Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 April 1899 — AGRICULTUREAL NEWS [ARTICLE]

AGRICULTUREAL NEWS

I THINGS PERTAINING TO TH» FARM AND HOME. > ■■■■—* Some Information on Manner of Cultivating Peanuts—Proper Seed Bed for AlfalfS-KeeptaK Accounts with Dairy Cows Induces Improvement. The peanut should be planted after all danger from frost is past, in a well-en-riched soil, plowed to a medium depth, well harrowed and marked by shallow furrows one way. If lime is not present in the eoil in considerable quantity, apply it broadcast at the rate of about thirty bushels to the acre before plowing, as a first requisite to a crop of nuts as well as vines. The plants are vigorous feeders, and if the land cannot be thoroughly topdressed, apply fertilizers of home-made compost or kalnit, woods earth or any rich humus in the rows at planting. Remove the kernel from the shell, leaving the inner skin unbroken. Drop two kernels to the hill, either in drills or cheeks, according to variety and the freedom of the land from weeds. Have the rows about three feet apart, and the plants from one foot to twenty inches if bunch varieties aredrilled in the row. Level and ridge culture are both practiced, with level culture preferred, unless on flat fields where heavy rains might not drain off quickly. The soil must be kept well pulverized, that the tender spikes which turn down from the blossom may enter the ground. Never divide your crop with a harvest of weeds, but cultivate with shallow tools until the vines run well out, then pull the big weeds that shoot up through until harvest. If a large acreage is to be harvested get a pea plow without a mold board, and with long cutter spiked to point, and plow down each side of the rows, cutting the tap root, after which the vines are lifted with a pitch fork and laid in windrows until wilted; then are stacked around a stake like beans. In a few weeks the pods are dry enough to pick off into gunny sacks and place on the market. The vines make the finest bay to be obtained and equal clover if well and carefully saved. The plant is related to the nitrogen gatherers and adds much fertility to the soil if well cared for. The Seed Bed for Alfalfa. Alfalfa collects plant food from the air, storing it up in the soil. Where a Kansas farm has been cultivated until the crop yield is reduced, then alfalfa grown on a part of the farm and fed to the stock, together with the grain raised on the remainder of the land, will produce as much or more beef, milk and pork as the grain from the whole farm, and at the same time will increase the fertility of the soil. By rotating after a part has been made fertile the whole farm can be brought back to its original condition of fertility and a profit secured while the work is being done. Alfalfa grows best on a rich loam, with a porous clay subsoil where water is not over twenty feet from the surface, but has been found growing on high uplands in both the eastern and western parts of the State, where water was from 125 to 175 feet from the surface. Alfalfa needs a fine bed in ground free from weeds. Seeding should be done early in April, and the ground handled so that at seeding time it will be moist for at least fifteen to twenty inches. This condition can be secured on many soils by fall plowing, pulverizing the soil to a depth of five or six inches with a disk harrow before plowing, making the whole depth plowed mellow. Soil inclined to blow can be lightly ridged or subsurface packed after plowing. Alfalfa roots deeply and must have a subsoil which it can penetrate. Where the subsoil is impervious a subeoiler can be used, or where there is no danger from washing the ground can be thrown up into high, sharp ridges just before freezing. The frost will thoroughly pulverize the ridges, putting them in good condition for a seed bed when leveled in the spring, and will pulverize the subsoil in the furrows deeper, better and cheaper than a subsoil plow.

Keep Account* with the Cow*. : Keeping a record of the product of each cow affords the dairyman an opportunity of knowing which cows give a profit. A dairyman who has been in the habit of buying fresh cows to replace those dried off, commenced to keep an account with each, and the first year he found that, after charging each cow with her cost for food, and crediting her with all that she produced, there was a wide difference in the profits. One cow gave a profit of only $9 for the year, while another gave s4l as profit. Selecting the best cows, and breeding to pure-bred males, he found it cheaper to raise his cows than to buy them, although the cost was more the first two years, but after that time he found that two cows raised by him were equal to any three cows purchased. Since then the quality of his stock has been Improved. There is nothing that will convince farmers so surely as the keeping of accounts with the cows, and it soon induces them to improve. Facts are stubborn things, and cannot be ignored. To Tie Wool Fleece*. The first tiling to be considered is bow to put up the wool so a* to give buyer a good impression when be first looks at it There are .a .number of ways of tying the fleece. Some prefer using a box into which the fleece Is pressed and tightly tied so that when it Is taken out It retains the shape of the box, says a writer in the Montana Stocktaan. The fleece that Is most attractive and seems to get th* most comments of approval from buyers in

