Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 69, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 May 1907 — FARM GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM GARDEN

Keep a Cow Dairy. It should be the business of every dairyman to keep a record of every Item of interest about his cows. He should know the date of their going dry and coming fresh; when they were turned to pasture, and when put upon dry feed-TThe trusts to his memory he will be sure to be uncertain and Inaccurate. To Sharpen a Disk Harrow. First get a crank fifteen to twentyinch stroke that will fit solid on the end of the disc journal or axle. Then take off seat and lever and turn' disc tipside down. Blosk up so the crany win easily turn It, and with two hammers, one heavier than the other, straighten out all kinks around edges of discs. Then while one man turns disc slowly with the crank, have another man hold a good flat file, or a piece of grindstone against the inner or convex edge of each disc, one at a time of course. The file and the man at the crank does the work.—X. S. French. I . Selection of Tomato Ground. For early market tomatoes hillsides Tbanked on the north by woods and gently sloping to the southward will give the best results, says a Maryland bulletin, hut for the general crop for canning purposes the location 4s not Important, provided the soil is well drained. It is well, however, to avoid low pockets of land where the air drainage is poor and Into which, if the nights happen to be cool and moist, the dampness will settle* forming heavy dews, a condition not only liable to induce leaf diseases, but also to prove detrimental to the ripening and dissemination of pollen. A full crop of fruit Is absolutely dependent upon a good set and if the air could be dry at all times It would go a long way towards insuring pollenization, the desired end.

Small Scale Dairyings. A New Jersey dairyman who buys all his feed and pasturage says that there is money in cows because he is taking it out of the business every year: He is an elderly man who keeps six or seven cows on a quarter of ah acre city lot. During 1905 his expenses were: Bran and other grain, $153.90; hay, $107.60; pasturage, $35; total, $356.50. His receipts were: Milk, $1,051.50 ; manure, $35 ; calves, sls; total, $1,101.50. Cash balance in profits, $745. He gets $1.25 per load for manure and sells milk at 8 cents to 10 cents per quart. Frou May to November he pastures his cows in a pasture near to his home. All milk he delivers by hand. He knows that none but good cows can be kept where feed Is so high and all of it has to be purchased. He practices the very best methods that majte for cleanliness and sanitation, and the demand for the milk far exceeds the amount he gets. .Peach Growing In Texas. Relative to the cropping of young peach orchards the author of a Texas bulletin states that the results of two years’ tests at the station Indicate the following rotation as best: An early maturing crop that will come off the land about June 1, followed by cowpeas, peanuts, sweet potatoes, or some crop that will mature late in the summer. After the first crop is taken off the soil is thoroughly broken and pulverized, and the soil on each side of the trees kept stirred until about September 1. “The advantage of planting such crops as Irish potatoes, tomatoes, etc., is that the soil Is well fertilized, having more plant food added than Is removed by the crop. Then, again, these crops come off early, so that the soil can be gotten in fine condition before the second crop is put on. By this method the soil is kept stirred throughout the summer and the trees are kept going until September.”

Nttro Culture and Inoculation. Two aeries of pot cultures carried out during the winter and spring of 1904-0 and the fall of 1905 are reported In a Texas bulletin. “In the first series the object was to determine whether nodules will appear on the roots of alfalfa when this plant Is grown in such soils where none had ever before been cultivated, but which produced a fine growth of bur clover (Medlcago dentlculata), and, further, whether the nodules already present on the roots of bur clover could be carried over to alfalfa when grown In soil that had previously been sterilized; In •ahort, whether artificial Inocculatlon of alfalfa with the germs from bur clover Is feasible. In the second series the •question was to determine the value, if an#; of the so-called nltro-culture and other like ‘cultures.’ ” ▲ variety of soils was used In the first series, and the method of procedure was much the same In the two aeries of experiments. The first series

showed In brief that alfalfa will become infected with the tubercle-form-ing organism (a) when grown in soil which has produced a crop of bur clover, (b) after being watered with a solution of such soil, and (c) by means of an infusion of the root nodules of bur clover.' The results of the second series of experiments indicate that inoculation with nitro-culture is of doubtful value “since only a small proportion of the plants treated developed tubercles, and these were In no observable degree benefited by their presence. In no case of artificial Inoculation were the number and vigor of the tubercles so great as ht that occurring by natural means. "/ " ’ Condition of Yov f Seed Cora. The time is at hand when each farmer should look well to the condition of his seed corn before the rush of spring work begins. A few hours spent now In testing the germination of Individual seed ears may mean the prevention of the loss of many dollars and much time, says a press bulletin of the Ohio Experiment Station. Testing a sample of bulk seed after shelling and mixing is of little value, for one Is then powerless to Improve the quality of his seed by, the rejection of the ears of low germination. He simply has to discard all or none, and generally does the latter. By testing each ear in such a way that one knows exactly how each ear behaves, the worthless ears can be rejected and the quality of the seed greatly improved. While the germination test is not a substitute for the ear-row corn test, since ears which show equally good germination frequently vary- widely In their ability to yield, yet it is of great value in that it will weed out ears more or less injured" as a result either of too late gathering of seed, or of lack of proper care in drying out, or both, and this will pay any corn grower many times over for the labor Involved.

The experiment station does not believe In doing for the farmer what he can do for himself as well, or perhaps better, and hence It does not contemplate making an individual ear germination test for him, but will be glad to send full instructions for making the germination box and test, to such as apply. In addition to this, the station would like to study, both in the germination box and in the field, as many samples as possible of the seed corn that Is to be planted in Ohio this spring. To all who care to assist in this matter full instructions for sampling and shipping seed samples will be sent Inaccurate Seed Testing. It is not at all certain that seed when sown in the open field will show the same amount of digestibility as when sown in seed testing boxes or between plates in the house and under kleal conditions of warmth and moisture. A great many experiments have been made to show what the germinating power of various seeds Is, and it has been figured out that the results would be the same In the field as In the seed testers. It is interesting, therefore, to note that a comparison of results do not show the same percentage of seed germinating under the two conditions.

In some comparative tests reported 31 samples of seed of oats and wheat were tested In regular seed testers. The lowest germination was 49 per cent, and the highest 99 per cent A like number of samples of the same seed were planted in the open ground at the same time, the samples being the same grain as those planted in the testers. One of the oat samples that had shown a germination of 94 per cent when planted In the tester gave only 54 per cent of germination when planted in the open field. Another lot gave in the tester a germination of 81 per cent, yet when sown In the open field It gave only 13 per cent This was a most remarkable decline.

One of the samples of wheat seed gave 03 per cent of germination when sown in the seed tester, but when sown in the field gave only 8 per cent of germination. The poorest Baraple for field work gave 02 per cent of germination when sown In the seed tester, but in the field gave only 4 per cent of germination. This illustrates the fact that something besides germination tests need be looked for when figuring on what seed will do. Conditions In the field are much harder than in a germinating plate. An Investigation of this seed showed that it had been produced under bad conditions and probably lacked vitality. It had been Injuriously affected by early fall frosts. Most of It had enough vitality to enable it to sprout under the perfectly favorable conditions found In a sprouting tray, but had not enough vitality to enable It to sprout when burled In the ground where the moisture supply would be too great or too little, the temperature too high or too low, and where the air would not have free access to the grain. The germination tests may still be considered valuable, says Farmers* Review, but they are by no means conclusive, so long as they are conducted under ideal conditions. It Is only rare that conditions In the open ground are ideal for the germination of seed.