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In the. Field of Agriculture
ORGANIZING FARMERS' CLUBS
Tho agricultural extension division
of tho Minnesota university farm is
trying to havo a farmers' club organ
ized in every community. Theso
clubs aro simply local organizations
'Of n group of farmers and their
families who havo adopted a consti
tution, olectod necossary officers and
meet once a month or oftener at
nomo farm homo, school house, hall,
or other suitablo mooting place,
whoro they spend a few hours to
gether, visiting, and giving their reg
ular program. Tho work taken up
"by theso clubs usually is more di
versified than that of any other or
ganization In a community as they
aro not organized for any ono pur
pose. They must bo of advantago to
r community in throo ways, socially,
educationally and financially. Tho
loclal advantages come through their
meetings by brinKinc noonlo to
gether. Tho oducational feature of
those club mootlngs is the strongest
argument in thoir favor. They help
to dovolop latent talents in the mem
bership, and tho oxchango of ex
periences is ofton of the groatest ad
vantago in raising tho whole stand
ard of farming in a community. An
other feature of those clubs is their
ability to bring in outside talent
which will add to tho gonor,al infor
mation of tho community. Many of
those clubs invito business and pro
, fosslonal men to thoir meetings and
ask them to talk. Another good fea
turo of those clubs is tho ability to
got the concortod action of nil in n.
i community on matters which nm nt
J interest to all. Tho club meeting
. is tho placo where things of coin
: munity interest can best bo taken up
and discussed, and when definite
action is taken it is quite sure to
follow the wish of a majority of the
people and carries more weight be
cause it is known to be a wish of a
body of people. Legislation and the
action of public officials also can be
influenced by these farmers clubs.
WHAT ONE WOMAN IS DOING.
There are other farms in the north
west as large and larger, other farms
managed as well and just as scien
tifically as in Beach Place, the home
of Clark Kolley in North Dakota,
says Farm, Stock and Home. The
unique feature of this farm is that it
is a farm managed and worked by a
woman. The owner is a city busi
ness man. Fourteen years ago he
had a good investment in the shape
of a farm offered to him. The farm
was largo but not ideally beautiful,
except as to location on the shores
of a good lake. Tho land was good
and was a good investment, and
there it would havo rested if Mrs.
Kolley hadn't conceived a real love
for it and developed a desire to make
of it a homo in every sense of the
word. So sho took hold of the work
and has gradually grown into the
truo managerial office of getting
right into tho middlo of tho work
and personally supervising it, with
tho result that sho has made a
splendid success of the farm and
made it a point of interest to the
whole community. There are 800
acres in tho place, 600 in crop.
Though not in a semi-arid region dry
farming methods are practiced to a
large extent with excellent results.
Deep plowing, much dragging and
soil packing are practiced as the tex
ture and physical condition of the
soil demand. The cultivated land is
divldod Into acreage plots and each
plot has a regular rotation, using
33
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-, "What if Abraham Lincoln had rHmofnH m i .. ,.
popular today .Milwaukee Daily New M y St"dles along liues
corn as cultivated crop, timothy or
clover or mixture for two years and
two years grain. Mrs. Kelley has
specialized for the last five years in
growing a white dent corn. Mrs.
Kelley selects all her seed herself,
tests for germination and supervises
the planting and occasionally rides
the cultivator to see what is going on
in every part of the field during tho
growing season. Nearly all the grain
grown on the farm is marketed for
seed and tho screenings fed to a
bunch of cattle, hogs, horses,
chickens, geese and turkeys. Mrs.
Kelley is a thorough believer in
scientific farming, believes in the
best farm and public roads, and aims
to market produce to the best ad
vantage by having enough to ship in
car lots to the best market centers.
LESSONS FROM THE DROUTH
A member of the crop production
of the University of Illinois reports
that the results as seen in crops last
year seem to emphasize stronger than
ever the importance of good tillage.
They have shown also how important
it is in a year like the past to pre
pare good seed beds for the grain;
that the beds should be well packed,
and soil on top loose, and a mulch
on the very surface, in order that
the moisture be conserved. There
were two crops in Illinois that
seemed to have stood the drouth
especially well. Those were alfalfa
and soy beans. The averaga yield
was only a few bushels lower than
the previous year, perhaps one-fifth,
while the decrease in the yield of
oats was about one-half less than the
previous year. These facts seem to
be important ones for the farmers to
consider. It would seem advisable
that every farmer wherever possible
should have a good field of alfalfa
and a field of soy beans to meet just
such emergencies as the one that oc
curred over a greater portion of the
corn belt last year.
