Milford chronicle., 1963-07-12

1Hg CIOps ne 10 GlCOul dSCu "
measure his progress along the
Eway in his supervised farm
studies.
A. c. Davidson, the ag. teach
|er at Milford, and I were in
Ivolved in quite a discussion on
shooting for top yields as against
making top profits. Most Of the
time / feel there is no differ
lence, altho there is always the
Exception as for example on
some individual COW records.
lon the other hand, the 100 bushel
corn contest, the 40 b1shel soy
bean yield program, and Is ton
tomato club all have stimulated
farmers toward goals they had
only dreamed about.
Our Extension staff admits
that not every new practice is
good. The innovator, or first
user, often makes costly mis-
takes. Free stalls in loose hous-
ling dairy barns is one example.
but time and experience polish
up the rough spots. The rule
lis: sDon't be the first, nor the
last to make a change"
x%*
"What makes this corn look
so bad? See how the leaves are
curled up" Henry Kozicki Of
Clayton was worried about a
piece of bottom land that OBJ
viously had something wrong.
1 only wish most Of the
answers could be so easy. We
lunrolled the leaf and there were
hundreds Of minute thrips, small
insects less than an eighth OF
an inch long, feeding on the
lleaf. The hot weather will prob
ably take care Of them without
spraying, since they prefer cool,
moist conditions.
This is the same insect that
bothers onions, gladiolus and
lother flowers. It is easily con-
ltrolled with sprays or dusts. The
first signs are obvious whiting
of the plant because the thrip
sucks out plant juices.
It's a little like the mosquito.
1--we only get excited about them
when they build UP tremendous
populations.
Virgil FARRELL of Viola is one
Of the unsung innovators in the
vegetable growing enterprise.
He developed, patented, and
marketed an automatic feeder
lfor bean viners several years
ago. He has been experiment.
ling with a new bean planter de-
sign this year. Our Extension
lService and the Libby, McNeill,
Libby Company are helping him
with some fertilizer trials on
his farm.
It's the latter that we want to
tell you about now. Bob Stevens,
our Extension Horticulturist, and
liz visited the six plots ten days
after planting. The stand came
up beautifully. We are trying to
see what effect varying amounts
Of nitrogen and phosphorus will
have when applied close to the
plant.
We can easily see difference
in plant color favoring the added
plant food. Then, too, we have
heavier cluster Of roots on the
fertilized plants. But Virgil
says, "The only thing that makes
any difference is the fina-
YIELD"
| The hay bale Of the future may
be a much smaller, more COM
pact package, tailor made for
mechanical handling and i'm
proved forage quality. Universi-
lty Of Minnesota research on this
was done by Ag Engineer John
lStrait on 12-inch cubic bales.
In using this sized bale, the
farmer cuts his hay in the morn
| ing and conditions 1t so that II
is down to 35 to 40 percent
. moisture and ready to bale by
mid afternoon with good drying
eather. The small bales move
directly into a self-unloading
; wagon, from which they can be
dropped into the dryer at ran
; dom. After drying, they are
elevated into forage wagons or
: conveyed directly into storage,
Drying time, with the small
bales, ranged from II to 2s
i hours. Fuel and electricity costs
: varied from a little over 81
; to nearly 81 per ton Of hay,
Engineer Strait says that, with
the same starting moisture con-
tent, the cost of drying the 12-
inch cubic bale is about 81 pei
l ton less than for the short
standard cross section bales,
There will be lots Of SLOW
Y moving farm machinery on rura.
Delaware roads during the nex
: several weeks, so be careful
. Slow down in time to avoic
\ collisions. Pass only If you're
sure you can do so success
: fully and safely. Remember, too
] where there's a farm house
n there's a driveway.
M x ~ y n n n n n ~ N N ~ N ~ u Il ~ AAAk