Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 83, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 June 1904 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

New Conditions for Farmers. One day, late in the autumn, a half dozen farmers, coming fifteen, miles, drove into a prairie village with heavy loads of corn. They went to the principal elevators and asked the price. “Thirty cents a bushel to-day.” “We will go to the buyer at the other end of the town,” said the spokesman. i“lt will do you no good,” was the reply, “as all the buyers pay the same price here.” “Very well; we will go home and send our corn to market on foot.” They drove back fifteen miles and unloaded the corn into their own granaries, to be shipped later in the form of fat cattle. Such an incident would have been impossible ten years ago, when the av'crage farmer was compelled to take what was offered for his crop. But two things have worked a transformation in the grain-growing portion of !the West; the farmers have become conservative with prosperity, and the railroads have widened the markets. Five years of good crops in the West have not only paid the debts, but hav* also made the farmer capable of employing business methods. A few (years ago a settler visited town only (Once a fortnight or once a month. He Hook home with him the county papers, the few magazines that he received and a large bundle of groceries and dry goods. With rural delivery and rural telephone all that Is passed. Under these conditions the Western farmer has developed an independence lln the movement of crops disconcerting to the market manipulators.—C. IM. Harger, in the World’s Work. Bag Holdc:* A convenient bag holder is made as follows: Procure a piece of two-inch plank thirty inches long and as wide as you can get. Bore two one and a quarter inch holes in the plank twentyfour inches apart. Then get two sticks

iliree sett nine inches long of some ;ough wood. Shave these sticks to fit lightly into a three-quarter inch hole. Now take two blocks of hard wood four and one-hplf Inches long like A in illustration. These circular pieces should be one inch- thick each way and they should have about three small lath nails sticking out one-quarter of an inch to keep the bag from slipping off. If is the spring of the two long sticks- that holds the bag tight. The blocks can be slipped up or down on the side strips to suit the length of the bags.—F. A. Franklin in lowa Homestead. Profits of a Small Dairy. Having seen several records of dairy farming by some of your readers, I will let you know what we have done the past year, from January 1, 1903, to January 1, 1904. We started with four cows the first six months, and five cows the balance of the year, one a heifer coming fresh last of June. Delivered at creamery 28,155 pounds of milk which made 1,225 pounds of butter. Total sales for the year as follows: 1,225 pounds butter S3OO 75 10 head of hogs .... 129 04 988 dozen eggs 170 40 2 yearling heifers 21 00 Poultry and calves v ,. Total $044 70 Bought patmeal, bran, shorts, etc 157 00 Balance, net..... .$487 70 I don’t thlqk this Is a bad showing for a place that some of the neighbors said, four years ago, when we came here, “You can't ral:«e anything on that old place.”—C. E. Kinger. Fodder Rye. The first crop to be of service in spring Is rye, which Is sometimes ready for feeding tho last week In April, and may be continued through the first half of May. It matures very rapidly after the heads appear, and can be successfully used for a period of from ten to fourteen days If seeded nt different times, and cutting is begun before it comes In head. Where it is not practicable to practice soiling the crops may be pastured. This method, while more wasteful, is less expensive than soiling. It Is very Important to have a pasture crop at that season, because coming before meadow pastures are ready. The crop yields well on medium soils, though it responds profitably to good treatment It is rsc-

ommended that it be seeded thicker than when the crop is used for grain. From two to two and one-half bushels of seed may be used with on good soils. The fertilizers should be rich In available phosphoric acid. A fertilizer containing nitrogen 3 per cent, phosphoric acid 8 per cent, potash 5 per cent, may be app’.’ed at time of seeding at the rate of 200 to 300 pounds per acre. A top dressing of nitrate of soda in the spring at ths rate of 100 to 150 pounds per acre is excellent. As to Farm Poultry. It is very hard to make farmers un derstand how great their advantage! are in poultry raising. They will saj the work does not pay, for it takei their time from crops that bring mor< money. There is something in this il one lias a'bfop which is profitable and which is brought to the marketinj point at small expense. It would b< folly to advocate that anyone drop I paying crop to take up something thej are doubtful about, but where then are diversified interests on the farm poultry can be made to pay more than it does. The writer knows a man" who hai one acre in a small town devoted t< poultry. He goes to a nearby city and buys live poultry of wholesale commission men at the market price, shipi them, home, fattens them and marketi them dressed in the towns near him "Nine-tenths of the food consumed bj the fowls must be bought, and yet thii man makes a comfortable living out ol the work. This is one case of many and if this can be z done it is certainlj reasonable to claim that the farmer who can raise the chickens from eggi and also the food consumed by them can turn the result on to the market at a profit. The one cause of failure is not understanding the needs of the fowls and how to feed them to advantage. Lean this by experience, and poultry raisins will be found one of the most profit able ventures in which the farmer eat engage.—lndianapolis News. Big Missouri Corn. In the corn contest at St. Louis, which was held under the auspices of the Missouri World’s Fair Commission early in February, Lewis county was awarded the first prize for the best county display. The second prize was awarded to Atchison county anti the third to Pettis. There were more than 300 exhibitors contesting for prizes, and prizes were awarded amounting to SI,OOO. The St Louis Republic says that corn was on exhibition that was from 14 to 18 inches in length and 11 inches in circumference. It has been estimated that Missouri produced one-eighth of the corn crop of the United States last year, and one-tenth of all the corn raised on the globe. Gas for Incubators. - > An extensive chicken raiser at Rochelle, 111., operates fifty large incubators with heat from natural gas. Ho has tffree thousand chicks out and has about fifteen thousand eggs under way. Farm Chat. Overloading the teams Is a bad idea. It will start horses to balking quicker than anything else. An egg broken in the feed of horses is very beneficial to them in clearing up the skin and hair, . A small flock of sheep well cared for is more profitable than a large one allowed to pick its own living. Always strive to stimulate the milkyielding capabilities of the cows tc the highest limit within reason. A good judge in farm crop statistics says it will take three bumper corn crops to create a surplus of that product. That means three years of hustling. In testing seed coni we often feel that a seed will be good that is much slower “coming” than the rest of them. It will produce a weak stalk and either no ear or a nubbin. It will not pay to select such seed. It should be discarded as doubtful.

Canadian bee keepers report an unusually severe winter with serious losses. Most bees wintered out of doors unprotected show a very high per cent of loss, ranging from practically a total loss to forty per cent. Bees which were protected range, according to the dozen or more reports received, from twelve to fifty per cent. With all crops it is the early cultivation that is the most important. Keep the soil clean and in a little while the plants are young and tender, giving them every opportunity to make a gcod start to grow- and It will be a milch easier matter to maintain a good growth until maturity. A good garden is one-half the living. In making arrangements for the garden why not do like the Irishman who was told that to buy a certain stove meant to save one-half the fuel? )Je said he would take two stoves of that make and save all of his fuel. Have two good gardens and save all the living. The groceryman suffers w-hen a good garden is at hand. In most localities good garden truck is always salable If one has more than enough for his own family. Don’t forget that little memoranr duin book. At <io time will it be found so bandy as now. Keep It in the pocket and put down everything that needs attention, and then one can look it over occasionally and do that which needs be’, ng done the worst without delay. Much loss is prevented iu this manner. I have sorted potatoes when I should have been sowing gross seed, and a sadden shower came and some other work bad to be hunted up. The little “want book” revealed what should be done.

CONVENIENT BAG HOLDER.