SPRAYING FOR SOUND FRUIT
The man who still clings to the
idea that spraying does not aid in
the production of fruit should be
convinced by the report of W L
Howard of the department of horti
culture of the University of Missouri.
By taking orchards here and there
over the state of Missouri, Prof
Howard finished a series of experi
ments that show that practically all
unsprayed fruit is ruined by diseases
or insects. In one orchard where a
part was sprayed and a part left un
sprayed, only 1.2 per cent of the
Arkansas black apples could be
classed as clean fruit after the trees
Had been left unsprayed. In the
same orchard, where the same brand
of apples had been sprayed, the crop
of clean fruit was 7G.7 per cent. An
other orchard of Missouri pippin
apples experimented with the same
XKf r?nUU?id In 21 1)er cenfc cean
fruit for the unsprayed fruit and
88.5 per cent for that which was
sprayed. a
SPRING POULTRY PLANS
It is not too early to begin plan
ning and making preparations for
raising the flock that will take the
SaCthSf iaei two-year-U hew now
Ah0 Jwtos Pens. The winter
nights afford an excellent opportunity
to study incubator literature and in
fact, every kind of printed matter re-
lating to poultry. Before you -buy an.
incubator, make a thorough study o
the different designs and types, and
when you decide on a certain kind
make yourself thoroughly familiar
with the way to get proper results
from it. If broilers aro to be raised
it is not too early to start the incu-
bators now, . but the hatching of f ,
chicks that are to become next fall's '
layers' may be delayed for a while. '
If you need eggs for filling your in-
cubator, other than those produced .
by your own flock, get in touch now
with the kind you want just when
you need them. If you are to make
up your own breeding pens for the
spring give considerable thought now
to choosing the flocks, and if you
want to introduce new blood into
your flocks look up the breeders of
the kind of. poultry you fancy early
enough to get some of their birds.
Be sure that you have enough venti
lation in the chicken houses at this
time, and be careful as possible that
there are no drafts. Open up the
coops as much as possible on sun-'
shiny days. Keep plenty of scratch
ing utter on hand, andhave it fine
enough to cause the grain to drop
cut of sight. Be sure that your ra--tions
contain enough variety, and try
Xo provide green cut bone and some
oeef scrap. Both are excellent aids
to egg production. If your hens are
not laying now, look well to the
question of proper rations, enough
exercise, cleanliness, ventilation and
freedom from drafts and dampness -in
tho house.
PLANNING FOR THE GARDEN
City people who buy their vege
tables at the stores really don't know
what quality vegetables are like. A'
few, tojrs a store will make a
vast difference in some vegetables inf
the matter of sweetness. Sweet corn :
WONDERED WHY"
Found the Answer Was "CofTee."
Many pale, sickly persons wonder
for years why they have to suffer so, .
and eventually discover that the
drug caffeinein coffee is the main -causo
of the trouble. ?
oJ13, aAways yery fond of coffee
and drank it every day. I never hrl
much flesh and often wondered wy
5FwT S 1aIe' thlu and eak.
About Ave years ago my health
completely broke down and I was
confined to my bed. My stomach was
in such condition that I could hardly
take sufficient nourishment to sustain.
"During this time I was drinking.
coJeMidnUhinkicd'S
"After awhile I came to the con
clusion that coffee was hurting me
and decided to give it up and Try
Postum When it was made right
dark nd rich-l soon became5 very
T "Jn ne week I began to feel better
I could eat more and sleep better My
sick headaches were less freJuen :
?"hIn "ve months looked S' "
enured gone" ' "
"My health continued to improve '
and today I am well and strong
weigh 148 lbs. I attribute my pref: '
SfVoSuS0 the life-givIns "" .
Name given by Postum Co., Battle
aiK pi?gr "Ti F .
ResX n2L?omeB ,n tw forms:'
boned Postln-must .be well
Instant Postum is a soihlA
powder. A teaspoonf ul dfi
quickly in a cup of hot water and
with cream and sugar, makes a da!
self bo AT -" ,
"There's a Reason" for Postum.
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