Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 February 1899 — AGRICULTURAL NEWS [ARTICLE]

AGRICULTURAL NEWS

THINGS PERTAINING tO THE FARM AND HOME. Ttlaable Food for Cattle Sncceaafnlly Manufactured from Corn Ftallca— New Light on Spraying of Fruit Tree*—Shipping Potatoea in Winter.

The new corn produet, upon which Investigations have been conducted at the Maryland agricultural experiment station to determine Its value as a stock food, has been given much consideration by the farming community in many States. They have taken up the subject and are conducting experiments to ascertain its relative feeding value. In the process of the extraction of the pith, the blades and husk are first removed and the stalks are cut up In small pieces. After the extraction of the pith from the stalk the balance is ground up into meal, which in general appearance resembles coarse bran. This ground material Is termed the “new -corn product.” The new corn product contains eleven pounds per 100 more digestible matter and two pounds per 100 more digestible protein than the whole fodder shredded. Much has been done in the way of testing methods for preparing corn fodder for feeding, with most of the results In favor of some method of shredding the stalk. Shredding possesses many points which makes it superior to the ordinary or -old way of cutting fodder, the principal one of which is that the shredded fodder is almost wholly eaten by animals.

The new corn product contains within one pound as much total digestible matter ns wheat bran, but less than one-third as much digestible protein, consequently the nutritive ratio is wider. Animals fed with a fattening ration with the new com product base made more gain in live weight and upon less feed than with a fattening ration of the same grain and corn blades. The keeping qualities of the new corn product are as good as linseed meal, cottonseed meal or wheat bran and rations made up with this material can be fed with less labor and less waste of feed than wlien hay and fodder are fed separately, as ordinarily practiced.—Baltimore Sun. New Light on Ppraylng. At a recent farmers' convention Prof. Burrill, of the University of Illinois, gave to hjs hearers a piece of information that lie said had not yet got into the books. It was relative to the first spraying of fruit and trees for fungous diseases. It has been believed that In the case of most of these pests tlie Bpores lived over on the twigs of the trees. It was advised to spray, before the blossoms were open, for the purpose of killing these colonies of spores. Fruit-raisers have been religiously carrying out instructions In this regard, and the experiment stations have been sending out Spraying calendars year by year in which the fruit-raiser is advised to spray before the opening of the blossoms. But now it has been found that the theory of the spores living over on tne twigs is erroneous. The spores live over on the leaves that fall to the ground and lie there till spring. With the first breath of spring these spores ripen sufl3ciently to float In the air, and as soon as the young leaf begins to expand they find a lodgment there and begin their life work. It is, therefore, useless to spray at the earliest time indicated In most of our books on spraying. This discovery will add much to the comfort of the orchardIst, for it will decrease his times of spraying. It also adds greatly to hie hopes, for if the sporee live over on the dead leaves the proper way to get rid of them is to destroy the leaves. This may be done by clean cultivation, plowing under the leaves that escape the burning.—Live Stock.

Shipping: Potatoes in Winter. Those who grow only a few potatoes and know how easily they are spoiled If touched by frost, can hardly realise the business that is done in marketing potatoes from the places where they are grown during the winter months. Protected cars are used for this, the protection consisting of an Inside lining to the car which encloses a space of dead air. In Its rapid passage through cold regions the outside of the car becomes intensely cold, often down to aero or even below. Always with each carload an attendant goes to watch the temperature. He lias a stove and can keep comfortable himself. If it were not for these protected cars, enabling shippers to send potatoes to distant markets in even the coldest weather, many of the city markets would run short of potatoes, and there might be potato famine in one place, while at another, 100 or 200 miles distant, there would be thousands of bushels of potatoes awaiting shipment. With protected cars it is really safer to ship in cold weather, as the potatoes then lose less by rot and sprouting. Protect!ns Orchard* from Froct, An enlightened chief of the Government experiment gardens at Washington years ago insisted that the textbooks were wrong in teaching that heated air ascended—that Is, ascended In au active sens®. It was, rather, pushed up by the heavier cold alt pressing against It. jit feeerr a slight distinction, but It has Immense practical Importance. For instance, those who nnderstand this, smile at the Florida -ordnge grower who builds fires around hid orchard to make smoke when he fedra a frost, is coming. He lightens the atmosphere at the same time among the trees and makes It all the easierfof tbe berty cbkl air to pneh fn and tdke Its ptace. The modern thought to spray with water is more philosophical. Water is a good conductor of heat «nd would add to the chances of reslst-

Ing cold by the heat It would abstract from its surroundings. Horticulturists have long known that evergreens are quite hardy In a moist atmosphere, when they would easily succumb under the same temperature in a dry one.— Meehan’s Monthly.

