The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1892-03-25
THE FARM AND HOME.
TO PREPARE CERTAIN cRoINn
FOR A CERTAIN CROP.
a serious Question for ths Farmef-
Color Of Milk and Butter-Dip the
Sheep Dog-sheep Notes
and Homo Hints.
Waste of Plans-Footis.

Waste Of PlansFood..
| The following essay was written 70
the Practical Farmer and was awarde,
the first prize:
How to fertilize certain field fo,
certain crop" is a question tina
forces itself for consideration NOR.
seriously every year. upon the minf
of every tiller of the soil. MANY q
us are confronted with the fact thai
the supply of barn-yard manure as
usually saved. with what little can be
bought is insufficient for fertilizine
more than part of the farm each
year;while sevearl years. trial of com.
mercial fertilizers leaves room for
doubt concerning their profitableness.
Sometimes we can more than double
farm or garden crop by their use:
while on another crop, perhaps the
same year. they would not pay for the
trouble of applying them. Occasion.
ally they even seem to injure the
crop.
You may ask now. how we can hone
to increase the fertility of our farm
lands, so they will again raise the old
time crops without buying fertilizersp
My own observation. experience and
study On the subject give me the fol-
lowing answer: Most farms have
abundant natural resources of plant
food but the greatest difficulty with
most farmers is to develop save and
control it in a profitable manner. A
certain amount of the plant-food
locked up IN the soil. dissolves by
natural processes and becomes avail
able every year. We can here assist
nature by thorough tillage. Flowing
as deeply as the fertile top soil will
admit and working it up very fine
and mellow, with harrow. cultivator
and roller. leaving it loose and omen
to the action Of sum- air and rain
greatly aids in increasing this amount.
The soil is bravely struggling to be
more fruitful. even with but half a |
chance. We should not refuse to give it
AID Clover has been highly praised as a
SOIL renovator for rundown farms and
believe none too much, when prom.
erly used in rotation of crops. II
sends roots deep down into the soil.
70 gather up the scattered particles of
plant-food-that are lost to the other
,rops-bringing them again to the
surface. where they are most needed.
u Also by some means, has the DOW
IT to obtain free nitrogen from the
ur, work it over by assimilation and
Use 1t in its growth and DEVELOPMENT
Why need we despair Of restoring our
soils when we can use
lover to gather the most costly and
most easily lost element of fertility,
rom the inexhaustible stores of the
The farms ruination is
generally the result of the farmers
wn wastefulness and carelessness.
tubole fields and gardens are left
are all fall and winter, with no green
over1ng to gather and store up fer
lllty' as It becomes valuable after the
emoval OF crops, when they might I
ave been sown in rye or even oats
De turned under in the following I
pring.
Manure is carelessly thrown out under p
le caves in scattered pile where
le water from the roof runs Off
18th its lest part The liquid manure
ms down under the horse stalls and "
e pen floor in pools, where it soaks =
ito the ground. and is of no present :,
lrthly USE or seeps from under the D
nldlngs and is washed away by the =,
llns. Usually little effort is made to
'nverJ waste products of the farm n
to manure. Straw is piled out in D,
zen field or barn-yard where the b,
ock are allowed to tear down us
ample under foot and waste it even I'll
It'll plenty of room in the barn. Corn
oder is hauled to the fence row and b,
fed over = in rain. mud and snow. al
e stocks scattered here, there and IT
erywhere and then raked up in the d:
ring and burned. These are facts p p
common. every day occurrence. 1t 4,
no wonder with such wastefulness
at our farms are becoming more
stltute of plant food every year
lere- is no need of such waste
will not cost you half so alb
'eh to have water tight floors
your stables. as to con- he
ue with the loose, wasteful
INK floors you are now using. II es1
u doubt the truth of this. take the
or from part of your stalls and give to
I'm good coat of fine broken stone
gravel and cement and see if it is tn,
SO. Feed everything in the stable all
you Will have the refuse for an alb
bent Arrange SO as to put YOUR pc
aw back into the barn when thresh. go
or haul it in afterward SO YOU Ing
have it dry and easy to get for
and bedding. 1t is not so diff no
to feed corn fodder in the stable W W,
hout cutting as you might think.
ere sfanchions and long hangers no,
used. The stalks thrown back ers s
Ter the stock and kept level Will or
trampled and broken up more than
would expect and will soak up the
immense amount of liquid manure. an.
II you cannot arrange SO as to us be
7er in your rotation of crops. then S
scribe for three or four Of the lead ant
farm papers, and study the prac- sup
S OF the best farmers of the day. tne
Color OF Milk and Butter. din
n exchange publishes the testi- t ne,'
~ OF an intelligent New York ,yh,