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The greatest difficulty In securing food dirt roads 1* not In the coat of the drag which we are recommending, for that 1* merely nominal." nor time required to operate It but a moral difficulty we came very near laying an Immoral one. A great many farmers look upon the subject in this way: They say they have paid their taxes In cash, as the law requires, and It Is the business of the trustees to see that It Is expended properly. It Is the bus iness of the road supervisor or con tractor to do the work under the direction of the trustees, and having done this, why should they go to the trouble of smoothing up the roads fclong their farms? They do not Intend to do something for nothing. The responsibility is not on them. It Is on the men to whom they have furnished the money to do this work, and they do not propose to do it This Is especially the ease with a retired farmer. He Is a little dis gruntled. anyhow. Heretofore in leasing his lands he has compelled the renter to work out all the road tax except that which Is specifically payable In cash. The new law comes In and says It must all be paid In cash. The renter says th(s is part of the taxes and he does not have to pay It It Is the part of the landlord to pay hit taxes, and he Is not going to help him out This Is the hardest proposition we are up against and the only way which we know that It can be re moved Is to develop a different code of ethics among farmers in other WoCds, to *et a little practical-applied Christianity into this road business. The disciples of Christ were a good deal In the position of the average farmer they wanted first to get the most there was In It for themselves, hence they were constantly so rapping among themselves as to which should have the highest honor In the tem poral kingdom which they believed until the last that Jesus was about to establish. He laid down this law for our guid ance and by which to measure char acter: "He that is greatest among you. let him do the most service." He never said a word to them abput standing up for'their rights, but He had a great deal to say to' them about their duties. NoW, If we,could get the farmers In sections where this good roads train has visited to quit thinking about the money that they have paid for taxes and thlpk about the duty to them selves as well as to their neighbors and the whole community of having a good, smooth road in front of their farms, we could solve this good roads problem. In those localities at least within the short space of one year. It will cost the farmer with a half mile road from 76 cents to $1.00 for a drag probably 7B cents worth of labor where he has a log which he ean split up, or perhaps $2.00 In labor and lumber where he has to buy the lumber. It will eost him not more than IJ.BO I have had a good many years of experience In growing wheat and have found that the earlier the seed bed ean be prepared the better. To endure the vicissitudes of winter the wheat plant must have a firm root, but not too deep, spreading near the surface, rather than striking down. The .wheat plant roakfes its growth while there Is plenty of moisture In the soli, so it does not send any of Its top roots down into the subsoil In search of moisture, as does the clover •r corn crop. I find that early plowing gives the best opportunity and conditions to the seed bed in perfect condition for the wheat crop. It Is the only way we can insure a compact firm soil with the right kind of seed bed on top to insure a good crop. The seed bed should be two or three Inohes deep, with a well-hardened stratum of compact soil below that which has been- thus settled by rains and the pressing of the roller and trampling of teams. I have found that when the soil be low the seed bed is open the crop is unsatisfactory. A large acreage of wheat Is now grown after crops of spring grain, and It is equally as necessary to get the planting done early tgi It was when the summer fallow was the prevailing method of preparing for wheat seed ing. The stubble and weeds are In them selves an Injury to the seed bed. They help to hold up the furrow under which they are turned' and some time Is required to allow them to settle down and rot. The manurlal value of this rubbish is next to nothing and A SIMPLE TOPPING-TOOL. A good topping-tool can be made from an old scythe-blade, ground flown*to the size desired. This will remove the tops of onions or other regetables and saves the hands and time. Place the vegetables directly under the blade, which if kept sharp, does such work In good ihape. MORAL ASPECT OF GOOD ROADS Henry Wallace Says We Must Get Practical Christianity Into the Making of Them. PREPARE THE WHEAT-SEED BED EARLY ,* in labor which would otherwise be wasted to keep his half-mile road smooth each year. The simple ques tion is whether he will forget about his road taxes and «do this without asking anybody for any pay but as a service done to the public, or whether he will sit-back and say: "I have paid somebody else for do ing it and let them do it or let It go undone." As a matter of fact it will go undone unless the farmer or land owner has this public sjplrlt that will Induce him to do.it without