davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-01-04
THINGS WORTH KNOWING.


That idle ground gains nothing and
is only a place in which weeds may
revel. A bare soil loses nitrogen. and
that is where the error comes in when
advocating a bare fallow to restore
fertility.
That it pays to be wise Turn the
straw, hay and fodder into manure by
way of the stable, whereby you NAV
increase your crops. while getting a
profit from the stock We grow moth
ing absolutely valueless.
That science viii not aways tell the
whole story. The analysis of the soil
is hardly positive guide by which to
crop it. A growing plant may find
food enough for its needs where the
chemist would find hardly trace
That plants, as well as animals re-
quire food to make them grow. Even
in this day of better things there are
men who would be surprised to learn
that they had poor crops because they
had starved them to death.
That a farmer should never have any
spare time" His farm will afford a
duty for every day and hour. except
such as should be given to rest and
recreation, and there is a great dis
tinction between rest and idleness.
That it is far better to put extra
work upon ones own fields than to
Hie Out your spare time to your
neighbors. Most of our work is too
superficial at best. Extra tillage upon
our fields can be made to pay SO a
day.
That weeds take the same substances
from the soil as valuable plants do.
Analysis of the ash proves this. They
should be fought in every possible
way. single fall moving is not
thorough work at all. Cut early, and
keep at it.
That our best farmers are no longer
filling their barns with corn and hay
exclusively for winteT4fee Silage ard
we'll cured corn fodder are more eco
nomical and better In the bins are
bran and oil meal
That nitrogen abounds where there is
decayed vegetables. Keep up the green
manuring. Sowing clover seed is adding
to the capital in bank and it begins to
draw interest from the first day of de-
post.
That the great disadvantage of the
single crop system is that one has
nothing to sell except at the time of the
one harvest. 1t is apt to induce the
habit of running store bills the rest
of the wear
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-01-04
DAIRY NOTES.

No other matter about the farm Will
so poorly stand being made thing OF
secondary interest as the dairy.
A very little neglect viii do great
damage in the making of the dairy
product, and, of course. destroy some
of the profits.
The best profit from dairying comes
from the manufacture of gilt-edge but
ter for private customers. Let every
dairyman make il his business to make
the best, and after you have customers
you will be reasonably sure to keep
them.
Wisconsin has become one of the
great dairying states of the Union, and
the cause is directly traceable TO the
institutes and the attention which has
been taken to educate farmers up to
the appreciation of the value of the
soil. No danger of her overriding the
thing.
Never have two purposes about it, but
buy your cows for the dairy with eX-
press reference to the dairy type. II
you chance to get one which Will make
good beef in the end count that as an
extra gain. but do not expect it or buy
it with that in view. If the good beef
qualities predominant. lose no time in
making good beef of her.
Do not put milk into closely covered
cans Immediately after milking, as by
so doing it will be forced to retain any
foul odors it may have absorbed. BY
aerating all animal and other doors
may be removed, and that is the bet
ter way to treat milk which is to be set
for cream in covered cans. or 10 put
into cans for immediate shipment or
delivery. but some milk comes from the
stable too rank to be worth giving
very much care. 1t will be folly to
preach the finer principles of good
dairying to him who has never learned
his first lesson. MANY a farmer does
not know good milk from bad.
If care is taken to select only good
mich cows and breed them to a sire
whose ancestry shows a good record in
the dairy, you can depend upon the
cows that come from such breeding
being good dairy animals. There is
less risk of failure in this than in al
most any other line of breeding. Prop
er care in selection will almost invarid-
bly, give satisfactory results.
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-01-04
Money Every Month.

