564 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



enough to hold an ordinary barrel is covered with a heavy water-tight 

 floor boarded up water-tight 4 inches around the edges. The barrel is 

 provided with a large bung or wooden stopper in the upper head in 

 order that it may readily be filled with water. A half-inch hole is bored 

 in the side of the barrel about 3 inches from the bottom (i. e., the open- 

 ing is 3 inches from the floor on which the barrel stands). The lower 

 hole being stopped, the barrel is filled with water. The large bung is 

 then inserted air-tight. The sled is now drawn to the field, near the 

 shelter houses, and the small stopper is removed. The water runs out, 

 filling the shallow box forming the top of the sled to the level of the 

 small opening in the barrel. The hogs may drink at any corner of the 

 box. As the water is consumed more runs out. Two such barrels are 

 placed in each inclosure, and filled once or twice a day or as often as 

 they become empty. 



New barrels are frequently not air-tight. To remedy this defect, when 

 the openings which admit the air are not plainly visible the barrels are 

 given a good coat of paint. This usually stops all small crevices. If a 

 single coat of paint does not accomplish the desired result another is 

 added, and so on till the barrel holds water and excludes air. 



SOY BEANS. 



The practice which led to the introduction of soy beans into the crop- 

 ping system is of interest. The hogs in winter are penned on about 4 

 acres of the clover sod. During the winter the soil of this pen, or lot, 

 becomes more or less puddled and is rather difficult to bring into condi- 

 tion for a good seed bed in spring. This can be accomplished, however, 

 by continued stirring and clod crushing. But this takes time, and ne- 

 cessitates late planting. Here was a need for a crop that could be 

 planted in late spring or early summer and yet fit into the general farm 

 scheme. Several crops were tried, and a variety of soy bean known as the 

 "Yellow Dwarf" was selected as most suitable for the purpose. In a 

 letter to the writer concerning this crop Mr. Rowe says: "We have some- 

 times fed down our soy beans, but now we cut them to feed in winter 

 and have them cover a long period. We grow the Yellow Dwarf, but are 

 making some experiments with other varieties, and may change when 

 we think we have something better. We plant in June; the first week in 

 June is an excellent time, but there may be good reason for deferring it 

 if the land is not in good order or is weedy. On weedy land it is best 

 to destroy as many crops of weeds as possible before planting. We 

 planted this year the last week in June, and the beans have matured 

 nicely." The reader should not infer that this farm is weedy. Mr. 

 Rowe has such an abhorrence of weeds that an acre of land having on it 

 a dozen weeds would be considered weedy. The writer did not see a 

 weed in the 4 acres of soy beans the latter part of July this year. 



The soy beans are drilled in rows 20 inches apart, the amount of seed 

 used per acre being one-third to one-half bushel. They are given the best 

 of cultivation. 



CORN. 



The average yield of corn on this farm for the past four years has been 

 80 2-5 bushels per acre. The manner of preparing corn land and the sub- 



