The farmer and mechanic. [volume], December 22, 1914, Page 6, Image 6

About The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??

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THE FARMER AND MECHANIC.
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in i:i:.si.G CROP YIKRDS.
Need
Culture-
' For farmers Who
and Retire Them.
. Weekly News Letter. U. S- Depart
ment of Agriculture.)
When certain kinds of living organ
isms which take nitrogen from the
air are properly worked into the soil,
rop yields are often greatly in
ereascd. it ml land that is worn oilt
is put in condition for bearing more
e ops. The office of soil baeterolog
i. A'estigations is an important brancn
of the department's bureau of plant
industry, and not only investigates the
bacte ria beneficial to the soil, but pre
pares cultures of certain kinds for dis
tribution to farmers, who may us
them to make their farming more
profitable. During the past year this
office distributed enough culture of
bacteria to treat about 200,000 acrea
of crops, such as alfalfa, vetch, crim
son clover, red clover, cow peas and
soy beans.
Cpon the. recommendation of rep
resentatives of the department, espe
cially county agents, the "cultures"
are distributed to farmers who need
and desire them. The department's
agents in their distribution are en
deavoring to encourage the use of le
gume crops, such as alfalfa and cow
peas, in crop rotation systems so as
to maintain the fertility of the land.
Distributions of "inoculating mate
rial" have been made by the de
partment since 1902, when the first
practical method was evolved for pre
narinir tmre cultures of bacterie for
inoculating legumes. These basteria
are called "nitrogen iixinfi," because
they are able to absorb nitrogen gas
from the air and "fix" it into solid
compounds in the soil, where it is a
valuable plant food.
When we go out to buy dairy cows
do we not always find a scarcity of
good ones and too many poor ones?
In breeding, therefore, this is a fact
to be remembered.
WHY LAND SHOl'LD
DKAIXED
A Most Popular Bird at This Sea
son. Rueky Indeed is the Farmer
Who Has a Iirge Floek of Them to
Sell.
By E. It. Jones.
Of the several conditions which In
fluence the growth of crops none is
more important than the amount of
water in or on the soil. While water
in a thin film around the soil grains
is an absolute necessity to plants, an
excess is as bad as a deficiency. Too
much water is detrimental because:
1. - It makes areas so soft that they
cannot be cultivated. When these
soft places aie long and narrow in
form, they cut the upland into irre
gular pieces that can not be cultivated
conveniently.
'2. It delays cultivation, particu
larly in the spring.
3. It makes soils coid; (a) because
in the spring more than half of the
heat that the soil receives is used to
STARTING PYRCKR POST
MARK ITT Ft) It
m:w
SYSTKM OF COTTOX
CULTURE IS A WINNER.
Ai;e of Pigeons is Important.
By C. Graham.
Pigeons are considered to be at their
prime when three years old, and there
are very few pairs that pay for their
feed after they are seven years old.
They depreciate in value with age.
Professional dealers in pigeons have
been known to buy old pairs for from
sixty to seventy cents and then sell
them to the unsuspecting purchaser
Red Carncau Cock, Weight I lib., 3 Oz.
ls g uaranteed mated birds at several
dollars a pair. For this reason a per
son should buy pigeon only from
Home dealer with whom he is person
ally acquainted, or from some one
who is willing to guarantee not only as
to the birds being mated, but also as
to age.
The females are, as a rule, more
delicate than the males in both old
a nd young pigeons, and when buying
young birds the purchaser is quite
likely to find among them many more
males than females. Not onlv is it es-
Hed ('amen ii
Cock,
ok.
Weight 1 Rb.
pential to have noihing but mated
birds in the loft, but they should be
from good hardy stock. Some breed
ers have been known to force their
stock to such an extent that they have
lowered the vitality. Others are sur
rounded by conditions that it is impos
sible to produce good, vigorous birds.
While same select their larger squabs
for market and keep the smaller birds,
which would sell for a much lower
Usurp as market squabs, let them grow
and -ell them later as breeders.
Great care should be taken in the
purchase of stock to know that it is
from lofts were there is no vermin.
