Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 August 1896 — AGRICULTURAL NEWS [ARTICLE]

AGRICULTURAL NEWS

THINGS PERTAINING TO THE FARM AND HOME. ■'•• ■ ■ ’ . The Farmer Should Put a Fair Value op His Time and Labor—Be Eq pal to Any Emergency —Value of Timely Cultivation—Farm Notes, What Is a Farmer’s Time Worth? What Is a farmer’s time worth? That upon the farmer, but it is certainly a poor farmer who bits nv-tigbt to fray for liis knowledge of the business and his management. The Work-" er in any department of shilled labor Is paid for ••'knowing how." J Barely manual labor rarely gets more than enough for subsistence. This is a'wellknown law of wages that leads one to desire that his friends, depend upon something more remunerative than mere manual labor only. Then sliall the farmer have no credit except for the actual field labbr performed, at the rates rUbeived by his hands? This is manifestly unfair, and yet on this basis are estimates usually mdde, A merchant or manufacturer, controlling an amount of capital ho greater than is often found in farms, allows himself a fixed salary, and it is charged against the business. This salary, of course, varies, but is several times greater thau the wage with which the farmer credits himself. It now requires as much training and good management to run a farm well as it does to run any’other ordinary business. A doctor or lawyer, when only a tyro, charges fdr his time several dollars a day, and very often his education and training has cost less than that of the farmer,, who may have learned something in the schools and more by experience that cost dearly. The time ot the farmer who thinks and plans to some purpose should be accounted worth as much .to him as that of men In other occupations who use no more skill, education and good judgment. If this is correct, many of the estimates of the cost of production of crops, and of the interest on investment Pdid by farmers are inaccurate. Certain qualifications are worth very well determined'wages; and their possessors should charge their business with their time at such rates. Only in this way can they tell what their invested capital is paying. Skilled laborers get from $2 or $3 a day upward. If farmers credited their farms with house rent, table supplies, use of carriage, etc., as they should do, thpre would be more apparent possibility of allowing themselves a fair wage for their iinie; but whether any sum exists for paying ft or not,’ The charge for management is a legitimate one And should be made in all farm accounts. If the results of a year’s work he made public, it is unfair to give ah estimate of cost of production, or of tlie profit in farming, thi»t> does hot include this item of management at a. figure 'equal to what it would be worth in otb**r occupations. Such rating of one's time is hot only the fair thing to do, but it may help us to realize that farming is not merely a manual pursuit.—Country Gentleman.

Equal to Eriiergency. Perhaps thousands of your renders in all parts of tlie country will meet with some kind of an emergency every year, and they will l>e of all kinds, and no rule can be laid down further than to be ready and quick to decide Wlfiit to do when anything can be done. I have gn mind a friend in a neighborrng Estate, whose wheat field is now fivp feet under water. The solution of his difficulty will certainly be very different from mine, when my wheat field has had but an inch and a quarter of rainfall tq>on it in two months. While we may not always know what, to do. there is one thing not to be done; tlmt i», fold our hands and sit down and grunible. Since I was seventeen, or for thirty-four years, I have.managed a farm in tlie West. aniUtiiere has always been a partial way out of every emergency in the crop line that has come befijhe us. Each section, or possibly each farm, must be a law to Itself, but if the farmer is wide awake to the opportunity before him, can generally find some crop that can partially or wholly till the place ot the one lost.—J. M. Rice, in Farm News.

, of Timely Cultivation. the growing season Is here everyone who lias any crop in the ground shoultl endeavor' to m.t-ke the most of it, If it admits of cultivation, as do most garden prodnetlons and a number of field crops. It was Liebig, he German chlrnlst, wiio said that •’tillage is manure.” Many do not understand this, thinking that cultivation id for the destruction of weeds, which is true, but of secondary importance. The first consideration is the benefit derived front the turning of the soil, weeds or no weeds. This should done frequently, and besides, after every rain as soon the ground becomes dry enough. In addition to the cultivator and shovel- plow and hoe there are a number of Implements that tend to make the work mbfe convenient. For hand labor, the garden rake is valuabieTantT for more Intricate work close to growing plants the little tool wjth five bent fingers—a kind of iron hand -Is excellent. The cost at the Implement stores is but a trifle, or It could be made by a handy-blacksmith. The instruction given to the Student of oratory In ancient times wiw "action, action, action.” With the good gardener this is transformed Into ‘ff’ultivate! Cultivate!! Cultivate!!!”—The National Stockman. * Kaffir Corn aa a Feed. , As many of the readers of the Breeder Will raise their own gntin fee 1 for their poultry, they must be interested In knowing the worth of Kaffir corn as a poultry feed. We have had two y(*ars’ experience with It and find It par excellenee. It is good for little chicks or old fovy Ist. The grain is smaller than wheat,' and little chicks will begin to eat It by t'iie time they are a week old. and will grow like magic. They are very fond of It. and the music they make while devouring it is enough to gladden the heart of any chicken crank. Their Utile crops will atiek out till you will almost think there are two chicks Instead of one—a I sort of Siamese twins, as it were. -But

