Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1893-07-01


( farmer suStaius. 1t is tie season when
fermentation is most active, and the
burning up Of even small piles OF horse
manure requires only two or three days
of neglect If cows are pasUured and
yarded at night, their solid droppmgs
quickly dry up and become a handful
Of dust mixed with the soil Of the barn
yard. 1t is very rarc that the barnyard
in summer is bedded, and still more
rarely is it covered. Exposed to both
sun aud rain the valuable properties
of manure are quickly dissipated in the
air or 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 baInyards as manure, and then
replacing it with poorer soil to undergo
like fertilization, will pay. But bet
1 ter still is preventing this waste Of
manure If cows are yardcd 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 a wagon load is gathered
it will be pretty well rotted and without
any waste from fire fansing'
/ As an almost lnvariable 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, so that a light seed
/ ing will produce n 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 filling as it should.
We can see this occasionally where
single grains Of oats are dropped in
cuItivatiug corn or potatoes. The crop
4 is sure to rust and be worth very little
either for straw or grain. On the other
hand, too heavy seeding of small
grain on poor land cannot fill out large,
/ plump heads of grain. The crowding,
which is Il benefit on rich soil, is there
most injurious Even in planting po-
/ tatoes a rich soil requires that the hllls
/ be close enough together so that the
4 potatoes shall not be overgrown, while
/ in poor soil single eyes with hills three
/ feet apart will give more marketable
/ tubers than will a heavier seeding.
The farmer who keeps sheep has an
important advantage over one 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 lust when most farmers find it
hardest to get. It costs heavily TO put
in crops, and If part, Mt least Of this
expense is not paid in advance, the
store and blacksmith bills and living
, EXPENSES viii take most Of their value
/ when grown. A few sheep can be kept
ON any farm Of fifty acres without
I really lessening the amount TO be sold,
rs they will eat much that would other
wise be wasted. Sheep are especially
valuable in apple orchards 70 destroy
the earliest fallen fruit. Pigs VIII not
eat fruit uu1il it begins TO mature, but
sheen have liking for the smallest
and grecncst specimens. Sheep IN WIN
ter are the best customers Tor be;h
straw. It is very nitrogenous food
and makes a rich manure. Tor these
reasons every farmer should manage
to keep a 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 lot Of
mongrels whose produce win be worth
nothing above their price 10 the butcher
"Neyer 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, ana we
have often noticed its ruthfuiness.
There are indeed a few forest trees
which viii 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 a mulch, keeping the soil moist even
TO the surface. This encourages most
Of the feeding roots to come 10 the
surface. and I'm cold winters the stones
being no obstacle to frost these roots
are frozen and killed. Roots being
underground are far more porous than
are the tops Of any kind Of trees. In
most cases where trees even Of tender
kinds are winter killed it viii be found
that their injuries came mainly by
root freezing.
The time is fast coming when the
main dependence for corn feed viii be
corn sllage. This Is because on good
land it can he grown much cheaper
than anything else Twelve to fifteen
tons Of silaga per acre can be grown
and it needs very little clover hay and
,,.I,os,r mill Tffvss, gr ether Grain T0 make