Williams news. [microfilm reel], June 22, 1916, Image 6

About Williams news. [microfilm reel] (Williams, Ariz.) 1891-19??

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THE WILLIAMS NEWS
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By MELVIN RYDER.,,
EWEY HANES is my hero."
That's what Gov. Frank B. Willis of
Ohio said about the seventeen-year-old
corn and wheat champion grower of
the Buckeye state, after hearing the
boy tell over a thousand farmers how
they ought to go about raising corn
and wheat in order to get three and
four times as large yields per acre at much less
wwt per bushel and much greater profits per acre.
The secret of the success of the boys' and girls'
r.lub work and the dozen different projects which
the "farmers of the future" are carrying on so
' successfully is to be found In Governor Willis"
five-worded- remark. The boys who are showing
the men how to farm are the heroes of the agrl
' cultural world of today. They are the evangelists
who are carrying the gospel of better farming into
every section of the state and showing their fa
thers and mothers how to farm better and how to
. live better on the farms.
The United Slatpl dpnurtmsnt f r.,.w...- ;
, ..... .u.u vb. HMIVU11U1D If
' in charge of this work. .Their experts have built'
up a national organization with each state and
county as a unit, and their paid agents are in
charge pf the. details of organization and tabula
tion of all the work that has been done and is to
be done. The season of 1916 is now under way.
and even the most optimistic in charge hesitate
to predict how far the boys and girls will go
before the season's results are known in solving
the problems before the farmers of today and
leading these same farmers into the bigger and
happier farming life that is possible through the
use of better methods and the gaining of better
crops of higher quality and market value.
Not many years ago a Southern lad, Jerry
" Moore, startled . the entire country by growing
more corn on one acre than many farmers are'
uow growing on ten acres. Newspapers and maga
Ktnes throughout the countrv com mpn tori hi.
excellent work, and predicted that farmers' would '
And that they might also grow larger and better
quality crops if they would follow his methods.
They did not realize until after the next season
Ilia m)in U I . Hi .
jv ""v uiu uujr a Bcmevement was worth to
the country, not until they learned that the entire
South was following Jerry Moore and growing
more corn that sold for millions of dollars
E.ach year the work of the boys and girls has
grown, and the end Is farther than: ever away.'
The boys have been specializing in growing crops
end live stock, the girls in tending gardens, can-
. . ft.vruu.vA nuu 'aiuujrmg UUIH8 eCO-
npntics and better home-life. In numbers the boys
and girls are several times greater than the stand
ing arm of the United States. In enthusiasm they
are far ahead of any other organized body in the
" luiiiuuaucu aou in recoraea results the
world has never seen the equal of the same boys .
and girls. And the season of 1916 has Just opened
. the season that is certain to double or triple in '
results the last and greatest season of 1915.
To best understand what the bovs anrl e-iria
found when they started their work, it is neces
. sary to look back through the centuries and see
how the science of farming began. The occupa
tion of farming is one of the oldest 1n the history '
f the world. When men knew little else, they
knew how to plant seed and reap a harvest that
was sufficient for their dally needs. During many
.centuries, the farmer was -a plodder, who worked
ihat.be and his family might exist. Probably he
'found little joy and happiness in his work. The
production of life in a seed was p mvntonr to him
and he accepted the mystery without trying to
solve it It was enough that the plant grew and
produced fruit, and the early farmer never asked
himself how he could treat his soil and the seed
so that it would produce twofold Instead of one.
There was plenty of land, and so when one field
did not produce well, he moved to another field or
region, and did not bother about the first area.
There came a time, however, when his soil be-
' came barren in great areas. The seed no longer
grew as it had and the plants were weak and
the fruit of little value. Then it was that science
stepped in and the really scientific farming had a
start. Science showed that soil that had been
cropped until it was partly worn out could be re
stored to its productive ability by the return of
the elements that had been removed. Science
showed the farmer that the soil was a live thing
and that tha life in the soil must be maintained.
It examined the roots of the plants and studied
the way that the plant transforms the raw ma
terials in the soil into the finished product of the
fruit of the plant. It found that some plants had
nodules on their roots that were filled with bac
teria which- had the power to take up nitrogen
' from the air, and it found many other truths that
have since been the basis for much of the work
done by agricultural teachers.
