Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 January 1908 — FARM AND GARSEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARSEN

Sheep when crowded Into dark, poorly ventilated stables will not thrive. Grade up your herd by getting a pure \bred sire. and using the tester and scales. Keep the horse under as even conditions as possible. He Is a sensitive creature and feels weather changes. Keep the horse stable as clean and dry as possible, and don’t forget that sunlight is tonic which the horse needs. Every farmer must be an experimenter to a limited extent If he would make the success of farming which It is his privilege to do. Get rid of the idea that one cow Is as good as another. Only the test can prove what each cow is doing. Keep a record and weed out the unprofitable cows. How does your neighbor do the thing which bothers and perplexes you? Ever take time to study other people’s methods and find that you could Improve on your own? If not, you have something to learn. •The time to begin development of the dairy cow is several generations before she is born. But if you cannot do that, you ean at least treat- the heifer calf right and make her all that is possible. Always fepyak to farm animals when working around them. Children should, be taught to do this, especially, as it is one of the greatest precautions against accidental injuries. Of course too much talking can be done, In which case it loses its force with the beast. The irrigation of land dates back to the time of Egypt, yet to hear some people talk about Irrigation in the West one would think it an entirely new thing. Nevertheless it’s no goldbrick scheme, but a business proposition that calls for a little careful thought. The following points should be kept In mind when sorting apples for storage: (1) Only the better grades should be stored. (2) They should be stored as soon as possible after picking. (3) Only “hard ripe” fruit will keep well in cold storage. (4) A uniform temperature of 31 to 32 degrees F?ls best. (5) They should be-ptrt on the market as soon as they reach their highest maturity •or before. A midwinter variety is best marketed in midwinter. (0) Apples with-color do not, as a rule, rfcald as readily as other kinds. The Mammoth Black Twig is an. Important exception. (7) The quality of the fruit Is maintained better in storage when the fruit is wrapped.

Soy Beans and Cow Peas. The complaint Is sometimes made that the soy bean does not enrich the soil to the same extent as does the culture of the cowpea. Judging from the chemical composition of the two crops, says a bulletin by the Indiana Station, it seems possible that when both crops are removed from the soil the soy bean carries away a greater quantity of fertility because the grain is so much richer in nitrogen than the grain of the cowpea. If, however, both crops are used for green manuring, z their chemical composition cannot produce a wide difference In soil improvement. The higher nitrogen content of the soy bean seed is offset by heavier yields of green material in case of the cowpea. Feedin* Cattle with Ho**. Feeding steers profitably without hogs following the cattle on the average farm In the corn belt depends upon various conditions. All of us know that hogs are a large source of profit in beef-making and that they naturally go with cattle when fed on corn, and especially so where the cattle are 2 years old and over and are fed shelled or ear corn. In feeding steers 2 years old and over without hogs the waste could be materially reduced.by grinding the corn, and I have known of several lots of cattle fed in this way without hogs that made money, but they were good, well-bred steers, well bought, well handled and went on a fair market, and were well sold. Yoqug steers under 18 months old -will carry along fewer hogs than older cattle even if fed" shelled corn, therefore the waste would be much leas lu feeding young cattle without hogs. From my experience and observation. if I fed cattle without hogs I would fSed young cattle, fattening ahd marketing them, to weigh from 800 to DCO (rounds, and I would grind the corn fed to them after they reached BSO pounds. Of course there would be considerable waste In this case, as one shote to four head of these cattle could be carried along nicely, especially when these young ht>gw rnn on grass with the cattle.—C. B. Smith. Th® Wonntn* Colt. Weaning time Is a very critical period of the colt’s Ufa. If the coit !• Mt back at thia time It wIU mean a loss

of size that will never be made up. If properly handled, however, there need be no sacrifice. In the first place the colt Should be eating grain long, before It is weaned and the more it can be persuaded to eat the better. We never fear overfeeding of colts up to the age of eight or ten months. While sucking the dam the amonnt of grain it will eat will be very small, yet the returns from this feed are very good. Oats are of course the best feed for colts and if there is any kind of stock on the farm that it will pay to feed high-priced oats to this winter it will be the young colt and the amount of feed they will eat will be very small compared with the benefits accrued. When changing to dry feed the colt is very often troubled with constipation. Occasional feeds of dry bran or bran mash will be very Ueneficlal in relieving this condition. Wean the colt gradually, don’t chop off its milk ration all at once. We have always tried to let the dams do the weaning themselves, allowing the dam and colt to run together in the pasture, making things as easy for the brood mare as possible. When cold nights come put both of them up In the barn. Have a strong halter and rope ready for the colt. Then when winter comes the colt will be broken to stand well in the stable and if it has become gradually used to depend on dry feed it will be weaned and halter broken without ever having caused any great trouble or without having damaged its growth in the least.

Cotton Seed. From what a half century ago were worse than rubbish heaps, more than a million dollars a week now come. The story of this “find” reads like a romance. Before the war the disposal of cotton seed gave | the glnuers great concern. It was usually hauled away somewhere to rot, or dumped into a neighboring stream, where it soon became a nuisance. The old laws of Mississippi and other States provided severe penalties for ginners who did not dispose of it lu such a way that it would not be a menace to public health. To-day the uses of cotton seed are so numerous that the census office has published diagram showing the courses which the four parts of each little seed may take. These are classified as “waste,” “linters,” “hulls” and “meats.” The waste is still waste, even thotigh that characterization of anything now leads a fugitive existence. The linters--are used in cotton batting. The hulls may go in three directions—into fuel, the ashes of which are used as a fertilizer, although this is now regarded as too wasteful; Into fiber, of which paper is made; or, combined with cottonseed meal, into an excellent food for cattle. But the kernels serve the most varied uses. Besides making enke and mealfor cattle, they are readily convertible into a crude oil, from which, according to mixtures and processes, it may emerge as oil for miners’ lamps, “compound lard” and cottolene, “butter and salad oils,” “winter yellow oil" and soap. The Invasion of other industries by these cottonseed products would of Itself make a long story. The olive orchards of Southern France have suffered much.

Advantage of Underdrains**. In Farmers’ Bulletin No.-187, United States Department of Agriculture, C. G. Elliott gives an interesting resume of the advantages of removing water downward through the soil instead of allowing it to run off over the surface. They may be briefly stated as follows : The surface soil Is retained entire Instead of the finest and most fertile parts being carried off with every considerable rainfall. Any plant food in manure or other fertilizer deposited upon the soil is carried Into It with the water as It percolates downward from the surface, and so becomes thoroughly incorporated with the soil. Rainwater as It passes through the soli serves a''most useful purpose by dissolving and preparing crude soil material for thy nutrition of plants. The soli haring been well prepared, is at all times during the growing season In readiness for the growth of plants, such growth not being hindered by stagnant water or saturation. The frost goes out earlier in the spring, so that the planting season opens one or two weeks earlier than In the case of soils affected by surface drains only. ‘ . • Where stiff days are found the soil Is made more porous, open and friable, and roots penetrate more deeply than they do into surface-drained soils. The effects of drought are diminished, as has been found by experience, opisg to the enlarged And .deepened soil bed, and to the more favorable condition of the surface for preventing excessive evaporation of moisture. . It aids in making new soil out of tbs unprepared elements, since ft a freer entrance of air and atmospheric heat, which disintegrate soil material hitherto unavailable for use of plantar Stubborn and refractory soils, when drained, are frequently so changed In texture and mechanical structure that they become easily managed and respond to with abundant crops. . '.‘..K,