Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1901-11-05
ocToseR BOARD BULLETIN.

HAMMOND, Agricultural Editor Oxford Dem
ocrat. Paris. Ne.
| ocTOseR BOARD BULLETIN.
STOCK FEEDING.
We treat this month the very impor
tant subject of stock feeding. Probably
there never was a time when the general
farmer was studying more along the
lines of intelligent stock feeding than at
present.
Intelligent feeding means economical
feeding. Economical feeding is using
the food at hand to the best pos
sible advantage.
He who produces the most growth,
the most milk, the most labor from a
given amount of food is the intelligent
feeder, not he who makes the same
amount of food 60 the farthest regardless
of the condition of his animals or the
amount of work they are doing.
/ In order to get the most from food it
is necessary to know something of its
constituents and the purposes for which
il is fed. With the elaborate work of
l our experiment stations before us, that
knowledge becomes comparatively easy,
and he who studies much in this direc-
ton must get more for his food than he
who does not. Another requisite to
success in this work is a fair knowledge
of the animals you are handling and the
| ability to know when they are at their
best and well up to their capacity for
production. The two go hand in hand
and should be the guide of the feeder
through all his work.
The question as to the wisdom of
purchasing feeds, depends upon two
conditions. A mans farm is his operat-
ing plant. Its capacity is measured by
the amount of available plant food it
contains. If he has a sufficient plant
and can use his homegrown feeds to
good advantage, it is well for him to do
so. If he desires to extend his work
and make his plant larger in production,
it will be necessary for him to purchase
feeds. This should be done with due
regard for the kinds of food he has at
his command. With the farm producing
principally the cereal crops and grasses,
it will be necessary to purchase the
expensive heterogeneous feeds, like cot
tonseed and gluten. With good guam
titles of clover and other leguminous
crops he may purchase of the cheaper
starch foods, such as corn meal and the
like. The farm should under any cir
cumstances, be made as self-supporting
as possible. This can be done by intel
ligent rotation of crops, by carefully
studying the constituents of these crops
and the effect they produce on the ami
NAL, and by the careful outstanding and
application of the farm manures.
CROP CONDITIONS ON sEPTEMBEK /.
From Crop Reporter.l
The monthly report of the statistician
of the department of agriculture shows
the average condition of corn on Sept.
to have been SIT. There was decline
during August amounting to 2.3 points,
and the &C cndition on the first of Septem-
Der was 2S.9 points lower than on Sep
tember l, 1900, 33.5 lower than at the
corresponding date in 1899, 81 points
below the mean of September averages
for the last ten years, and S.3 below the
lowest September average that of 1881,
ever before recorded. While the Au-
gust rains were beneficial to late planted
corn, it is only in few states that the
crop as whole shows any improve
ment or has even held its own during the
month. There has been decline of 13
points in Ohio, s in Indiana, in Illinois,
Iowa and Texas, and in Nebraska. In
Kansas and Missouri the local gains and
losses about counterbalance each other,
and in these states the condition OF the
crop as whole is represented by the
same figures as on Aug. /.
The average condition at harvest of
winter and spring wheat combined was
S2.S, against 69.6 last year, 7O.9 In 1899
and ten-year average of sos. North
Dakota, California and Oregon report a
condition points, Washington IL, lndi-
ana 10, Illinois 10, Missouri 22, and Kan
sas 2S points above their respective ten
wear averages. On the other hand, the
average condition in Iowa is 2 points, in
Ohio and South Dakota 3, Pennsylvania
@, Minnesota and Nebraska s, Michigan
%, and Texas 80 points below the re-
spective ten-year averages of these
states.
The average condition of oats when
harvested was 72.l, against S2.9 last
year, S7.2 in 1899, and ten-year aver
age of Sl.6. OF the states having the
largest acreage devoted to this product,
only Iowa and Minnesota report a con-
dition comparing favorably with their
ten-year averages, the former being l
point and the latter points above such
averages. On the other hand, the con-
dition Of the crop in Ohio and Michigan
is points, in Illinois Z, in Indiana 8,
Wisconsin IL, Nebraska 20, Kansas Il,
New York 25, Pennsylvania "a, and
Missouri Al points below the respective
ten-year averages of these states.
The average condition of potatoes on
Sept. was 52.2, against 1928 on Aug. l,
1901, so on Sept. I, 1900, S6.3 at the cor
responding date in 1899, and 7S.S, the
mean of the September averages of the
last ten years. The present condition is
the lowest ever reported in September,
being 1912 points below that Of 1894, the
lowest previous September condition.
In every state having 100000 acres or
upward in potatoes, there was an i'm
pairment Of condition during August,
the decline being points in Iowa and
Missouri, @ in Kansas, in New York, s
in Michigan, in Illinois, 10 in Wiscon-
sin. IL in Indiana, Is in Nebraska, IA in
Ohio, 10 in Minnesota, and 22 in Penn
sylvania. No one of those states shows
a condition equal to its ten-year average,
Michigan being Q points, New York Is,
Pennsylvania and Wisconsin Is, Ohio 20,
Minnesota 20, Indiana Al, Illinois 4S,
Nebraska A, Iowa 40, Kansas %, and
Missouri So points below such average.
Five of the more important apple
growing states report an improvement
in condition during August, such i'm
provement amounting to point in Indi-
ana, points in kentucky, in Tennes-
see, IL in Missouri and II in Kansas.
Only three of the states--Indiana, Vir-
ginia and Kansas, report conditions
above their ten-year averages, while the
remainder of the states report eondi-
tions below such averages, ranging from
point in Kentucky to AZ points in New
York.
Average condition of crops in Maine
Sept. lst or when harvested: Corn, 94
Der cent; wheat 90 per cent; rye 9S per
cent; oats 94 per cent; barley, 94 per
cent; potatoes, so per cent; apples, Al
per cent. Average condition Sept. 1st,
or when harvested, for ten years: Corn,
92 per cent; wheat 90 per cent; oats "
Der cent; rye, 96 per cent; barley, % per
cent; potatoes, "a per cent; apples, 60