Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-11-08
HOW MUCH HAVE oYoUoLosTH

the evenings lengthen, and the work
en- the farm becomes less strenuous,
to stop and think how much he has
lost during the past year from not
doing things just right, and how much
Of this loss was clearly avoidable.
How much, for example, have you
lost this year by not treating your
oats for smut before you soyed them
last spring? You did not think there
was any smut in them whensyou trea
ed them the year before, but perhaps
you found quite aopercentage ct smut
when they were heading out. When
the oats were ripe, the smut had
blown away, and you did not then nc
tlee the extent Of the loss. How much
have you lost? Two per cent? Five
per cent? Fifteen per cent? Twenty
per cent? It will probably range be-
tween the two extremes. Then re-
solve that next year, no matter whe 9
You get your seed oats, you will treat
fthem for smut.
/ How much have you lost from not
having a full stand ofoeorn this year?
This has been a year when a full
stand would have brought a full crop.
1t is not so every year, because We
do not always have water enough
available to develop full crop; but
this year every stalk of corn missing
from full stand means the loss of
an ear. How much? You probably
cannot figure it out exactly, but you
can study it enough to leave an i'm
preston clearly upon your mind, that
if you do not have a full stand Of
corn next year, it will not be for lack
Of seed, every grain of which, will
grow. If you have not selected that
seed by the time you read this arti-
Gle, get out that very day, er the neil
day, if it is not the Sabbath, and Sc
lect it.
/ How much do you suppose you have
lost by allowing the manure to lie gu
in the yard uncovered all summer?
We will venture to say that it has
lost at least thirty per cent of its
value; and this thirty per cent means
about 70 cents ton load. Well, you
say, l could not help it. Perhaps not;
and again, You might have helped it
considerably. But whether you could
help it or not, there is that much loss.
It's gone, and You can't recover it..
How about next year.
How much have you lost by not
stacking your grain? This is a right
good year to estimate this loss, un-
less YOU got your threshing done very
early. In some sections of the coun-
try-a large section of it, too-the
grain stood in shock-and generally
poorly shocked at that-for ten days
before it could be threshed. In many
sections the shocks became green,
ana that was spoiled. When these
sprouted grains are nodded, they are
useless except for feed. In addition
to that, your grain became bleached,
and brings lower price; and in ad-
dition to that, large amounts OF it
shattered. If you threshed half your
field before the rain, and half Of it
ten days later you can figure out for
yourself what you have lost. as we
did. The amount of this loss may
possibly lead you to combine with
two or three of your neighbors and
buy a small threshing outfit join
teams and thresh your grain after it
is stacked. The loss this year on
many farms would have gone far to-
ward paying for this kind of a ma
chine. 60
How much did You lose in your
stand of clover by not having it prop
erly covered when you sowed it? We
are quite we'll aware that you have
not lost nearly as much this year as
usual, because the conditions over
most of our territory have been very
} favorable for securing stand Of clio
yer. But 1t may not be so next year
nor for some years to come.
How much, did you lose by not get
ting your winter wheat in in time to
allow it to furnish a winter covering
for itself? What happneed to this
late wheat? 1t did not get sufficient
winter covering, and where there wal
no deep snow you had no wheat in
the spring; and where there was, you
had less than you ought to have had
Then it was late, and did not fill like
the early wbeat. It had more wheat
stem masgots in It, and you probably
did nat oat ,,o,,ah -.