Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 April 1896 — AGRICULTURAL NEWS [ARTICLE]

AGRICULTURAL NEWS

THINGS PERTAINING TO THE* FARM AND HOME. Intensive Forminc in Practice—TWO Uses for Corncobs—Our Barnyards Too Large—Gypsum Not Good on Strawberries—The Dairy Cow. Results from a Quarter Acre. Two years ago I planted one-fourth of an acre in early potatoes. As soon as we were done working the potatoes we planted tobacco between the rows of the potatoes. When the potatoes were dug for market the stalks were carried off Snd the ground cultivated, when the lot had the appearance of a tobacco field* writes a correspondent to the Orange County Farmer. It was then sown to turnip seed, and after the tobaee’6 was taken off it was a co Deplete turnip field. 1 The result was fifty bushels of potateees, average price $1 per bushel, S3O; 400 pounds of tobacco at 12 cents, S4B; forty bushels bflur-" nips at 30 cents a bushel, sl2; total, $lO2, or about as much as would be realized at present prices from five acres of corn at. eighty bushels per acre, or seven acres of wheat, or four acres of hay. And yet the taxes were paid for only one-fourth of, an acre. This, in my opinion, was intensive farming. The best crop of corn that I ever raised was grown on a four-acre lot, on which the second growth of the previous year's clover crop was left standing and then plowed-down, The...ground was thoroughly prepared before planting, for I held to the theory that ground ‘ cannot be prepared after the crop is planted. The field was check-rowed, or marked two ways, and the corn planted very thickly, and, after it was cultivated eight or ten times with a cultivator, we went over the field and thinned down every hill to mot more than three stalks. Ido not think there was a vacant hill in the field. The result was 000 bushels of corn ears (150 bushels per acre), six large two-horse loads of corn fodder and half a dozen loads of pumpkins, equal to about as much as is ordinarily raised on twice the number of acres. The next year the same field produced over 200 bushels of oats. Uses for Corncobs. I utilize my corncobs in two ways—by grinding with the grain, and by kindling fires, says a writer in the Country Gentleman. The experiment stations have shown beyond discussion ...at cob meal, when fed to cattle, is fully as valuable, measure for measure, as clear meal, owing, it is presumed, to the fact that ’the cob so separates the particles of grain that the digestive secretions of the animal can more thoroughly act. on them. I also kiudlfe my coal fires with them. By dropping a few chips of paper, and then filling up the stove with cobs, and when these are well on fire, adding a few more, and on these immediately pouring the, hod of coal, I have no trouble in kindling the hardest of coal. I use more or less also in my fireplace, where they make a heat nvore intense than any harwood fire. I have on hand some cords of cobs, left from the shelling of mv seed sweet corn. These I piw* pose to have ground up with the, common yellow corn of the market, and so practically change it into meal value, bulk for bulk. Corncobs are enormously rich in potash, their ashes containing over twenty-three .per cent.,' hut It takes a vast pile of cobs to make a very small pile of ashes. The Size of Barnyards. As the farmer in the closing days of winter is busy scraping up the scattered manure in his barnyard to draw away to the fields he will almost always admit that his barnsard is larger than It should he. Our large barnyards are a relic of the times when stock was mainly fed out of doors, and the large surface was intended to make it convenient for feeding so that stock would not crowd each other. Nowadays stock are all stabled at night; and are always fed under cover, wasting less than by the old method of tli rowing the fodder ion the ground, or in the corner of a crooked" rail rerice; Where stock is kept up at night it needs a very small yard for it to exercise in during the day. The practice of dehorning is also hiaking it less necessary to have large barnyards, so as to prevent vicious horned stock from killing or injuring those that are weaker than themselves. Gypsum on Strawberries. It is not a good plan to sow gypsum on strawberries... It will usually encourage so large a growth of clover that it will be nearly impossible to keep the rows clean even for the first year. The gypsum has besides no special effect in making a large growth of the strawberry vines. Th'e mineral fertilizer that strawberries most need is potash. If this were applied more freely the crop of berries will be. large, and they will be of better quality and color. All the highly colored fruits need large supplies of potash. Oats and Peas. One of the best early feeds for stock, especially breeding animals, may be secured by sowing oats and peas somewhat thdckSy, either to bd pastured or cut for soiling. For this purpose it is best to sow fully three bushels of seed per acre, while if the crop is to be grown for its grain two bushels of seed is a great plenty. The crop should be sown at different times, so that it will come in order for cutting in succession. This soiling crop may be grown on rich land where a later crop of cabbage, celery or other vegetables is to be grown. ' » The Dairy Cow. The modern dairy cow is an extreme--Jw-sfrtifldftl development, and as such should be entrusted only to the expert breeder, feeder and handler, just as a complicated machine is placed in the hands of none but skilled mechanics. The best dairy cow Is of an Intensely nervous nature, and needs to he treated with great consideration, says M. B. P„ in the Ohio Farmer. Kicking a cow is a wicked habit that results in much loss. A cow kept In constant fear of being punished cannot prove profitable to her owner. Give the dairy cow a quiet, sensible, Intelligent keeper. Such a man’s services are worth money. Do not withhold food. It 1 takes a good deal of food to produce a liberal flow of milk. The more food the greater the product up to a certain