one of the most important features
connected with the business of COW
culture is that those who are prop
erly in it, with many or few cows. have
money every month in the year and
are thus able TO take the benefit of
those advantages innumerable which
are always confronting the cash buyer
and as invariably evading the man
who must ask for credit until this or
that uncertain crop is grown, har-
vested and marketed. A Striking illus
tration of what a proper appreciation
OF the COW will do for a people, SAYS
a writer in the Prairie Farmer is af-
forded by that speck on the map de-
scribed as little insignificant. ice
bound Denmark, a country one-sixth
the size of Kansas, away toward the
north pole Not many years ago,
when their soils had become so i'm
poverished by it that ordinary farming
was no longer affording any profit, her
people cautiously and in a small way
took up dairying. Entering upon the
work in earnest they now monopolize
the importing butter trade of Great
Britain, from which country alone they
receive about $25, 100000 per year for
butter. while the whole United States
sells there but 100000 worth Canada
with her high priced land and cold,
long winters, is coming to dominate the
English cheese markets in the same
way, and a continuous stream of Brit
ish gold is flowing into the pockets of
those slow going Canucks, not because
their natural advantages are superior
or in any wise equal to ours, but be-
cause of their skill and mother wit.
which enables them to successfully and
at the same time milk the cow with one
hand and hold John Bull with the
other. Please do not for a moment.
infer that / wish to encourage all the
people to rush headlong into dairying.
for to many it would only mean a
brand of calamity" Being success
full dairyman or dairywOman comes.
as rule. only through having some
what of a natural talent in that direc-
ton, developed by a radical process of
and patient effort along right
lines, which mean growth, or, as l pre-
fer to call it, evolution. Those who
were born tired, who lack what the
calls continuity, who are
without that accomplishing patience
best tyDified in the average farmers
wife: who expect to get out of any ma
chine more than they feed into if:
who are not willing to pay for and
read good dairy paper: who do not
like COW and who won't wash before
breakfast, are not cut ont for dairy
ing.
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-01-04

pretty close and need it badly Hahn
got a cent now" replied the farmer
airily. And / can't afford to sell corn
at Il cents. You'll have to wait till
prices get little betterr' But" urged
the groceryman, there will be a man
here this afternoon with lot of bills,
and I'll have to pay them or go to the
wall. Can't you let me have part-say
$25, right now % Couldn't do it TO save
my soul. Haven't a cent for you. Tell
the man he'll have to wait like the rest
of u.s., He went out with his parcels,
got into his wagon and drove off, aD-
parently as happy as lark.
His account" said the groceryman
to me, is considerably over 800. 1t
has been climbing up about eight
months. What's a fellow TO do with
such men?' Lay on your profit. Mac
Duff | replied: "Oh, l haven't forgot
ten that; but / want som money now"
I'VE are ordering a. lot of groceries
from the city" said / TO a neighbor,
who seems to have a hard struggle TO
get along in the world, wouldn't you
like to join us2 We buy these things
in full packages and get them at about
the same price the grocers here pay for
them. If YOU desire to put in a, small
order with US. you can do so. and
your freight bill will not be over 10
cents 1 then showed him the price
list. well, WE'LL said he, as he read
the items, "a person can get these
goods for about a third less than they
cost at the stores here. NY wife was
saying last night that we are needing
several of these things, and ! would
like to give you an order if / had the
money by me. L suppose they won't
give any time on these goods, Will
they? Well. I'm short just now. Let
me know when you order again, and if
/ have the money by me, I'll get in
with your
We ''let him know four times, and
each time he was a little short of cash,
but hoped he'd be able to join us the
next time. His account at the store in
town is steadily growing larger. While
his ability TO pay it is steadily dimin-
Grundy in the Rural New
Yorker
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-01-04

