Middletown transcript., 1907-03-30
FARM AND DAIRY NEWS

/ Ane iioa Ahdiaha ldt ultE WHO ~ using
his automobile to pump water and run
his corn shelter may not have a poetic
soul, but isn't be intensely practieaI2
Complaints come in of scarcity of cattle
in Texas, which is much like talking of
scarcity of colonels in Kentucky or
grafters in the insurance companies.
The House has passed law authorizing
farmers to erect stills for making de-
naturized alcohol under proper govern
ment control. This is called the German
system and as it has worked well in that
country, it is thought it will greatly BEN
eft farmers in this country as well. By
this process farmers can convert their
refuse potatoes, corn and other vegetables
into alcohol TO be used by themselves for
fuel or power or sold in the markets to
be used by others. The whiskey distil-
leries, who want a monopoly of the busi-
ness, are fighting this law.
South Dakota seems to be the farmers
paradise. They have discovered veins of
hot water and by digging wells and pip
ing may heat their houses and bathe the
"kid' without asking permission of the
coal or natural gas monopoly. Ii the
cattle are troubled with ticks, the. owner
may give them Turkish bath for moth
ing and the gardeners can keep their hot
beds all right by subterranean "gulf
streams that will preserve an even tenn
perature all winter.
The shrinkage of corn varies according
to the condition OF the grain when put
into the crib. Cases have been known in
which corn lost 20 per cent. from shrink
age, the corn being damp. From s to
IL per cent. is the average, the shrinkage
depending upon so many circumstances
as to make an exact estimate very diff
cult, but the rule is to allow 10 per cent.
The farmer who confines himself to
two or three staple crops, and who has
not ventured beyond them, does not know
the full capacity OF his farm. He should
try some special crops on small area,
and endeavor TO have greater variety
of articles to SELL The causes of failures
in some crops do not influence other
kinds
Away up in the Arctic Circle, the
Alaska Experiment Station has been
demonstrating that it is possible to ma
ture field crops in the short summer
season prevailing there, as well as garden
crops, so that the miners and other resi-
dents of that cold country may in the
future not be entirely dependent upon
supplies for themselves and their animals
brought into the country at great expense.
The season is very short, extending from
the latter part Of May to the middle of
August The work during the past season
with wheat, barley, oats and buckwheat
at the Copper Center Station, the Ram
part Station and kenai Station were cut
short by an exceptionally early killing
frost which occurred about August 14th.-
Some of the crops did actually mature,
outuSichtiy W NC CuG iui Setu Ii HAS
been found that the soil, while practically
virgin, does not produce a satisfactory
crop unless stimulated with guano, the
only fertilizer avai able. The past year.
was an exceptionally poor one owing TO
its dryness and early flosts, but it is
apparent that under usual conditions any
amount of rough feed and garden truck
can be produced.
An exchange says: "a one-leggedmilk>a
ing stool in the hands of man who has
a little less sense than the COW, can do
a good deal toward cutting down the milk
supply" Why SANDER good COW by
such a comparison?
Dark, poorly ventilated and filthy
stables are the greatest agents. in the
spreading of disease, and sunlight and /.
cleanliness are the strongest preventives.
Keep the stables well cleaned, let the sun
shine in whenever possible, avoid intro
ducing into your herd affected animals,
and you will not need to fear tubercular
Infection.
Many dairymen seem to think that
COW should produce a profitable flow of
milk regardless of the quality or quantity
of feed she receives. Put some of these
men at hard labor and allow them to
rustic up what they could find to eat and ,
nothing more, and We figure that the :.
howl they would raise would be out of !.
all proportion to the damage done.
The University of Nebraska is now
to instil a number OF milking
machines at the State experiment station
IN order to test their efficacy and to OBJ
ain reliable data. At the State farm
system of records has been kept which
lates back ten years, and it will be inter
sting to compare the results obtained by
he machines with those of previous years.
fhe machines at the State farm will be
un by electricity, the power being taken
rom the trolley wires of the Lincoln
fraction Company.