Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 59, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 March 1907 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

Bran and oats are excellent for feeding ewes, with an occasional handful of corn. Large, thrifty sows are more sure to bring good thrifty litters of pigs than gilts. It Is only when the sheep and jvool are turned into money the farmer can count his profit or loss. An ear of corn to every square yard of cornfield means 4,840 ears. How many bushels is that per acre? It is as Important to know the standard sorts of corn as it is to be posted on the popular breeds of stock. To make hogs most profltable-a steady daily gain must be secured from the time the pig is farrowed until it is marketed. other stock on poor, rough lands, if well managed, they will also pay oh smdoth, rich land. The man or boy who likes to “fool around” with pigs or sheep or any other farm stock usually develops into a good stockman. The farmer who makes two nubbins of .corn grow where but one grew before may be a benefactor to his race, but he is an enemy to his own family. Don't grow nubbins. • Do not overlook the faet that to insert a cold bit Into a horse’s mouth is torture. Iron and steel rapidly conduct heat, hence the sensation of cold when the metals are touched. Rubber bits are better, but they should be warmed before using.

In the winter it must be borne in mind that animal heat is to be kept up as the first importance to egg production, and any deficiency of food will quickly be made manifest in that respect, but less food will be required during the warm season. There Is much variation in the yield and quality, of milk from the cows, and no farmer can have a herd uniform unless he breeds for uniformity by adhering to one breed; it may even be necessary to rely on some particular family of the selected breed. A game law passed in Illinois a few years ago brought about some surprising results. By the terms of this law every citizen who desired to hunt had to pay a $1 license. It was thought that this license would bring to the State treasury the sum of $20,000 or $25,000, but it ran over SIOO,OOO the first year. If sheds are too costly it pays to use cornstalks for providing shelters, or wind breaks, by placing them against poles. Corn fodder is too valuable to use In this manner, but there are hundreds of farmers who allow corn fod3er to be wasted when it might be used on the outside of the sheds or barnyards as wind breaks if it can not be put to any better use. A When a man pays taxes on the full valuation of his land and at the same time It Is mortgaged for half its value and if the holder of the mortgage pays taxes on his credits. Is not that double taxation? To one out on the farm it looks as though the owner should only pay taxes on the equity he has in the land and let the man who holds the nortgage pay on the value of that mortfage. Killing Weeds by Spraying, A 5 per cent solution of sulphate of »pper has been found destructive to wild mustard and some other weeds, without Injuring grain crops. It Is probable that It will not Injure certain kinds of weeds. Spraying has been found of advantage in France, however, “destroying weeds, the cost being tbout $2 per acre. It is doubtful If inch a method will ever be adopted in thia country, as the barrow, cultivator, weeder and hoe can be used more effectively where crops are cultivated In rows, and even If weeds are growing on aroadcasted plats, it Is probably cheapir to mow the weeds than to spray. Storing Frnlta. Amateurs frequently gather their apples and pears before they are thoroughly ripened. Under these conditions It Is impossible to obtain the full flavor »f the fruit. An even temperature in the fruit store Is Important, and adequate ventilation must be provided at all times. Many excellent varieties of apples have been pronounced of Inferlar quality owing to their being placed tn ill-venthated storerooms. The use of itraw or bay should be avoided. Fruit will taste of the flavor of these materiils If used. The choicest dessert varieties should be placed on wadding or rood wool in single layers. Take great care In handling the fruit not to bruise

or otherwise damage It iri any way.—< “Gardening fOYßeginners,” In the Garden. ‘ ■ Acid Soils and Crop Productions. (pertain crops give better results upon acid than upon neutral or alkaline soils. Soils containing a moderate degree of acidity produce potatoes of better qualityandless subject to scab than those grown on acid-free soils, says an Oregon bulletin. Cranberries seem to thrive best upon acid soil. The author has made tests in a field of very rank growing dent corn, standing some eight to ten feet in height, and the soil was found to be distinctly acid. Some tests have been made in rank growing clover fields, and in some cases a certain degree of acidity has been found! Notwitstanding these facts the general rule seems to be, according to many experiments, that most of the agricultural plants do best upon soils which contain little or no acid. The most effective means of overcoming soil acidity Is by/ using quick or stone lime freshly slaked, or wood ashes. Contrary to a popular belief, gypsum or land plaster does not possessthe power of neutralizing or destroying soil acidity to any appreciable In many parts of Western Oregon the present- high price of lime makes Its use prohibitive for agricultural purposes. We believe that if there is a demand for it, a cheap grade of lime will be prepared suitable for agricultural purposes. Organic Plant Food*. Plant foods exist in the soil In soluble condition as well as in the form of inert mineral matter. Plants, to accomplish their life, to arrive to the state of being organic, have absolute need of that which is the result of the decomposition of other vegetable or animal organic matter spread upon the surface of the -earth. Some plants are largely beneficial, as there are plants which, although Imparting to the soil a part of their nourishment, by the means of their roots left In the ground, appropriate to themselves also a great quantity of atmospheric matter by means of their leaves, such'as carbons, and have, besides this great advantage, that even when they"are carried out of the field they leave more organic matter than they have consumed for their growth. It is largely owing to this admirable property of certain plants to produce more organic matter than they absorb from the earth that it Is possible to maintain the fertility of a piece of ground in rendering to it only a part of that which It has produced. It plants were nourished only by the humus spread upon the earth farmers would be compelled to replace the production which can not be converted Into manure by a proportionate quantity of vegetables cultivated in another piece of land, and if the strength of the vegetation should diminish even little by little, the money used for the cultivation of the soil would eventually be lost. Fortunately for the farmer, he can increase the quantity of plant food in his soil by growing crops to be plowed under, or by adding barnyard manure and fertilizer, the advantages thus afforded being within the reach of all.

Increase in Farm Values. Farm values from 1900 to 1905 have advanced more than one-third, and the department of agriculture has been Investigating the reasons for the advance. Turning to the reports from agents in Ohio, It is Interesting to note how local conditions affected the situation. Thus Ashland county attributes the advance to more careful methods and more liberal use of fertilizers. Brown county says It’s general prosperity, new electric lines and good crops. Clermont county attributes it to new electric roads. So does Columbia. In Cuyahoga county It’s the close proximity of Cleveland as a market. Schools, Improvements In roads, railroads, electric lines and telephone lines helped Delaware. In Fulton county the erection of large milk-condensing plants In Delta and Wauseon made farm lands more valuable. In Greene county, according to the reports, the credit is due to the efforts of the farmers to Increase the fertility of the soil and to the building and Improvement of farm structures. Improvement of fences and buildings and good draining aided Hardin. Jefferson says It’s due to the springing up of large mining towns and the subsequent demand for farm products. In Licking It’s general Improvements and electric roads. Lorain Is prosperous because the demand for farm products from the cities of Lorain and Elyria Is steadily Increasing. Better farming and the use of cow peas and clover Improved conditions In Meigs. In Putnam the causes of the Increase are found In the construction of 16 miles of stone road, better tile drainage, and other permanent Improvements. Richland believes It’s because of the Improvement In care and cultivation. Trumbull land Is more valua-, ble because white oak timber has gone up in price. In Tuscarawas, th® report says, land Is bought more freely as a safe form of investment. Warren county corroborates that statement And In Washington county farms have gone up In many Instances from $125 to S2OO per acre because of the more extensive cultivation of the tomato.