Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1880-05-13
PRACTICAL FARM NOTES,

LII
advance of work, and have his plans well
laid.
Tue farmers of Mercer county, KY,
are planting sorghum for fodder. It is
said to make excellent feed for mules and
cattle when green.
In Minnesota experience has demon
strated that the best soil on which tc
plant amber cane is sandy loan, well
fortified and drained.
The best herds of dairy COWS in this
country yield from 600 to 800 pounds Of
cheese per COW. Few of these are thor.
oughbreds, but are selected from the
best grades of the various breeds.
LIGHT pruning of trees can be safely
done at any time of the year, except
when the sap flows. But heavy pruning
should only be done when the tree is
making it's most rapid growth, or when
the leaves fall.
HE Ingalls, COW, a native, with long
horns and large belly, when she run to
pasture and had two quarts of meal per
day, gave the first week 10 pounds, the
second week 20, and the third week 81
pounds Of butter.
AS trees invariably lose some of their
roots when taken up from the nursery,
it is necessary to cut back the branches
at the time of planting, that a proper
balance shall exist between the stem and
the roots of the tree.
In putting out orchards recollect that
peaty or mucky and damp soils, or cold
and spongy places, are wholly unfit for
fruit orchards. In rolling grounds, if
the swales are the least wet at any season
Of the year, it is useless to set out trees
in them.
A FEW hours and sometimes days
might, at this season of the year, be
proitably spent in looking over the
tools and machines, and putting them in
repair. A bolt will be found Wanting in
one place, and q nut in another. These
can be attended to now, saving much
trouble when work presses.
CULTvAroRs differ in their opinions
about the necessity for mulching newly
set trees; the practice is nevertheless &C.
companied with excellent results; it pre-
vents the moisture Of the ground from
evaporating and maintains a uniformity
OF heat and moisture conducive to the
formation of new roots.
The heifer calves from the best COWS
in the diary should bekept and well taken
care of. This is the main point. A good
animal may be spoiled in the raising. A
good calf may be raised on skim milk;
in fact, full milk is not desirable for a
stock calf. We want bone, muscle, and
a good, well-built frame, not fat nor
rounded, and we'll filed shanks.
STRANGE as it may seem, the sweet DO
tato is very little known or used in Ell g-
land. In recent number of the Garden.
a correspondent says that he amused
himself on recent cold day by roasting
some sweet potatoes obtained in Covent
garden, and found them very good, Civ
ing them something between sweet
meat and vegetable. He thinks it
would be boon if they were sent to
England in such quantities as would al
low of their being used as food.
THERE are localities where it may pay
to grow small crops cheaply-where one
may skin the land for few years
and leave it, just as in some places
cattle have been killed for their hides.
leaving their carcasses to decay-but
farmers can not afford to adopt this style
OF farming. The aim with them should
be to grow larger crops by the expendi-
ture of more labor upon the land, and
upon doing this depends their future
prosperity.
LET us look for a moment into the
details of growing, say half an acre of
currants, and note what the result is
likely to be. A piece of land fitted to
produce good crop Of potatoes is in
good condition to set to currants. To
set them four by five feet will re-
quire 1900 bushes, and they should
cost about SIS per 100, Or $50. During
the first season potatoes may be planted
between the rows and between the bushes,
without materially injuring the growth
of the bushes or the yield Of the potatoes.
During the second year, beans may be
planted between the rows, which, with
what fruit is obtained, should pay the
original $50. And the third year should
produce II pounds to the bushel, which
at cents per pound, would amount to
$1O8. After the bush had attained its
growth, with good culture, fair average
yield would be about three pounds to
the bush, which, at cents per pound,
would amount to $216. Theexpense for
labor and manure annually would not
vary materially from that required on
half an acre Of potatoes after they were
planted.
A PRACTICAL farmer says: To know
how to make the most and best manure
out of the material you have on the farm
is an important problem. I have a
small barnyard protected on the north
and west by barns and sheds; the center
OF this yard is scooped out and made
basin-shaped, so as to retain all of the
liquid manure possible, and 1 think that
very little escapes. In the center of the
yard I build my straw stack. keep
the entire surface Of the yard well bedded
with straw and cornstalks all the time,
in winter. have no trouble about get
ting all of the straw and cornstalks rot
ted in time to haul out manure in the
fall. I raise each year about twenty
acres Of wheat and the same amount Of
corn, and work all Of the straw and corn
stalks into the barnyard. I use all the
straw that I can in the stables as an alb
sorbent of the liquid manure. I feel
gratitied to see my manure pile increas-
ing in size each year. I mostly use ma
nure in the way of top-dressing to
grass lands in the fall. I put twenty
five two-horse loads to the acre. Bv
this method Of making and handling
manure, I succeed in raising paying
crops. I use no commercial fertilizers
Of any kind, and am satisfied that my
farm is increasing in productive value
every year.
COMPARATIVELY few farmers raise
Hungarian grass, though it is very pro-
ductive and excellent for most kinds of
stock, if fed in the proper manner. The
time between sowing and harvesting is
shorter than for any field crop raised on
farms. It is useless in this latitude to
SOW it early in the season. To produce
good crop the entire growth of the
plant must take place during very warm
weather. IF sown at the same time oats
are, the plants will make very slow
growth, and will remain stunted during
the entire season. The trouble some
farmers have experienced with Hunga-
RAN hav has arisen mainly from allowing