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| Country Views (Summer 2007) |
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COOL BEASTS
If it's hot out for you, think about your
livestock. They are wearing a fur coat!
So here are a few suggestions on keeping
livestock cool from Shawn Shouse,
Iowa State University Extension agricultural
engineering specialist at Lewis, Iowa. "Shade
is the best line of defense for summer heat,"
he notes. "This could mean having access to
shade or a building so animals can get in out
of the sun. Trees make good shade, but are
not safe protection during thunderstorms."
Keep air moving. Buildings can cause additional
problems, though. "Make sure livestock
buildings have plenty of ventilation," Shouse
says. "Animals give off heat, so a closed-up
building with a horse or a couple of sheep
inside can get oppressively hot. Animals drink
a lot more in hot weather, so make sure there's
plenty of fresh water available at all times."
HOW TO BE A DEAD-HEADER
Since all plants live to reproduce, they
are often in a hurry to flower and then
produce seed. "As old flowers become
seed heads," says Tony Melton, Florence
County, S.C., Extension agent, "many
plants give up on flowering. They've completed
their life's workâreproducing. But by deadheading,
that is removing flowers as they start to wither, you can make the plant stay in
reproductive mode and produce more flowers."
There's nothing fancy about deadheading,
Melton reminds us. Simply pinch off fading
flowers with your fingers. "A variation of
deadheading is disbudding," Melton adds.
"Here you remove the smaller flower buds,
which concentrates the plant's energy into
fewer but larger flowers. Our Camellia growers
do disbudding to get the largest flowers."
SMART TO WEAR SHADES
Just as sunscreen protects your skin
from sun damage, it's important to use
proper sunglasses to protect your eyes.
"Eyes can suffer serious damage from
UV rays," says Elizabeth Battaglino Cahill,
RN, executive director of the National Women's
Health Resource Center, Red Bank, N.J.
"Be sure your eyes are protected outside."
Different rays. Cahill advises you pay special
attention to UV-B protection. The UV-B
range of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) causes
the most eye damage. She recommends sunglasses
that block at least 99 percent of both UV-B
and UV-A rays. "Protect your children," she
adds. "Researchers estimate we receive 80 percent
of our lifetime exposure to UVR rays before
age 18. Children's eyes transmit more UV-A
rays to the retina than adults, increasing their
exposure and risk of later eye damage."
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