The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-03-13

grand success. 1t was convened in the
new Opera House. From 800 to 700 persons
were present. The attention was most
marked from the very beginning, and the
different speakers were heartily applauded
at the close of each address.
Superintendent Gregg opened the insti-
tute by inviting the farmers to intimate the
nature of the topics they would like to
have discussed. BY the character of the
questions put into the question box TINS
was to his mind the surest way of ascer-
tanning the different topics which the farm
ers desired to get information on If he
were to talk again upon his favorite theme,
the dairy cow while doing 50, he might
clothe the subject in q different garb but
after all the marrow of the subject would
be found to be merely the same as what
had been previously given. Principles OF
selection in cattle do not change He gave
some points which will be found of value
in choosing dairy cows. The regents G.
the experiment station had some two or
three years ago requested Prof. Hascker
and himself to make selection of dairy
cows for the station. They were to buy
chiefly grade animals and they were to get
them at moderate prices. When the cows
arrived at the station the person in charge
was not pleased with them, and spoke of
selling off the whole lot 1t decided,
however, that the cows should be kept.
They were tested as to their milking quail
tiles, and with the result that only one out
of 80 gave less than 400 pounds of butter
in the year. The Importance of selecting
dairy cows could not be well overestimate
Supt. Powell came next with address
PRESERVING SOIL FERTILITY
He understood that during the past year
the farmers of this neghborhood had suf-
Tered from the shortage OF crops. Now
what would be the condition if this short
age were to take place every year. That
was just what was taking place in several
sections of his own state. The fertility of
the soil had been SO exhausted that men
could no longer make livelihood upon it,
ana In not few instances they had to
abandon their farms We would do well to
remember that in grain growing we are
competing with the very cheap labor of
several countries the inha bitants of which
lived on a much lower plane than the
farmers of the United States. Therefore it
was unwise to follow the ruinous process
OF growing grain and selling it from year
to year, without returning the fertility thus
removed. 1t was very important that the
farmers should consider this question now
before it is too late When the fearful
mistake is made of exhausting the elements
OIL plant food on any soil, a farmers son
can no longer afford to inherit such land
What we have shipped out from this conn
try, IN fertility, would more than wipe out
the nations debt at the end of the war
Mr. Powell then mentioned the value If
the fertilizing matters contained in a ton
OF various food products on the farm The
value of the nitrogen, phosphoric acid and
potash in ton of wheat is $780, corn.
VOL timothy hay, $40, and clover hay.
$50. These estimates are based on the
price of commercial fertilizers in the mar
ket.
Supt. Gregg then gave short address
on growing clover with special reference
to his own experience. He commenced
xyi,,fr T1n
at the present time 30 acres of the same
upon his farm, and yet one neghbor who
passes the clover fields every time he goes
to market still believes that clover cannot
be successfully grown Without any doubt
in his opinion, it could be grown here
Theo. Louis followed Mr.. Gregg by con-
tinuing the subject of
GROWING CLOVER.
He had not been long upon his sandy
farm before he so depleted it of fertility
that he could get very little by way of
return. Through sheer necessity he was
forced to study the question of restoring
the lost fertility to his land. CIR of moving
away from the same. When he came to
this country he was a silversmith by trade
and he was sometimes sorry that more of
the young men upon the farms were not
silversmiths They would then not know
so much about farming, and would be
more willing to learn. He rejoiced in the
fact that 50 many young men were present
at the institute. 1t promised well for the
future of farming. He could not get
clover to grow successfully at first. He
told about several crops which he had to
plow under in succession before he sue
ceeded in making it grow. Now, in an or
binary season, he Is quite sure to get an
excellent crop of clover. 1t was fact
that in his neighborhood about u carloads
of shorts were imported for feeding from
Minnesota every year, and also four car
fo:1
ious to improve their soil and they were
doing by getting fertility from this
state. He then dwelt upon the various
methods by which to get stand of clover.
He particularly recommended using winter
rye and then sowing the seed along with
the winter rye, and har-
rowing the ground with har-
row with slanting teeth. Care should be
taken not to pasture the clover in the fall
the same year that it has been sown.
Mrs. Ida e. Tilson was the next speaker
in the forenoon. She took up the subject
of poultry keeping and dWelt upon various
features of the same. She learned from OBJ
servation and inquiry that where mer-
chants were quite sure that they could de-
pend upon getting good eggs from custom
ers they were willing to give higher prices
per dozen. She pointed out the necessity
of gathering eggs frequently, and of wash
ing them clean when gathered To partial
ly wash them would do more harm than
ilol " WASH them at all. she ADVISED in
vesting in poultry in moder-
alton at first AS a rule it would be better
not to begin with very large focks The
process of wedding out would then go on,
and the individual be continually learning
by experience.
A copy of Farmers Institute Annual No.
z was then given to each person present.
This annual is a splendid and valuable
publication. 1t does great credit to the
energy and judgment of Supt. Gregg. The
articles in it are written by men who are
experts each in his line. and they cover
very many of the more important essential
features of farming. The book is beauti-
fully illustrated and it cannot be obtained
in any other way than through the medium
of the institute.
The afternoon session was opened with
an address by w. L. Carlyle. Mr. CARLYLE
spoke on the subject of
DIGESTION IN CATTLE.
lie used illustrations which helped very
materially to make this somewhat compli-
Gated question very clear and easily under
stood. He made it apparent that the stom-
ach OF the COW was formed for receiving
large quantities of bulky food, and large
quantities OF water were necessary to pre-
pare the food in the large stomach for fur
Their digestion. He described the nature. of
the rumination, and then drew important
deductions. One of these was that meal
should, wherever practicable be fed alono,
with bulky food. Many farmers ignored
the Importance of discrimination in the
quantities of meal fed to different animals
To try to keep them on the same number
OF pounds of meal is a huge mistake. as
some can digest more than others In their
own experience at home they seldom gave
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