davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23
VALUE OF MULES

1t costs about $35 to raise a mule
ready for market, and it finds a ready
sale at years old if of good size at
prices ranging from $3.50 to $3.50 singly.
For good matched pairs sales have
taken place lately as high as $1,000 a
pair.
The mule has been until lately es-
sentiaily a Kentucky and Missouri
product. but the breeders and
farmers of the middle western
states have had their eyes opened to
his value by the demand and quantity
required and purchased by the agent
of the British government, who came
over and purchased everything in sight
under the name mule.
The importance of the mule has
never been fully recognized, but lately
agricultural fairs in several states have
hung out money for mule exhibits upon
a plan equal to his Importance and in
trinsic value.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23
cow YARD AND DAIRY NOTES

While in calf the COW should be
gently treated and all irregular and
violent exercises avoided.
When cows are allowed a reasonable
amount of exercise healthier and
stronger calves are usually obtained.
A little extra care and food pays big
returns when used to hasten the ma
turity of the dairy heifers.
There is a certain class OF dairy
farmers who refuse to sit down and
figure, through fear that 1t will upset
a few Of their pet theories.
The best-flavored butter in the world
is made in private dairies-and the
worst, too.
No man can develop a cow into
high producer unless that COW had an
inherited quality of development to
start with.
Success in dairying demands that
man breed and develop his own cows
as far as possible, and buy, If he must
wisely.
Common sense is better than the
best dairy instruction of the day, but
it clearly shows a lack Of common
sense when a dairyman discards all re-
cent investigations.
A few poor cows may do a perma-
nent harm to the herd, but poor bull
will ruin the chances Of improving the
best herd in the country.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23
SOY BEANS A GOOD CROP
Hogs Take Very Kindly to This Plant and Eat the
Beans Readily-It Is Great FIesh-Former.

ling put them one-half the distance
apart.
Where the greater distance is al
lowed between the rows the seed
should be sown about twice ~ thick
in the row.
II the desire Is to cut for hay. sow
broadcast with seeder or By hand.
Where sown in drills about one-half
bushel Of seed should be used per acre.
and II sown broadcast about one bushel.
Various methods have been employed
at the station for harvesting and
threshing, none Of which have bean
entirely satisfactory. Where grown for
hay or silage the mower can be used TO
advantage.
When harvested for seed the usual
method has been to pull the plants by
hand, which entails an unusual amount
Of labor. The self-binder and mower
have been used with partial success at
the station.
The soy bean can be harvested to
advantage by being pastured or with
hogs, and it seems that this will be
one of its principal uses in the future,
as it is high in protein and a great
flesh former.
Hogs take very kindly to this plant
and eat the beans readily. By planting
few acres of the early varieties each
year a farmer cannot only renew the
fertility of the soil, but have an abund-
ance of feed for fitting his hogs for the
fall market.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23
THE POSSIBILITIES OF AN ACRE

know man who is making money
on three acres of land.
This was his share of the old home
place. When the land was turned over
to him he had only the one small field
with no buildings.
Inc first year he planted most of
the ground to garden truck One half
acre was planted in small fruits and
strawberries From this first years
crop money was secured to make the
first improvements.
He built storehouse for keeping his
products in winter and used all spare
time and money in enriching the soil.
Manure was bought at the stables in
nearby towns and in three years the
entire three acres had been covered
with plenty of stable manure with but
a small outlay of money.
NOW he is growing fine crops of DO
tatoes, sweet potatoes, cabbage and
beans. besides other garden crops. He
has built a house and other buildings.
has small greenhouse, several stands
or bees. few chickens, fruit and shade
trees-in fact a beautiful well-kept
home which is his own
He gives all of his time to this small
farm and is making money and a good
living. The same can be done in al
Z
study and industry.
In almost every state land can be
had in small lots at low prices. These
lands are broken too much for grain
farming and usually can be purchased
for from So to sis per acre, and there
is no place more suited to the building
of beautiful country homes than these
hill lands, and the man with $500 or
$500 could soon have a home to be
proud Of.
AS much Of this land still has some
timber left. true 1t would be a back
woods life for few years, but the time
is not far distant when the change
will come.
Much Of this hill land belongs to
people who give it no care. They came
there to work in the timber for the
railroads; they bought the land for the
timber, worked it UP and are now glad
to part with it at almost any price, az
they are not suited to farm life.
A man does not have to own q large
farm to make success of farming.
The middle west is fast becoming a
truck growing country and the small
farm of from three to twenty acres is
more often found than larger ones. and
crops of this kind are bringing higher
prices each year.-Thomas M. CiseI.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23
By PROFESSOR Il. A. MOORE,
Wisconsin Experiment Station.

