Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 July 1908 — THE UP TO DATE FARMER. [ARTICLE]

THE UP TO DATE FARMER.

How He Makes Agriculture a Paying Business. The up to date farmer knows the value of being up to date. He know* that new discoveries in the variens alienees related to agriculture reveal near relations and suggest better meth**. He knows that many of the theories held and many of the methods practiced years ago, and some even now, are worthless. He knows that one farmer cannot make as many experiments as can a thousand men. He reads books on farming and does not scoff at the book farmer, nor does he refuse to listen to the college professors, for, while he has great respect for the students of agriculture, yet he knows that the time has not come and never can come when agriculture shall be reduced to a rigid science, which shall be governed by a code of rules and laws, as are such sciences as chemistry, physics and the like. The up to date farmer has the latest improved farming Implements and to save horsepower and to do most efficient work always keeps them In perfect order.He does not Use a plow that will not scour nor one that Is dull nor one whose adjustment Is such that three horses must wo?k hard to do the work which two could easily~dd~with a plow properly adjusted. He understands the application of force to all his farm machinery so that the greatest amount of work Is accomplished with the least expenditure of power. When his farm implements are not in use he keeps them well housed if It is profitable to do so. A hundred dollar wagon shed into which a twenty-five dollar farm wagon Is backed by hand every time the team Is unhitched Is not profitable. The up to date farmer pays his debts. Not the least Important of these is the one he owes to the soil. He knows that each crop which the soil yields takes from it something of Its fertility and that unless this fertility Is returned to the soil it can soon yield only a diminished crop. So he is very careful year by year to pay back to his land that fertility which the crop has taken from It He knows many ways of doing this, and the one which he will adopt will depend upon the neighborhood. He knows that he can run a dairy, and when he sells a ton of butter, worth perhaps SSOO, it will Impoverish his farm no more than to sell five or six hundred pounds of straw worth about a dollar. He will keep his hired help all the year, and year after year, for the longer they are in his employ tbe more valuable they are to him and the more he can afford to pay them. He will buy more food than he sells, will raise all the feed he can for his stock and will not hesitate to buy more when needed. If he is wise in the management of the fertilizers from his barns and feed lots and wise in their distribution upon his meadows and pastures and wise in sowing clovers for his corn land and among the grasses of his farm he will in time greatly Increase its fertility.—Farm and Fireside.

An Unappreciated Plant. Chives is a vegetable not widely known in this country. It is native along the northern of the United States as well as in some parts of Europe, where it is popular. The plant belongs to the onion family, and its leaves are used for seasoning in soups, salads, etc., and are preferred to onions by many persons because they are much milder and more tender. Europeans use chives for seasoning scrambled eggs and similar dishes. The culture of chives is simple. The plant will grow in any ordinary garden soil. It is usually propagated by division of the roots, because It does not seed readily. The roots or clumps of roots may be purchased at moderate prices. The clumps should be planted in beds about nine inches apart In rows which are two feet apart. The planting may be done in either spring or autumn. The chives may also be planted In the border of the vegetable garden and makes an excellent permanent border. As a border plant the clumps should be planted about six Inches apart. The leaves will grow thickly and form a dense green mat

Ths Cankerworm Again. The worm which devastated elm trees and apple trees in Connecticut is the cankerworm, tbe same pest that visited trees ten years ago. The worm does Its work very rapidly, but, unlike the elm tree beetle,"does not have a long life and consequently the trees can put forth -new foliage, though at some sacrifice of vitality. On the apple trees it can be destroyed by arsenical spraying, but the trees must be treated when the worm Is very young if the work is to be effective. The banding of tbe trunks of the trees with vermicides Is the most effective method of prevention. The reports from the state received at tbe Connecticut agricultural experiment station indicate a very great variation In the number of pests, some towns suffering very seriously and others being quite free from tbe visitation z

Farming Notes. Remember the importance of the kitchen garden. When mustard is a serious pest the fields are sprayed with a solution that kills the weed, but does not harm Um crop. Preaching economy doesn’t amount to much. You must practice it. >ut there is such a thing as being too economical. In Holland they rotate the fertilisers as well as the crops. Each crop has its particular coaxer. Perhaps that’s why they farm successfully on land worth 11,000 per acre. Read what people who know from experience say about incubators.