Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-05-12
Crop Bulletin No. I.

secretary Mckeen has sent out his frs
crop bulletin for the season of 1894. Ii
course OF the introduction be says: From
the replies received We believe the condi
tion of farm stock is better than last spring
Many reporting extfa feeding, and extr,
care, an! consequent increased returns il
the products. One n ports feeding . lare,
amount Of meadow hay with grain, Will
wonderfully pleasisg results, and expresses
MS belief that more IF our coarser fodder
should be utilized.
There is . noted increase in cows, es
pecialiy in the estte and central portion
II the St ,te, and decrease in the number
and value of oxen, ST ers and sheep. Som.
report no ses for sale with no m rkets, bu
we infer that this relates more p ,rncularly
to some of the under.iz d and otherwise
undesirable oLes and not to those fitted fol
the market
The report is unanimous, that there ID
-uffieieLt oder TO carry stock well out t.
pasture. judge the abundance OF fodder
| at this season has hot been surpassed in
msny years.
The grass fields are reported, generally,
be III good condition No acc UNITS what.
ever of winter-kill,ng or other damage. and
With f.vorable season f.om now out, al
abundant hay crop is assured.
As far as reported, fruit trees are show
ing ".n etfully well for the season. and
Unless some damage arises from late frosts
IT unusual devastations from insects, fill,
:rop Of fruit m lst result.
The amount of grain to be )wn seems to
be larger than last year. Particular stress
.eems 10 be laid on the idea IF making farms
.elf-snlpor ing, a, well as pro !ucing more
If H.. mixed and other grains to help out
he pistur in summer.
May correspondents speak of the fac'
If blu, ing too largely of western grains,
md declare determination to do ava,
sith as large an amount of pur chased fod
Ter a, possible, by varying the grain crop.
,Owh, lanting more corn, and otherwi,'
increasing their home resources. The crops
general, grown for soiliDg are clover, win
ter rye, hungarian, mil!et, oats, oats and
peas- and corn. These. flown in small
luan,it es at intervals. will furnish sue
;essiun of gre en- fodder which will last dur
lay the su inner.
| One correspondent reports that he hsr
10 81 on his soil that sweet corn e ehaus,s
he pant foo much more than po'atoes.
and con lIdes that he shall not pl ant i
gain for ina reason. But it would seem
that u / crops muat Exhaust the soil, about
in pr .nion ~ W nat there is in them after
tn, are grow n. and it is therefore neces-
.aIy to calculate sOmew hat on The value of
:hc",>in c mparlsun.
Sweet crn not only gives value as
moLey crap but leaves quite a large amour
If stock fodder on the farm as well, so I'M
less III. hslance of con mercial value il
quite 3 rong IN favor of the potatoes, We
an well IF ,ri to put little extra pl mi
food into the corn crop. If any others have
r ed these two crops ride by side ON their
faI ms, aid can give US The results in roll
Exhaustion, we .hall be very glad to receive
them.
A question is asked, whether it will pay
70 fe, stock all the hay they will eat in ad-
li,ion to grain, or would more profitable
re.ults be obtained by limiting the amount
to about ninety per cent of what they would
consume.
Inl-plv we would cay that much would
lepend upon the qualify of the hay and
VIII, ther OF not it is late cut.
1t must be borne in mind that all dry
folders re q lire m re time for digestion than
green, and that full grown, well cured hay
10 no .xct ptiun A great amount of skill
is Re quired on the part of the feeder if he
wishes to get the best results.
If the coarse fodder is all first quality,
such as the animals will readily consume,
have no doubt from my own experience,
that animals will eat more of it THAI they
can properly digest, but if there is quite
proporti n of straw or low ground hay, and
corn fodder, some skill will be required to
get them to eat enough of it for tie best
results, even with liberal grain ration.
SO no fixed lies can be laid down for uni
versal feediau but each feeder must study
his foods, his animals and the results, in
order to estab.i 81 rule which will be the
best for him.
Let us not forget that drought is about
az sure to come as the summer itself, and
prepare for it with plenty of soiliog crops.
One Of the hardest problems for the farmer
of today to solve is the pasture problem,
and it can be done better either by whole or
partial soiling, than in any other way. A
plenty of green food for summer use
through the dry season, will add much to
the capacity of the farm.
Peas and oats to be cut in August and
September should be sown in succession,
beginning the first piece as soon AS the
ground can be well worked. They will
stand fall frosts we'll, and by sowing well
along into June, portion OF them may be
used until well along towards winter.
Prevention is better than cure with the
horn fly, cleanliness in AMI around the
stables care in keeping the tibles darkened,
and moderate use IF kerosene emulsion,
will answer the purpose As well as anything
we have tried.
Spraying for the coddlin moth, as directed
by the bulleti1s from our experimei sta
ton, is the only safe course for our fruit
growers TO pursue. 1t iii ,uid be done care
fully and thoroughly.