The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-11-20
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n rnos ' DuesA OF

- EsWEs Ss rs Duu~AH, V his interest In the improvement of the land Is conditioned upon the certainty of being able to rent year after year.
 in other words to reap the benefit Of
 the improvement he makes. write this knowing full well that in the case
 of many tenants lease of several
 years is practically binding only upon
 one party, namely the landlord. How ever good the intentions of the tenant
 to comply with the terms of the lease for series Of years, he Is largely In the hands of the man who advances to him and any year may find himself un- able to till the farm which he has rented. In spite of thls objection, arising from the credit system, there Is profit for both tenant and land lord in longer leases, provided such leases contain stipuIations encourag- ing the growing of cowpeas and other renovating crops. Readers are invited to discuss this question through these columns. J. F. D. Selecting Seed Corn h the Field. The advice has frequently been given in these columns that farmers select seed corn in the field rather than in the crib. This may bear repetition during these last days of the season, before all of the corn crop has been cribbed. We shall do we'll to remember that it Is quite as important to select the best plants to be the parents of next years crop as 1t is to select a variety gener- ally recognized as productive. Indeed. 1t is generally true that the individual plants in any one variety differ more widely in productiveness than the leading varieties differ from each oth- CT in yield.
 Tn making selection of seed corn in tho field the principal points to be borne in mind are the number of ears each ear on the plant. and low posi- ton of the ear on the plant The man who is this late in cribbing his corn will usually find considerable in- jury from the weevil and the grain moth. If any plants show an unusu- ally small amount of such injury this late in the season 1t justifes the pre- ono whose offspring will likewise be somewhat resistant to insect injury. Of course there is no variety wholly ex- empt from such attacks, but 1t Is well known that varieties or plants of corn having hard, somewhat fiinty grains. or that mature very late. are least in- jured.
 To keep the ears that may now be selected as seed corn for a special seed patch next year it is desirable that they be stored without being shelled. thus permitting further selection at planting time. this selection to be based on the size and form of the car. Indeed, the farmer willing to take great pains to improve his strain of corn will find the improvement more 1 rapid if he will plant each ear in q separate row and next fall save his select ears only from the best plants
 on the best rows.
 Of course in a field where the ears I from the best plants are pulled it will be prudent for the remainder of tho crop to be promptly cribbed. Other wise in some parts of the State delay may reduce the number of loads to be hauled In. T. F., D.
 The value of Oxen for Farm Work.
 can remember when every farmer in
 this part of Pennsylvania kept yoke
 of oxen for doing all kinds of farm
 work, and lumbering, and but few Kept
 any horses. Farms generally were
 new, and the fields. excepting the flats
 along the river. had but lately been
 cleared, and were full of stumps. and
 stones, so that oxen owing to their cooler temperament. and patient dispo-
 sition, made much the hardest. pleas anest, and cheapest team for ordinary farm work. For numbering. skidding.
 
 getting up wood, they are much han
 dier, and pieasanter to use thafishorses.
 They will wade. through brush heaps,
 and get around in the woods over logs
 and rocks. much better than horses.
 They are not so nervous. do not become
 frightened if they sink to the knees
 In mud, but with calm stolidity they
 wade through, and draw the load if
 possible.
 Except in the very hottest weather,
 oxen will do as much blowing, harrow
 ing, or drawing in hay. or grain. as
 horses, and do it on much cheaper feed.
 A good yoke of young oxen will blow
 an acre of sod ground. or two acres of
 stubble in a day without other feed
 than a good pasture field at night, and
 A feed of cut hay, moistened, and mixed with a little meal. as batting at noon. I have seen a yoke of oxen. and pair of horses blowing on the same land, each team drawing its own blow, and the oxen kept close up to the horses all day, and did not seem to be greatly fatigued at night. Oxen of the Here- ford and Short-horn breeds are gem orally used in numbering, where lum- bering is the only business followed, l and there Is no doubt that where heavy cattle are required to move heavy loads the Herefords and Shorthorns, can 'dll the bill" but lighter. and more active cattle are preferable for farm work. | The oxen which were the most popu- lar in this region when every farmer 1 used them, were a deep red, with slen- der, long tapering horns. and undoubt- ediy descended from the Devons. In some parts of New England. where oxen are still kept for farm work 1t is | said that the Devons are preferred on | account of their intelligence. activity, and ambition.
 An OK at or years of age accus- toned to labor will endure as much hardship as a mule. l have frequently used a horse team, and an OK team to- gether when I wished to blow sod ground deeply, and they worked to- rether as we'll as two teams of horses,
 and the bovines endured the fatigue as
 we'll as the equines. The horses had
 three feeds of grain per day and the
 oxen but one--a feed of cut hay wet,
 and mixed with meal. They do not re-
 uuire expensive harness like horses. A
 good yoke, costing $3 will last a life
 time without repairs. A good many farmers have more work to do at cer
 tain seasons of the year than can be
 done with one spsn of horses, doing it
 we'll, and getting 1t done at the proper
 season. The consequence is that their
 farms arc not worked to their full ca-
 pacity, or that the work is too hur-
 riedly done, and presumably not well
 done. Other farmers in order to cul-
 tivate all the land they desire to, keep
 two teams of horses the year round,
 but with the exception of putting in the
 spring and fall crops. they have hardly
 work enough for one team in the sum
 mer and not half enough for one In the
 winter. Under such circumstances, the
 extra team of horses will "eat their