Top Grafting Apple Tree*. More or less grafting is always necessary in the orchard. Even when the farmer has secured the varieties which he deems best, changes of fashion, and the greater productiveness or price which one variety has over others, will often make It advisable to regraft bis trees, and thus put himself In line for getting the best results. If the farmer knows how to do this himself, and be an energetic man the work will be done. If he has to hire it done the work will cost so much as to take off his “profits,” and he wiß probably neglect it. The operation of grafting is very simple and is easily learned. The usual rate for grafters used to be a cent and a half for every graft that lived. With an active attendant to cut off the limbs to be grafted and make the clefs, an active grafter may be able to make $3 to $5 per day if he lias the wax to excluae the air spread on strips cloth to bind around the graft after it is set. A good grafter should be able to make nearly every graft set live. By fall it may have a growth of one to three feet or more, according to the number of grafts set and the vigor of the tree.— American Cultivator. Why Not American Horses? That there is a market abroad for good American horseflesh is evidenced in a letter received by the Secretary of Agriculture from United States Minister William J. Buchanan, at Argentina. Mr. Buchanan states that during the last year and tlie year before a royal commission purchased for the English army something like 3,000 horses in Argentina alone. Good prices were paid, the average being about $l9O. The commission’s requirements were ns follows: For cavalry, wellbred horses, fifteen to sixteen hands high, from pure bred sires and halfbred mares. For artillery, coarser-bred horses, with more weight, bone and substance, fifteen to sixteen hands high. Cobs; coach-bred, weight-carry-ing animals, fourteen to sixteen hands high, for mounted infantry. The collection was made from horses only- between four and seven years old. Some mules also were bought. There seems to be really no good reason why breeders in the United States should not secure some of this trade. Argentina does not possess the combination of cheap grain and good pasturage that Is found in the States where fine stock is raised.—Germantown Telegraph. lowing Clover in the Iln’l. Farmers who grow clover seed only for their own use often thresh It out by hand, and sow the seed, chaff and all. It is rather unsafe to do this, as it is difficult to tell while throwing out the chaff how much clover seed is going with it. The better way is to clean up the seed carefully, sow that with a broadcast seeder, which will distribute it much more evenly than can be done by hand, and then sow the clover chaff afterward with what seed may be in It. and make that also cover the whole surface if possible, though as this has to be done, by hand, the hand sowing cannot probably be made to cover half the piece. But there is generally more or less clover seed lying In the soil on land that has once grown clover seed, and this may insure a fair catch even if no clover seed is sown. It is such land of which farmers say, “It is natural to clover.” It is always good land, but the clover does not grow’ on it spontaneously; on the contrary, every clover plant comes from a clover seed left some time in the soil, possibly many years ago.

Warmtb in the Henhouse. A small store set on the earthen or cement floor of a henhouse will do much to keep up the warmth that la quite os necessary as feed In producing a large number of eggs. Even if the floor be of wood there is little danger that the building will burn. The amount of fuel burned will be much more than repaid by the eggs produced at the time of year when fresh eggs always sell highest. When the weather is fine the hens should be left to run opt of doors in the daytime. But cooping them up with enough fire to keep frost out of the room Is always advisable at night. This precaution is especially needed for the breeds with large combs, which are sure to be frostbitten when freezing weather comes. A hen with a sore head from frost-bitten comb has enough to do to repair damages to Itself without trying to lay eggs. Poultry Pointers. Too much young stock is used for breeding purposes. The young chicks will be hardier and make larger fowls if from 2-year-old stock. The poultry house should have plenty of windows, and if the fowls are permitted to roost in It In summer all the windows should be open. Kerosene and lard will prevent further loss of feathers and produce new growth on the head from which the feathers are falling out In summer. Better give your water troughs and dishes a thorough cleaning before It runs too long. It will head off some of those numerous cases of drooping among the flock. For quickness of growth the young chick is not In it with the duckling, but 1 they should be hatched early to catch the high prices. It will not pay to raise late (Inekllngß 'for market any more than it will late chicks. With both It is the early ones that bring the large t>roflts.—Kansas Farmer. The public at large Is but an elevator used to hoist the chosen few to prominence.