The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1913-07-10

past three years. We need one year
of floods to rid the country of the in
creasing insects, although more
moderate rainfall would be better for
all else.
Irvine is generally higher in price
this year than last. While the grain
crop, the country over, will not take
as much Irvine as usual, more and
more is being used each year on the
corn crop. The silo has increased the
use Of Irvine greatly, and nowitwould
not surprise me to learn that more
Irvine is used on the corn harvest than
on the small grain harvest.
Each decade seems to add some
necessity to our mode Of living. This
necessity frequently comes first in
the form Of a luxury, but soon devel-
ops into the necessity that people find
it to be. Who among us would like
to get along without rural mail deliv-
cry and telephone? l heard a farmer
say, the other day, that he now con-
sidered his auto a necessity.
Recent rains have put new life into
everything green, and everybody, ex-
cept few automobile fiends, are hap
py.
The oat crop is one that has a great
come-out to it if the weather is only
favorable at heading and filling time.
l have seen miserable looking pros
pect make fair yield just because
there happened to be week of good
weather at the right time.
Road grading should be done before
the first of August. If done later in
the fall the grade hasn't time to settle
before winter, and rains keep it a mud
lobby all winter, except when frozen.
Road officials should do grading first
and culvert work later in the season.
This is another good hay year. TAX
ing the country over, l doubt if the
crop has been beaten by any other in
the past ten years. plan on feeding
all hay on the farm, so the market
makes little difference to me, but l
would like to see those who do sell
get more than they likely will get for
this crop.
1t is not only annoying but expen-
sive to plant seed that does not grow.
Now and then seed sent out by seed
companies will not grow, as l have
found out through experience, but l
am glad to say that reliable seed
houses are more and more careful
each year in making termination tests
of all seeds handled by them.
We still have something to learn
about cowpeas. One new thing Ihave
learned about them this season is that
one must be careful in stacking the
seed crop, or the stack will heat and
then the seed will not grow. Ibelieve
it better to thresh from the field rath-
err than to risk stacking.
There is great difference in the
work of shockers; some men take
pains to set each bundle down solid,
while others simply throw the shock
together. have even seen men stand
off and throw bundles against the
shock, and the first wind blows such
shocks down. 1t pays to do a good
job of shocking, for the weather is
catchy" at this season of the year
and several rains may fall while the
grain is in the shock.
Building a good grain stack is also
becoming almost lost art. The
younger generation has had very
little grain stacking to do, as much OF
the grain has been threshed from the
shock for the past fifteen years.
have always been crank on stack
ing before threshing, but will admit
that it is more expensive way when
the weather when the weather favors
shock threshing. When it does not
however, stacking is best and safest.
With grain in the stack, one is safe
and is independent of the threshing
outfit that is invariably a week be-
hind expectations.
Putting a thick sweat pad under
the collar in hot weather is not treat
ing the horse right. If the horse
works down and requires a smaller
collar, the best thing to do is to get it
instead of trying to fill out the one
that is too large with heavy, hot