During the last ten years the advance of the
science of farming has been very rapid, but the
practical application hy the farmers of the prin
ciples and practices that have been proved valu
able has not kept pace with the discoveries. It is
the boys and girls who are catching up, and there
in is the explanation of the results that they have
been getting. Their parents might have done the
same things, but they did not. . The boys who are
growing corn started where their fathers left off
and put into practice the teaching that the fathers
considered impractical theories. In most cases
the parents kept their hands off, so far as the
boys' acres were concerned. Many of them were '
auspicious of the entire- work, and were content
to It their boy enter because-they thought .that
- woniil be the best way for the "young 'una" to be
II " uJ a 1 I 3K. ft Ciill
.y tit, country j rni?32
lads and las- ' "
.sies. are the na- x
ture prosperity JfiZn ill
and strength Jf nsiK
T Will
KrA S&frMl ill
kept on the farms and contented. Now the atti
tude has been changed and the parents are aa
deeply interested as the boys and girls themselves,
and in many states and sections the parents and
children are contesting between themselves in or
der to see which can grow the bigger crops. A
; notable instance of this was shown in Bartholo
mew county, Indiana, where two years ago the
boys beat the parents ' by a wide margin in the
production of corn per acre, but where last year
the parents "came back" by making their acres
yield more than the acres tilled by the boys.
This year the boys have put their heads together
and .have their plans laid to win back the records.
Rapid as has been the advance of agriculture
during the last ten years, the future is going to he
filled with more wonderful revelations, through
the work of the boys and girls and the inspiration
that their work has been upon the farmers of to
day. If in the last ten years a farm has been able to
produce double its former crops, the next ten
years it will produce four times as much per acre
with proper soil treatment and cultivation. On
the acre of ground that last year yielded 200
bushels of potatoes. 400 and 600 bushels will be
raised, because the boys have demonstrated that
such yields can be produced. Over in the field
where 30 bushels of corn was considered a good
crop in a state where the average yield was only
a few bushels more per acre at least 90 to 100
bushels per acre will be raised in the future, ber
cause such boys as Dewey Hanes of Ohio raised
153.7 bushels per acre, and the winners in some
other states outgrew him
"True education" Is the basis for the work that
the boys and girls are doing. The clubs are the
mediums of practical instruction in the common
' duties of the farm and farm homes. The boys are
taught better methods of farming, and the girls
are taught better home methods. The agricultural
colleges and experiment stations are finding that
the boys and girls are better teachers and more
practical experimenters because they are carrying
the entire country with them toward better farm
ing and better living on the farm. The "old folks"
are learning the value of crop rotation, the use
of fertilizers and manures, the . need of proper
tillage, good seed, and the otfc,er factors that en
ter into the efficient management of the soil and
the farm.
How can the parents help the boys and girls
is the question being asked the leaders in the club
work by farmers In every section of-the United
States. Parents can and should help by encour
aging them to enter the contests and organized
clubs, and allowing the children the time from
regular work with farm chores to tend their own
plots of ground. The children should feel that
they are partners on the farms.
Parents, think what this work means to you be
fore you refuse to help. You don't want your
children to have the same hardships, the same
toil with. little to show for the years spent such
as many of you have had. in the past. You don't
want your children to have the same discourage
ments because of seasons when the crops were
poor and the market prices were low. You don't
want your children leaving the farms and taking
up lines of work that are less profitable, healthful
and productive of happiness.
You cannot afford to refuse your support and
your co-operation during the coming season. From
a financial reason alone If for no higher reason
you cannot afford to go on with the same methods
that you have been using in growing your crops
and getting only half the yields that you should
receive.
It your boys can raise four times as much oorn
., as you, or, even twice as much per acre, you can
not afford to refuse to use their methods next
season in growing your crops. If your boys can
make twice as much money from one acre aa you,
are you going to be content to go on as you have
been doing and let your children lose confidence
in your farming knowledge and ability! Decided
ly, you cannot afford it
Let's see how the boys are getting their record
1 yields Take Jerry Moore of South Carolina,
Dewey Hanes of Ohio, and Marius Malgren of Vir
ginia three of the most successful of the thou
sands of boys who have been showing present-day
farmers how to farm. Study their own accounts
of how they produced their crops and you will find
that they tested their, seed corn, they -used the
best seed corn that they could get, they prepared
their seedbeds carefully and thoroughly, so that
the young plants would have the very beat oppor
tunities to grow quickly and mature within tha
limits of their growing seasons.
. They knew that the plants bad to be fed, and
they used manures and fertilizers liberally. Thou-
- sands of other boya did the same. They wouldn't
try to raise such yields without feeding their
crops, any more than their parents would try to
secure milk from their dairy cows without feed
ing the cows properly They cultivate their fields
carefully in order to kill the weeds and conserve
the moisture for the growing plants. They gave
a little more time to the acre and they reaped
much greater crops as results.
