Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-06-29

On most farms the waste OF Darnyart
and stable manure during the summer
Is one of the greatest losses that The
farmer SuStainS. 1t is the season WheI
fermentation is most active, and the
burning up OF even snail piles of horse
manure requires only two or three days
Of neglect II COWS are paSture1 and
yarded at night, their solid droppings
quickly dry up and become u handful
of dust mixed with the soil of the barn
yard. 1t is very rare that the barnyard
LII summer is bedded, and still more
rarely IS 1t covered. Exposed to both
sun and rain the valuable properties
Of manure are quickly dissipated in the
air OF washed away by rains. 1t is
probably true that on the site of every
old barnyard the soil for a foot or more
IN depth has more available fertility
for the same bulk than has the bulk
OF coarse manure carted from it in the
spring. In the absence of better meth.
DDS drawing away the surface soil of
old barnyardS as manure, and then
replacing 1t with poorer soil to undergo
like fertilization, will pay. But bet
ter still is preventing this waste Of
manure If cows are yarded at night
their droppings should be gathered each
morning and mixed with the drOppings
of stable horses. Then cover the heap
each day with enough soil to prevent
the violent fermentation. In this way
by the time wagon load is gathered
it will be pretty well rotted and without
amy waste from 'fre fanging."
As an almost invariable rule, the
richest soil needs the heaviest seeding
We have been told that the small grains
are an exception to this, as on rich soil
the plant tillerS, 50 that a light seed
ing will produce a large number of
stalks. But the exception is not so real
as it seems The thin seeding may
grow SO vigorously as to send up a
large number of shoots and fairly cover
the ground. But this more vigorous
growth is accompanied by excess of
leaf and weakness of straw which pre-
vents the grain from filing as it should
We cam see this occasionally where
single grains Of oats are dropped in
cultiyating corn or potatoes. The crop
is sure to rust and be worth very little
either for straw or grain. On the other
hand, Il too heavy seeding of small
grain on poor land cannot fill out large,
plump heads of grain. The crOwtiing,
which is a benefit on rich soil, is there
most injurious Even in planting po-
tatoes Il rich soil requires that the hills
be close enough together so that the
rI,, L. x-I,II
in poor soil single eyes with hills three
feet apart will give more marketable
tubers than viii a heavier seeding.
The farmer who keeps sheep has an
important advantage over ore who
does not, in the fact that he has some
thing to sell long before the farmer
who grows only grain can expect to
market anything. Wool sales furnish
money Just when most farmers find it
hardest to get 1t costs heavily to put
in crops, and if part, at least, of this
expense is not paid in advance, the
store and blacksmith bills and living
expenses will take most of their value
when grown. A few sheep can be kept
on any farm Of fifty acres without
really lessening the amount to be sold,
as they will eat much that would other
wise be wasted. Sheep are especially
valuable in apple orchards to destroy
the earliest fallen fruit. Pigs viii not
eat fruit until it begins to mature, but
sheep have a liking for the smallest
and greenest specimens. Sheep in win
ter are the best customers for bean
straw. 1t is Il very heterogeneous food
and makes rich manure. Fer these
reasons every farmer should manage
to keep few sheep, and the fewer he
can keep the greater care he should
exercise to have them of the best. 1t
is not the number of sheep but then
quality that gives the profit. Better
start with two or three sheep and have
them thoroughbredS than buy a lot of
mongrels whose produce viii be worth
nothing above their price to the butcher.
Never pile stones around a fruit tree
unless YOU wish to Kill it. such was
the advice an experienced farmer gave
a neighbor many years ago, and we
have often noticed it's truthfulneSS
There are indeed a few forest trees
which will long stand such treatment
and as tree with branching roots
makes a convenient place for dumping
stone. such trees are usually doomed
The explanation is that the stones act
as q mulch. keeping the soil moist even
to the surface. This encourages most
of the feeding roots to come to the
surface, and in cold winters the stones
being no obstacle to frost these roots
are frozen and killed. Roots being
underground are far more porous thar
are the tops of any kind of trees. IL
most cases where trees even of tender
kinds are winter killed it will be fount
that their injuries came mainly by
root freezing.
The time is fast coming when tht
main dependence for corn feed will bt
corn silage This is because on goot
land it can be grown much cheaper
than anything else. Twelve to hfteel
tons of silage per acre can be grow
and it needs very little clover hay ant
wheat middling or other grain to maxi
perfect ration for milk production
A large COW will eat a ION of Stag
per month, so that by purchasing SOM
grain the keeping of a COW per acre i
easily possible. If the COW be wha
she should be the acre thus fed on
pl oduces more than it can be made t,
do with ordinary farm crops, with th,
advantage that the manure from cow