The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1895-11-13
STATE FARMING.
What the Department of Agriculture Has to
Say About This Industry.

now fes.uN Tor general ui-tf1button. nc
number of farmerts' institutes has increas-
ed from about 10 to l39, thereby adding
very materially To- the labor of Secretary
Edge. Last year, before the depar. lent
of agriculture was organized upon its
present basis. and was only state board,
with MIR. Edge as its secretary, the ex-
pense of the work undertaken 10y il az
gregated Sl6, 800; =, 900 ofthis amount was
used for farmers institutes. The annual
appropriation for expenses of members OF
the board is $1,000; according 10 the pres
ent membership, this gives per capita
rate of S27. 40. much below the former APP
preparations of the board, when the
amount often reached Si5 per member.
This decrease per capita is due TO the in
creased membership in the board with
out corresponding increase of appro-
priation.
Under the authority Of the board SIX
regular agents were appointed TO examine
fertilizers. The fees for the analyses were
determined by the executive committee
and in no case exceeded seventy-fiye per
cent. of the usual price paid for such ser
vices. Last year these agents returned to
the board l,725 samples; l.2G0 were of
complete fertilizers, al were of ground
bone and 22i were of South Carolina rock.
As these samples were taken at complete
random it is probable that of the fertiliz-
ers on sale in Pennsylvania seventy-three
per cent. belong to the class called com
plete,~ while fourteen per cent. are
ground bone and thirteen per cent. South
Carolina rock. Last year there were Ii
censed and recorded for sale in this state
S02 distinct brands of fertilizers, ofwhich
80 were complete l05 were ground
bone, SO were South Carolina rock, 40
were alkaline bone. The work of this
analysis has been performed by nr. VIII
liam Erear, of the Pennsylvania state ex-
perimental station. Each analysis was
made in duplicate TO avoid all errors.
Thirty-two Thousand copies of the results
of these analyses have been sent out to
farmers and those using fertilizers for
their benefit and protection.
One of the most difficult problems en-
countered 10y the board is the prevention
of the spread of contagious disease among
animals. Many of the farmers whose
animals are afflicted with some epidemic
are comparatively poor and strenuOuSly
protest against the killing of the cnws,
horses or sheep. To ohyiate this difficult
ty the board was authorized in lss9 To pay
for the animals thus killed. II il stated
that 'As a rule cattle are far too crowded.
In only three farms out oftwelve especial
ly examined WAS any attempt made at
ventilation, and even in those three It was
more i'm name than i'm fact. In not single
barn visited was there any provision
made for the admission of fresh air"
The report also gives the results ofsome
important experiments tried at the State
college agricultural experiment station.
From these il appears that when the aver
age Ecst Of the focd consumed per COW
each day was 1873 cents an increase of IA
cents in the cost of their Tations produced
an increase in the value of the butter pro-
duet OF 30 or a net gain of IL cents per
cow, amounting to ~ cents per day for
herd of - cows or S72.jO per year. \
further increase Of - cents per day in the
food, making the total food cost 25.l cents,
gave no further increase in the butter
product and was therefore fed al a loss.
Last year fifty-nine glandered horses
were condemned and killed. Nineteen
of these eases were in WiilSesbarre and
the value of them was S2,2j0.
Experiment seems 10 prove that in COM
petent hands ,itgbsrlulin' Is a safe aud
sure diagnOStic agent for tubcrc' l2SiS.
Dr. Lee states that during the last three
or four years he has examined so dairies
weekly and sometimes he finds the milk
watered to the extent Of four per cent.
DIR. I. Bridge, of Philadelphia, the vet
erinary surgeon, states that during last
year eighty-three herds of cattle contain
ing .I6l animals were examined for tu-
berculosis and 100 killed. There were
three outbreaks of Texan fever and no
cases of contagious pleuro pneumonia
ISs horses were examined in the course of
the year fur CHAMBERS h1 him.
1t seems from statistics compiled by the
department that the farmers of this state
expend s3,7Jl.O}0 to Si.ON,OoJ annually for
commercial fertilizers. Last year the
farmers used 800 tons of ground bone
paying for il total of sll5,7J0.
As regards the forests of this state. we
find that 100 years ago there were 29, 49,,
400 acres of timber land. This amount
had been reduced 10y last year to less
than 1,O11,GO1, and of that amount not
more than I,G1,O01 acres are valuable.
There IS a dreadful destruction of valua-
BILE property each year from forest
fires. In ISL, more than l2,O0j,000 acres
OF land in this country were destroyed,
representing value of over S25,000,010.
At the present rate of destruction the en-
tire 5G0,Up9.G0f acres of forest land in the
United States will have vanished at the
end of fifty years.
The cash value Of all the farms in the
state in 1879. was Si07, ,ST5. .0iJ; at the pres
ent date it is SD. .a4i0.3i; the highest total
valuation was reached in ls7G, when all
the farms OF the state aggregated Sl,0i3.-
tsl ~