remuner ation. The railroads, the elevator men and the town merchants are TJuick to se? the value of these good roads. They know very well that there Is Jus* a certain amount of business to be done in any community in other words', just a certain amount of farmers' wants to be supplied, so much grain and live stock to market and so many goods to be bought They see perfectly clearly that while the farmer may be indifferent about the road In front of his farm, he Is not Indifferent about the roads between his farm and town. Where, for example, there are two towns ten miles apart which are com peting for the farmers' trade, the merchants see that if they can get th%. roads put In first-class shape the farmers who are nearest the next town Will haul their stuff a mile further In order that they have the advantage of the good road. They want to enlarge their territory as much as possible and they see very quickly that the best way they oan do it is to make the roads leading to their town the very best possible. The towns that start in now will have the advance of the towns that have not awakened to the situation, and by giving their new customers the right treatment they will hold .and maintain this trade for some tlm'a to come. If the farmer were wise he would see that It Is to his Interest to have the roads good to both towns so that he could go to one quite as well as the other and stay with the one th%t treats him beat It is quite possible to make In one year a good beginning at the solution of this problem which has vexed us ever since the west was opened up, but the greatest obstacle In the way of it Is this feeling on the part, of farmers that they have paid for doing the thing and why should they now turn around and do it themselves.- They do not seem to understand that If they would adopt this simple method of keeping the roads smooth one year without money and without price it would not be necessary to levy road taxes in the future exoept for drainage, bridges and oulvertsi and this In many counties in the west would cut the road tax somewhere In two and save, a two-mill levy. Turn the question around and look at It from this way, and if you will not look at It from the standpoint of public spirit and applied Christianity, take a good square look at it from the point of future savings. is more than offset by the injury it does to the seed bed by making it too light and dry. When the plowing Is not done early It Is better to rake up and burn this trash before plowing. Some humus in the soli might be lost but this Will be more than made up by the increased yield of grain secured. The stubble is always a hid ing and breeding place for Insects that prey upon, and if gotten rid of either by early plowing or burning, the crop Is more certain. One of the chief advantages I find of early plowing of stubble land Is in getting grain up and out of the way before the wheat is sown. It should be harrowed every ten days or two weeks after plowing to pulverize lumps and keep down the weeds and grass and also to compress the furrow beneath the shallow seed bed. On no account should this cultiva tion go deeper than two or three inches, and perhaps an Inch of depth might be better still, if there were frequent rains about seeding time. Rains help to compact the seed bed for wheat better even than cultiva tion. When cultivation is too deep the seed Is apt jto be put too deeply in the ground. I never sow my wheat when the ground is very loose, waiting for rains to settle it It is better to wait past the season for favorable seeding time than to cover the seed deeply in a bed of flne dust, which is sure to run to gether and compact when rains do come. Wheat sown in this manner will not come up as well as it otherwise would and It Is sure to winter kill. W. H. Underwood. RAIL FENCE PHILOSOPHY. A harsh word spoken to the wife or children or a simple act of injustice Is often the germ which grows into a monster which strangles affection *nd starves our hungry hearts. The man who really loves his wife does not forget at 75 how beautiful she was at 20. It Is all right to ask the Lord to aid us in our work but all the same, he expects us to do our level best There was never a woman whose heart has not been touched with jeal ousy. If there was no jealousy there would be no love in the world- A Drink In Safely A drinking place for birds which offers protection from cats should be on 8very farm and every suburban home yard should contain one. The water iM furnished in an old tin fastened to the top of a post, be low which is an Inverted pan Which 8h" -.:d extend out at least Six lhohes from the pole. Such a drinking plaCe Is cheap and easily constructed. The pepper called Papttka, which is In great demand can now be grown In the Southern states profitably. The government has conducted some valu able experiments during the past few years, and has grown and marketed about 7,000 pounds of the pods of flne quality. Short rows cause frequent turning and a consequent loss of time and wasted energy- for both man and team. A GOOD COW-ST ALL, There are many kinds of stall fix tures. The stanchions, cribs and rackj and the empty stall with no place for hay but to throw It In front of the cow, and what