| OF INTEREST TO FARMERS r i PREPARING CORN SILAGE Most fanners pretty well agree | i hat corn should be cut for the silo j when the kernels have hardened and become glazed, but while the Vaves are still green. At that time, I dent varieties will be well dented, j When possible, corn should not be allowed to ripen before converting it into silage, because its moisture content is then too low for the • Inge to pack well, and it is al most certain to mold. On the other hand, if for any reason the crop can be cut. at the most favorable period and it is too dry to pack ’horoughly. enough water should be ndiisd to fully be added to*fully make up for the amount lost in ripening. This is not difficult for those who prepared to force a stream of water to the top of the silo into the cut silage as it enters the silo from the blower. Should the crop be so dry that this process will net mix enough water with the sil age, more must be forced into it. A few farmers here and there ac tually nut shocked corn fodder into live silo after the ears have been husked out. When such dry fodder ie to be ensiled it is well to run a ton of water in for every ton of cut fodder. In making com stalk silage, great care should be used to get the water uniformly distributed I throughout the silage, and a little ixcess water is more desirable than not enough. Some men are Inclined to ensile their com too enrly — before the kernels have reached the glazed stage. This is objectionable for two main reasons. First, when corn is cut for silage in the milk stage, it contains about 25 per cent less dry matter per acre than when it is allowed to stand till the kernels have become glazed. Secondly, when the corn is cut too green, the silage has a tendency to become very sour or acid, and thus also lose in palatability. When silage corn is overtaken by frost before the glazing stage, a fairly good quality of feed may still be obtained if the com is rushed into the silo as soon thereafter ns pos sible. In that case, a considerable amount of water should be run in with the silage. - ■ .. ♦♦ — COMBATTING EROCION In some localities where a great deal of soil washing has taken place, and especially where gullies from six to fifteen or more feet in depth have been washed out, the planting of trees in these gullies is being practiced with wonderful suc cess. One county agent has a num ber of tree planting demonstra tions in his county that arc real eye-openers to those who have not seen anything of that sort. One gully that was over 15 feet deep two years ago now supports a growth of poplar trees intermixed with willows. In two years this gully, the banks of which are close to 20 feet apart and the bot tom fully 10 feet wide, has already filled in" to the extent of two feet. The trees are growing vigorously, end the open gully with its raw sides is taking on the appearance of becoming a useful part of the farm. On another farm with a still larger gully black locusts, willows and some other trees were planted three years ago. While this gully may never fill up to the level of the surrounding ground, it is cer tain that It will never grow larger, and during the next 10 or 15 years It will produce a lot of valuable fence posts and pulp-wood. The point to this tree planting in deep gullies, especially when done in con nection with terracing the surround ing land, is not the usefulness of the wood that may be grown in them, of course, but rather the stop page for all time of further dam age. Planting trees in these washed out gullies can be done at very lltle expense for seeding and labor. It is estimated that one man and a bov can plant about 600 seedlings an hour. Thus a few hours of work will put the worst gind of a gully In shape to prevent further increase in size, and actually to transform an ugly-looking place into a spot of beauty and usefulness. This sort of work should be fostered where cver there is need for it. Every farm owner in gullied sections should get busy setting out trees suited for their particular sections. Black locusts are apparently becoming very popular for that purpose. They not only grow rapidly, but they are also exceedingly well adapted to maintain themselves in ground that fills up around their trunks. PROTEIN ON PASTURE Does it pay to feed a balanced grain mixture to dairy cows on pas ture? That is a question often asked by dairymen, especially in these days of low prices. A great many would say ordinary farm grains ] will do well enough so long as grass is available In fairly liberal quan- ; titles, but is that true? The pro- 1 ducing capacity of the cow should be taken into consideration. A high producer needs a balanced grain mixture for the most satisfactory results, and so does a cow that pro duces only about 25 pounds of fat per month. Here are some actual figures on that point, collected by a member of a cow testing asso ciation. In May of this year, he fed grain mixture balanced with linseed meal, and in June he fed the same amount of grain without the use of any linseed meal. The figures show the results as told by the cows themselves. Ten of the highest toroducers averaged 42.4 pounds of fat in May and only 27.1 pounds in June. Thus, they lost 15.3 pounds, evidently due to the fact that the ration lacked protein. Ten CAREFUL CULLING PAYS If every producer of milk would Dell all his unprofitable cows, those which scarcely return enough in come to pay for the feed they con sume, it is estimated that 10 per cent of our dairy cows the country over would be sent to the butcher. That would greatly reduce the amount of dairy products on the market, and thus help to raise prices. In other words, such a cul ling process would actually increase the income from the dairy indus try. The benefit derived from close culling of the dairy herd was strik ingly demonstrated by one dairy fawner some time ago when ,^e of the lower producers yielded an average of 26 pounds of fat per . head in May and 22.5 pounds in | June. The low producers, therefore, lost only 3.5 pounds of fat due to lack of protein No figures are needed to show that the high pro- 1 ducers paic. a very good profit on the investment in linseed meal. | while the low producers even paid for the extra protein in higher yield. You can't fool a dairy cow much. She is partial to a well bal- I anced ration, and it pays to sup- * ply her with the nutrients in the proper proportions required for milk and fat secretior However, there 3s such a thing as supplying a cow with more protein than she needs, and when that is done the excess is wasted. ----— COOLING MILK It is