pound per day at a cost of 2 1-3 cents
per pound.
Ewes which breed earliest are gener-
ally the heaviest mixers and produce
the finest early lambs.
1t pays to feed grain to lambs from
their birth, if they are intended for
early market. Besides yielding 90 cents
more profit, per head, on mutton, the
grain fed lambs sheared two pounds
more wool, each, at weaving time, than
those which had nc grain, and the wool
was of a heavier grade.
1t does not pay to feed grain to suck
ling ewes running on good pasture.
The lambs of such ewes were no better
than those of ewes having no grain.
But in all cases where the grain was
fed to the lamb instead of to its
mother, the profit was marked.
In Canada and the Northern United
States rape is a profitable sheep feed.
One acre of average rape will pasture
u lambs two and one-half months.
Constant close housing is not profit
able for even lambs. Neither is I'M
limited exposure. The proper practice
is TO shut in close barns in stormy
weather, and give them open lots in
fine weather, with sheds along the
north side open TO the south.
The idea that fattening lambs suffer
from the heat of their coats to such
1t does not pay to shear them either
in early fall or early spring.
Silage makes mutton more slowly,
but at less cost than roots.
Giving unlimited rations by self-feed-
ing devices has not been profitable at
any station where the test has been
made.
Rating prime hay at IS per ton, other
feeds are worth the following prices
for feeding sheep: Corn fodder, 81 per
ton; roots, 81; ensilage, 81; wheat bran,
S13; linseed meal, $25; cottonseed meal.
SIS per ton; corn, 40 cents per bushel;
oats, 80 cents; wheat, SO cents; peas,
80 cents, and barley, 45 cents.
The most rapid gains have been
made on ration of corn and peas; the
greatest gain per pound of food eaten
was made on ration of corn, oats and
oil meal the ration which produced
gain was composed of corn, corn fod-
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-01-04
Fertilize the Orchard.

The apple trees have borne an i'm
mense crop of fruit the last season.
1t takes not only vitality in the trees
themselves, but also fertility in the
soil to bring forth and ripen off such
burden OF fruit says the Maine
Farmer AS a result the trees are
in a measure weakened, and the soil
is exhausted of its material out Of
which the growth of the year has been
sustained, just in proportion to the
years effort of the trees. If, therefore
the thrift of the trees and their power
of fruitage are TO be kept up, they
call for special and unusual attention
at this time, in the way of manuring
and of culture. TO make good or re-
place the draft that has been made
upon them.
The trees, therefore, should be fer
tilted, and the best time to do it is
in the autumn or winter. Barn man.
ure is always good for this purpose,
and always will give in its testimony,
applied in any way that leaves ii in
the vicinity of the trees. 1t never fails
to assert itself. Applied as a top
dressing it of course must divide its
effects with the grass, the growth of
which it so vigorously sustains, hence
its full value, when so used, is not
realized in fruit production. The guam
tity needed, therefore, under this prac-
tice is greater than would be neces-
sary if the tree and its fruit got it's
full benefit
New Jersey station recommends the
following method of fertilizing the soils
of orchards: Annually apply 100 pounds
each of nitrate of soda and superphos-
phate, and 200 pounds each of bone
flour and muriate of potash, and once
in five years give a good dressing of
barnyard manure or turn under good
growth of clover or Dea vines
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-01-04
The Use of Printers Ink.

The progressive farmer believes in
printers ink. 1t is the nitrogen of
trade, because it stimulates desire on
the part of the consumer, and shows
him where to go and satisfy that de-
sire. Farmers should not leave this
valuable business aid to the towns
people. An advertisement in the local
paper, a neat circular or card will al
ways help trade. There is another use
for printers ink that is important. 1t
is well brought out in the following
letter in the Rural New Yorker:
WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
Why should not every farmer have
his name and address plainly printed
on letterheads and envelopes? 1t
would not cost more than 81 or IS a
year, and would be of great conven-
fence to his correspondents, and an in
dication of good business methods on
his part. The need of it is apparent
to anyone who has even a small cor
respondence. 1t is surprising the num-
Der of people there are in the world
who can write everything moderately
plain except their own names and that
of the town in which they live. 1 have
had more than the usual amount of
trouble from this cause in the past
few months, and many letters have not
been answered simply because l either
could not make out the writer's name,
and so did not know whom to address.
or else l could not determine where
to send the letter. AS an example, [
have on my desk while writing this
letter, two letters from different men,
both of whose signatures are abso-
lutely illegible. / have submitted these
signatures TO number of good bust
ness men, and no one has been able to
decipher them. How can one answer
such letters? 1t is common thing for
writers to leave off their state. but
the postmark usually solves this diff
ficulty. Sometimes not. A letter was
recently received from Bridgeville, no
state. and no pOstmark on the envel-
ope. The postal guide gives nine towns
"f this name in the United States.
Where would you send an answer?
Printed letterheads cost very little
more than plain paper. When they
are used there can be no question
about the name and address. and be-
sides this, their use gives the impress
sion that the farmer using them is
more enterprising than his neighbors-
a good impression to make
II NJ COTTT9 TT
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-01-04

