The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1889-12-04
srnAm. wrrns Ann srrnr1r.


What use shall we make Of these waste
products of the farm, and how shall we
manage them to get the most good at least
cost from them2 The profits of the farm
are not large and we cannot afford to let
anything go to loss. If we can by care
full saving of all vegetable matter increase
the manure pile so as TO transfer n few
acres from the improbable to the profta-
BILE side of the ledger, it is our privilege
and duty to do so. The worst possible
use farmer can make Of straw is not to
use it at all, and strange as it may seem,
there are thousand of farmers who do
this very thing. They thresh in some re-
mote corner and leave the straw on the
ground. l have often counted from five
to eight of these straw stacks on single
farm, SAYS writer in the Philadelphia
Press, each containing one years crop of
straw. Good, bright wheat or oat straw
has considerably more than half the feed
ing value of an average hay, and either
horses or cattle may be wiutered in good
condition with no other rough feed, with
a moderate increase of the grain ration.
It is best that this increase shall be OF
bran, oats and oil meal rather than corn.
i have neighbors who bore auger holes in
the floor of their horse stall to allow the
urine to run through, and yet leave stacks
of old straw in the fields. do not only
bed literally in the stable, but cover my
barnyard so that it is never muddy and
no LIQUID runs from it. Weeds, corn
stalks, potato vines, clover straw, etc,
are all packed into the barnyard. We
have Just cut and raked up all our wheat
stubble for this purpose. From part of
the field we got full two horse load to
the acre. Eight acres of our wheat that
had been sown to timothy had made quite
a growth, and as the spring was very dry
the clover was poor. Consequently fox
tail and ragweed made a vigorous start,
but we moved it early and there will not
be a foul seed on the field, while the
weeds and stubbles will help to keep
the barnyard clean and save the urine.
The last week in August visited a neigh
Dor who is successful wheat grower and
found him spreading straw on a field
which was plowed and narrowed ready
for the drill. He burns this straw and
tells me that many years experience
shows him that it pays as well as to ma
nure an equal area. His land is strong
and rich in humus and while this with
out doubt is good practice for him on
thin land it will probably pay better tc
plow under straw than to burn it.
would always, however, if possible, burn
'stubble on fields where there has been
lchinch bugs. 1t is we'll on such fields to
set the machine to cut high so as to leave
/ ieuough stubble to burn readily. | have
| lseen excellent effects from burning stub.
| bile on land to be plowed for wheat, the
wheat in few weeks after 1t came ur
/ showing to foot where the stubble had
been burned by its strong growth and
healthy color.
1t is a fact, perhaps not known to all
that one pound of the urine of a hors'
has a fertilizing power equal to 81
pounds of the dOppings, and the onl!
way we are likely to save this Is by FREE
use of aSsorbents. With good manage
ment every farm will furnish enough o
these, and it is wise to make tight stabl
floors and bed freely. Even cornstalk
make an excellent absorbent and wi
decay more quickly than straw. If cut t
lengths of from six inches to foot the
make excellent bedding for horses. The
crush easily, and the pith of the stal
takes up the liquid better than straw.
scatter the waste of twenty acres of cor
fodder over my small barnyard each wiz
ter to be tramped and mixed with th
straw and manure. BY April 1st IL
manure is in good shape for speadins
and only very close-inspection would di
cover q cornstalk in it.