South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-12-30
Activities AMONG THE farmers
A NEW YEARS MESSAGE
By |. ]. MATHEWS
Pulaski County Farm Agent

years from now. II the cities north
OF US continue 20 develop and they
can do nothing else. there Is every
reason 10 believe that IN a decade
Pulaski county will become a dairy
county. Our farmers VIII then be
on observation-disclosures
those sturdy pillars that consti-
tute the perfect square OF profitable
farming.
Some Soil Facts.
A few words as TO what has been
learned about the soils of the county
may not be amiss. There are two
ridges running in south-eaSterly
direction through the county about
seven miles apart. The land in be-
tween these two ridges is generally
acid and needs a good deal OF lime
70 cOunteract this acidity. The wise
farmer in this territory lines before
he does anything else. The land 20
the west OF the western most ridge
OF Benton county an%1n general Is
OF Benton couny and in general Is
not exceedingly sour The land on
the east OF the eastern most ridge
is Of two kinds. The clay soils OF
Van Buren, township are not exceed
ingly acid although they generally
pay pretty well for the application
OF ground limestone. Tippecanoe
township soils are exceedingly vari-
able. There may be several types Of
soil on each farm and no TWO Of
..em respond to the same treatment
You may jump off of a sand knoll,
where the soil is very sour and and
on a bed OF muck, often underlaid
with mari.
POULTRY
454 Hens Give Gross Income OF
81 1888 in Year on White Farm.
The records Of another year on the
Lewis White poultry demonstration
farm are now available and Incl
cate that the farm flock is still pay
ing good returns for intelligent feed
ing, housing and management.
During the year ending Nov /. the
flock of White Leghorns averaged
asa hens. They sung an egg lay OF
500 eggs. which makes an average
OF 123 eggs per hen. The market
price OF eggs sold averaging 2>@
cents.
Six Percent Interest Charged.
To get these returns. there was
represented a total investment Of
$1,729.15 OF which SS45,56 was for
stock and SSS3.6O for equipment. In
the account the investment was TAX
en- at six percent, while depreciation
on equipment was figured at ten
percent. Certainly no one can claim
that an effort was made TO make the
profits look exceedingly large.
Total receipts for the year were
s1,SSS.4S, of which s1,400.97 was
received from egg sales alone, poul-
try sold brought s134.9S, while the
gain on inventory was S219.l2. The
family consumed s41.96 worth OF
eggs and S19.45 worth OF poultry.
Feed But Two-thirds Total Expense.
1t is significant to note that out Of
the total expenses Of $92O.13, prac-
tically two-thirds, or S604.7O was for
feed. Other items OF expenses were:
Interest on investmep1, s103.f4; de-
probation on equipment, SS8.36;
while 1888 was spent for stock
bought. eggs purchased and miscel-
laneous supplies.
S1.97 Per Hour.
II required 491 hours OF labor to
care for the flock and with the tot
al labor income in mind, this figur-
ed out s1.97 for each hour spent
and S2.13 net for each hen in the
flock. The Whites hatch with in
cubators, brood in colony house
brooders. and feed mash. Last fall
they constructed a 20x6O foot laying
house Of the shed roof type.
Farm Bureau.
AS manager Of the farm bureau
membership drive. z. c. Engle an
nounces that the work will be COM
pleted in three days commencing
Jan. and for this purpose. state
headquarters has assigned four sole
itors. John Smith and George Skies
will come here from Carroll county,
Glen Reed comes from Newton,
while Jim Covert, whom many Of
our folks already know, halls from
Johnson county.