At the same time sheep will drink more or less water if it Is to be had, and if at all convenient It will pay to pro- vide it even in the winter. After the ewes have lambed in the spring and during the summer while on grass, an abundant supply of clean, fresh water should be at hand. Especially during the long, hot days of summer the sheep will drink quantities and th« health and comfort of the flock de- mands that it be available. Salt should be before the flock at all times during the year. .\ box or trough set up in the pen during tha winter or in the field while on pas- ture, in which there is al'ways a sup- ply, will assure the owner that his flock ia always well provided with salt 9 Prolificness by Months. Investigational work carried on by the Department of Animal Husband- ry. 0. \. C, during 1923, to gain seme light on the question of sheep increase, gave the following results: March IbO.SVg .A.pril 146.6% January 140.9% February 187.8% May ^ 134.7%. June 128.0% Of the eleven breeds studied only three showed a higher percentage of twins and triplets than singles^ the Dorset Horn, Oxford Down aiid Lei- cester. Percentage yeanings. singles. 56.8% Percentage yeanings, twins . 42.0% Percentage yeanings, triplets. 1.4% • Do not apply furniture poliah t* soiled furniture, or it 'vvill never look bright. Wring a cloth out of warn soapy water, and wipe .ii* fnmitrr* carefully. When quit* d**;, polish a* uauaL