Nothing wonderful about all this. You say that
these principles have been known and practiced
for years. Certainly.- The boys have made use of
. principles that have been known for scores of
years, but they have not merely accepted the prin
ciples and then gone about their farming opera
tions, leaving their knowledge as some men do
their Sunday clothes and their religion hung up
in closets and forgotten after Sunday is past
The boys, didn't go at farming in a slipshod,
halfway fashion, such as many farmers have been
doing right along. They were not content to prac
tice only one of the factors and disregard the
' others. They practiced . them all together on
their acre fields, and the results speak in a way
that cannot be misunderstood. They didn't dump
on some manure and leave the other factors to
. luck. '
They used manure and fertilized, and they used
the best seed and the best, methods of preparing
the land before the seed was planted and the best
tillage methods afterwards. The fertilizer they
used gave the crops the early start, and the ma
turity that makes quality and quantity, and they
escaped the "soft" corn that their parents found in
many fields where little or no attention had been
given to soil and plant-food management.
Boys and girls, you have a right to be proud of
' the work you have done. You have a right to
expect the co-operation of your parents and of the
farmers in your community, and you are going to
get it this year and in coming years. You have
the government back of you, and it is spending
thousands of dollars in each state so that you can
add to the productive wealth of your state mil
lions of dollars in added yields of crops that have
higher market values. You boys are to be the
farmers of the future and you are to find great Joy
and happiness in your work. You girls will some
day preside over farm homes that will be happier
because you have learned to bake and cook and
can, and keep the house neat and tidy and home-
like, and make farm-life happier for your family.
None of you is too young to begin, for before you
know it you will be out of school, young men ani
women, making your own way in life
BARNYARD BIRTHDAY PARTY.
"I don't believe you ever heard be
fore of a little boy who had all his
Birthday parties in the barnyard or
at least the Birthday parties he called
the real ones. To be sure, his mother
sometimes had a number of his little
friends come to take supper with him
on his Birthday and they didn't
have supper in the Barnyard but the
party he called his real Birthday party
was given in the barnyard. ..
"This year he even invited his
friends to come to his Barnyard, party,
But before I go farther, I must tell
you that his name was Bob. I really
think he was sorry that it wasn't Tur
key or Guinea Pig or Rooster!"
"Oh, Daddy," laughed Nick, "you're
making up now, aren't you?"
well perhaps he was glad his
name, was Bob and not Turkey, but
anyway he was more devoted to the
barnyard animals than to anything
else. And I must tell you about this
party he gave.
"First of all, he had told his friends
to come to the Barnyard, and that he
would have a surprise for them. And
the day of his Birthday they all arrived.
"He had had many talks with the
animals,' of course, beforehand, and
had told them of things they must do,
In fact, he had been teaching them
some tricks. He didn't teach them
hard tricks at all as he thought it
was cruel to try to make animals do
really hard tricks besides he liked
the simpler ones just as well. '
"When all his friends had arrived
they were shown right out to the Barn
yard. There was Bob, and all around
him with the Geese, the Pigs, the Tur
keys, the Chickens, Hens, Roosters,
Ducks and all the rest of the Barn
yard family. Some of the old Mothers
and Daddies of the Barnyard families
watched from their resting places, for
First of All Bob Led a Procession.
they wanted to be the 'audience' and
not the 'performers.'
"And first of all Bob led a proces
sion all around the Barnyard, while
his friends laughed and called out
'Many' happy, returns.' It was very
funny to see all. the animals following
Bob. And they had no idea of going
according to their sizes. ' First a little
Guinea Pig would follow in line and
then a great big Father Turkey would
follow next and then a Baby Chicken
followed by quite a good-sized Pig.
"But Bob liked to have the animals
march just the way they wanted to,
and his friends all thought it quite a
joke.
"And then came the tricks! They
did some pretty fine tricks, too, and
they all seemed to enjoy themselves
as much as the boys who were watch
ing them. .
"As for Bob, he was proud as proud
could be. ; And then he gave the prizes
tOj the animals. All the prizes were
good things to eat things that each
animal specially liked and every ani
mal got a prize!
