The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1895-01-11
NOTES OF THE FARM.


crop. Study the soil and the needs Of
the crop.
Better hire little more help than
to keep the boys out of school to help
cut up or gather corn.
1t is well to remember that 1t
muscle rather than fat that Is needed
by breeding stock, as fat leads to loss
of energy, IL not of health and vlgor.
The recent rains have started grass
on lawns. When the lawn-mower Is
used rake up the short grass and put
it away for the use of laying hens, as
they will accept it readily.
Well-cured corn fodder is more fully
dlgested than timothy hay, and is nu-
tritious and palatable 1t is roasted,
however, If left in the fields to be ex-
posed to rains, winds and frosts dur
ing the winter.
The fall is the time to use the scales.
Weigh everything that goes into the
barn and also that comes out. BY so
doing you will always know how much
has been consumed and also how
much remains on hand.
To preserve the fertility of the soil,
saws the National Stockman, three
methods are being practlced by our
best farmers. viz: Rotation of crops,
application of commercial fertilizers
and the use of barnyard manure.
Hay may be protltably grown as a
crop for market, but the land should
receive an application of fertlllzer
every year. Is it better to feed hay
to stock If possible but If preferred
as market crop it will pay better
than grain.
1t is authortatively stated that the
white pine of the Northwest Is so near
ly exhausted that there is practically
no further supply for timber. we
have certainly reached the point where
timber culture holds out fair prom
Use of profit.
Excepting the golden rod, milk weed
and ragweed, all the rest of our weeds
have been imported. These foreign
are the most troublesome and persist
ent. If it was some ones duty to Keep
them from the highways, these pests
would not travel so last.
The greatest aid to success in farm
ing is cheaper production. rms means
that the crops should be Increased Dy
the use of fertilizers in order to de-
crease Inp COSl VI thc i"'N''
larger the crop the lower the expense
and the greater the profit.
The better condition in which the
farm tools are kept the less effort Is
required on the part of teams, ana on
the part of the workingman also, yet
farmers will use their implements
whole year without sharpening them.
No other mechanic would do this.
About one-third of a crop depends
upon the soil, one-third upon the seed,
one-third upon care and cultivation,
but each one of these must be at It's
hest TO get full advantage of the
others. If either falls short more than
it's own proportion of the crop is like
ly to fall short
In Albermarle county, Virginia,
where apples are q special crop, one
grower thinned off nearly three-quar-
ters of the fruit from his trees last
year He got just as many apples in
bushels, as compared with previous
wears. and also received double the
market price, as the fruit was su-
perior to any ever before grown in
that section, both in size and quality.
The best yields of wheat are on
lands that have a grass crop in the ro-
tation. especially of clover. The grow
ing of wheat and corn in succession,
with no change from them for num-
her of wears. will lead to exhaustion
unless fertilizers are applied in suf-
ficient proportions to prevent loss OF
fertility. Grass, however, Is a crop
of itself, and also benefits the soil by
shading it and by securing nitrogen
from the atmosphere.
How many farmers know how, when
and where to ship in order to dispose
( of their products? The merchant Is
careful to learn where to buy and sell.
| and keeps himself posted on prices.
| He also knows from whom to procure
goods at the lowest cost and where to
find the best markets. The farmer
should be business man when II
comes to selling and buying, To sue
ceed he should read and learn, and bG
prepared before the crops mature.
Those who raise large crops of on
ions spread manure In the fall, plow
1t under with n One-horse plow, and
if the weather permits during the win
ter, the land is cross-p,owed, which
incorporates the manure with the soil
The rains and frost pulverize the man
ure, and when early spring arrives th'
plant food is ready for the crop. Th'
plot for onions should be made read!
now, instead of waiting until the tim,
for planting the seed or setting 6u
the sets.
Science has disproved the rural be
lief that thunder sours milk. 1t Il
now known that the souring result
from a fungous growth, and that th
fungus is peculiarly fatal to NURSING
children. The old-time rural belle
was that the conclusion from thunde
acted mechanically upon the milk, an,
first soured and then solidfed it. I
happens that milk sours during or jus
after thunder storms because the al