Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1913)
' .-wHiwmr fe T i h it f IS B v vx t.i , c hi". K: & in , p" I 28 The Commoner Very much money in buildings and equipment at the start, but it pays to keep the farm and equipment in attractive appearance. Those who start in the business slowly and thoughtfully are usually the ones who succeed best in the ond. Tno man who buys a few choice grades and a pure-bred sire and gradually learns to creep before he walks is more likely to succeed in the dairy business than the man who has neither time nor patience to study the breeding problems while working with a few animals. Tho beginner, no mattor how well posted in other linos, will need to go slow at first in order to learn all the tricks of breed ing and feeding dairy cattlo. hut. ho can rest assured that ho will receive good profits for all his time and study. CORN-EAR WORM EASY TO CONTROL Several troublesome Insects of field and garden happen to bo in such lo cation in tho late fall that wo can reach thorn by stirring tho soil. One or two of thorn can bo fought in al most no other way. Tho pest that hits the mark most closely is the corn ear worm which has caused much damage in different sections ?. tho, country tn9 Past summer. When infesting corn it eats its way along within the husk, devouring the young and tender kernels and silk. As it works its way down into the ground the worm fills the hole be hind it with soil. But once at a depth of 3 or 4 inchnn ft tnma ,i makes a short open gallery, part way to the surface Then it retires to the bottom of this and remains until it becomes a moth which does not come out again until next spring. Now if you send a plow through thn nA i late fall you will accomplish very good results. This buries the pupa , , ile moth beneath solid earth, which later is compacted by winter and spring rains. The moths are thus effectually imprisoned, and never reach the surface to lay eggs and start the life round once more. Weather conditions or demands of crop rotation may make fall plowing out of the question, but if it can be done, there is much to bo gained. CROP ROTATION AND FERTILIZATION ously tho recovery of fertiliser ap plied is never in excess of CO per cent. Nitrogen seems to be fho first ele ment exhausted in continuous grain culture. Grains growing in rotation with clover recover tho nitrogen ap plied and a part of that stored up oy tho clover. The conclusion is reached that at the nresent nriccs for grain and fertilizers the use of com mercial fertilizers, and even barn yard manure, if valued on the same basis, is not profitable on wheat, oats and coin, except when those crops are grown in systematic rotation with clover or some other nitrogen collecting crop. The poorer the soil tho smaller the probability of profit able crops by the use of artificial fertilizers. Any scheme of rar.nt.fnn should have tho growing of at least one leguminous crop in its plan. By this means largo gains of nitrogen may be made from the air. Potash and phosphoric acid, unlpsn nimnrtv in the soil, must be supplied by com mercial fei ilizers. In case of very poor soils it is not advisable to re move tho CrODS. unlfiSS tho Tnnrmr is returned, until a fair state of fer tility has been reached. Stock rais ing, dairying, and poultry raising are profitable lines of agriculture to carry on in a scheme for improving the fertility of poor soils. ten acres of hill land that with Its 30 per cent slope had been washed of its fertility until it had yielded on an average of 12 V6 bushels per acre in 1906, produced 1,100 bushels of corn under his improved methods of farming. CHEESE MAKING FROM BUTTERMILK ihe Ohio experiment station has made a study of the application of fertilizers to rotative cropplngs. Their experiments indicate that with crops grown continuously the cost of fertilizer has been greater than tho value of the crop produced. Where grains have been grown in rotation with clover, the cost of fertilizer has been recovored, with a margin to spare. In growing cereals continu- IIOW TO RAISE CORN A Jackson county, Ohio, farmer, who has been unusually successful In his excellent yields of corn, prac tices a system of tillage and cultiva tion for which he gives the Ohio ex periment station full p.rpriit w i now using a rotation of corn, rye and clover, cutting the rye for hay. He thinks there is no crop like red clover for a soil builder, a feed for dairy cows, a hog pasture, and for making a sod for the next corn crop. He plows his clover sod twelve inches deep, paying little attention to the amount of yellow clay subsoil that Is turned up in the process. This is because he does not believe in turn ing a wide furrow though it takes much longer to plow a given area. The sod is edged, and in the thor ough preparation which he gives the plowed land with a disk harrow and. a drag the humus and organic mat ter are well mixed with the subsoil making an excellent seed-bed. He believes in winter plowing. In culti vation of the corn he uses a disk har row for the first two times. Tho ma chine is made with the two sets of disks a foot apart, permitting its use like a two-horse cultivator. The next three workings are with a spike tooth cultivator, wlillo tho io m.i is done with a cultivator having six shovels set by the use of a wheel to a depth of two inches. In this way the cowpeas which he always plants In the corn can be sown. In 1912, r " THE HOT SPRINGS OF ARKANSAS M havo become worm famous as mysterious Uealth-glvine waters, NATURE'S GREATEST SANITARIUM mankind. No onocannm.nl tntlonrlvolil nlf of tho S Jlilcnat wnters known to womiornil tonlniMip Hint comes imm ncouTo-tWbS inihtonccs of tho mountain ozono anil woodland lnndscnpo col,plod wlth tno rehabilitating BHST I113ACIIKD MY THE MISSOURI-PACIFIC-IRON MOUNTAIN Luxurious hotds. inedIuniMriced hotels nml IiiBh'Class boarding houses olTcr'every modern convenience. Let us 'tell you more about It and plan your trip. Address, J. G. Hollenbeck, GENERAL PAS'ENOER AGENT ST. LOUIS, MO. BOB In a recent