The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-10-21
Straw. Weeds and stubble.

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 them? asks the Philadelphia
Press. The profits of the farm are not
large and we cannot afford to let anything
go to loss. If we can by careful saving
OF all vegetable matter increase the manure
pile 80 as to transfer few acres from the
| improbable to the profitable side of the
ledger, it is our privilege and duty to do 80.
The worst possible use a farmer can make
OF straw is not to use it at all. and, strange
as it may seem, there are thousands of
farmers who do this very thing. They
thresh in some remote corner and leave the
straw on the ground. have often counted
from five to eight of these straw stacks on
Q single farm, each containing one years
| cropsof straw. Good, bright wheat or oat
| straw has considerably more than half the
feeding value of an average hay, and either
horses or cattle may be wintered in good
condition with no other rough feed, W 18th
moderate increase of the grain ration. 1t
is best that this increase shall be of bran,
| oats and oil meal rather than corn. l have
of their horse stalls to allow the urine to
run through, aud yet leave stacks of old
| straw in the fields. do not only bed liber-
ally in the stable but cover my barnyard so
that it is never muddy and no liquid runs
from it. Weeds, cornstalks, 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 growth. and as the spring was
very dry the clover was poor Conse-
quently foxtail and ragwood made a vigor-
| Gus start, but we moved it early and there
will not be 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 l visited neighbor
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 manure an equal area. His land
is strong and rich in humus, and while this
without doubt is good practice for him on
thin land it would probably pay better to
pillow under straw than to burn it. 1 would
always, however, if possible, burn stubble
on fields where there has been chinch bugs.
1t is well on such fields to set the machine
to cut high so as to leave enough stubble to
burn readily. have seen excellent effects
from burning stubble on land to be plowed
for wheat, the wheat in few weeks after it
came up showing to foot where the stub
BILE had been burned by its strong growth
and healthy color.
1t is fact, perhaps not known to all,
that pound of the urine of horse has a
fertilizing value equal to pounds of the
dung, aud the only way we are likely to
save this is by free use of absorbents. With
good management every farm will furnish
enough of these, and it is wise to make tight
stable floors and bed freely. Even cornstalks
make an excellent absorbent and will decay
more quickly than straw. If cut to lengths
of from six inches to foot they make ex-
cellent bedding for horses. They crush
easily, and the pith of the stalk takes UP
the liquid better than straw. 1 scatter the
waste of twenty acres of corn fodder over
my small barnyard each winter to be
tramped and mixed with the straw and
manure. By April the manure is in good
shape for spreading, and only very close
inspection would discover cornstalk in it.