she does not clean up at once Ip trampled on. The. stanchion Is not very good for the cow. She must stand there in one place and is net free as in a stall. In a properly built stall, when the cow feeds, the hind feet are on the plank floor, and when she lies down she will get up Into the stall with her head under the rack. With the old style cribs It is re versed. When fhe feeds she must get up, her head into the crib, and when lying dawn get back- into the dirt, and if not kept well bedded she will be dirty clear' to the ears. SUGGESTIONS THAT MAY HELP.' Its a losing game to buy staple sup plies in little dribs. The reason so many city people are poor is because they buy groceries and coal In five and ten cent lots. Farm machinery comes pretty high, we sometimes think, but there Is one thing in its favor, it Is not eating three meals a day when it Is not working. If your neighbor comes along and offers to let you in on a ground floor gold mine or any other sure thing proposition "just because you are a good fellow," ask time to think it over and then refuse. Swamps on the farm are like dark spots on the human character. They are neglected and misunderstood and may be redeemed to usefulness and beauty by proper, cultivation. Many a farmer who despises "little things" has been ttded over bank ruptcy by the savings from their wife's chicken yards. To avoid criticism say nothing evil bout your neighbors. -U? CONTRACTED FEET. Owing to bad shoeing and also many other causes many horses suffer with contracted feet. The heels are narrowed and the horse steps gingerly with a desire to extend himself when forced to trot or gallop. The writer Is now using P. horse 21 years oM and when he drove him for the first time in December last saw that he experienced great difficulty in •steading himself and especially on rough or stony roads. He was shod with heel calks on the front as well as the hind feet and it was. very perceptible that the heels of his front feet were too narrow. After three unsuccessful trials with regular blacksmiths the horse was ex amined by a competent veterinary sur geon Who pronounced his trouble to bo contracted heels. Ha has them shod perfectly level in front, springs were placed In between the back of his shoes to keep the heels spread and a piece of sole leather was tacked across the hollows of the hoof below the hoof and shoes to protect the sole of the foot and break the jar of traveling on rough and stony places. About once or twice a week a hoof ointment consisting of one pint of Neat's foot oil with two tablespoon fuls of oil of tar was applied on the outside of the front feet with a soft rag and then, raising the edge of the leather, a little Is poured over the sole of the foot and a few drops In the heel cleft. £ince the last shoeing and following the treatment above described the horse has Improved wonderfully in his road work and rarely flinches, even going at a 12-mile-an-hour clip. A Prize-Winning Kentucky Jack» TWO BARLEY BLIGHTS. During the past two seasons there has appeared in many sections, a widespread disease on barley, com monly called rust, but in no way re lated to this disease. It Is caused by an Imperfect fungus. There are two forms of these leaf spot diseases of the barley, one an early blight which has been desig nated as "the yellow leaf disease," and the other "the late barley blight" The yellow leaf disease appears early during the season. This Is characterized by yellowish longitud inal stripes alternating with darker lines. This is transmitted by the seed. The late barley blight causes brown spots of Irregular outline, and occurs on the leaves, glumes and seed. The 1 a.—Barley leaf affected by "late blight." b.-—Barley leaf affected by "yellow leaf disease." c.—Blade of corn affected by this fungus." leaves are easily broken up and com pletely destroyed In some cases. There are many species of this fun gus on grasses, and one occurs on the leaves of corn, sometimes doing much Injury. Stark Bros., who own a large nur sery near Louisiana, Mo., gave to the school children of nearby towns a car load of fruit trees, all of which were planted and yet there were not half enough to around. The car contained 4,000 apple trees, 2,600 pear trees, 4,000 cherry trees, 2,000 peach trees, 10,000 grape vines fc-nd 1,500 rose us he Some women are so unreasonable as to expect a man to stop pitching horse shoes Just to saw wood for the kitchen stove. SUlt Hopping for Hops Hop-growers of Kent England,have discovered a novel way of fixing the wires on the tall poles on whioh the hops are trained to grow. The poles are about twelve feet high, and placed In rows at Intervals of four or live feet in the fields. Upon these, wires must be stretched, and for this oper ation the Ingenious farmers have de vised long stilts, which are fastened to their legs, enabling them to stand at a height of seven or more feet from the ground. A USEFUL PLANT SUPPORT. The accompanying picture shows a support for plants which Can-be used to good advantage, both for vegetables and flowers. It is a patented article. but the cost Is not great. It is made of galvanized wire, which will not rust and can be raised and lowered to suit the plant. When not In use it can