"And then came the wonderful sur
prise. Bob's Birthday cake was
brought out on top of a high box which
was in his express wagon. , The ex
press wagon was decorated with 'long
green grass and the cake was trimmed
with red and green candles, well,
when the animals saw it they all said
just what they thought of it in Just
the way they speak! You can imag
ine the funny sounds in the Barnyard
then every ' animaj shrieking out
what he thought of the queer thing
(on the express wagon) with the
burning candles in daylight Bob was
so happy that he had surprised his
Barnyard friends and later on he
took his boy friends Indoors to nave
some of the birthday cake; But a
great many crumbs went out after
ward to the Barnyard."
SCARLET TANAGER IS SINGER
Not Only Is His Song Sweet but Lit
tle Bird Is Easily Tamed and
Makes Nice Pet for Boy.
"When you see this bird, with his
black and scarlet coat on, among the
green trees, you will think he is only
a flame of fire instead of a living
bird, and this is why he so often is
called "the fire bird." French people
call him "the cardinal," on account oi
his very bright color. But did you
know that birds with the brightest
plumage are not the best singers in
the world? This cannot be said of the
tanager, for his song is very sweet
In addition to his good quality he is
easily tamed and makes a nice little
net
BETTER STANDARD OF DAIRY
Farmers Allow City Dairymen to Pick
Out Best Producers in Herd
. Quality Deteriorate.'
It seems tor be true that the quality -of
the farm dairy herds is of a much,
lower standard in practically every
way than those of the city dairyman.'
This really works to the detriment of
tie farmer and yet he is to blame for
the whole thing. The city dairyman
who must buy all of his feed knows
that he cannot afford to keep a cow
unless she is a real producer, therefore
he goes out into the country and per
suades the farmer to part with the
very .beat cows in his'herd. The cow
is taken to the city and worked as
hard as possible until she begins to
fail, when she is sold to the butcher.
All of her calves have gone to the
same place and thus we see that noth
ing' whatever has been done toward
building up the standard of the dairy
animals of the country.
Circumstances make it necessary
that the city dairyman should make a
very close study of the business and
Heavy-Producing Cow.
knowledge thus acquired enables bin:
to take advantage of the average farm
er when he goes out into the country
In search of cows to add to his herd.
Very seldom does he consider buying
the cows that the farmer is willing to
dispose of but he ferrets out those
that he is confident are the real pro-,
ducers and, be it said to the credit of '
his shrewdness, he usually gets what
he wants. ' .
. Such sales are bound to keep any
herd down to a mediocre standard be
cause the cows that really produced a J
profit are gone, also there is but smalt" V
j a i V 1
ll&euuoou Oi any uupruvouiru-. wo-iaftuso
calves from poor cows' seldom prove
more valuable than their dam. Such
methods usually allow the quality of
the herd to deteriorate.
SALTING IS NICE OPERATION
Should Be as Near Absolutely Pure a
Possible Used for Flavoring
and Preserving.
Salting the butter is a nice opera
tion which requires considerable
knowledge and care to be done prop
erly. In the first, place, the butter
must be washed until entirely tree
from buttermilk before the Bait . is
added. The salt should.be as near
absolutely pure as can be purchased
and the finer it is the better. One
ounce of salt to one pound of butter,
added to the butter gradually and well
worked in, is the rule. 1 - '
It is advisable to permit the butter
to stand after salting for 24 hours if
possible, then work it over and put it
in prints or pack it for . market as de
sired. Salt is added to butter with a
twofold purpose. First as a flavoring
element and also as a preservative.
Water holds in solution an enormous
quantity of salt and the salt in butter
absorbs the water which persists In
the butter In spite of much- work and -makes
the product proper as it comes
to the table, nearly dry. ' The amount .
of water in the usual sample of butter
runs between 10 and 12 per cent
There is no step In the predudtion of
good butter more important than the -salting.
. 1 , . v J .
EXPENSE OF RAISING HEIFER
Must Be Worth More Than $60 When
Two Years Old to Be Profitable
to Dairy Farmer. ,
Investigations made by the depart
ment of agriculture indicate that the
average coat of raising a heifer on a
dairy farm in the northern and east--era
sections Is about $61 at the end.
of ber second year; this includes an
allowance of $7.81 for labor. The
heifer is given a credit of $8 for the
manure she produces. Thus It ap
pears that the dairy farmer In the
sections mentioned cannot, afford to
raise a heifer that is not worth more
than $60 when two years old.
GOOD COWS TO CONTEMPLATE
Time, Patience and Effort Are Re
quired to Secure Butterfat Prize
la Worth While.
Cows that produce large amounts of
butterfat are good to contemplate.
but it requires time, effort and per
sistence to get them, and in the get-'
ting a. good many blanks will be
drawn; but the prises make the effort
worth whil