The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-06-26
AGRICULTURAL.
THE EINJURIOU US EFFECT OF DROUYH
 UPON SOIL AND CROPS.
Experiments in Corn Growing Sum- marized-Shallow Cultivation Has Re- the Far West.

| 4NSdlly every SGdSOIl, IelHdFhS lll
 Hartford Times, a dry period in lat
 spring or early summer occasions tn
 farmer in this latitude a deal of solici
 tude For the past twenty years thi
 state of things has been the rule and tn
 exception infrequent These drouths, 0
 greater or less duration and severity
 are one of the gravest drawbacks tla
 our farmers have to contend with. Per
 haps it Is better to say endure than con
 tend with, For farmers really do very ! little to counteract the effects oI
 drouth, but look on and see their crops destroyed or injured, and, patiently ol | impatiently, wait for rain And this 1T a section of country where water enough Is continually running to waste | to keep everything fresh and growing | throughout the longest period of drouth | if utilized and psoperly applied, Thf subject of irrigation is a large and i'm portant one, not yet thoroughly mas tered in agriculture either in practice
 or theory Water may be applied ill imitation of rain to garden and frult crops on limited area, but in general farming this is impracticabe SUIT
 ring the surface soil is great help in a
 dry time, but this aid can only be ex-
 tended to cultivate crops, while the
 grasses perish.
 The injury caused by extreme dry
 weather is not confined to It's visible et-
 feet upon vegetation. Applied fertlll-
 gers remain intact in the soil from lack
 of moisture, and their value as plant
 food is lost to the crop. Under these
 conditions the plants, whose roots are
 unable to absorb the undissolved plant
 food by which they are surrounded, lit orally starved in the midst of plenty.
 The results of many years of experi- rnents in corn growing at the Indiana station farm can be summarized as fol- lows: Planting corn early in May has proved best as rule. The greatest av- craze yields of both ears and stalks have been obtained when the stalks stood twelve to fourteen inches apart. Thick planting has reduced the size of the ears and the per cent. of grain. Thick planting has in dry seasons pro- duced the heaviest yield of stalks and the hghtest yield of ears The yields of corn from cultivation one, two and three inches deep have been about equal Cultivation four inches deep has considerably reduced the yield Of corn. Heavy applications of manure and fertilizers have not proved profita- ble in continuous corn culture. In con- tinuous corn culture the effect of a nf horse n,lre has not teen exhausted !u fifteen years. Cultural implements differing much in construction and action upon the soil have produced nearly the same yields of corn. Of the several cultural implements under trial, preference is given to the epring-tooth cultivator for soils similar to that of the station farm. fIil and drill rlantings of corn have produced practically the same average yields
 What is known as the "Oswald' ra . ton is very popular in some parts of .he west as a ration for feeding sheep and lambs It consists of a mixture of .wo hundred and eighty pounds of ,helled corn. thirty-two pounds of oats, hirty pouETs If wheat screenings and | sixty pounds of lineeed meal The 'eeders begin however, with a light ra- ion of oats and corn, and increase | gradually in the total amount fed an | Il the proportion of corn until they are atisfied that the sheep are eating and digesting what they eat. t may be weeks before they can eat | md digest a full ration of nine pounds if corn and enc of oats, and they need watching to see that they do not get off heir feed and out of condition.
 Many creaueries throughout the ountry are being fitted with apparatus or making cheese as well as butter.
 Dr. S. M Babcock, the inventor of he Babcock milk test, has been voted
 gold medal by the Wisconsin legisa- ure, in recognition of his distinguished ervices to the industry of dairying.
 Some farmers are poisoning the cut yorms by scattering a mixture of yheat bran. molasses and Paris green yer the fields. It is greatly to be cared that they will poison many use ll birds in this way.
 The application of electrical power to arm industry has been freely prophe- ed, and in some sections the predic- ons are being fulfilled A farmer at t. JohnsvilIe, N. r.. has two water ills on his farm, which are utilized to lrnish force for working farm ma l linery. One motor operates hay { liter, another threshing machine, { nd third circular saw. The farm 1use is brilliantly lighted and comfort i ply heated by electricity. Milk sepa- ( ltors, churns and other dairy appli- l lces have electric motor attachments. { utside the house several arc lamps rn night into day. The use of elec- ( ic lights in the barn and outhouses 6 'eatly diminishes the danger of fire. S There is no standard rule as to how e any times corn should be cultivated c r the best results. Cultivation should r
 frequent. In the early stages of g owth deep cultivation will not iniure k e corn roots, and on soils that have a t ndency to become compact it may bel e
 well to go somewhat deeply at first. c making the cultivation more S allow as the corn gets larger But c ter the plants have attained some ,e and their roots are extending all 2 CT the ground, only shallow cultiva- il n is advisable. Level culture is best S
 # leaves less surface exposed to the il ying winds. Tillage can be kept up u lger than is the usual practice of ls rmers, if an implement is used that a Il no break down the corn or go t, ep enough to injure the roots fl The great danger with this country is b