The Cape weekly tribune. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1914, 1914-09-18
FORKFULS FOR FARMERS
BY J.. X. Johnson, Cape Giiardeau
Normal School.


Normal School.
1t is not always a good plan to hole
wheat long after threshing, but gen
orally it is better to hold it for awhile
and not dump it during threshinl
time. Wheat is then usually at it:
lowest price. 1t may rise and it may
not; but if more farmers would store
their wheat for even a few weeks, il
would help to keep the price at high
err level. To realize the best prices
wheat should be marketed uniformly
throughout the year, about the same
amount each month. Then there would
be no gluts and scarcities to unsettle
prices. A farmer who held his wheat
even one month this year might have
found that war was coming that
would make his crop vastly more val
liable. AS it is, wheat may go to a
dollar and half, depending on the
duration of the war.
This was good wheat year. Prob
ably 1915 will not be so good, but the
chances are that wheat will remain
high through another year, as well as
other farm products. For that reason
it looks to be the wise thing to SOW
good acreage this fall and to fall
pillow for a good acreage of corn. 1t
seems equally certain that beef, pork
and mutton will also rule high in
price and that it will pay we'll to take
good care of the live stock. Mules will
advance in value and probably horses,
so don't sacrifice the stock on account
of little shortage in the feed.
While it will be good policy to raise
large crops next year, it will certainly
not be advisable to SOW or plant
large area of ground just because it is
large. That is the chief weakness of
farming today. A little field, we'll en-
riched and well titled, is far more
profitable than a big field with poor
soil and poor culture. If you have
not land suitable for large yields of
wheat and corn, it would be better not
to try those crops. Try to make the
farm better each year by keeping
stock to eat up all the roughage and
turn it into manure, by rotating crops
and always having goodly part of
it in clover, peas, vetch or alfalfa.
Be careful to sow good wheat seed.
It has been we'll proven that large,
plump grains make more vigorous
plants than small ones. Therefore, it
is good policy to fan all wheat'iutend-
ed for seed and to blow out the small,
imperfect and shrunken grains, some
of which are always to be found. IL
your own wheat is not good, sell
enough to buy some that is better.
Beware how you experiment with new
kinds of wheat. The old Fultz that
has been grown here so long, is the
most reliable. Test new kinds on a
small scale only and do not venture
more than you can afford to lose.
Mere farmers are trying vetch this
year. August Weiss on Route No. 2,
Cape Girardeau, will SOW two acres.
Some failures have been reported, but
that might have been due to poor seed.
I hope we can soon be prepared To
save our own vetch seed. There is
said to be cheap and simple machine
on the market that will separate the
rye from the vetch. Vetch is heavy
bearer of seed. No doubt it could be
failed out rapidly. Our local stores
are asking fifteen cents per pound
this year. Last year it was ten andY
twelve cents. The large seed houses
in the cities are offering it at six dol
lars per bushel, which is ten cents a
pound Mr.. Weiss will sow winter turf
oats with his vetch. Rye is most COM
monty employed to be sown with it. !
The rule is to sow fifteen pounds of
NCtSh anu Unity pouhuS VI rye " IHt
acre, Prepare the soil well. as for
wheat, and drill or broadcast. Vetch
will come up as easily as turnips.
Donot let the apples and pears hang
too long on the trees. They will lose
in flavor and i'm keeping qualities.
Pick the apples when fully colored and
grown. In the case of yellow apples.
examine the seeds; if brown, the fruit
is ready for picking Jonathan and
Grimes Golden should be picked soon
err than long keepers like the Wine
sap and Black Twig. Pick the pears
when the stem snaps easily on lifting
them up. Put them in a cool, darN
place and wrap them in paper if want
ed for long keeping. Keiffer pears, es-
pecially If left to ripen on the trees,
become gritty and i'll favored.