The Democratic advocate., 1909-12-31

ing dairy breeds in milk and butter
production, they still are making
very satisfactory showing for dairy
purposes. They are not only doclle
and easily handled, but possess large
frames and beefy quarters. -Four OF
these cows owned by the Michigan
Agricultural college showed a milk
yield for the past year ranging from
S.12O pounds Of milk producing 4oo
pounds of butter to 1O.15S pounds OF
milk giving 457 pounds of butter.
If the products raised on the farm
for feeding purposes consist only or
corn, corn fodder, timothy or wild
hay. the ration is not well balanced
and should be REINFORCED with oil
meal or bran to furnish the protein
lacking and give the best results. The
most satisfactory feed containing pro-
tein in considerable quantities is clo-
yer or alfalfa, and when these are
available the bought stuffs will be
needed little. if any.
A scientific analysis of soil which
has been cropped continuously for a
long period of years and several Of its
important elements depleted would IN
many cases greatly aid the owner IN
determining what fertilizers it were
best to apply to raise its productive
capacity to a maximum. Often SOIL
analyses will show an element in sur
ficient quantity which had been sup
posed to be depleted. while another
supposed to be abundant is shown TO
be quite deficient. The above holds
especially in the case Of land devoted
to orchards and to intensive crops.
such as beets, onions and cabbages.
A danger that the dairyman should
be on the lookout for in securing new
individuals for his herd-and this
holds whether the purchase be bulls
or cows-is contagious abortion, dis
ease that may cause cow to lose her
calf before time year after year. 1t
is estimated that the loss in a year
due to decrease in milk yield Is from
SIS to $25 per head. A fact that
makes the disease especially danger
GUS is that the germs may be trans
mitted to a calf at birth from its dam
and lie dormant until it is Of breeding
age, when it may be the means Of in
fecting a whole herd.
In view Of the killing freeze in the
fore part of October the corn belt
farmer in sections where the freeze
was heavy has no more important task
in hand during the next few weeks
than that Of looking up and testing his
supply Of seed corn for next year.
Maybe enough corn can be secured
from shocks i'll fields which were cut
before the freeze. yet there are many
who will have to send to Il distance for
seed which will germinate. In any
event the job of securing seed Of good
vitality should not be postponed until
next March or April, when the scram-
BILE for seed will be fierce and when a
lot of tail enders are going to get left
Perhaps the largest authenticated
produced by John Sundberg. president
of the Iowa Corn Growers association,
the past season, the amount being 153
bushels and 55 pounds from single
acre, or just five times the average an
nual yield. 4 justice of the peace
made affidavit that he personally meas
ured the acre of ground and weighed
the corn. The patch from which the
corn was taken. was an acre and half
in extent and produced i'll all 224 BUSH
els. The owner says it took seven
years to get such q yield. the result
being in part due to proper care of the
soil and thick planting and as largely
to continual selection and breeding up
of the seed corn. There is something
in this record for corn growers to think
about.
There are many towns in the more
recently settled portions Of the west
and some in sections not so recently
settled which pride themselves much
on their push and enterprise that act
all too literally upon that ScripturaI
injunction, Let the dead past bury it's
dead" and allow their burial grounds
to remain in Il shabby. unkempt con-
dition that is Il positive disgrace not
only to the dead. but the living chiefly.
There is mighty little excuse for such
neglect, for the matter could be rene
died easily were the care of the ceme-
terry placed in the hands of an aSsocia-
ton of wide awake, sympathetic WON
en-. who, in addition to annual dues.
could pull on the community in one
way and another for financial aid suf-
ficient to give the cemetery the care it
ought to have.
The Illinois state board Of health
has lately issued an order which pro-
vides that all cows in the state must
be subjected to the tuberculin test
and those found affected branded
with letter ''Y' upon the right ear.
The enforcement of this regulation, it
Is thought. will put stop to the traf-
fic in tuberculous cows and the sale
of milk from them an offense which
is punishable with heavy fine Only
those animals which are provided with
an inspection and health certificate
countersigned by the state veterina-
riap may be kept to furnish a milk
supply. In the past tire diseased cows
have been sold to unscrupulous dairy
men and the polluted, germ laden milk