It is next to impossible to get lice out
of the loft when the Hock once gets
thoroughly infested, and the introduc
tion of one or two dirty pigeons will
very soon cause such a condition.
Flocks will be found where there is a
tendency toward roup, canker, and
other diseases, and these must be
avoided if success is to be secured.
Owners of flocks that have been in
fested are generally anxious to dis
pose of them, and dealers have been
known to purchase these goods and
after a little doctoring, offer them for
sale, being careful to say, "They are
mated birds and in the prime of con
dition as far as age, weight, etc., are
eoncerned." It is such experiences
as these that cause many to have ill
luck from the beginning; in fact they
failed before they had really begun.
Alfalfa seed are expensive, and the
heavier yields of hay are not usually
secured until the second or third year
or later.
Produces Increased Crops, Department
Circular Shows.
Photographs which show in detail
why the new system Of cotton culture
recommended by the department pro
duces earlier and increased crops are
contained in a new circular entitled
"Single-Stalk Cotton Culture." This
circular follows up the department's
farmers' bulletin No- 601 entitled "A
New System of Cotton Culture." Both
of these publications may be had for
the asking by interested cotton grow
ers. While farmers' bulletin No. 601
gives detailed explanation of the meth
od, the new publication contains pho
tographs of plans in the field show
ing the development of .the new7 sys
tem o'f culture and the results secured
in actual practice, in California, Tex
as and Virginia. These demonstrate
the methods of procedure under the
new system of culture and its value to
the farmer, says the weekly news let
ter of the United State Department
of Agriculture.
A concrete demonstration is given
of how single-stalk plants may be
grown close together in the rows and
yet have less crowding than with
widely-spaced large plants and nu
merous vegetative branches. One il
lustration shows Egyptian cotton
growing in California with the vege
tative branches almost entirely sup
pressed. Here the lower fruiting
branches have developed and have
produced an early crop- These plants
are shown growing in Texas and Vir
ginia. The photographs showT the
complete suppression of the vegetative
branches by the new method of thin
ning and the. single-stalk plants stand
ing about eight inches apart, with
the result that the rate of flowering
shows an advantage of 42 per cent in
favor of the single-stalk rows over the
open-spaced rows, while the average
yield of the single-stalk rows is 53
per cent better.
The general result of the new sys
tem is to secure an earlier production
of flowers and bolls. When the new
and old systems are compared by
applying them to alternate rows there
are striking differences of behavior.
rm i o - . , -
xne a.u vantage is greatest, oi course,
under extreme conditions where the
season of production is shortened by
drought, early frost, or the ravages
of the boll weev.il. The rate of flow
ering of rows of single-stalk plants,
as shown by daily counts early in the
season, has been found to average far
above that of the intervening rows of
larger, many-stalked plants, the dif
ferences sometimes amounting to
from 40 to 60 per cent. At the enu
of the season correspondingly increas
ed yields are obtained from the single
stalk rows, in somes over 50 per
cent.
The new circular is issued now so
that it may be in the hands of all
cotton growers who may wish to read
it during the winter and be ready to
put the new system into practice next
spring. Write to the department for
j J i. - - M.'H. - '
. C77. 4
On An 80-Ac-re Field Three Systems
of Tile Drainage Were Xecessary This
Shows the Advantage With Which
Two Neighbors Can Co-operate in
Putting in a TJne of Tile. An Obstacle
So Trival As a Line Fence Should Xot
lie Permitted to Prevent Kconomieal
Drainage. The Owner of This Land
Says That Tile Pays for Itself Every
Year and That $200 Expended on Tile
Has Raised the Value of the 80 Acres
$1,000.
FarmerV Bulletin Telling How Can
Re Secured.
There art- in our cities and u-wr.s
many housewives who would he glad
to make arrangements for receiving
a supply of fresh eggs direct from tht
farm throughout the year, says tb
weekly news letter of the l'nitl
States Department of Agriculture.
