Rensselaer Republican, Volume 25, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1893 — FARMS AND FARMERS. [ARTICLE]

FARMS AND FARMERS.

Late Corn fur Fodder. ; If corn is not intended to produce a crop of grain there is no better food that can be grown for stock than to produce fodder or ensilage from corii. It happens that the frost sometimes doesnot put in ifn appearance until October, in which case ample time is allowed to grow a summer crop. Of course, there may be delay in seeding if the season is dull, but "where the weeds have overrun the field it will be an advantage to cultivate it. There is one peculiarity in a fodder crop which is that it may be cut at any stage of growthbut the nearer the approach to the.period when ears are formed the better, as the stalk then contains a larger proportion of dry matter and less water. Corn for fodder may be planted in drills and cultivated in one direction only/but the ground should be well "prepared. Keep the weeds down by destroying them in the early stages. The proper time to cut the corn is when the ears begin to glaze, for it is then that the foddei’ contains much of the nutriment that is on its way to fill out the grain, which gives it a .greater feeding value. The best variety of corn for the purpose depends upon the section in which the corn is grown, as varieties adapted for some regions will not give the best results everywhere. The fodder should be cured in the ordinary manner, but should not be left in the fields. The proper mode of feeding is to first run it through a cutter. y , Ensilage. j Ensilage corn is grown in the same manner, and the corn is also cut when (-the ears are glazed, but may be cut i sooner when there is danger of frost. (It is hauled to the barn, cut up fine ■ and stored in a silo, under heavy 1 pressure, to be fed in winter as a succulent food to the cattie. The value of ensilage depends largely upon its use. Eed exclusively, it will not give satisfactory results, but if given as a portion of the ration it increases the appetite, keeps the epws in better condition and increases the flow of milk, by providing them with a change from the usual dry ration during the cold sea- ; son. The farmer who has a short ' hay crop, or who has failed with his I regular corn crop owing to drought, may regain a portion of his Ipst time i by resorting to millet, sorghum or late corn. It is admitted by all who have made experiments that no crop can be produced at less cost than ! late corn fodder or ensilage, and I that for winter use the crop is unex- ' celled. Raising Cow Food, .. Roland Smith, in the Farm Jouri nal, relates this story, which the I reader is able to read, digest, and I appropriate without comment from | us: I' “I visited, during March, a dairy farm that keeps 125 cows. The whole milk is sold at an average of ithree cents per quart the year round, or a fraction less. The man who runs it has cleared as high as I SB,OOO in a year, besides making a ; good living, his entire expenses. I which include the payment of nearly ' a dozen hired men and boarding them, his repairs, etc. How has he worked up to this point of prosperity? The farm has been famous-for years for its production of great crops of fodder. The stable floors are kept water tight, and all the manure is hauled to the fields as fast as made. Absorbents are used abundantly. The fodder crops include i especially the growth of legumes.’ plants like clover, Deas. and cow I peas, that are rich in protein or al--1 bumen. The last of a rank field of i peas and oats was being cut wpt and fed the day I was present. To see the cows eat their messes would do any man’s heart good. They did not seem to look for any addition in the way of grain, but cleaned up the ; mangers as fast as possible and lav ' down so full they grunted in the es- ! fort. These sleek cows had long , hours before them in which to call up thi.s food, masticate it thoroughly as cud, and pass it. to the stomach mills where it is further ground by organs none the worse off because unaccustomed to heavy rations of grain. The food seemed to fill the bill of their requirements completely, , the same as grass in June. It contained immature peas and oats as well as being full of the dried juices. iof these plants, and was bright and sweet. The peas were plowed in as ! early as the ground could be worked, a bushel of seed per acre being used, and the oats, two and a half bushels, harrowed in thoroughly on the surface.. It is. needless to say that the soil was made intensely rich, for the 1 crop was tall and healthy and cut four tons of the dried fodder per j acre. The cows were fed on it green from the fields as long as it would do to use. Towards the 10th of July, the grain showing a tendency to harden, the crop was hayed and housed. This was not difficult as many would suppose who have never tried it. The peas alone would jierhaps make trouble, but oats cure so - ' easily and quickly that the peas I mixed well through them were well ventilated and easily got into a condition for housing. Here, though the? might heat a trifle, the oat hay will render spoiling impossible. The crop is ready to hay at the most auspicious season of the year, and this also is in favor." Educating Fsriuwardn. Chicago later Ocean. .- At the close of the last term of the Minnesota School of Agriculture