Soy beans were first grown at the
Wisconsin experiment station in 1893,
and each year since the acreage and
the number of varieties tested have
been Increased.
The tests at this station have been
made for the purpose of determining
their value as forage plant and Of
finding out which varieties, If any.
were adapted to our soil and climate.
Twenty-Five varieties have been on
trial; of these the Michigan green
seems especially adapted to be grown
with corn for silage. This is a me-
dunn early variety and Is noted for its
height and great growth Of foliage.
The stems are strong and 1t usually
stands erect so that it can be harvested
nicely with the corn binder, or If grown
alone can be cut to advantage with a
mower.
If grown for seed or pasture pur-
poses the soy bean should be sown in
drills about thirty inches apart. Where
a small acreage is desired hand drill
can be used, but where a large guam
tity is planted a grain drill can be
used by stopping some of the inter-
=vening spouts so as to have the soy
beans the proper distance apart.
A corn planter can be used to adj
vantage and the seed sown the usual
distance allowed for corn, or by doub-
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23
ONE MANS ORCHARD EXPERIENCE

For the benefit of young farmers who
are going to plant and raise an apple
orchard I will give you a few points.
Don't cultivate and stimulate the
growth of young trees too much. Let
them grow slowly and NATURALLY. like
a forest tree.
My reasons for this advice are: A
few years ago a neighbor of mine set
out an apple orchard and he cultivated
some sowed crops between the rows all
the time.
He washed the trunks of the trees
with weak I've and old soapsuds
through April, May and June, and
those trees grew to beat the band
1t was the general talk all over the
settlement what a fine orchard old
man Riley had.
Well, here comes the results Of such
good treatment. When the orchard
began to bear the trees began to die
blighted to death.
Forty per cent OF them are dead now
and the others are going. to follow.
Now don't you see the crowding of
the growth of young trees won't do?
I am Is years old and 1 have learned
by observation that the thing can be
overdone.
The crowding Of the growth makes
the wood too soft. Left to grow SLOWLY
they will live longer. ]. Osborn
Illinois.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23
WHEN TO CUT GRASS

AS to the best time for cutting grass,
It does not pay to be in too big a
hurry. When the grass is young and
tender and seemingly succulent in the
fresh state 1t is harder to cure, dries
and shrinks more, and has not nearly
the food value of the more mature
crop.
While the opposite extreme should
be avoided, cutting before the seed
is so ripe as to scatter. there is much
more nourishment in the matured stalk,
and one farmer who was compliment
ed for bringing his cattle through the
winter on a minimum amount of grain
and yet keeping them in good flesh, at
tributes his success largely to this
tact.
Haste makes waste when the crop is
hurried to the barn not fully cured.
Hay cut green requires more thorough
driving than that almost overripe.
If the season is wet one hay can
he mown and taken In the same day
when a pleasant day comes, even with
n..k a tedder, If MANFRED
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23

on the teeth will prevent pulling and
other vices, but that this is SO is proved
by the following incident: A pony
that I knew Of, one that no one had
been able to drive with ease, although
various bits and contrtvances had been
tried, for the above reason changed
hands. The primary cause must be
discovered, which in this instance was
a decayed tooth, the removal Of which
caused an instantaneous cure. The pony
was then driven in plain straight
bit with a curb chain by the new owner,
an elderly man, who so appreciated the
animals quickness and docilify that no
amount of money would have parted
them.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23
AMERICAS SUPERIOR HORSES

America to-day is producing cross
bred draft horses superior to those
bred in England. France and Scotland
as a direct result of the growing de-
mand of farmers throughout the great
agricultural sections of the country for
a higher type of unitarian horses.
The scientific breeding of draft
horses has gone forward by leaps and
bounds within the past few years.
Farmers have found out that it was
the highest degree of practical econ
omy to bresd their cross-bred mares
with the test stations obtainable.
In the International Live Stock Elk
position Of 1900, 1901 and 1908 the first
prizes for geldings went to animals
from Canada, England and Scotland.
In 1904 the gelding classes were
about evenly divided between America
and imported horses. 49,
Since that time the American-bred
horses have captured the lions share
of the prizes and awards and have es-
tablished a clear title to supremacy.
The, six-horse draft team shown by
Armour & Co. a year ago at the Lon
don exposition aroused the amazement
and admiration of Englishmen. who
had no idea that such magnificent
horses were being produced in America.
Their Amusement was coupled some
what with chagrin when nothing ap-
preaching the team in the way of Eng
Iish-bred horses was shown.
And now even this wonderful team
has had to take second place, Morris
& Co.'s superb six-horse team taking
first honors at the last Chicago Expo
sition.
Henry Ward Beecher declared, $50
ciety owes to the horse a debt of graft
tude a thousand times greater than it
does to thousands of men who abuse
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23

