The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-03-29

luey WORK nara enough uut lney
ought TO think little more. That
Is where we have been at fault In
the past. We have not kept account
enough. The cost of raising a bushel
of wheat should be thing that the
farmer should figure up before he
plants the seed. ~
How can we make more money
on the farm? That is the question.
Conditions have changed and the
farmer must now raise more per
acre"
At this point Judge Cray asked Mr..
Scribner that if a farmer had plen-
ty of barnyard manure, would it be
necessary to buy commercial fertil.
iZers, to which the latter answered
in the negative, except where the
soil needs some special kind of ele-
ment, such as more phosphate or
lime, in proportion to the rest.
Soil Is Like Baby.
"The soil is like a baby--it must
have it's food in a liquid condition.
It must have its moisture and fer.
tilizer in liquid condition to some
extent. 1t can't live on solid mat.
ter"
Before closing he made an appeal
to put the soil in first class condi.
ton before planting and also for
crop rotation. Don't grow more
than one kind of crop more than
two years in succession" he advised,
and then told how he managed crop
rotation on his farm. "Why is it
that Wisconsin and Minnesota can
raise such good corn in such a
short season." he asked. Because
we also raise clover" he answered
"That is one of the secrets of our
success, we have to hustle while
the season is on. l hate to see a
man grow a big crop and then not
take care of it. Don't spend your
time and money and energy grow
eng corn and then neglect to harvest
it. That is one reason why boys
leave the farm. He likes to see some
money coming to the farm. Get stock
that is worth while. SO that they
will get interested" &.8
Mr.. Scribner was asked several
questions on the methods of rails.
ing corn in Wisconsin. He said that
they are growing more fodder corn
and raise stock, using the silo for
the corn harvest. -
eve plant quite far apart and
keep the soil cultivated SO as to let
the sun strike it rs often as possi-
Bile. Yes, we use the corn plow, but
we are careful not TO cut the roots.
That is one thing the farmer seems
to be fond of--trimming off the
roots and putting the corn ten days
back from maturing it. .
When he was asked what should
be done to encourage deep cultiva-
ton for deep roofing. Mr.. Scribner
replied that this certainly never
should be done, for it will spoil
the. corn as it will fall. He did not
object to reasonably deep cultiva-
ton the first few times, but it
should be done very cautiously. He
preferred shallow cultivation. He also
advised the use of fine tooth cul-
tivator that pulverizes the soil in
stead of using the large shovel cul-
tivator. ...--:.-. .... g. . =.
Representative farmers from all
over the county were in attendance.
schiIlins Talks on. Cows.
w. F., Schilling of Mortified be-
gan the afternoon session with a
talk on the subject, Care and Feed
ing of Dairy, Cows for Increased
Get rid of the lice,"
said Mr.. Schilling. you can't do
with lice on the cows. One
method, of Kidding the COWS of these
pests is by currying. 49,. =. :. z
Mr. Schilling also advised farmers
feeding COWS the best food. Feed
her all she can eat on some good
feed. Bran is a good feed but most
farmers think this is too expensive.
However, in Denmark the farmers
feed Minnesota bran and still make
a profit
One method of determining the
milk production of q COW Is by read
ing the udder. By so doing one can
tell if a cow is getting one-sided
ration. He told of his personal ex-
perience in feeding cattle. One of his
cows received thirty-six pounds of
ensilage, cracked corn, one-half
pound cotton seed meal, three
pounds boiled barley and oats; all
he alfalfa hay she can eat, and
some oil meal.
There Is not feed there except
cotton seed meal that is not grown !
lere. But care is the first Thing. |
This COW was dry two months and |
vas in fine condition when dry and
when she came in. And when she
came in she was clean and dry.
And by the way every farmer should |
lave a box stall for cows to remain |
II before she comes in.
Professor r. A. Moore of Madison |