The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-03-20

soon as the ear Is perfectly pe-yo will
be greatly pleased and delighted with the
results, for you cannot fail to have the
largest, finest, best matured ears.
Some are apt to think that large ears
are late. but If you will go through your
neios and examine the ears. you Will nnd
many large ears that are early, and many
small ears that are late; and now the true
principle to follow in this matter is to
breed up" to large, early ears, until the
habit is fixed.
The writer has pursued this practice for
years, with results the most satisfying.
There is no other way. The habit of grow
ing low, heavy stalks, with large, early
ears, can be fixed and established per-
manently, just as the habit of the small,
Jersey COW has been bred and fixed to give
large amounts of milk and butter, while
another breed is fixed with the habit of
growing a large frame for beef.
The habit in corn is much more easily
established than it is with cattle and
horse. One breed or variety of horses
Is bred to heavy weight and great strength,
while another is bred for activity and
small or medium size. Intelligent breeding
must be applied to growing grains, vegeta-
bles and fruits.
The low yield of farm crops for 90 wears
past, as shown by the census reports, does
not pay. The average reported for corn
IS 70 bushels per acre, while the average
should be not less than 50 bushels per acre,
ana Tor the corn growing regions it should
pc lo bushels per acre. Tn great loss
Is caused by the want of proper cultiva-
ton and seed development.
we most heartily indorse the sentiment
expressed by the speaker quoted below. The
notion that corn is too rich for stock food.
ana pork too rich for the human family. Is
the muStlest Kind of rot. In an address be-
lore one of the swine breeders associations
the speaker said: 1T is the habit of many
minimizing, dyspeptic people to refer to
pork products as unfit for human food. This
IS the rankest nonsense and is cOntradicted
every day by millions of people who enjoy
the luXurles OF bacon and ham,, roast pork
anu spare ribs, sausage and pork steak.
ne FAMILY with a hog in the house can af-
iord to laugh at the wild assertions of these
dyspeptlc cranks. The hog has been with
europeans thousands of years, and settled
In America with the first white men. His
good qualities are more apparent each
year."
Wheat is a much more expensive crop, so
lar as cash outlay is concerned, than corn.
and where corn is a standard crop, 1 think
corn should be raised to the exclusion of
wheat, for it is a crop that a farmer can
raise with the least outlay for machinery
or hired help, and though the price NAV be
low 1t furnishes work and wages through a
long season. Wheat is more of a bonanza
farmers crop, for there is large outlay for
machinery, and 1T must be grown on a large
scale to make it profitable.
Wheat feeding has passed through the
ma, ha,' and pooh, pooh stages, and is
now in the hear, hear stage, and is occu-
pylng more attention in the general agri-
cultural press than any other one subject,
not that it is of the most Importance. but
because 1t is a new one and Very timely.
Have you banked up the quarters thor
ouehly for the early pigs?
Have you plenty of short dry straw or
leaVes ready to keep the bed always dry?
have you been feeding a laxative ration
for some time previous to narrowing?
Another View of the Russian Thistle.
That there are two sides to every question
seems true of the much talked of and writ
ten about Russian thistle. The latest and
most hopeful view of the subject comes
from a South Dakota farmer who in a COM
munlcatlon to the Dakota Farmer says:
In view OF the general alarm that seems
10 prevail throughout the West in regard
to the so-called Russian thistle pest.
ueem 1t my duty to call the attention of
those unfamiliar with the plant to some
OF Its redeeming qualities, that in my judg-
ment more than offset all of it's undesirable
ones.
l have lived in South Dakota since 1885,
and have seen the development of the
thistle from the time the first plants were
considered a curiosity until the fields were
covered with them. l have made expert
ments on my farm in the country. So have
several Of the farmers of this locality on
theirs, and as a result of these experiments
l am prepared to subStantiate the following
propositions:
First-The thistle is no pest to small
grain where a proper system of cultivation
is employed.
Second-It is no worse a pest to corn or
potatoes than many weeds that are COM
mon to the corn fields of Iowa and Illinois,
and good cultivation keeps them under com
plete control.
Third-It in no way interferes with pas
lures or meadows, as it grows on cult
waited soil or by the roadside where the
grass has been killed.
Fifth-That in any country where the
climatic conditions are similar to South
Dakota, the plant is Invaluable, as it pro-
WOES a reservoir Of moisture for use at a
season when it IS specially needed. And
when properly utilized will largely increase
the crop yield instead of diminishing it as
is commonly supposed.
l am aware that in making the above
assertions l shall probably be severely crit
icised. AS people are disposed to float
with the tide of public opinion, and at pres
ent public opinion is decidedly against the
Russian thistle.
I make this qualification only, I do not
feel that my experience would justify me
in believing that my theory would be of
any value to low, wet countries like l I'M
derstand the Red river valley to be, and l
make no claims for it in that locality.
In ten years experience in this state
with it's crisp, wintry winds, 1 nave never
seen snow lay on fall plowed fields, ex-
cept in patches, where it was protected in
some manner from the full sweep of the
wind. In fact, the snow seems to be con-
stantly on the move. In this climate we
are quite likely to be short of rain during
the month of April and the first half of
May, and have an abundance from that
time until July. l have never seen a real
poor piece of wheat that had a good even
stand in April. Most of the poor crops
raised in this locality since 1886 have been
on fall blowing, and in many fields that
were practically total failures have seen
patches OF wheat that would go from 20 to
~ DushelS per acre, in spots where snow
banks or drifts had melted, while the bal
ance of the field would not be worth cut
ung. The wheat sown where the snow
banks had been, got an even, early start,
and was carried to maturity by the May
and June rains, while the balance, depend
ing on spring rains to start the seed.
was a poor stand and badly choked by
weeds that do not wait for rains to ger
inmate their seed. 1t was evident to all
that if the snow banks had covered the
whole field equally, the entire crop would
have been good. ] believe that thoughtful
men who nave raised wheat in South Da-
kota will agree with me on this point.
How shall We get the snow to cover our
heids to a sufficient depth to insure a crop?
This is how 1 did it.:
In the fall Of 1893 I left my stubble land
%unplowed and covered with Russian this