am looking to the Russian thistle to
help us out in this matter. 1t has got
ten into New York and ii is going to
wake us up. We will get some western
ideas, and when it gets into the old
orchards it will shake them up from
top to bottom, and it will be as good
reformer as the Goblin moth or apple
scab. The apple scab is bound to revo-
lUIonize apple culture; it is the prick
that keeps the man thinking. The
cultivation of the potato took on
new phase shortly after the potato bug
came in. At first everyone was in the
dumps, but soon they found that they
could beat the potato bug, and then,
as the man went I'D and down his
rows, he wondered whether it paid him
to raise % or 80 bushels per year. 1t
IS matter of education, and where
these bugs are worst is the place
where potato men ought to be the best
educated. Peach yellow is also a case
in point. 1t is better than a course at
any agricultural college on the growing
Of peaches 1t wakes a man up. 1t is
much the same way with weeds. They
say that $4,000 square miles are rem
dered profitlesS by the Russian thistle.
The farmers sow wheat year after
year, and the farms are so big that
they cannot be cultivated. 1t would
be very poor Russian thistles that
would not take possession of the
land under such circumstances. The
Russian thistle is certainly going to
have the credit of introducing a mixed
population into that western country.
In New York state, many years ago,
some people said that the Canadian
thistle would soon establish its empire
over the whole state. 1t has increased
and scattered over the country, but
land is too valuable to grow thistles
now n he
with Canadian thistles; he grows
plums.
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-01-04
Need of Planting Mixed Orchards.

Exhaustive experiments conducted
by the department of agriculture show
the necessity of cross pollination in
most orchards. The net result of long
careful and costly experiments by
the department is summed up in the
following practical conclusions:
First-Plant mixed orchards, or at
least avoid planting solid blocks OF one
variety. 1t is not desirable TO have
more than three or four rows of one
variety together, unless experience has
shown it TO be perfectly self-fertile.
Second-Where large blocks of trees
of one variety which biossomed we'll
have failed to fruit for a series of
years without any apparent reason, it
is exceedingly probable that the fail
ure is due 10 lack of -pOllination.
The remedy is TO graft in other varie
ties and supply foreign pollen.
Third-Be sure that there are suffi-
Gent bees in the neighbOrhOod, or
within two or three miles, TO properly
visit the blossoms. When feasible.
endeaVor to favor insect visits to the
blossoms by selecting sheltered situa-
tons, or by planting windbreaks.
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-01-04
Sheep Feeding Experiments.

The Ontario experiment station at
Guelph, Ontario, Canada. publishes a
summary of experiments in sheep feed
ing made at various places in the
United States and Canada. Professor
Harcourt, who makes this summary,
regards the following facts as estab-
lished beyond controversy by these ex-
Deriments:
The most rapid bodily development
of the lamb is made during the first
two months of its life.
Of late years, the most profitable
branch of sheep husbandry has been
the production of early lambs for mar
ket, and to this end. breeds character
lied by early maturity are most de-
sirable.
Lambs taken from their dams at ten
days old make rapid gains on cows
milk. Rating whole milk at go cents
per 100 pounds the gain cost 31s cents
per pound. Skim milk fed in combina-
ton with crushed oats and green clover
produced an average gain OF half
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-01-04
Profit In Feeding Sheen.

