Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 January 1905 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

It' Is all right to pray for “daily bread,” but one has to do some hustling to get both bread and butter. We are given the injunction to “not lay up treasures upon the earth,” but the alfalfa and clover growers are laying up treasures in the earth and It is not unscriptural, either. The owner of a gasoline engine is hoping that the oil magnate will notgive away any more millions at present, as he is paying about all he can afford for gasoline qpw. The man who will willfully plow up the roads to scmr his plow ought to be made acquainted with the mysteries of a grand jury. Keep the plow greased and escape the desire to violate the law. In catching pigs for any purpose it will be well to catch them by the hind legs or by the ears, and they will not squeal, and they are also easily handled in this manner. A squealing pig sometimes brings the head of the house upon the scene in full uniform and fully equipped for war. The best farmers in the world, the Danes, practically use no commercial fertilizers, but they rely almost wholly on stable manure. Professor Kennedy tells us how they save and apply it. They keep the solid manure in one vat and the liquid in another, the latter of which is drawn off by building the cisterns high above the place where it is to be drawn off. Every particle of the liquid manure is saved and applied to the land. The sewage of creameries and bacon factories is also saved for fertilizing purposes and applied to the land. We may not be compelled to do this, but there is a lesson here so, €•}. The feeding of oils to milch cows at the Hatch Experiment Station produced rather interesting results. The Oil had a tendency to Increase the amount of butter fat at first, but after a short time the per cent of butter fat fell to about the usual amount. When the feeding of the oils was discontinued the per cent of fat fell off, showing that uiC cows had come to depend on the oils as upon a stimulant, and -it'Wbifid'Bc Seme, time before the normal proportion of butter fat would return. The principal conclusion was that the only profitable way to increase the amount of butter fat is from good food and good care, but the natural per cent of each cow could not be changed to any great extent Almost every farmer knows that the .closer grain is sown, the greater the proportion of the straw to the grain, the only exceptions being when conditions are such that the straw is very short;, while grain is large and plump. This in paStߣoS son, but in some cases is due to there being but little nitrogen in the fertilizer to stimulate growth of straw and plenty of phosphoric acid to increase size of grain. The Main Experiment Station has ascertained another point by growing one, five and eight stalks of grain in pots of the same size, using oats and spring wheat. They found that the grain where there were five stalks in a pot contained but 80**. P er cent nitrogen and 85.42 per cent as much nutritive value as those where one stalk grew alone, while where eight plants were in the pot, there was only 70,1 per \nt nitrogen<and 70.91 per cent«-~ value as compared with t|‘s frotD stalk. | UQ . aatifl' Reducing the Loss ofg tho wi*h One of the sources of loss raising is the number of deaths at farrowing time due largely to the Inch of some important'* element in the make-up of thcrmother which probably could have been controlled by the feeding. Experiments have shown that blood meal is one of the most important feeds for both mother and young, but it must be given intelligently or it is likely to prove of little use. Of course, it is understood that the main loss of the pigs conies through the scours and this is controlled by feeding the mother blood meal. Then, too, the care of the yonng pig has much to do with its progress, particularly during the first week of its 4fe, and if there is anything that it needs more than another nt this time it is a dry, warm and clean bed. The importance of this can not be overestimated, and if one will give this point the attention it demands he will see a radical difference In .the health of the progeny.

Feed inn Cowpeas. As growers become familiar with cowpeas there seems to lie considerable difference of opinion ns to hovr both peas and vines can be used to the best advantage. It has been generally believed that the chief value of the cowpeas was plowing them under in order to give to the soil the nitrogen absorbed by the plant in the process es growing; there is no doubt but what Uds plan Is n .safe one on most poor soils, but many who have practiced it have bewme so enamored of cowpea culture that they dislike to •bandon the crop even when they have

brought their soil up so that the cowpeas are not really needed. Many such growers have found success in continuing the raising of cowpeas, but plowing under only the roots and feeding the vines and grain t<i stock and using the manure on the fields. Such men claim that they get nearly much nitrogen in the ground by plowing under the roots and that the vines and grain are too valuable as food to plow under. In other words, the combination of the roots plowed under and the feeding of the vines and grains and the use of the manure gives them a richer soil than by the other plan. This is well worth investigating by actual trial on one’s own soil.

Keeping Clean Hogs. If one has a hog that roots, then ring him or her, and that trouble will be over. As a matter of fact, only u small proportion of hogs care to root if they are well raised, given shade in summer, plenty of variety in food, a warm bed in winter and good water to drink. The same thing applies to w allowing. Of course, if a hog makes a place In the soil in which to lie, and the rain fills the hole with water, then the animal will wallow, but what is easier than to fill in the depression with soil and break up the wallowing habit? If one expects to keep the hog grounds free from filth and stench as he does his stables, let him give them the same care, and there will be no trouble. The writer knows of a hog farm whose owner makes a most com* sortable profit yearly with young pork because he advertises in local papers and invites the public to visit the farm and see the cleanly manner in which the animals are raised. Owing to the proximity of tho farm to the town, many take advantage of the offer, visit the farm and become regular customers. This is one of the many ways of making the farm pay.

Root Crops to Cows. Those who, have fed root crops to cows, and especially have fed rutabagas, will understand their value, and those who oppose the feeding of root crops have either fed them improperly or have given them to the animal when she was already well fed with grain. While it is not intended to advocate Uie feeding of root crops as a substitute for regular rations, it is a fact that they might be more largely fed than they are with a corresponding. decrease in the feeding of hay or grain. A good plan in feeding rutabagas is to cut them up in small pieces and mix them with the grain feed, giving them the ration at night. In the morning the hay ration can be somewhat reduced as a result, and if one has sufficient of the root crops another liberal feeding could > given at noon. As to the quantity > .gas ’tero.to feed YCTw tt' >mewhat on the animal *• _ the daily ration of otb _.ugs. Generally speaking, a peek or so a day will keep the animal in good condition as to her digestive organs, though It will not be sufficient to materially decrease the regular ration. Some dairymen feed a bushel a day safely and find they can reduce the hay and grain rations in consequence and the cow be all the better for it. Root crop feeding is well worth experimenting with. Birds Save the Crops. If the army of the birds were destroyed, it has been estimated that in £he course of nine years the world mid not be inhabited by inan, and, spite of all the sprays and poisons heat could be manufactured for the de- , ” action of insects. All crops, all Iruits, everything which supports human . life, would, in a comparatively short period of time, be destroyed by slugs and insects. In some parts of the United States a bounty is placed on the head of the red shouldered hawk and a few other birds, but it Is the conclusion of those who have examined into the case that if the bounty could be SSOO fine on those who kill the bird, instead of 25 cents to the bird slayer, our laws would operate on the right side. A redstart has been known to eat 600 flies an hour, and a blackcap has destroyed 200 green flies from a rosebush in a green house in a few hours. The wren feeds her young thirty-six times an hour. A young robin kept in captivity required sixty earth worms a day, and a pair of blue jays were once fed a half a million caterpillars in one season. The stomach of a new'ly hatched Bird is merely a membraneous sac with little muscular development, ami so required soft, digestible material like plump spiders or cut-worms. As the stomach develops the diet change 1 and hard insects, such as beetles, can be used. The habits of the chipping sparrow have been closely watched, and it was found that the parent began feeding the nestlings nt a few minutes before 4 o’clock in the morning and ended at 7:27 in the evening. The longest rest taken during the day was twentyseven minutes in the afternoon. Twa hundred visits to the nest were mads by the parents during the day.