bulletin of the Wiscon sin station, J. L. Samuels calls atten tion to the unnecessary waste of buttermilk, and describes for the first time a method by which cheese can be made from pure buttermilk, which has about the came value, pound for pound, as lean beefsteak, which sells at twice the price. The cheese can be eaten alone like cottage cheese, or it can be seasoned with salt, pep per and paprika or mixed with chopped pickles, olives and nuts. It can also be used in salads. On ac count of its smooth texture it can be spread like butter. Bakers prefer buttermilk cheese on account of its smooth texture for the same pur POE i for which they formerly used cottage cheese. Because buttermilk can not be made into cheese by the same methods used in making cot tage cheese, the utilization of pure buttermilk for cheese making has un til recently been regarded as impos sible. Mixtures of skimmilk and but termilk are much easier to handle for making cheese than pure buttermilk, but the practical objection tn tho nco of such a mixture is that every year fewer creameries have any skimmilk, the separating being done on the farm. MIXING SLED FOR CONCRETE An Ohio farmer uses a mixing box and hoes for making concrete mix ture in preference to the platform and shovels. He devised a mixing box on runners to move the concrete (one horse) to the forms. Having a retaining wall to build, he had two piles of gravel conveniently dumped, located a cement shanty in line, and' used the mixing box on runners to move the concrete. He used a bot tomless measuring box at. th e-rnvni piles (run of pit) ; this box being de signed for a "one-bag mixture." The bag of cement was thrown on the gravel as the sled passed the cement shanty, and water was added from barrels on sled near the point of work. This farmer found that on account of the easy mixing plans the Job of concreting was the easiest he had ever done. By the use of the mixing sled and horse to move con crete, and by using one or two-hag mixture and bottomless measuring box, the farmer and his help also found that they could mix concrete and get it into the trench more cheaply than gangs with a cement mixer and wheelbarrows. VALUE OF TOADS The common garden toad has a definite value among European farm ers and gardeners, and is rapidly coming into his own in this country In a bulletin recently issued by the Nebraska experiment station, tho full measure of his worth is ex plained. It says: "Superstition and tradition have invested the toad with repulsive and venomous qualities. As a matter of fact, B. F. Swingle, a noted authority, declared the com mon toad has a cash value of $10 to h m;nw,U a rden. Examina tion of the stomachs of 149 toads proved that 98 per cent of their food S0if nQ fl0Wln& aracter: Bugs, beetles, spiders, potato bugs thousand-legged worms, weevils tent caterpillars and grasshoppers These were eaten by thoSsnnds Wire worms, army worms, crickets, cucun her bugs and rose bugs were relished VOL. Idjxo just as well. In one atoning ty-seven thousand-leggSl TGn' were found. One toad in cintKff" WIRE CUTS Farm animals are always mnr less liahlo tn in. 7!vays .mre or anfl it is l.nrtantX in tention to all such Injuries Wht the wound la severe it wili VZ employ a veterinarian to dross th wound. Where the service! f e good veterinarian can not ,e 0 whtUrL-aS germs, parasites, meddling with the wound on the part of the man or animal itself. The first thing o do is to stop the hemorrage. This can be accomplished hv h , "., a. clean, white muslin, applied either over or above the wound. A thread may be used under the artery hv using a needle, and tied. Do not use flour, dirt, cobwebs or anything of that sort on the wound. They are unnecessary and may produce a serious infection of the wound. Hav ing checked the bleeding, remove the clots of blood and cut off the ragged edges of tissue with clean shears A pan of antiseptic solution should be provided, and one of the best anti septics on the farm is creolin. Add a teaspoonful of this to a pint of water that has been boiled and use u on tne wound two or three times a day. Place the knife, shears, etc., in this solution, and wash the hands before beginning to dress the wound. See that there is good drainage for the wound and do not tie up with covering of any kind. In about a week it may be well to change to dry dressing. It will be well to get in communication with a good veteri narian and get his advice in the case from this time on. It is better not to sew up ragged cuts. Remember the principal thing is to get tho wound healthy at.the start and then it will heal up with very little interference. ASPARAGUS CULTURH The appiication of a heavy coating of stable manure in tho fall is the practice of a good many asparagus growers, while others allow the tops to stand to hold the snow through the winter and put the manure or fertilizer on in the. spring. Either method will give good results, but the bed covered with manure in the fall will start a little earlier in the spring than the one exposed to heavy freezing. In the spring the bed is cleared of tops, weeds and other matter and made fine and mellow with the spading fork or harrow. Most growers ridge the soil over the crown. of the plants to enable them to cut shoots as they appear above the ground without Injury to tie crown,- but this is not necessary as the part of the shoot below the sur face is hard and woody, and nothing is gained by cutting low. STORING VEGETABLES Onions should be stored in a 'oft for best results. If stored in a cel lar they will sprout to their injury. A few parsnips intended for winter use may be stored in saud in the cellar, bu It is best to leave most of them outdoors for later use, as freez ing will sweeten them. Store po tatoes in bins one foot or eighteen Inches deep, raised somewhat from the floor. They will be likely to rot if they are bruised by rough hand ling. Freezing will not hurt salsify and horseradish, and the main lot may be left out where grown. A few should be dug and put in earth jf