general is one that t* simnlv folded In a* loosely as possible and have ft hold its shape, using as little twine as will accomplish the object Where this is well done, light bulky looktag fleece is made, which In the market is more appreciated than the more symmetrical fleece that comes from the box, the criticism on the latter being that pressing it so tightly gives It a soggy and heavy appearance that repels a buyer. The twine used should be the regular wool twine, and under no circumstances should sisal twine be used. By sisal twine I mean such as is commonly known as hide rope, and some kinds of binding twine made from the sisal fiber. The reason why It should not be used Is that its fibers intermingle with the wool and cannot be got out in process of manufacture, and have to be picked out of the goods In the shape of specks. The fleece before it is tied should be free from all tags and heavy skirt locks, and as free as possible of all seeds, chaff or straw, as well as sand burs. Seeds and chaff are very hard to get out of wool, and where the fleece is bad with them the value is hurt more than burs affect its value. Make Tour Own Plant Cuttinaa. The cuttings of many of the plant* to be used in the flower garden should be rooted during the months of February or March. Geraniums made during these months should be covered with blooms during the summer months if they are given proper care. Other plants that add greatly to the beauty of the garden, and which may be propagated by cuttings, are the Coleus, Iresine, Atthermanthera and Centaura. These plants all root readily from cuttings; they can be started in a cutting box in the window, which should be as long and wide as desired for the limited space and about four or five Inches deep. It should be filled with clear river sand. When the cuttings are first made they should be shaded during the heat of the day and sprinkled several times a day until the cuttings become thoroughly established. The sand should always be kept moist, but never wet. Cuttings are often rooted in a deep plate filled with moist sand.—Kansas Experimental Statinn. Better than Sheep Dip, Say to your correspondent who inquires about a remedy for ticks on sheep in wfnter that if he will keep a good flock of Leghorn chickens where they can run among the sheep, they wifi save him the trouble of either using insect powder or clipping, as far as ticks are concerned, and if the sheep are full of ticks when shearing, if he will give the Leghorns a good chance they will rid them of ticks equal to any sheep dip, and with much less trouble and expense, and they will also do the work well. I speak from experience and observation. Correspondence Wootens Farmer. Borax a* a Cleanser. Wash your hands in borax water instead of using soap. The milk pails are better and cleaner for having been rinsed in borax water. Use warm water to rinse with. Many dairymen who deliver milk to their city customers in toe large tin cans rinse them out every day, once a day with a solution of borax water; a small handful of borax to a large dishpanful of water to wash the cans in. They use a brush to get them thoroughly clean inside. Borax kills the germs which cause milk to sour, and it costs so' little every one will be able to keep it.—O. J. Farmer. Gleaning*. Dairying is a business that permits of no holidays. It means work every day tn the year. The better the cows the less work to perform in proportion to the milk obtained and the larger the profits. A hog pen is bad enough in summer; but if it is damp In winter it is the place where corn will be rapidly wasted. The hogs must be dry and warm or the food required for warmth will cost more than the animal is worth. A good milking cow that ha* no breeding is a possibility, but such cows are simply "accidental discoveries,” and cannot be relied upon for transmitting their good qualities to their progeny, though they may give good results when bred to pure-bred bulls. The hedge plants along the roadside should receive an application of fertilizer tn the spring and be also neatly trimmed. Hedges are frequently much neglected and die out, no attempts being made to protect them from Insect attacks or supply them with plant food as a compensation for the enormous growth made every season. During very cold weather the best way to keep the animals warm is to have the stalls covered a foot deep with leaves, cut straw or shredded cornstalks. In this manner the cold draughts that come in from the floor will be partially prevented and the animals will require less food by reason of such protection. Feeding cows according to their live weight is not a safe rule. The quantity of food eaten by some of the small cow* during public tests for butter exceeded that consumed by much larger cows. Each cow is an individual differing from the others, and, to know bow to properly feed, the dairyman must observe her closely and study her characteristics. Shrubbery costs but little and add* value to a place, but unless property arranged It will be of no advantage. There should be no vacant places as long a* a shrub or a flower can be grown. The lawn should not be crowded with evergreens or flowers, but where a few are used on the lawn and put In the right places, they add to the beauty of the lawn. All work in the flower yard should begin as early in spring a* the frost and the condition of the ground wffl permit