The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1908-01-16


back the fat lacking in the separated
milk, and you will soon have a good,
sleek calf. If you have plenty of milk
it won't hurt to give him milk until
he is five or six months old.
Corn
A place for planting corn: | would
select a piece of timothy ground that
has been used as a pasture two or
three years. 1t should be plowed, then
disced and narrowed till smooth; then
it should be planted as soon in the
spring as possible, but after there is
no danger of frost. 1t should be plant
ed about two inches deep. The seed
corn should be grown here or north
Of here, SO the corn will get ripe be-
fore the frost comes in the fall. Soon
after planting the field should be har-
rowed lengthwiSe and crosSWiSe. AT
ter the corn is big enough to see in
rows, it should be cultivated. When
the corn is small it should be cult
waited close and deep but as it grows
it should be cultivated shallower and
further from the corn, so as not to i'll
iure the roots. After the corn is too
high to cultivate, it should be gone
through with a hitler which Will make
the corn stand better. After it is ripe
it is ready to be husked.
Getting a Catch of Glover
There was a time when our country
was new and the soil was we'll filled
with it's original fertility. At that time
one could SOW any crop i'll careless
manner and still reap a bountiful har-
vest, but as our farmers have robbed
the soil from time to time by taking
from it more than they returned, so
the yield per acre gradually lessened
each year until it has finally become
difficult matter to obtain good re-
suits and especially SO Of the subject
about to be discussed, CLOVER
There is, perhaps, not crop in the
rotation of crops that is of greater inn
portance to the farmer than the clover
crop, hence, it should be worthy OF his
most careful consideration. But in
stead he will go out in the spring, or
the sowing time, and SOW his clover
seed broadcast to the -four winds
and expect, in return, a most favorable
yield.
The importance of getting good
clover crop is not all in hay crop but
nitrogen from the air and return it to
the soil A man will take great pains
to prepare a good seed-bed for his
other farm crops, SOW them carefully
and give them attention afterwards,
but the clover seed, the most eXpen-
sive of all, he throws on the top of the
frozen ground to shift for itself. Ask
him why he does this and he will prob
ably answer, "Oh. that is the way my
father did and he always had good
crop of clover"
When clover is sOWn on the frozen
ground in the spring it lies on the sur
face, subject to the elements until the
ground thaws and shower mikes it
with the soil but never to any great
depth. When the first warm spring &
days come, the ground becomes warm
er and the seeds begin to sprout and
start sending shoots to the surface and
rootlets downward. But nature is
tickle and soon we have changeable
weather, freezing and thawing alter
nately, which heaveS the young clover
plant upward and breaks the roots, SO
the plant dies. Does it pay to take SO
much chance with such an important
crop and so expensive a seed?
If one desires to SOW the clover
seed on the ground better wait until
the frost is out of the ground, then
SOW the seed with drill or broadcast
and harrow the ground both ways tc
cover the seed thoroughly. If such
precautions are taken, success is sure
to be the result
There are those who top dress their
wheat fields with manure, then follow
the seed sower with a harrow. they
are generally sure of a catch" if they
do not SOW too early.
1t sometimes happens that one wish
es to get a clover catch" without
sowing a crop. In that event pillow
the ground as for oats and fit it until
assured of a good seed-bed on which
SOW the clover broadcast, then follow
with a spike tooth harrow. After the
first rain fall, roll the field which
answers the purpose of breaking crust
and leveling the ground. If it is q
foul piece of ground and the weeds
get high, clip them off with a mower
having the cutter bar raised up so that
it will not clip the clover.
There are very few farmers who
have enough barnyard manure to keeI
the land inshape to raise profitable
crops, and something must be done tC
return fertility to the soil. Legumin
Gus crops, such as clover, alfalfa and
COW peas, must be grown and plowed
under to increase the richness of the
soil. Leguminious crops enrich the
soil in two ways: by gathering nitro
gen from the air while growing, and by
adding humus to the soil wnen plowed
under The plowing under of a crop
of clover not only enriches the soil but
the humus and the long roots act upon
the soil and set free fertility that is
already there, making it available
plant food. Green manuring is gradu
ally taking the place of expensive fer
tilizers for the average farmer.
1t is commonly known that the prin
cipal fertilizing ingredients required
by plants are; nitrogen, phosphoric
acid and potash. All these are essen
tial to the healthy growth of plants
Nitrogen is the most expensive of the
fertilizers, costing three times as much