It seems TO be settled upon good au-
thority that sheep when well fed will lay
up a larger per cent of food consumed
in increase of weight than will cattle.
Experiments we believe have pretty well
established the fact that well fed cattle
will show an increase in weight of about
per cent of food consumed. A recent
experiment in England. says the Ne
braska Farmer, would go to show that
sheep can be made TO show an increase
in weight corresponding to u per cent of
food consumed. If this IS true it be-
comes an interesting puzzle to know
what it is in the common food of cattle
and sheep that with the latter is capable
OF producing a pound and half of gain
and with the former but a single pound.
The only plausible explanation we can
make Of it is this: The steer requires a
much larger proportion of food consumed
for the support of his body than does
the sheep, and therefore has a lesser pro-
portion TO make gain with. In other
haDs equally able to extract from food
consumed its digestible constituents, but
in order for the steer to continue to live
and do business very considerable
amount of what he eats must be burned
uD TO meet the wear and tear of his
body. The question naturally becomes
an interesting one to feeders. and if the
above experiments come anywhere near
being verified in the feed yard it affords
an additional reason why feeders should
enter more largely even than at present
into sheep feeding operations.
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-01-04
Strawberry Culture.

There are more regions without a
supply Of home grown Strawberries,
and for every such section there is an
opportunity for some wide awake far
iner TO build up, in a small way, a
business that VIII bring TO him much
better returns for labor expended than
he is wont to receive from any ordi-
nary crop. l say in a small way, be-
cause few viii find it profitable to grow
more than Will supply such a section
as they can cover by wagon and realize
retail prices for unless exceptional
shipping facilities are enjoyed. But
the quantity OF Strawberries a small
town VIII consume when furnished a
continuous supply of first class fruit
is something astonishing. Many who
consider the gritty, half-decayed speci-
mems usually offered by the dealers as
luxuries quite beyond their reach, viii
buy well-filled baskets of fresh, clean.
well-ripened berries of the dollars
worth.
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-01-04
Cash, Credit and Debts.

1t is n curious fact that in times of
great depression, when prices run low
and money is difficult to obtain, hun
dreds of men quickly give up the
struggle and let their debts go to
grass" without the least hesitation
or concern They tell their creditors
they will pay up when they get the
money TO do it with, yet at the same
time they do not worry about the mat
ter, put forth any extra efforts, or
economic in anv particular. I was
in grocery store a few days ago
When farmer came in and ordered
go cents worth of brown sugar, so
cents worth of coffee, 25 cents worth
of tea, package of soda and % cents
worth of soap." After putting them
up the groceryman said: I'D like TO
have a little money, X, I'm running
The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-01-04
Fruit Culture For Profit.

The following article appears edi-
torially in the Ottawa QlL) Free
Trader:
While farmers, or any other owners
of strips of ground, are forming their
resolutions for the new year, let a little
common sense impel them to include
a berry garden in their plans for early
spring. Not only every farmer or
owner of a gOod-sized village lot, but
every ambitious boy or girl should be
encouraged in fruit growing and have
a little garden. with the profits there
of. Business men, professional men
or teachers, broken with care, may re-
gain failing health. add years of pleas
ure to life, and put money in their
purses, by growing small fruits.
The demand for good fruit has never
yet been supplied Many shrewd
farmers realize this, and are making
more money from a few acres of ber-
ries than all the rest of the farm.
The greatest pleasure in fruit-grow-
ing" writes NJ. A. Thayer, in the
Country Gentleman, comes from an
understanding of the simple natural
laws that underlie and enter into all
products of the soil The greatest sue
cess comes from the correct aoplica-
ton of these principles. Soils are good
or poor according to the fertility they
contain. ntN dit NdlUdDlc Olliy DIS
that fertility is made available for
plant food. The application of this
knowledge constitutes common sense
farming and brings success.
"A fruit plant is kind of machine,
capable of doing much or little work,
depending on food. moisture, care,
training and environments. The work
in converting the refuse ami
NAL and vegetable matter into forms
of health, the most wholesome and
delicious known to man. into forms of
beauty. filled with nectar. tinted with
sunshine ministering to all our senses.
It is no excuse in these days for any
one not TO engage in fruit-growing on
the plea that he knows too little about
it to have any reasonable hope for
success.