TONER would treat locally, possibly adj
wise different shoes, order tonic balls
or condition powders and few days
rest. The latter would benefit mostly
and give temporary relief.
Now supposing there were Irregular
ties Of the teeth, as is usual with all
young horses, the first treatment should
be to get them into perfect order, SO
as to promote mastication and good
digestion to enable proper assimilation
of the nutritive qualities of the food.
and thus insure increased strength and
condition and remove the original
cause Of the weakness.
1t may seem equally absurd to some
OF my readers to assert that operating
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23

sirable to have plant roots go as deeply
as possible.
FaIl-plowed land will also be found
freer from cutworms and other inju-
rious insects in the spring. Some of
these insects try to get below the frost
line or at least to point where freez-
ing and thawing in the early spring is
not possible. The blowing of the land
turns up these insects. and. though they
may be still covered by the soil, leaves
the ground so loose about them that
they freeze. and in this way they are
killed.
While fall blowing does not entirely
wipe out all the cutworms that may be
in the ground, it will greatly lessen
their number.
This point alone is enough to justify
the blowing of land In the fall.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23
LEAF SPOT AND BLACK ROT

Leaf spot is the most destructive
disease attacking the leaves and stems
Of tomatoes, and it is very hard to
control. Small, grayish- brown angu-
lar spots, containing minute black
fruiting bodies, appear upon the leaves
and stems. The lower ones are first
attacked and the disease spreads up
ward, often almost defoliating the
plants. Many growers report that this
disease is worst on high, dry, gravelly
or sandy soils. 1t is carried over the
winter in diseased stems and leaves.
Treatment: Spray with Bordeaux
a week after transplanting and repeat
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23
BIZ THOMAS M. c1sEL.

It IL commonly thought that with
the passing away of larger timber the
Wild bees would have to go; but such
Is not the case. There are more wild
bees to-day than there were thirty
years ago.
At that time trees had but little
value, and the bee hunter found no
trouble in cutting bee tree wherever
Il was found, and many men followed
bee hunting for profit and pleasure, and
as the bees were most often found In
large trees with decaying limbs or
trunks they became an easy mark for
the hunter who understood their habits.
Now all cumberland is under fence
and the cutting of a tree on another
mans land often ends in trouble.
Bee hunting is a thing Of the past,
but the bees are here more plentiful
than ever The old-time colony with
so and 100 pounds of honey is not
found. They have been compelled to
use the smaller trees for storehouses,
which soon become overstoclzed and a
new home must be found. Thus the
colonies are smaller and more numer-
GUS.
In removing the timber from three
acres of land the owner found nine
trees with bees and honey OF these
nine trees the largest amount Of honey
stored was about ten pounds, and on
two OF the trees the bees were storing
honey by building it fast to small twigs
outside the hollow in a tree.
The largest colony of wild bees ever
saw was in Pope county, Illinois. This
colony was using a cavity in a rock
bluff as q hive, and I was told it had
been there for fifty years.
1t he
bees leaving and returning looked al
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23
SOME HELPS IN CANNING

Fruit for canning and preserving
should be perfectly fresh and carefully
selected. No stale nor half-fermented
fruit is fit for use, though many fail
to appreciate this fact, trusting that
sugar and cooking will arrest fermen-
tation.
Even If fermentation should be ar
rested the flavor Of the fruit must be
impaired by staleness, and no amount
of sugar or cooking will restore the
natural and essential qualities of fresh
fruit.
Strawberries are the most difficult of
all berries to can so as to retain their
delicate favor and color. They should
be placed in a colander before stem
ming and very cold water run through
them to remove sand and to harden the
berries. Stem carefully and handle
daintily.
Two boxes of Strawberries when
cooked will fill one Mason jar. which
is enough to cook at one time.
Crush one pint of Strawberries in an
enameled kettle and add one full cup
of graduated sugar; Juice will thus be
formed without using water and of
such weight that the berries will not
float on top of juice when in the jar.
Let the crushed berries and sugar
boil hard, shaking the kettle over the
fire to prevent sticking. Drop the re-
mainder of the berries into the boiling
strip and cook just about five min
utes, Swimming thoroughly.
Have ready jars placed upon cloth
wrung from cold water and fill in the
berries with a silver spoon. Canned in
this way strawberries will retain more
of their natural flavor and color than
in any other way, as a strip made of
water and sugar Injuries both flavor and
color.
The above rule as regards sugar
holds good only for canned strawber-
riesL Preserve or jam would require
more sugar and longer cooking.
Raspberries. both red and black,
should be allowed to reach the boiling
point in a little water before adding
sugar in order to soften the seeds.
Peaches are better dropped into boil
ing strip and cooked until silver fork
will pierce them readily.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23
By W. r. GILBERT,
Canadian Experiment Station.