Just at this time, when eggs are
scarce and the demand far exceeds
the supply of newly laid eggs, there ;s
a good opportunity for the farmer,
even though he has buc few eggs t
market, to make contract with some
city or town family to supply thtru
with eggs. The farmer's supply ;u
the present time will not be grf.it
enough, possibly, to satisfy the de
mand of the city family, but if the
matter is explained it will be eas to
make arrangements to market eggs by
parcel post now and continue to do so
throughout the year. In other words,
it will be much easier to make ar
rangements to ship eggs now. when
everybody wants them, than to do o
in the spring, when they are in abun
dant supply and when the house
wife can secure good, fresh egSs in
the market anywhere at a nominal
price. A satisfied winter customer
can be made a profitable all-year cus
tomer if proper price adjustments are
made when eggs again become plen
tiful. (Farmers' Bulletin 594. "Ship
ping Eggs by Parcel Post," can bo
obtained from the division of publi
cations, U. S- Department of Agricul
ture, Washington, D. C.
Once having" secured a pareel-po.-T
market for eggs, it will be very easy
to market many other things by the
same method, such as butter, poultry,
fresh and cured meats, sausage, fruits,
vegetables, honey, and so on.
HOW LONG WILL WAR LAST
water; (b) be
consumes heat
warm this unnecessary
cause its evaporation
that the soil could otherwise retain;
(c) because its presence in the soil
prevents the entrance and downward
movement of rainfall, which in the
spring is usually warmer than the
soil.
4. It crowds out the oxygen from
between the soil grains, thus hinder
ing the necessary decomposition of
organic matter in the soil.
5. It prevents all crop growth
where it stands on the soil to a suffi
cient depth. Where it stagnates only
a tew inches from the snrfaee of thp
Fatigue of the Machine May Ha-ten
Close of European Struggle.
Scientific American.
This is very largely a machine-
made, war, and it would be a curious
and not altogether illogical denoue
ment of the great struggle if its en.i
should be hastened through the fa
tigue of the machine rather than the
exhaustion of the man.
This war is being fought with the
gun ana tne motor car; ana so sm-n-
uous and uninterrupted has been The.
struggle that these have been put to
a test of endurance the like of which
has never been witnessed in the his-
torv of artillery or the briefer but
soil, it prevent healthy root develop- very strenuous history oi tne gasoline
ment below that dfntv nrvio cViMii eu.i
root system thus developed limits the
depth from which the plaut may get
wci.Lt-1, u.iiu wan 11 pjj.nt rooct ma
terial.
SOME GOOD FARMIXG.
Chatham Record.
We are pleased
to
15. V. I. Circular 1130.
In
State
gan
the
we.
Reclcaiiiiig Tobacco Seed.
J 910 the botany division of
Department of Agriculture
the cleaning of tobacco seed
farmers of the State. That yeor
recleaned enough seed to plant
the
about 300 acres in tobacco. The wrork
has been gradually growing, however,
until during the winter and spring of
1914 we recleaned enough tobacco
seed to plant over 43.000 acres.
The season for this work is on again
and we want to advise the tobacco
growers of the State to take advan
tage of this opportunity, at once, to
get their seed cleaned free of charge,
as tne rusn win oe on a nttie later in
the season and some will have to be
returned uncleaned.
Let us have the tobacco seed at
onoe, therefore, in order that we may
serve you to the best advantage. Ad
dress the division of botany. State De
partment of Agriculture, Raleigh, X.
C, and put name and address of
sender inside the nackacre.
J AS. L. BURGESS.
Agronomist and Botanist.
Even with the greatest care, it is
hard to keep the cow stable ventilated
as it should be.
Pruning is one of the most neglect-
eu practices of good orchard
agement.
man
note anvtbinf
that will tend to encourage our farm-
cm in idioms ueLier crops ana im
proving their tend. We mentioned
week before last that Mr. James O
.tsrown, wno lives about three miles
souin or tms place, had raised this
year 15 3 bushels of corn on one acre
and a quarter, and, in order to en
courage others to do as well, we have
learned from him how he succeeded
so well. He says that this big yield
of corn was made on land that he
bought ten years ago at $3.50 an acre,
ana was then considered worn out
His method of cultivating this land
for this unusual yield was as follows
In September of last year he broke the
1 I A -.
iana twelve incnes deep and sowred it
m annual clover, which he mowed off
last May, he broad-casted with home
made manure, then broke it, and
when planting the corn on the 20th
of last June he used $9 worth of fer
tihzer. His total expense of cultivat
ing this crop was only $7.50, this in
eluding his labor and that of his team.
