Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 July 1889 — Bogs Versus Cattle. [ARTICLE]

Bogs Versus Cattle.

In relation to the greater value ol hog products, as compared with those from cattle which reach foreign Shores, the Field and Farm says: We of the plains country, where the cattle are thought kings, sometime s lose sight of the fact that the hogs in the markets of Europe cut a far greater figure than do our horned brutes. Some of our English contemporaries express astonishment that the various products of swine should be considered of sufficient importinoe on this side of the Atlantic to have current prices cabled daily all over Europe, while beef and mutton are hardly mentioned in the same reports. We will explain the reason for this. It is because we export five, if not ten times the value in pork and lard that we do in beef. We of the United States, and particularly of the Western states of the union, are the only people on the earth who have any considerable hog meat and lard to export This is made possible by our great corn product that is entirely American and is scarcely known in Europe. Then, again, pork is more easily and more generally stored and held than is beef. Beef, even to be used in the armies and navies of the world, must be cooked and packed in cans, while pork is carried and stored like cordwood, and oftimes ate raw by the soldier when on forced marches. The wealthy of the earth, too, eat ham and bacon constantly, while not one in a million ever tastes of pickled beef. In conclusion, we will say that the cash value of the porkers of the United—States- in 1888 reached the mammoth sura of $291,307y-ls9. 6orn is king in America, and the hog is a power in the commerce of the world.

t Farm Notes. It is discouraging whon even a littlo grain is given a cow in summer at pasture to liavehor begin to fatten instead of increasing the milk flow. Bat if the cow be of that kind, tho sooner her owner discovers it the better. If graining fattens her probably she is not worth keeping without the grain. So fatten her as rapidly as possible, and ggt a better cow in her place. The Shorthorn cattle originated in Durham, England, and it is even yet common in some old-fashioned sections to speak of them as the Durham broed. Of course the original Durhaihs were not bred up to present standards for beef making, but the characteristic tendencies of a good beef breed were not in the original stock. Good feeding and careful selection of breeding stock has done the rest. In very small localities farmers have been discussing how best to remedy the damage by frost. Some crop 3, as beans, tomatoes and melons, or cucumbers,- are utterly ruined if touched by light fro3t and must be replanted. Others |ike corn if not more than three or four inches high, and potatoes at almost any size will grow up again if left alone. Tne root is there and uninjured. The now buds that will put forth will grow rapidly under its stimulus.

Blue grass will —Bear pasturing lightly earlier than almost any other grass. Its roots lie near the surface, and are quickly startled into growth in the spring if the land is rich enough. For this season too they are more easily reached by light showers. Later in the season it may suffer from drought, but hardly moro so than other grasses and clovers that strike Into the subsoil and thoroughly exhaust its moisture long before the summer drought has come. The millet crop should not be sown until hot weather, but it is well to have it in the ground as early as the latter is well warmed. The earlier it ripens the better weather it is likely to be for cutting it In September the days shorten rapidly, and it is this which makes the curing of both millet and fodder corn so difficult Millet is excellent hay for horses, and none tho worse if it is cut when the seed is in tho milk, so that it will ripen from the stalk. Millet seed gives horses a fine coat, as it is very fattening. White oats are popular in this country, and bring two to four cents a bushel more than the black. In Europe the black are preferred. There lB & great difference in feeding rvalue of oats, not dependent entirely on weight, nor yet on color, but on the character of the hull. Some of the heaviest white oats which bring high prices havo a harsh, indigestible hull, which makes them as unfit as barley for feeding whole. The black oats may have move bulk or bull but It is not so harsh. Any way, we have little faith iu whole Date as food for work horses. There is too much waste about them. Grind the oats, and then those that weigh heaviest will be the most valuable for food log.