The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1894-02-16
FARr1ERS' INSTITUTE OF ST.
PETER.


being held throughout the state are
creating unusual interest among the
farmers, and the attendance at each
session is something to be proud Of.
At St. Peter last week a most inter
esting series of meetings were held.
The subject of corn growing is re-
ceiving practical attention, and Mr..
Theodore Louis gave an address on
the possibilities Of this crop. He
said that within the ;past few years
the growing of corn had gone at least
100 miles northward. We cannot
easily make a success of growing pork
in this western country without grow
ing clOYer and corn. He had prac-
tised selecting corn for seed for many
years. He did so while the corn was
yet standing. The large ears were
chosen and those that were first ripe.
He saves enough for seed each year
to last for two years, q He braids the
e arS and hangs them up in the kitcn-
en-. He thinks corn fertilizes bet
ter when the corn from the whole ear
is used for seed. He wants clover
sod for the corn. He wants to plough
in the fall. The weeds are then more
easily destroyed, and the land is more
dense. The land should be we'll cul-
tivated and narrowed in the spring
before planting the corn. He harrows
corn two or three times with har-
row with slanting teeth, and then he
uses a weeder until the corn is eight
or nine inches high. The cultivating
should be shallow and it should be
level. Killing up corn at the last cul-
tivation allows the escape of earth
moisture, brings up a crop of weed
seeds, and makes the crop ripen later.
The Hon. G.. T. Powell followed on
the subject of mixed farming. Dur
ing ali the years that wheat has been
grown and sold, large amount of
fertility had been removed. This ex-
plains the reason of the great deple-
tion in fertility. Cotton once was king,
now 10 was corn and in his opinion IL
would be so in Minnesota. Ali kinds
of live stock should be most carefully
kept. Glover, corn and other foods
should be grown to feed them,
w. l.. Carlyle, B. s. A. tested a num-
Der of samples of milk. He used the
Babcock test. He said it would tell
exactly what the value of the milk
was from each COW. 1t would also
show whether the butter was all be-
ing got out Of the skim milk. TO get
a fair test some milk should be I'd ken
from the whole milking at hight, and
some in the morning, and the two
would be mixed. He said that to
allow the COWS to be exposed reduces
very much the quality Of the milk.
Any farmer could soon learn to use
the test. 1t cost about $3.50 and
one tester would answer for num-
Der of farmers.
w. Somerville then talked on de-
Stroying quack grass. He gave his eX-
perience. He first tried salt, that fail
ed. He ploughed it in the fall, and
spring, and narrowed necessarily till
the quack grass had rotted.
Prof. Shaw then gave his method of
destroying Quack grass. He favored
plOughing the ground just after hdr-
vest, and narrowing it with some kind
of a harrow that would bring the
roots to the surface. Then he would
draw them together with horse
rake, and when they had become suf
f1ciently dry would burn them. He
would then pillow more deeply bring
nf ha
and then harrow and cultivate as pre-
viously described, and burn as in the
first instance. Surface cultivation
should be kept up until the approach
of winter. In the spring cultivation
should commence as soon as the soil
is real dry, and should continue until
the time for planting crop of C Jrn.
The corn should be carefully cultivat-
ed, and by the end OF year the q uack
grass would be destroyed. Whenever
the grass is attacked a clean job
should be made of it in one year. 1t
can never be SO cheaply done in any
other way.
In destroying Canada thistles the
ground should be carefully plOughed
just after harvest. The plough should
cut clean, and the harrow should not
be put to a greater depth than three
inches so as not to dis turb the lateral
roots in the soil. Some kind of Gull
tIvator should be used that would cut
off all the plants that appear above
the surface Of the ground. Continue
this until the approach of winter. The
following spring give the surface Gull
tivatiOn OF a similar kind. The idea
is to prevent the thistles from breath
ing. Plant corn at the proper season.
II any stray plants are found in the
line of the row they must be removed
with hoe. In his opinion the Can
ada thistle was less difficult weed
to overcome than several other weeds
now numerous in the state.
He described how to destroy wild
oats. The plan in substance was to
grow two cultivated crops in succession
The subject of clover was then dis
cussed. The Hon. g. T. Powell said
that clover was valuable for keeping
down weeds. The roots crowd out
weed growth and the top smother
these. 1t is also cut two or three
times The clover brings nitrogen to
the soil, by drawing it from the air
and bringing it up from the subsoil
He gave many other valuable partic-
ulars about growing clover.