What Mr. Brown has done on this ap
parently worn out land others ought
to do, especially on land that is con
sidered so much more productive.
A T . "O , , - i . -. l ,
itn. uiuwii lo KuccessLui not oniy in
cultivating corn but other crops. Two
years ago he began cultivating to
Dacco on tnree acres, which averaged
$Uo an acre. Last year he cultivated
four acres and made $200 an acre
and this year he cultivated three acres
(because it was so dry last spring it
was aimcuit to get a stand) and this
crop has averaged him about $140 an
acre, bucn farming woula soon drive
away the hard times.
oi course jvir. thrown raises all his
own wheat and a good deal for sale
iast year on one acre he raised forty
ousneis, ana nts entire crop of 2 37
ousneis averatrea zz bushels tn. iv.
acre. He also raised about 400
bushels of oats. He raises not only
all the meat he uses but sells even
year a good deal of bacon, and now
he has a herd of twenty cattle In
addition to raising all his pork" and
beef Mr. Brown raises auit n w
poultry, and week before last carried
to Durham a load of 2 7 turkeys, for
which he got a nice suia of money If
we had more farmers like him the
low price of cotton would not depress
business or worry them much.
All this good farming i? done with
out hired heip. as Mr. Brown and his
two sons both under age) do all the
work on tne farm, not having paid out
as much as $10 for hired labor in
three years.
We commend the example Gf rhj.
S"S?ll"rt " the farmers
w. uauiaiii Wltn tne. ttnr that
The life of the gun, so far as ns
absolute destruction by bursting is
concerned, is practically unlimited;
but not so its accuracy life. Every
time a gun is fired some of the inte
rior surface of its bore and delicate
rifling is wiped away, and a certain
degree of its accuracy is lost. This is
true of the shoulder rifle, with its
bore so small that it would not much
more than admit a lead pencil, no less
than of the great sixteen-inch siege
gun or tne uermans. r oruuiictti
the infantryman, the wearing out oi
the bore decreases rapidly with a d--.
crease in the size of the bore. Ero
sion, as it is called by the artillery
men, is greatest in the large guns ana
least in the 0.30 rifle. The big guns
which form the main batteries of our
warships and are emplaced in our
coast fortifications can hre trom j j j
to 250 rounds (dependent upon the
pressure and heat in the powder
chamber) before they begin to lo?e
their accuracy.
The motor car is a highly developed
machine, which calls for careful up.
keep to maintain it in full efficiency.
In ordinary commercial service the
motor car and the automobile receive
as a rule, considerable care and
watchful maintenance. In the pres
ent war, however, the treatment of
these vehicles must, in the nature of
things, be absolutely brutal, and the
depreciation must be very rapid.
Where are the repair shops that can
keep pace with this depreciation, and
how shall the necessarily enormous
wastage of the war be made good?
It may well be that the fatigue of
the machine rather than the weari
ness of the man will hasten the close
of the present war.
Potato Hill Philosophy.
From E. W. Howe's Monthly.
Compliments are intended fr
young and beautiful women, but eld
erly women take them.
A man possibly has a right to like
ragtime, but he should not b at
about It.
When the authority for a statenv-nt
is "They say" it is pretty safe to bet
that "they"' are lying again.
The "good fellow" nearly always
has a leaning toward dissipation; if
it isn't whiskey it is beefsteak r
chorus girls.
Some tomboys become excellent
women, but sissyboys rarely become
nice men.
I have noticed that a man who
does not fool himself seldom epre.s
much about fooling others. But the
man who claims to have seen a ghost
wants everybody else to beliee in
ghosts.
War is the same thing, on a large
scale, as a political campaign wherein
men quit their work and march an l
cheer at the behest of selfish leaders.
oi tnem may try
has done.
to do as well
some
as he
-I
Eight women have been appointed
recently to act as field deputies in tht
assessor's offic In Ros Angeles, 'aL
J