Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 214, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 September 1917 — THE NEIGHBORHOOD CORNER [ARTICLE]

THE NEIGHBORHOOD CORNER

A DEPARTMENT OF FARM WELFARE CONDUCTED BY CO. AGENT LEAMING.

Early Selection Means Success. “I have had to replant but two fields of corn since I began farming,” said John Farabee, of Carpenter township, last week. “I have always practiced picking my seed from the standing fields in September and consider that this has more to do with my good results than any other factor.” Mr. Farabee has a highly developed farm at the edge of Remington and produces high yields of all staple crops. The seed com on many farms will be ready for picking within the next ten days and the importance of the weather warrants setting aside all other work until the seed has been placed on the dryers.

o—o Clover For Walker Township. In a talk on clovers before the Kniman farmers’ club last week, Mr. Aaron Rice urged his neighbors to make a greater use of the legumes as soil builders. “If the land of Walker township is to be developed as it should be, we must keep more live stock on our farms. Clover will furnish more hay and pasture' for stock than any other crop that we can grow. I have never failed to get a stand of clover when I used fertilizer on my wheat in the fall and sowed clover seed the next spring.” As a proof of his ability to grow clover in Walker township, Mr. Rice has samples of Mammoth clover plants which are nearly five feet high.

o—o Sheep For Profit. John Eck, of Carpenter township, is a sheep enthusiast, believing that they will return more clean profit than any other form of livestock. “Last year I had six breeding ewes whioh I kept on the waste feed of my farm. They produced nine lambs which I sold for $82.00 when sixty days old. The wool brought me $32.00, making a total of $19.00 per head and I still have my original ewes. Mr. Eck expects to embark in the pure bred Shropshire business this fall. of—o Farmers’ Clubs. The North Marion farmers’ club will meet at the Bowling Green school next Tuesday evening, Sept, 25th. In addition to songs and recitations, the program will consist of talks by W. L. Wood, L. H. Hamiltoir and others. The Wheatfield Center Farmers’ Club will meet at the Kennedy school next Thursday evening, Sept. 27. The usual program will be rendered. The West Carpenter farmers’ club officers have arranged as a special treat for the people of the community an address by Miss Alma L. Garvin, of Purdue, upon the subject “Balancing the Human Ration,” at their meeting to be held Friday evening, Septembre 28th, at the Price school house. . The subject is practical and very timely and a general invitation has been extended for all to be present.

“A farmer can better afford to use a $40.00 ram on a flock of 40 ewes than to have the srevice of a cheaper one for nothing,” was the thought brought out in a paper read by J. W. Amsler before the Newton farmers’ club last week. “Starting with scrub sheep a few years ago I have built up a fine flock by using good rams and have sold my surplus at a dollar a head more than if I had used inferior sires. Twice in that time I used cheaper animals and had to cull out the entire offspring.” Many of the scrub flocks are due to the use of animals under one and orie-half years of age for breeding purposes, is the opinion of Mr. Amsler.

o—o School Makes a Tour. Worth McCarthy, principal of the Marion consolidated school, took his pupils in agriculture out for a halfday field trip last week to make practical observation in connection with their text book work. Inspection of com fields brought out that the average farmers of the district with 70 acres of corn, is losing 27 acres as a result of a poor stand. After noting the effect of lime on sour soils, the class had a lesson in seed corn picking, visited an orchard and an alfalfa field and spent some time judging the heifers which are to be distributed to members of the Shorthorn Club. Mr. McCarthy’s idea is worth while in practically every rural school in the county. Agriculture in the schools can often best be taught by' practical object lessons, o—o

Good Food For Good Livestock. It is poor policy to put good feed into poor livestock. Progressive farmers raalize this clearly and are rapidly replacing their scrub stock with either pure bred or high grade animals. A farm management study in Wabash county last year showed that good stock and careful feeding has much to do with making a farm pay. It was found that on farms where the livestock returned less than $l5O for every SIOO worth of feed, the labor income averaged but $385 per year, where from $l5O to s2l(£,was returned by the stock on slou worth of feed the labor income was $971 per year and on farms where the •stock returned over $216 per SIOO in feed, the average labor income was $1,895 per farm. Blooa will tell in counting up the