much more difficult to re duce the temperature of the creamy layer of milk In the top of a milk can than that in the bottom, and yet it is the top layer that needs the most rapid cooling. The cooling cf a can of milk, set in a tank of water, proceeds as follows: The warmer milk in the can that is being cooled, because it is lighter rises to the top along with the fat blobules or cream For the same reason, the warmer water next to the can rises to the top. As the warmer milk rises, it picks up bac teria, so that the top layer soon contains a higher bacterial count than the lower layers. And when a can of milk at 95 degrees F. is put in water at 50 degrees, the water close to the can at once starts rising toward the top. where it tends to spread over the surface. This layer increases until in half an hour a layer two inches deep will be found to be from 10 to 15 degrees warmer than the water at the bottom. This explains why the layer of milk and cream at the top not only contains a larger pro portion of bacteria than the lower layers, but also why it is the most difficult to cool. It further explains why the occasional stirring of milk In the can. as well as water in the tank, when the can is first placed therein, brings about more rapid cooling of the milk. . -»» RANGE PARALYSIS Iowa and the surrounding states have thus far suffered less from range paralysis, a comparatively new poultry trouble, than the At lantic Coast states. However, it is with us, and flock owners can well do all they can to avoid it. In general the symptoms are as fol lows: The disease attacks young stock, from four to eight months of age most commonly. A drooping wing or a slight lameness is the first symptom. This followed by the chick “going down’’ due to paralysis of one or both legs. Chicks frequently appear perfectly healthy otherwise and If properly fed and watered may live for weeks oi months. Rarely do they recover, however. It may effect a few oi the bulk of the young flock. This disease does not appear to be di rectly transmitted from bird to bird as roup or cholera or typhoid is The disease has been most com monly found in connection with inflammation of the intestines due to chronic coccidosis or tape worms. While scientific proof oi the connection between range paralysis and one or both of these parasites is lacking, the bulk oi the investigators believe the pres ence of these parasites at least makes it easier for a fowl to get range paralysis. Hence we have an additional reason for trying to raise our chickens free of cocci diosis and worms. FEED MORE OATS With larger acreages and abun dant yields of oats in many southern states, dairy farmers are finding 11 economical to use oats in the dairj rations. A standard ration recom mended by one experiment station for farm dairy herds is 100 pound! of corn-and-cob meal, or ground shelled corn, or corn meal, or ground barley, or ground wheat; IOC pounds of ground oats; 100 pounds of ground velvet beans in the pod or wheat bran; 100 pounds of cot tonseed meal; 4 pounds of salt This ration is being changed bj many to take 2C0 pounds of ground oats, omitting the beans or bran These rations, it is found, are suit able for milking cows and service bulls, but growing heifers over sii months old and up to within 1C days of calving time could be fed a mixture composed of 300 pound! of ground oats, or shelled unground oats; 100 pounds of cottonseed meal; 4 pounds of salt. Calves under six months old still on milk may b« satisfactorily fed shelled oats as their only grain ration. FOOT ROT Healthy fee: are essential in the efficient function of dairy cattle Foot rot is an enemy of healthy feet. It destroys healthy tissue. If causes ugly, painful, obstinate, foul smelling sores. Filthy stables: low poorly-drained cow yards; and wet mucky, stagnant piaces in field! help foot rot get a foothold. If in anv manner, the skin between the toes is broken, the germs hop right in and begin making puss and pain. Begin treatment early — at the first sign of infection. Clean the foot thoroughly with snap and water. Scrap;? away all dead tissue Apply a good disinfectant. Put on a bandage Place the animal ir clean ouarters. If the Infection ha! reached the under side of the wrall of the hoof or has broken out above the hoof wall, call a veter anarian. culled 11 cows out of his herd erf ] 32 head and sent them to the but cher. As a result of this culling, he put 38,000 pounds less milk and 1.334 pounds less butterfat on the market the year after culling. Or. the other hand, the 21 cows lef: in the herd actually returned $985 more above feed cest last year than the 32 head did the year before. This story of inefficient cows Is on old one, yet, since many still continue to maintain a large num ber of that kind in our herds, it is evident that the story has not yet been told often enough — certainly uot too oftep. Place of Beauty Beyond All Words Almost every one who has seen Ite Grand canyon hns attempted to describe It, in words or in paint; all have failed and will forever fall; high falutin writing should especial ly he avoided. The Grand canyon is a national park (since 1919), through and at the bottom of which flows a river, the Colorado. Geologists tell us (and a geologist, like an astronomer, will say anything) that the action of this river in cutting its way through 100 miles of stone for mil lions of years has created a canyon, a gorge, a valley, so Immense in size and so beautiful in color ns to be unlike anything else in the world. 1 have seen it described as “a mountain chain reversed" that Is to say, if this great work of nature were to be used as n mold and a plaster cast made therein, when it was taken out and set up it would he like a chain of mountains 100 tulles long, from one to ten miles i wide, and, in places, one mile high; then all you would have to do would he to paint it in every color you could conceive of, and you would have the Grand canyon in reverse. —A. l'.dward Newton in the Atlan tic Monthly. _ It aids the happiness of any home to add a piece of new furniture every year or two. If people wouldn't part with their money, nobody could get rich. Quite a Surprise ; “Taxi, sir?" “No, l>ut thanks for the compli I went.”—Boston Transcript. Buy vour copy today! ggg HAROLD BELL WRIGHTS new book is a glorious ro mance of love and thrills in the Osarks Ask any book RJIj^'eller for Mr ■ wad Wright's best book. If he cannot supply it, tend $2.00 to Harper (is Brothers, 49 East 33rd St., New York. MercolizedWax Keeps Skin Young fJet an mines and use as directed. Fine particles of ac»