be oiled and packed away for the next season. It is very useful for traln irg tomatoes, carnations, roses or any plant that needs support.. WHY USE DAIRY RECORDS? Accurate records of each cow's milk yield enables us to weed out the herd and retain only the money-makers. They serve as*a4ab on the milkers. If the cows -are not milked clean the fact is discovered. Poor milking by hired help Is discouraged and the dry ing off from imperfect milking re duced to a minimum. The cow's daily record Is an excel lent barometer of her physical condi tion. Derangements are more quickly discovered and checkeu and better methods of feeding are encouraged. Both owners and help are stimu lated to increase the product and it educates hem in the matter of dairy economy. They induce better business In the management of the business. A place vhere business methods have been too long ignored. They serve as an excellent guide In selecting heifers that are to be raised to replace the cows we annually dis card from the herd. He is the real wise man who can keep from getting the big head when folks praise him for his good deeds. tits Cows Must Have To increase the profits from our herds or decrease the profits of pro duction we must eliminate the cows which Individually run us into debt. In the second place we must feed our cows more intelligently. The feed ing of a dairy herd to produce profits more economically is a hard propo sition to put to a man at the .present time. Under the present conditions the only way to produce butter fat at less cost than we did last year is by Increasing the efficiency of our home grown dairy foods. The feeding value of our home grown foods will depend largely upon their palatabllity. By feeding a variety of feeds we make our. rations more appetizing and palatable than a few foods. Ensilage and roots are more pala table than dry fodders. Cows that are fed these appetizing feeds with clover hay will eat more hay than when confined to clover alone. Early cut hay is more suited to the ration than late cut hay and the cows will consume larger quantities Of It In feeding home-grown feeds we must feed such foods In a practical way. as will Induce the cows to eat more. The more easily digested the ration, the larger the milk flow. A certain amount of energy Is required.to pre pare these foods for assimilation. In feeding coarse foods we find this is a large per cent. Tender pasture grass Is more easily digested than dry fodders. Again we see that succulent foods are more easily digested than dry fodders that early cut hay is more easily digested Wo can make a balanced ration from corn ensilage and alfalfa hay, but such a ration contains an excess of coarse fiber and requires too great an expenditure of energy to digest and assimilate it Such a ration may be greatly Im proved by the addition of a few pounds of concentrates. Cows that are giving milk must have an abundance of protein. The more protein we feed up to a certain point the larger the milk flow. It Is the amount of food over and above that required to maintain the body that goes to stimulate the milk pro duction. The German standard of feeding calls for one and one-quarter pounds of protein for every ten or twelve pounds of milk. Another principle is that, feeding contentrates rich in nitrogen and mineral matter increases the value of the manure and much of the profits from high feeding must be made We must fight the encroachment of the gutters on our hillside farms as we fight weeds. Both can be held in check and often entirely eliminated. Jealousy and envy are like weeds— they grow quickly and flourish on many soils but produce nothing that is not despised. Not long ago in looking over a bunch of hogs in Western Illinois, we observed that most of the animals were afflicted with little sores, red spots, on the thin places In their skins. These eruptions, were particularly noticeable back of the ear and on the flanks. The farmer complained that his hogs were not eating well and he could not understand what caused the sores to break out. This bunch of hogs of all ages, from three-months-old pigs to three-year old sows, ran on a pasture.during the day but at night slept in houses which were used for the winter quarters, I suggested that the trouble might be caused by lice, and the farmer caught two or three pigs and found them almost alive with parasites. He was astonished and admitted that he had never examined one of his animals before. Many farmers do not realize that lice are a souroe of tremendous loss in the raising of hogs. They worry the animals and prevent their feed ing well, and in many cases produce sores or eruptions which naturally retard growth. It is n'ot difficult to rid the pig of lice by dlppng or spraying, but these remedies are of no use unless the pens and sleeping quarters are rid of the lice as well. The best dip to use Is some of the tar solutions as they are harmless. We do hot believe In kerosene emul sion because unless great care is taken to keep the solution very weak the animals will bllBter if allowed to run in the hot sun after being sprayed. When a bunch of hogs is badly infested the animals should be dipped, although spraying may be used, pro- A QUIET LITTLE SMOKE, A