AS a preventive of lameness, to COM
mence operations on the teeth would
appear to some persons very. Iudicrous,
yet common sense and practice would
convince them that this would be the
proper means of preventing interior
ence-one of the chief causes Of lame
ness in young horses.
Young horses fully developed show
signs of fatigue and weakness after a
Journey and interfere. Some grab the
quarter of the fore foot with the toe
of the hind foot and overreach.
In such cases the ordinary practi-
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23
CARE OF THE SOW AND PIGS

1t is a good plan to re-breed some
sows for filters to come not later than
September.
Let the young pigs learn to eat with
their dams and as soon as possible put
them all on pasture.
The cream separator has greatly re-
duced scours in pigs because the skim
milk can always be fed while sweet.
March is too early for pigs to come
in the north. The latter part Of April
or first half of May is better.
Too many farmers feed their brood
sows any old grain or other feed that
is knocking around or that has been
refused by other animals, and then
they wonder why they fail to raise good
pigs.
Very young pigs are sometimes killed
by running in wet pasture during the
cold days of early spring. Keep them
dry.
Keep the boar in an Enclosure by
himself and turn the sows in to him
to be served.
Sow some Essex rape this spring
for hog forage. 1t will make the
youngsters hump along late in sum-
mer.
Grain is high and unless we grow
substitutes in the way of forage profits
will be reduced.
If the pigs show signs of thumps
cut down the sow's grain ration. They
are too fat.
1t is a greater mistake to feed sows
too much corn than too little, but fat
tening hog should never be allowed to
squeaI from hunger.
A SOW that is too fat when with pig
will be likely to lose more than she
would if she were lean. Any surplus
fat beyond enough to give her strength
and a foundation for milk-giving is
dangerous.
The big, raw boned hog has gone
out of style, like the Merry Widow hat
and the hair rat"
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23

at intervals of ten days or two weeks.
1t is often advisable to stake and tie
up the plants for greater convenience
in spraying. Pinching off the lower
leaves which touch the ground when
the plants are set out is also recon-
mended. The diseased tops should be
raked up and burned.
Black rot is a fungus which attacks
the stems, leaves and fruit of the to-
mato. 1t is by the destruction of the
fruit however, that it causes the most
serious loss. Roundish black velvety
spots appear on the blossom end of the
tomatoes. These increase in size and
sometimes involve the whole fruit On
the surface of the diseased spots dark
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23
BEES AND WILD HONEY
Bee Hunting for Profit Is Thing of the Past Owing
to the Passing of Great Forests.

most like brown smoke escaping from
the rock. These bees are out Of reach
of man and the amount Of honey they
have stored within this rock can only
be guessed at, but it must be large.
The oldtime bee hunter knew his
business well, and many were the ways
he had of finding the stored sweets.
One of the most used was the snow
hunt in early winter, when the first
snow fell. The hunter went into the
wood, going from tree to tree looking
about the roots for dead bees upon the
snow, as it was known that all dead
bees are removed from the hive and
dropped beneath.
Another method was the placing of
sweet strip or honey on a log near the
wood and then following the bees when
feeding.
Sometimes flour was dropped upon
the bees, making them white and more
easy to follow through the shade of
the woods. The -four would also be
thrown off when entering the tree, and
this often helped the hunter to locate
the bees.
After a bee tree was found it was
marked, and that mark was thought to
protect the tree for the finder until the
coming of cold weather, when the
honey could be removed.
Sometimes the finder got all the
honey, but often he had to share with
the owner Of the land on which the
tree was found
The cutting of a bee tree was no
pleasant job, as the day was never so
cold that the bees would not try to de-
fend their home, and often the hunter
got more stings than honey.
But if the tree was large and the COL
ony had been in it for several years
the honey would pay well for the gath
ering.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23
club shaped

colored, many-celled, club shaped
spores are produced.
Treatment: Spray with Bordeaux.
beginning when the flowers open. and
repeat at intervals of ten days or two
weeks. Remove and destroy diseased
fruits. Burn the diseased tops.
Olive brown, feltlike areas called
scab occur on the under side of the
leaves and brown discolorations on
the upper surface of the tomato. In
severe cases the leaves turn black
shrivel up and die. Tawny-coIored
two celled spores are produced on tbe
clustered stalks of the fungus on the
under surface.
Treatment: Spray with Bordeaux
early and repeat at intervals Of ten
days or two weeks
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-10-23
FLOWING IN THE FALL
Land Plowed Before the Snow Falls Is Freer From
and Has Many Other Advantages.

particles of moisture pushes apart and
breaks up the most retentive soils.
Clay soil that has been well drained
is in this way made more friable to a
great depth. and when spring comes
and the frost goes out Of the soil 1t
will be so loose that air can penetrate
to a great depth and chemical action
be better.
The manures in the surface soil are
disintegrated and some of them are
washed down to the depth the frost
has gone.
The result following is that the roots
of the plants seek the cool, moist earth
below if there be in it plenty of plant
food, and the plants supported by the
roots are the more able to resist many
droughts that may come in summer.
Where droughts are common it is de-