The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1892-02-18

! LAST fall ana consequent scarcity OF
grass, must have taught every cattle
man and farmer the wisdom ofprovid.
! ing rOughness for stock to carry them
through winter. Bottom grass may
not grow well on some soils, but
sorghum will grow anywhere and
give profitable crop, where many
others would utterly fail. 1t is an ex-
haustive crop if allowed to mature
seed, but for hay it should be
cut before reaching that stage.
1t should be sown very thick broad
cast, so as to secure dense stand OF
stalks, if possible, no thicker than q
lead pencil. On such well cured hay
horses will gain strength, COWS in
crease their flow Of milk, and even
hogs will fatten. The farmer can't
have too much of it, and will find it
more profitable than cent cotton.
/ have long advocated the more eX-
tended use of corn fodder as one of the
best forms of roughness. AS it is
raised without any labor or expense
beyond that involved in producing
the corn, it costs only the labor of
saving it. 1t is disgusting to see the
waste of good fodder on some farms,
when the poor cattle are allowed to
die Of starvation. Some have excused
their wastefulness on the plea that
the removal Of the leaves and tops has
the effect of curtailing the develop
ment of the ear. This has been proved
to be an unwarranted conclusion
In a bulletin just issued by our ag-
ricultural station we are given the re-
suit of an experiment with corn fod-
der. 1t was found that the yield OF
corn on plat whare the tops were
cut off above the ear when they
began to harden, was larger than
on three other plats. No.
= plat was left with all
its tops and leaves, until thoroughly
ripe and dead. No. 3 had all the
leaves suripped from the entire stalk,
leaving the bare stalk with the ear.
No. had the tops cut off above the
ear and the lower leaves stripped Off
The topping of corn seems to in
crease the yield, possibly because the
flow of sap goes to make grain when
it cannot 60 to make stalks and
leaves. The chemical analysis given
shows that leaf fodder is second only
to clover hay as feed and that while
top fodder is of less value, it is still
much better than the bulk of western
tame hay. A careful count of expen-
ses has shown that ton of top fodder
can be saved and put in stack or barn
ut a cost of 1913 Tops and leaves
combined cost 1926 and leaves only
1857 ton. This calculation is based
IN a man at $l.00 day for cutting,
binding and shocking and $500 per
lay for man and team while hauling.
Any one wishing further light on the
,Orn fodder question should send for
,opy Of Bulletin 10.
THE TROTTER AND CoACHER.
Last week / had something to say
bout PercherOn horses, and their
yalue when coupled with the small |
common mares Of this country. But |
hey are not the only breed worth |
in fact, there are cases
where they would be entirely out of
Dlace. Their mission is heavy draft, |
nd when applied to light carriage or
addle work they are failures.
What class of horse should be raised
must be determined by local condi-
ions and available markets If sad
llers are in most demand, and at best |
prices, the breeder, having the right |
lass of mare. will act wisely in rails
ne riding horses. And so with the
rotter or the carriage horse. OF
curse, the man who can engage in
lorse raising on a large scale can
lease his own taste, as he can find a
market for all he produces where the
lemand for his class of stock exists,
'ut the farmer or horseman of limited
means, who cannot make up car
Dad of any special breed, must study
he requirements of the local market,
S upon it he must rely for q pur-
haser. And here is shown the inn
'ortance of good style of dam. The
mall common mare, when mated
With pure bred draft horse, will gen
rally give good product, but her
fspring will be of little, if any, more
alue than mustang pony. But
,here the dam has size, bone and
)rm, she may be crossed with
ny breed to advantage, and
he standard bred trotter. the
'rench Coach or the Hackney are all
kelly to produce the animal most in
emand in the city. In our local
larket we have a good opening for
he family horse, that is an animal of
lyle, active, gentle, and of sufficient
eight to pull, unaided, the family
arriage. The sooner farmers realize
his and act on it the sooner will they
nd profit in their business. We can
OF hope to succeed in raising record
reakers on the trotting and running
rack from the mixed blood now
,und in the country, but we can,
y wise selection of sires, produce
Oadsters fast enough for the unprofes-
ional drivers, that will fill want
ow supplied by other states. That
his is beginning to be understood by
,cal horse-rasers may be inferred
'om the fact that there are now in
he city of Austin five Standard bred
rotting horses to make the season,
there only one could be found last
ear, The demand must have caused
he supply, and those wishing to raise
God roadsters have now choice of
Tres rarely found at such convenient
istance.
In Terry's stable, corner Fifth and
'razos streets, will be found "Robert
'onner Jr.," belonging to VIM. Pun
by of Taylor. He is a beautiful
ark bay with black points. He has
cen trained and can cover he mile