don’t worry about them: they will not. be crop bound, for the Kaffir corn does not swell in theif crops. It has this rare quality to such a degree that, even though it be soaked In water over night, it does not swell. ’ -• As a feed for laying beds we have; found it as good as the best of grains. And for moulting season, we haVemever fed anything that Js near, its equal. We never have had'hens lay so well during thia period as when fed on Kaffir corn. Vtie think so much of this grain ara poultry food that, were we living in the city, where we could not raise it, we some dhe so fai&e'it Tor us, if we could hot-buy It at tlie feed store. The Ist of May is the time to plant it, and it should be planted and cultivated l|ke our common everyday corn. i>r J It is capable of yielding from twenty* five to fifty bushels of grain per acre,' according to the season and culture. Give it a trial this year. If your, seed dealer asks you too much for the seed, most any friend you may have m Oklahoma will seqd you all the "seed you will need If you will pay the traiiiP portation.—C. F. Mulkey, in Western Poultry Journal.

Old Apple Tree*. The theory is quite prevalent among farmers that apple trees should’ be cut down when they'cease to be productive in consequence of the decay of the branches. Oftentimes, and in most eases such trees can be restored to a vigorous growth and healthy bearing condition by cutting away the old decayed portion and allowing new branches to take their place. This will nearly always follow when the - ' trees are well cared for and a liberal supply of potash be given them. I saw an apple tree recently on Orchard Hill in the town of Kensington, in this State, that was the last remaining tree of an orchard set out ninety years ago. All of the other trees were cut down thirty-five years ago. This oiie, bearing a favorite apple, by the pleading of a large family of children, was allowed to. remain. Of late years the ground around It has been cultivated and it. is a constant bearer. It is now edvered with a dense green foilage and the limbs have made a growth this year of over a foot. Its condition, today shows the folly of cutting down trees as soon as they ceaSe to grow and bear fruit. Plow around them, or whore this cannot be donp use a spring tooth harrow. Mulch them well and put on a good supply of muriate of potash, cut off the old, decaying, moss-covered branches, grow’ out a new top of smooth wood, and you will soon have the pleasure of seeing large smooth fruit growing, where once were only sma 1H n f erior apples. Age has but little to do with causing a tree to decay. One of the apple trees set out by the Arcadians more than 150 years ago is still standing near their old home at Grand Pre, N. ~S.. and in 1894 Was loaded with fruit.—Grange Homes.

Farm Notes. Small pieces of raw potatoes will cleanse bottles in a most satisfactory manner. ’ To remove tar from any kind of cloth saturate' the spot and Yub it well with turpentine. This will be found speedily effectual. In an Arizona bulletin a writer says: “In feeding forty or fifty Cows I used sugar beets and added a certain, quantity of corn meal. I increased tlie quantity of milk five’to eight gallons a day and also the quantity of cream" People who scrape and scour, their trees Just for the looks of it, a»d leave the loose bark on the ground where it falls, are aiding the enemy. If there are any insects among the bark they are thpre,still and out of sight of birds. It is a common belief of farmers working small areas, and who can only make ends meet, that if dljey had more land they could make more money. The facts in the ease do not bear them out. If a small farm is not made a success, the same given a larger onp will but increase the losses as a general rule.

Burn everything on the farm that serves as harboring places for Insects. By so doiug there will be fewer Insects next year and less work to do. Canes of blackberries should always be consigned to the flames In order to destroy the borer, and all diseased limbs and branches of trebs should be treated in the Same manner. Of a fat ox about GO per cent., of a sheep 58 per cent., of a fat pig (porker) S 3 per cent, of the live weight will be butcher’s carcass, so if the live weight be ascertained, the dead weight can be obtained with certainty. Thepe figures vary slightly, according as an animal is very fat, when they will be higher, or not very fat, when they will be lower.

There are hundreds of crops now growing on two acres, which should have been seeded on an acre only. Poor crops are sometime due to the attempt to spread the manure over a wide surface, causing a loss on two acres, instead of a profit on one. because less plant food and more labor had to be given the crop that was grown on a larger area than was required, Buckwheat is a summer crop and may be sown in July. It grows rapidly and will produce a crop if frost, does not appear too soon. It will not thrive If the weather Is very warm and dry. but with good land and frequent showers It should produce as much as forty bushels to the acre.' Bees will work on the. blossoms, as it comes at a time when bee forage Is not plentiful.

There are a few points nlxuit dishwashing which should always be kept in mlpd. Do not drop knives htto hot water, as It injures the handles, and removes the cement. Heavy glasses sbouhr not be dropped in hot water. Thiu glasses are Jess likely to break, and almost any glass may bo saved from breaking if a teaspoon U placed in It before hot water Is added. o •Lu. <• * In putting a freslt oilclorii on- a passage or kitchen, or any mueh.-n«ed floor, it is a good plan io lay lu on the old one. Raise the edges a little and wijte out the aeeumulated dust with a damp cloth, then let It fall in place, and put the new one over ft. The wear.qf the latter will be mucljjeagthened through the protection afforded ,by« the flrat cloth from the roughness of the floor beneath.