Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1894-04-05

Observation-Disclosures Enjoyed in
Small Farms-General Notes-Wis-
consin Matters.
That there are active chemical
changes going on all the time in cul-
tivated soil Is evident. This fact con-
stitutes one Of the greatest puzzles
to the agricultural chemist. Certain
things which he finds nearly soluble
do in some way In the soil become
soluble and available as plant food.
The action OF carbonic acid, the great
decomposer in nature, sets at naught
the work in the laboratory, and sets
up changes, the full extent of which
chemists have yet hardly realized, says
the Pacific Farmer. Nature has Il
wonderful reserve power, and In some
soils her store of food which only
slowly becomes available seems to be
entirely exhaustless.
| In all the red clays of the granite
/ formation east of the Blue Ridge,
potash, one Of the most essential ele-
ments of plant food, even the most
worn and exhausted conditions of
these red clay lands, seems exhaust
less but slowly available. 1t Is we'll
known that on some lands, particu-
larly on lands near the coast, plaster
Is Of little value, beyond what 7aIuc
the lime in 1t may have, while on other
land 1t has an immediate and great
effect
Those who have noticed the deposits
of plaster rock in the natural beds are
aware that the outer part, exposed to
the weather, loses its character us Il
sulphate and becomes merely a car
Donate of lime, while In the quarry
1t Is pure sulphate. And this Is the
secret OF Its action on soils Astounding
In potash. The lime greedily combines
with the ever-present carbonic acid In
the soil, and the sulphurlc acid Is left
free to act on some other base, ana
attacks the potash, giving us sulphate
of potash for our crops, an efficient
help to clover and other legumes.
Whenever plaster can be had at rea-
sonable price farmers on these clay
soils can usually get their potash more
cheaply by the use of plaster than by
buying potash In an already available
form. The moral is, study your soil,
and do not buy what you can get more
cheaply out of your land itself.
Too Much Pork-It Is not often that
the resources and productions of this
| ~ an NV orr Sii m n tod Inv Rrit-
ish cousins, yet the Mark Lane Ok
press has been booming our pork prod
ucts even beyond their enormous act
uality. 1t assumes as many hogs and
pigs slaughtered annually as there are
numbers In the annual enumeration
and makes the average weight equal
to the average of fat hogs received
at Chicago, or 800 b., and thus gets
an aggregate of about 9,500,000,000 H..
This calculation Is defective from the
fact that the millions OF hogs in the
south are slaughtered at weights very
much below those of the western pack
ing districts not more than two thirds
as heavy, at best. Besides, they run
at large, are not always looked after
closely, are lost in the woods or
swamps, and do not come to slaughter
ing In the proportion of western swine.
Other conditions prevail in the east,
the middle states, and on the Pacific
coast. but In no large section are the
weights as heavy rs in the CENTRAL
hogs have equally their prominence,
and where much the greater portion
OF American hog products are made
Therefore the figures of the English
journal are very much too high. Null
hall makes n mistake in the opposite
direction, taking the record of packing
houses as the entire production, de-
Quoting the exports, and making TIL,
consumption only 40 III. per inhabitant
whereas 1t Is probably not less thar
~, while this exaggerated estimat,
would give not less than 100 ID, pen
head. OF course all home estimates
arc only tentative and approximate
as no one, not even Murray, the com
pctent historian Of pork packing, has
ever undertaken To determine to ;
pound the consumption of the Unite,
States.
Fruit Culture The reason why com
parativcly few farmers succeed il
fruit raising is because this business
demands more constant and continue,
care in little details than stock, dairy
or grain growing, says the MasSa
chuscttS ploughman. 1t is easy enough
to set out 1000 trees, or 10000 small
fruit bushes or vines, but 1t Is quit
another thing to cultivate and car
for them ms they need. from one +
, five years before any return can b
expected Few men have the needle
perseverance, and stcadineSs of pun