The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1910-02-24
FARM BURROWS.
Farmer and stcckman

FARM FUhhOWS.
Farmer and stoekmsn
You do not need the gift of a
prophet to see that hay will bring
good prices before spring. Those
who have half their feed and hay on
February LIST, this year are few and
far between,
One thing that may be noticed in
communities where silos have been
in use for some time is that the new
ones are smaller in diameter and are
built higher than the older ones.
Anew years ago great many farm
ers laughed at the idea of testing ev-
cry ear of corn before accepting it as
good, but the idea is spreading and
those who have tried il hardly ever
90 back to the old method of testing
few kernels after the seed is she'll
ed and then regulating the plates in
the planter according to the results.
The new way may be classed as book
farming, but it is a great help in get
ting an even stand of corn.
We are hearing a great deal about
the conservation of our forests and
other natural resources. So much
noise is being made that the average
person is liable to think that il is more
a question of conservation of poll
ticians than of natural resources.
The largest ear of corn that we have
heard from, especially from the
standpoint of number of kernels, has
been reported by Mr.. George Brown,
of Benton county, Iowa. 1t weighed
one and one-half pounds and produc-
ed 1903 kernels, though it is but ten
inches long and eight and one-half
inches in circumference.
One of my chicken friends claims
he has a hen which struck 265 times
last year. When eggs are nesting
pretty close to the four-cent mark a
hen of that sort is a money maker.
| could never induce my hens to
cackle that many times year for me.
| had always supposed that ground
bone was a mighty good thing for
chickens until heard an experienced
poultryman say that he had lost more
valuable birds by feeding it than from
any other one source. He believes
in feeding the granulated bone.
A popular eastern magazine points
out how one lone congressman has
sent $1,000 packages of Select"
seeds to his home in Indiana. The
postoffice department received no
payment for this service of trans
portation. The packages will again
be distributed by mail and at large
expense to the postoffice department.
Every congressman is permitted to
send out 10000 packages of vegeta-.
BILE seeds and 1000 packages of flow
er seeds. This we are told means
$500 sacks or 30, 900 pounds of seeds
on which postage is eight cents per
pound to the ordinary citizen. 1t has
been estimated that it would cost any
business house or private individual
Sl44,0O to mail the seeds that con-
gressmen can send through the mail
for nothing.
In my limited experience with
poultryI have discovered that some
hens lay and other hens lie. A sue
cessful poultryman has to know who's
who and what's what in his poultry
yard. The layers are the money MAX
ers, the '1iers" should be allowed to
lie upon the butchers counter.
Having to buy corn is no signs of a
poor farmer-if there is stock on the
farm to convert it into profit. Rath-
er, it is the sign of good farming.
A poor milk cow can look like a
good one, proving the old saying,
You can't tell by the looks of frog
how far he can jump"
A friend Of mine sold out a few
years ago, Just to rest up a bit and ia