Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1889-01-26
THE AGRICULTURALIST
SOME ESSENTIAL Ell EMENTS OF
SUCCESSFUL FARMING.
Cheap Lands Not Always the Most Prof
itable-The Value of Hay Lies in
Feeding 1t to Your Own Cat
tle-Well-Kept Farms.

VI AOul' D5dG IWO VI IuI60 eggs anu
stir into the batter with little salt.
Fry as any other griddle cake.
The farmer who thinks that to make
money he must go where land is
cheaper, should consider well if he
would not make more money by max
ing the land he has deeper and richer.
The elements of the fundamental
principles of farming are: Soil, heat,
moisture, muscle and brain power.
The commingling of these five ele-
ments produce the key to successful
farming.
Pumpkins for COWS have best effect
when fed before very cold weather, for
there is less absorption of animal heat
to warm the mass-forty or fifty
poundS-that COW will take into her
stomach.
A neat and well-kept farm indi-
Gates that the owner is thrifty. The
manure heap is the most important
thing now. If the heap is sheltered
80 as to prevent loss, and so managed
that everything that can be added to
it can be decomposed, it will effect d
saving and prevent filth in the barn
yard.
We do not produce potatoes enough
for home consumption if the fact that
such products are imported are taken
into consideration. If foreigners can
ship their products 5000 miles to
reach uS, we can, with our improved
machinery on our cheaper lands, pro-
duce more than may be required in
this country.
Sheep manure contains from 80 to
9) per cent of the plant food con-
tanned in the ratiOns consumed by the
sheep. 1t is, therefore, very rich
fertilizer, as experience has shown. 1t
is especially rich in nitrogen in an
available form, and for that reason is
excellent for use as a starter in the
hill for corn and potatoes.
All smutty corn or husks should be
burnt. 1t is better to take precautiOn
for next year than to attempt to pre-
vent smut by some remedy. 1t would
have been best to destroy the affected
stalks when growing, but even now
no traces of smut should be allowed to
exist. Seed should never be selected
from a field containing smutty years
of corn.
When grain and hay crops are sold
off the land they carry away the fer
tiiity of the farm, but when such
crops are fed to stock not only is
portion of the crop left over as ma
nure, hut a higher price is received
for such crops in the shape of beef,
pork, mutton or milk, which enables
the farmer to restore any loss OF fer
tility by the increased receipts conse-
quent upon the keeping Of stock.
The improper keeping Of cream,
and allowing it to become sour while
waiting for more, and the failure to
keep the milk and cream in some
place of even temperature, is the
cause of nearly all poor butter. The
quality of the cream should be uni
form, and no mixing of different ages
can be done safely. No amount of
working the butter can compensate
for the injury done before churning,
and every portion of the work should
be done speedily and not be made de-
pendent on something that is to fol-
low
If the milk is too cold for the but
ter to come, or the temperature Is too
high Gas sometimes happens IN sum-
mer), it may be brought to the de-
sired temperature by the addition OF
cold or warm water, as the require
ments may be, until the proper tenn
perature is obtained. The use of a
thermometer wilt greatly assist in the
work of chu1ning. Some prefer to
raise the temperature by placing the
churn in a tub of warm water. Any
mode that will raise the tempe 4ature
will answer. Rectangular churns,
which dash the butter from side to
side, are now largely in use, the but
termilk being drawn off as soon as
the butter assumes the granular
stage. After the buttermilk is off, il
preferred, a strong solution made by
dissolving salt in water, may be
poured into the churn and the butter
washed by again revolving the churn.
This carries off the buttermilk and
partially salts the butter.
Although no definite rule can be
laid down to be followed in covering
seeds, it is safe to say the larger the
seed the deeper the covering should
be. The old rule of covering seeds to
depth equal to four times the diam
eter of the seed, will not answer in all
cases. The writer's experience would
lead him to advocate a greater depth
of sowing as a general rule. A depth
equal to six times the diameter of the
seed would be more suitable for the
majority of seeds. Potato seed cut in
the usual way will give pieces varying
in thickness from half an inch to an
inch in thickness. According to our
rule, this seed would call for cover
ing of four and one-half inches-a
depth which has been practically
demonstra ted to be most advantageous
on well-drained soils. The same rule
may be applied to most other seeds
with equally satisfactory results, but
at the same time it is not held up as
an infallible guide under all circum-
stances and conditions. Drainage,
amount of moisture, depth of soil,
and many other conditions must be
considered by the intelligent cultiva-