The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1901-02-01
Farmers Institute.

menus duu uiScOuEdStuS lHGiu6utH,
lit was most entertaining and profit
able to our farmers, or should prove
most profitable if they will act on
the advice and information placed
at their service by the able corps of
lecturers employed by Mr.. Amoss,
Director of these Institutes.
/ The greatestand only snow worth
notice of this winter made its ap
| pearance the day the Institute was
advertised to meet, and interfered
very materially by serving to min
imize the audience on Friday.
There was also an unfortunate dis
arrangement in the time Miss Cald
well was to deliver lecture on
domestic economy, or "The Food
We Eat,n and the misfortune of
sickness which prevented her sec
ond lecture, which had been ar
ranged for. Aside from these nm
foreseeable incidents the Institute
lin its several sessions was abund-
antly useful and entertaining to the
farmers, and not only the farmer
but to everyone who attended.
The most profitable topic, per-
haps, because most easily to put
! into practice, was the short talk on
Alfalfa given by Mr.. Wing, OF
lOhio. That alfalfa will thrive in
this section of country and yield
abundantly Mr.. Wing demon
strated most conclusively. He ex-
planned the precautions to be OBJ
served necessary to insure success,
SO that no farmer need fail if he
gives this "queen of the meadow
forage plant an intelligent trial.
/ Alfalfa seems to offer to the farm
ers of today what red clover gave
to the farmers of two generations
ago, a fertilizer and most nutritious
stock food. In both these functions
taltalfa appears TO be even superior
to red clover in its palmiest days.
Red clover is pretty nearly aplayed
out" to use a popular expression,
for this part of the country. We
expect to see a number of our adj
vanced farmers plant few, or at
least one acre ofalfalfa next spring.
Ifthey remember and follow Mr..
Wings instruction we do not see
why they should not thoroughly
prepare several acres of their corn
stalk ground and seed it down in
alfalfa.
BY Mr.. Wings description of
soil best adapted to the growth of
alfalfa, the dry subsoil and sandy
loan of the Octoraro hill country
seems to fill the bill exactly.
When a field is set in alfalfa it will
last for several years, and yield
seven tons Of hay superior in milk
and beef elements to the best pre-
served red clover.
As a fertilizer the alfalfa is supe-
rior to clover, its roots running
deeper into the soil, reaching furth-
er down as the summer drought
becomes more intense and bringing
soluble elements from the subsoil
far below the reach of the pE,w,
while the thrifty growing top draws
from the atmosphere rich drafts of
nitrogen.
Lambs for the early market aud
the profit in sheep, With the proper
care, shelter and feed was discussed
in most entertaining and practical
way by Mr.. Wing.
The cattle question or the meat
market of the twentieth century,
and the profit side of raising hay
timothy-for sale were ably, we
might say very ably, discussed by
both Mr.. Wing and Mr.. Van
Alstyne. Mr.. Van Alstyne demon
strated from his long experience as
a hay farmer, that timothy hay
could be made one of the best pay
ing crops of the farm. The hay
crop is an old, familiar subject to
our farmers, but the meat question
was something Of an eye opener to-
most OF them in the manner it was
presented. Fat and early stock for
the market was the key note of sue
cess sounded by these men, who
claimed to tell only what they prac-
tice on their own farms. Lambs
eight to ten weeks old and pushed
to the latest possible degree, and
about fifty pounds in weight, fit for
the market in January, February
and March, is the lamb that brings
the money and yields the profit.
So also with beef. "Babyo beef
and "baby" lambs, are what the
market demands and are what com
mand the gilt-edge price. The calf
should be ready for market when
he reaches two years of age. Inl
order to get this the shorthorn, the
herford, the black and white Dutch
animals must be reared. Dehorn
and plsh the young stock in its
growing season, and avoid the old
over-ripe. shelly OK.
The profitable and Improbable
COW for the dairy was pointed out |
and the warning should be needed |
by every farmer having dairy cows
to continually test the milk of his
COWS and Oet rid If tha unnrof;f 70 hla