there graduated: a.young man, Z. J. Wyatt, born, and raised in Minneapolis and apparently destined for life to city avocations and associations; rt all events the thoughtof being a farmer had perhaps never occurred to him until by mere chance he became a student in the school named three years ago. The course of instruction there revealed to him possibilities, interests and beauties in the avocation of intelligent agriculture that he had never dreamed of. He became so charmed with the J field he had entered that his summers since have been passed in actual farm work, and upon his final graduation his father secured a farm for him, and he is now a full fledged farmer, with no longings forthose city allurements that are supposed to be charming so many farm boys away from their farm* homes. This incident faithfully illustrates the scope and influence of the Minnesota School of Agriculture; its central idea is to. educate toward the farm, not away from it; to draw city boys to agricultural pursuits instead of influencing country boys-to cast their lots in the confusing and often deplorable whirl of city life. In confirmation of this tendency of the school is another incident: ‘ ‘Some two years ago a farmer came into the office of F. S. & H. to consult "about a trade for his boy to learn in the city, or the advisability of going on,a railroad in some menial capacity. The boy had no taste for farming; its work was irksome, its life intolerable. The father was advised to get the consent of the boy to attend the farm school one winter. The plan worked: the boy soon saw in the avocation of farming many new things: saw in it an arena for intellectual development that gratified him; saw a possible grandeur, dignity and independence that made the other aspirations lie had aspired to mean and slavish. He gladly went back to the farm in the spring, anxious to make practical application of many things he had been taught, and in the fall was even more anxious to get back to the school to supply gaps in his education that his practice had revealed to him. While the school is not yet all it should be, nor all it will be, yet it is in the right path, is based on the correct system, a system that recognizes the necessity of a constant and close communication between farm and farm school, if boys are to be made into educated and practical | farmers. Keeping the Sexes Separate. W. H. White, of Worcester county, Mass., writes in the Country Gentleman as follows on this subject: From my limited experience I am satisfied that laying liens, kept in confinement to limited quarters, will I | produce more eggs if no cocks are al-; i lowed -with them, and that the eggs ! possess superior keeping qualities; The most prolific layers I ever had were the Plymouth Rocks, taken when about half grown and confined in a yard with a small «house for J shelter, and there kept, never hav- j ing any cocks to run with them. They commenced laying when about five or six months old and laid all winter and the next summer, producing on as many successive days as many eggs as there were hens, and there, never was a day when ! there was not- some laid by them. When one does not care to breed chickens on the score of economy, it is better in my opinion, to keep the layers without any cocks. It saves his keep, which will average the profit of one layer, at least. I had formerlly supposed it essential to egg production that hens should have the attention of cocks, but from experience I found that good, wellformed eggs are produced from hens that never had the attention. Fam Not««. The largest crop of corn ever j grown was by the use -of fertilizers i and constant cultivation until mat tired. A row of gooseberries and one of currants should ba in the garden, and plots for strawberries should be so arranged as to have a new bed! every year. I If you have used a large propor- 1 tion. of manure on ground for early i cabbage, lettuce and peas, the ground may be planted to late potatoes after the early crops are re- ; mjoved. .It the strawberries are backward I apply one hundred pounds of nitrate ' of soda per acre, and the effects of I the fertilizer will be apparent imme" I d iately. j Hot coal tar is an excellent pret servative of fence posts. In applyi ing it every portion of the wood i that goes below the surface of the’ ; ground should be well saturated. A erop of potatoes may be grown between raspberries and blackberries the first year, but after that the berry canes should have the whole plot and receive thorough hoeing and . : cultivation. Never buy a milch cow with the view of selling her for producing beef at some future time. A good milch cow will yield enough extra milk to more than pay for the milk ithd beef that a poor milker will pro- ' duce, and will give quicker returns ■ in cash. Do not put out melons, beans, j squashes, or cucumbers too soon, as they require a warm toil. Shguld the young plants come Up too early the cool nights may give them a check from which they may not recover, and prove of butlittle service when the bearing period arrives.