The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-05-11
AGRICULTURE.

1t is about time that both cot ton an
corn should hand over their kipgl
crowns to clover, for neither can equa
it in Importance to the general farmer.
There is no item we could less afford to
have withdrawn from our agricultural
system. an d the farmer in whose rota.
ton it has no place is making a mistake.
With clover it requires less grain to
thoroughly fatten an animal than with
any other food. Even with pigs it
should be added to the corn ration to
give the needed bulk; it not only dis
tends the stomach, but supplies the de-
tciencies of corn in making growth of
bone and muscle.
Good clover hay contains a more per.
feet food ration than anything else
grown. Less corn, less wheat, less cot
ton and more clover is reform many an
American farmer may we'll decide upon
for the coming year to the decided ad-
vantage both of his stock and his land.
1t is almost proved that neither wheat
nor corn will return sufficient increase
OF crop to cover cost Of any artificial fer
tilizers at present prices. Place it on
alternate strips in your fields, and ex-
pertinent for yourselves; but farm
manures have produced a marked in
crease of crops where judiciously used.
Two specialties upon the farm fit we'll
in with each other-dairying and market
gardening. The manure from we'll fed
cattle can be used in no better way than
by applying it to good vegetable gar
den, and in time much may be utilized
from the garden to supplement the
feeding of the COWS.
Give wheat the same tillage we do
corn, and the same land would give Just
as many bushels an acre as of the larger
grain. One way would be, when sowing,
to stop every other hole in the drill. thus
giving rows 16 inches apart, through
which narrow garden cultivator could
be run by horse power.
We have much to learn yet about
wheat growing. Under present methods,
If we take off three or four crops with
out manuring, the product decreases at
once. On the other hand, fields have
been put in consecutive crops of wheat
for 40 years or more, without manure,
and without exhaustion. 1t is matter
of cultivation.
Winter wheat is practically biennial
plant, for it requires the best part oftwo
seasons for maturing. During half of
this time it lies dormant, nor does it
grow much during the hottest part Of
the year. 1t does its best during the
moderate temperature of the spring and
fall. and this is guide as to the best
time OF sowing this grain in different
ATTITUDES.
Blue grass forms very nearly perfect
pasturage. The fall rains make it furn-
ish nutritious food until the snow covers
it, so that the grazing season is
heightened in the autumn as we'll as
fastened in the spring. 1t is least in
jured by tramping of all the grasses.
No words can speak for it as can the
fact that it is the basis for the finest
agricultural product grown upoa
American soil-the Kentucky horse.
India is a formidable rival in the
wheat market. Its average product for
the last five years is about 270 million
bushels, of which about one seventh is
exported. The cultivated area is con-
tinually extended in the Punjab, Bengal
and the northwestern provinces. In6ia's
competition is fact that we dare rot
ignore.
Exports from the Argentine Republic
are almost sensational. Ten years ago
they amounted to nothing, but during
the first three months after harvest Of
1894 there were about sc million bushels
shipped chiefly to Europe. England
imported as much from that country as
from the United States.
The careful Argentine farmer can raise
from Ii to 10 bushels Of wheat an acre,
and he can rent land for about 40 ce ts
an acre. The cost of producing wheat
in that country in 1892 was about 13
cents bushel, according to the average
OF several crops investigated by the
English Consul of Buenos Ayres.
This country and Canada do not raise
enough Of the common or navy bean to
satisfy home demands. Under equal
conditions as many bushels of beans as
of wheat can be grown an acre. and the
selling price of good, clean stock is
commonly twice as great. By sowing
rye in the fall and blowing it under the
same soil can be used again and again.
If silage can be made safe and
healthy ration the year through. thus
superseding the wasteful system of
pasturage, We can easily increase our
stock one-half. We thus score one-a
mighty one for silage. Double the
stock, the manure, the fertility, the
production. The farmer must thus
800 ko-l ia A.