farmer living In Wisconsin scraped together a pipeful of tobacco out of his son's pocket without notic ing that the young man carried re volver cartridges loose In the same pocket. The old man had just flred RATIONAL CARE OF DAIRY HERDS Good Care and Comfortable Surround ings if They Are to Give the Best Besults. than late cut hay and that grain and methods of tlelng the cows, we milst concentrates are more easily digested than hay and coarse fodders. ARE LICE EATING UP YOUR MONEY? up and settled down for a comfortable I Many of the annuals, if sown now. smoke when a, .cartridge which he will make a flne show In late falL through the fertility brought onto the farm by the Increased value of the manurlal fertility. But high feeding is not always the most profitable. This is a mattfcr that must be worked out by the man him self according to his farm and con ditions. Conditions are not the same on two farms. The difference In cows, the kinds and amount of available home-grown foods, the market prices -of dairy products and dairy foods, compel each man to work out the problem as It applies to his Own par ticular farm, always watching the milk flow, increasing the foods *nd protein until a point Is reaohed that yields the mdst profit Cows must have good care and comfortable surroundings if they arc to respond to intelligent feeding. Thi great problem In connection with the stable Is to keep it warm and well ven tilated at the samt time, f'ure air la just as necessary to the cow as food. Sunlight Is another essential. Dark stables where sunshine never reac.he* breed disease. Sunlight is a tonlo. a stimulator and Invlgorator to ail animals. There seems to be a wide diversity of opinion among dairymen as £o howl mucH. exercise the dairy cow should have, and I wish to say that 1 am, not a member of the class who believe in shutting in the cows from October until June without turning tMm out for exercise. There Is a muscular tone and vigor that must be kept up to maintain health. With all our present-day systems of veiftllatlon and Improved give the cows some out-door exercise if we secure the best results of pro duction and procreation. If we look upon the cow as a milk producing machine alone and do not place a value upon her ability to bring a strong and vigorous calf, it may more profitable for us to keep her inside all the time where she can tur:i all of her energy toward the produc ing of milk alone and be-discarded in two or three years and another Cow take her place. Such practice may pay the iftllto producer but not the man who is try ing to build up a herd of economical butter-makers. If any man thinks a little exercisc a waste of energy let him shut him self up in a close room kept at t^hc* right temperature all winter and con fine himself to just such kinds of food and see if he Comes through the win ter In condition to start a hard spring's work. If the experiment worked well by himself why then he might be just ified in trying it on the cows. If we were always as ready to for give the faults of others as we are to overlook our own, the world would not be so awfully bad, Some people always are worrying about the troubles which may come,'} forgetting that there are enough troubles already here to keep us busy. ,, jvided the hogs are tied and thrown ,so that the spray may cover everv portion of the bddy. It Is no use t spray the upper part of a hog an-l leave the under side untouched, be cause every louse will multiply an soon spread all over the animal'-i body. After the hogs have been dipped sprayed they should be turned Into clean lot that has never been used for hogs and the old quarters should' b? abandoned, or If this Is not practic able, every particle of bedding 6nl litter, in the yards must be raked, swept up and burned, and every foot of ground in the yards and the fences and sleeping quarters, as well, thor oughly sprayed with a strong d*® lnfectant. Kerosene emulsion, which Is cheap, can be used In this way to advantage. The hogs should not be returned to the old quarters for several weeks, and a second spraying or even a third be fore the hogs are turned hi is ad* visable. If the hogs are allowed to occupy the same pens and .sleeping'quarters year after year, which are not fre quently cleaned and sprayed as above suggested, lice will, surely get Into the herd. As this parasite multiplies with tre mendous rapidity it only'takes a short time tb thoroughly infest hogs so that their thrift will be impeded. The hog louse affects no other animal, but devotes his entire time and attention to the swine. While he Is quite tenacious in his efforts to live, still a moderate application of dtr~ and sprays and the burning of oM bedding and whitewashing of the in teriors of sleeping quarters will quick ly ,|ut him out of business. had placed In the pipe along with the tobacco, exploded, clipping off a por tion of his left ear, passing within an inch of his granddaughter's head, and finally burying itself in the .piano. As farms become smaller and our methods more intensive, It will be necessary for us to secure higher prices for our meat production and animal foods. Sheep are economical producers and cant be handled pro fitably under Intense conditions of farming.