Sharp County record., 1878-03-08
FARM TOPICS.
Uses OF Straw .

md out their folly in ignoring straw as
something OF great value in farming
DO not think | place 700 great o value
on straw it can hardly be done.
speak from a lifelong experience reach
ing over half century. From my ear
lest recollection in the old country,
where began my agricultural career,
l have witnessed the usefulness of straw
as feed, and, where of inferior quality,
as a litter and absorbent. It is q uni
versal mistake to let grain get too ripe
before cutting, iniuring the grain as well
as straw. Wheat, rye and barley, pro-
duce a much ripper and more elastic
flour if cut when the majority of the
grain is just tout of the dough-" 1t has
been 50 often tested by miIlers that this
assertion can not be questioned. In
addition the straw retains at least 80
per cent. more nourishment and be-
comes a valuable article Of food. Oats
should never be allowed to stand longer
than until half the straw turns yellow.
A part Of the grain will necessarily be
unfit for seed, but they are valuable for
feed, and the straw will be equal to me-
dunn hay | have used such straw for
feed in my dairies ever since started
farming, mostly cut from 2 to inches
in length, and mixed with shorts, meal,
oats and barley, ground and moistened
with water in which oil-cake had been
dissolved. have thus obtained the most
satisfactory results.
The feeding of straw, such as is gen
orally produced, from the stack, is very
poor economy. The cattle are exposed
to cold and wet while feeding, and will
destroy more than they eat, and the
quality of the food thus given will hard
ly keep a COW from starving. Many Of
our farmers are content to use their
straw as absorbents in their yards and
stables, but let me assure them that they
do not derive One-fourth OF the benefit
from their straw compared with feeding
it. The animal is the best manure man
ipulatOr, and nothing grown on the farm
should be returned to the land without
having first passed through the cattle.
BY utilizing straw in this manner, the
great problem of producing sufficient
manure will be solved. More stock can
be fed the more stock the more manure,
and the more manure the better crops
and more improved lands. In fact, sue
cess in farming hinges on a sufficient
supply of manure, judiciously applied.
Therefore, the question how to produce
the most and best manure, ought to be
uppermost in every intelligent farmers
thoughts. Until the farmer comes to
this conviction, and until he (after hay
ing been convinced of this fact) strains
all his energy and avails himself of all
the changes that present themselves in
this direction, until then farming will
remain to him uphill work.
Ihave also lately read several articles
on wheat culture, and among others the
extracts from the report of the Com
missioner of Agriculture for the State
of Tennessee. The average production
is given as from to bushels per acre,
with exceptional yields of as high as 40
bushels Does this not give material
for serious thoughts? Although we will
presume that many may have sown
wheat on soil not properly adapted to
wheat, there can be no doubt that these
low averages have largely been pro-
duced on soil which naturally is wheat
soil. If this supposition is correct,
wherein lies the faultp | have no hesi-
tation in saying that those fields (the
majority of them) have been cropped
with wheat year after year fof genera
tions, without receiving the proper
amount of manure, and that the straw
has been stacked and burned in the
field to get rid of it. My reason for be-
lieving this to have been the fact in
Tennessee is because | have seen that
practice indulged in year after year in
other States. In those States thirty
years ago, wheat would average Arom
20 to 30 bushels per acre, altho8 III She
preparation of the ground was |greatly
deficient.
To illustrate this, I will mgftion that
| have seen wheat sowad ftom horse
back, because the weeds rgere so thick
and high that a man 4 loot could not
have distributed the Eeedy at all After
threshing, the stfa@ ivas burned, and a
new crop of whea, sowed. SO they have
gone on ever since then, until the same
soil to-day will not return enough to
pay for seed and labor. That is the
reason why our wheat lands in general
do not produce more than from > TO 10
bushels per acre, where they otherwise,
if manured properly and rotated, would
have increased in yield.
| know OF a grain-growing country in
Europe where forty years ago the aver
age yield Of wheat was not above II
bushels per acre, and to-day, according
to published statistics, the average yield
is 80 bushels per acre. High culture,
judicious manuring and proper rotation
have worked this result. Why not fol-
:.