Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 108, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 September 1904 — FARMERS CORNER GOOD GARDEN ROLLER. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FA RMERS CORNER

GOOD GARDEN ROLLER.

Pointe in Corn Growing. The art of raising corn is summed: up in Indiana Farmer: The cut of corn plants in a row distance part is shown for the purpose of impressing the reader with the importance.*)! ter methods of cultivation than those formerly pursued; in other words,-to show the necessity of shallow level cultivation after the Corn plapt is a few feet high. This country has the only productive and profitable corn belt in. the world. The dferald and increasing price of corn 'in/jthe last five years have raised the annual production'to about 2,000,000,D00’ bushels, and yet the average per acre for the whole country is only 24.2 bushels. It is a rather remarkable fact that on the poor soils of New aver; age production 1 per acre is largest. This is doubtless due to the fact that better fertilisation, cultivation and seed selection is practiced there. It is very well known that there Is great advantage in seed selection. Many Instances es this have shown that on the same quality of soils fifteen bushels per acre have been produced, mdre than where the work of selecting seed was neglected. Again, it has been rhown that / corn growing on lands the. previous year in-Wgnminous greatly increased in production.The best corn growers now begin* cultivation with weeders or before, or by the time, the cdrn begins to appear apove the -ground, this both for the purpose of destroying: the germinating weeds as well as to put the soil in better condition for corn growth. It is always irfiportarit that the ground be stirred after rains, where crust forms and starts rapid evaporation of the moisture. It is well settled' how that* a good dust mulch of two or three inches’ depth Is one of the things necessary in corn cultivation.' Formerly deep cultivation was practiced, but it is now seen that this was a mistake. When the crop is ’ three or four feet high the ground begins to mat with the fine fibrous roots which extend from row to row, as sho4vn in the cut. When six to eight feet high these fine root feeders of the, plant have made a complete mat between the rows. In deep cultivation, reaching down to five or six inches, these

line plant feeders are broken off, and growth toward maturity Is checked. Of course, new fibrous roots will form from those broken, but loss Is sustained and never fully recovered. It is the same when a calf or pig has its growth checked by starving for food; It can never fully recover tbe loss.

Keep Up the Milk Flow. Every dairyman knows that when a cow is allowed, through lack of succulent food, to fall off in her milk, it is impossible to again bring her back to the original flow, no matter how bountifully she is fed. Even if the food costs more than the milk during the summer drought, it is best to keep it up if it is intended to milk the cow through the fall and winter. To allow the milk yield to run down is to court a double loss. The loss of the milk is something, but if the milk is going to a creamery that is co-oper-ative in any phase the lessened supply from all the patrons will Increase proportionately the cost of making butter and thus force a further loss on the patron. Unfortunately on most of our farms it Is looked upon as the regular thing to have the cows fall off in their milk at this time of year, and nothing is done to prevent it. •This not doing anything is the hardest tiling to overcome when we are trying to induce the adoption of methods that will insure the continuation of the flow of milk during early summer through the hot weather. This is a hard period for our creamery men, but the loss always gets back to the fanners in the end. This should be remembered and measures taken to Insure different results.—St. Louis Republic.

Work Horse in Hot Weather. How many drivers are there who think that a horse would be more comfortable if his harness is taken off when he comes in hot, tired and sweaty from a forenoon's work? Just ns man likes to take off his hat, boots mid swanty stockings after a tramp behind the harrow, so the team Is refreshed by being unharnessed. A horse Is never so hot that a half-pall full of water will Injure him, nnd It Is a cruel custom to put the horse In a close stall without a sup, of water to cool ills parched mouth, while the driver goes to liquidate at the pump. It la considered unwise to allow a horse to

drftik a large quantity of water Just before, or Immediately fitter- eating. By giving them a pall'fuH of water on coining in from the field the horses will relish their hay, and. by tfiqtime'they are unharnessed another full may. be'glven and graia^fed. l Then, going to to drinkas much, as desli’fed- lAnd this will .be more nearly, the proffex? quantity .than if permitted to fill'uir wheh first'coining in it/om the field. A horsd is too valuable to neglect, and careful attention not Ohly pays in 'his increased usefulness, but an animal which etandS so high in the-seale-of-tntelligence is entitled to humane treatment-—Ex-change. . , ; . Making a Ga den Roller. - Get a-piece of two-foot earthenware tiling about fourteen inches in diame- . ter.anti AeLitofi a board,'as shown ifi the top picture. Place an Iron, rod , - _—* -fc • ■ X ~ , ■' - ■ •

exactly ; In; the tenter, passing "down* through About' an ifich and; projecting above the tiling about the same distance —that is, two. inches. Now fill,in the tiling to the top with cement and broken''rocks, the cement being two parts sand to one of dry cement Have the ends faced with'the clear mixture of sand and that is, with none of the broken rock appearing In view. Now arrange, a handle upon, the projecting iron bar in .the center, as shown-ln. the lower picture, Should the outer covering of tiling ever become broken by accident, there will still be left a fitffi*Toller df ee--ment that has hardened to rock-like consistency.

Poultry and Smalt Fruftn. The writer has been much interested in a fruit and poiiKTy farm whichbe has visited yearly for the last five years, and the results obtained on this farm have been such that they are worth attention here. The owner was over sixty years old when he took up this work. He had been a farmer all his life and had raised both fruit and poultry to a limited extent As he grew older the sons left the farm and it became too much of a burden. He sold it and bought ten acres on the outskirts of a city of 25,000 people. At the end of the first year from chicks raised and fowls bought he' bad ninety-four laying hens. One acre of strawberries was also in good condition for a first crop the following summer. At the end of five years he has nearly three hundred fowls and pullets for egg production, markets many broilers, roasters and fowls and has three acres In strawberries.' With the help- of one man all the work Is done and our friend Is making more actual money beyond the cost of his living than he had ever made on the farm of seventy acres and with a much smaller Investment. There are possibilities In this combination in many sections of the country, and they are well worth looking Into. Plenty of hard work in it, of course, and many disappointments, but under skilled management it will bring success. —Indianapolis News.

Farm Notes. Close inbreeding Is a short cut to temporary success. A poor appetite In an animal suggests some weakness. Hogs may be fed corn as soon as the grain begins to harden. All things considered, early plowing is best for fall wheat. A fattened old cow has a larger proportion of ’waste than a young animal. All animals require a variety In their food In order to make the best gains. Set the milk as quickly as possible after milking to get pfrfect rising of the cream. The temporary gate, or the makeshift fence, will often cause more trouble than making a good one. The housefly lives about ten days, during which time it can give at least a month of trouble to the housekeeper. Quantity in clover hay counts for loss than quality. Now Is the time to arrange for quality by cutting it in the right time. As many as a dozen farmers have found out that It does not pay to keep hogs and poultry in the same enclosure. It is to be hoped that more will learn this fact by another year, Many a man who does not have any confidence in himself or In God has Implicit confidence In an old, warped horseshoe. It is strange bow some people who are Intelligent will act The nil physiologist who claims the soil needs no fertility to keep It up, but that It produce* according to climatic and cultural conditions, has bit wld* the mark.

BOOTS OF THE CORN.