limit. Feed not only a liberal ration, but componnd the same with care, taking pains to have It well balanced. Of course, It is always well to know jfist which grains and fodder are most easily and cheaply obtained, and as much of these should be used as possible without Injuring the quality of the ration. Gluten and Hnseed meals are now H Very cheap, and as they are exceedingly rich, they can bg profitably mixed 1 with bran and corfifneaT in Compounding rations that are not only nutritious, but of a quality toproduce excellent manure. Apple Orchards as Windbreaks. Wherever forests are cleared off there soon comes a demand for a windbreak of some kind to shelter buildings and stock from cold blasts, and to protect the farm from the severest winter winds. It is a good practice to set an orchard either on the windward side of the farm or of the house and other farm buildings. It is true the trees are bare in winter, apd unless there is a close fence to obstruct the wind near the surface it will blow under the trees nearly as strong as if no orchard were In the way. This can be remedied by planting a crow of evergreens on tlie windward side. This will also hold the snow from being blown away from the Orchard. Most fruit trees suffer from lack of water in the summer sea- 1 son when they are perfecting their fruit. It Is abundance of water that enables their roots to take up the mineral plant food which. Is essential to seed production. It is the lack of water that pauses so large a proportion of fruit to fS.ll soon after it is formed. The -time comes for. forming the seed, and the mineral element needed is either not in the soil or is unavailable, because there is not water in the soil to dissolve it. • Cornstalks in Spring. Dried cornstalks rapidly lose their sap by the drying which alternate freezing and thawing exposes them to, and they are much less nutritious and palatable than in their sappy green state in the fall. Properly kept ensilage can be preserved better until late In the season than can the dried cornstalks, no matter how much care is taken to keep them from getting wet and being spoiled. When corn-stalks are* cut and piled in heaps they dry out slowly, because the slight heating which they undergo exposes them, to contact with carbonic acid gas, as. in the silo. This gas is a good check on fermentation, which requires oxygen to keep it in progress. _— Sharpening Toots, - Before the season for outdoor work begins all the hoes, cultivators and other farm Implements should be got in condition for effective use. Labor l is too dear to be wasted In working 1 with a dull tool, and the farmer stands in his own light who allows labor to be thrown away because the tools it works with are inferior. . Solomon long ago observed, that “when the axe is dull then must be put forth more strength.” As he immediately added, “But wisdom is profitable to direct,” he gave his opinion pretty plainly that no nmn with much sense would be caught using a dull axe. Dne to Tree Agents. It is due to the tree agents and even to the tree peddlers and scalpers to say that there are doubtless thousands of fruit trees now growing that would never have been planted If they had not stirred up sleepy farmers by their wonderful stories to buy and plant, when the same men would not have gone three miles to a local nursery of their own accord. Odds and Knds. One part acetic acid to seven parts water rubbed well into the scalp once a day, will, it is said, induce a new growth of hair. To remove a grease spot from wall paper, hold a piece of blotting paper over the spot with a hot flatiron for a few moments. Try tying a piece of stale bread in a white muslin cloth and dropping it Into your kettle with your boiling cabbage. It will absorb all the offensive odor. According to a wholesale furniture dealer, the best furniture polish is made of one-third alcohol and -- two-thirds sweet oil. Apply it with a soft cloth and rub with another cloth. When your stove has burned red and won’t stick to It, put a little fat fried from salt pork into The water in which you dissolve your black- * lug and try again. Try chopping your bread Instead of kneading it so long. It is a great help. Put plenty of flour on your bread board and on your dough, when It has been stirred very stiff, and turn your bread often as you chop it. Try to avoid having the bread and cake crack open while bakilig. This cracking on the top is caused by hav-. ing the oven too hot when the loaf Is put in, and the crust formed before the heat has caused the dough to expand. You may remove the tightness caused by a cold almost instantly by mixing ammonia and sweet oil, or fresh hen’s oil will do, shaking It thoroughly and rubbing it on the nose and forehead. By adding laudanum you have a splen-' did liniment, v. Fruit is not a complete dietary in itself, but it is excellent to accompany a meat diet. The acid contained in the fruits assist digestion, and It Is for this reason that apple sauce should be served with roast pork or goose, the fat of which is rendered more assimilable by It. Farmers may make a mistake in overlooking their local markets. When articles are shipped to the large cities, owing tsb inducements In the shape of better prices, the eommissiens and cost of transportation may leave less profit than could be secured nearer home. Butter and eggs can always find a good market and ready sale, being In deBin Ihl BPAfITIIIKAaA - - ...» uiuxiu t v crjiriicrr* * • _ ' There are more than the usual number of new Varieties of potatoes offered this season, and It is safe to claim that the majority of them will drop out of sight next year to give place to another batch of new varieties, but this may be done to advantage with one or two potatoes. Fort your geperal crop stick to the kinds that yon know are adapted to your soil and climate' until yon are sura that some new variety Is better.