THE DIVERSIFIED FARM. 



155 



from the United States compete with the 

 very highest quality of British animals. 



American packers, the Secretary says, 

 are not participating in the profits of the 

 growth in consumption of swine flesh and 

 hog products iu Great Britain as much as 

 they ought to, because they do not cure 

 meats to suit the British demand. On the 

 other hand, Danish and Canadian packers 

 are increasing their shipments every year. 

 American bacon averages about two cents 

 per pound below continental and Irish 

 bacon, and about three cents below Eng- 

 lish. 



The shipment of American horses to 

 England is steadily increasing. In 1893 

 Great Britain took 13,737 American 

 horses, nearly 23,000 in 1894, and 34,000 

 in 1895, but during the first nine months 

 of 1896 more American horses were ship- 

 ped into England than in any previous 

 twelve months. 



Kaffir Corn.-J. H. Shaeffer called 

 last Saturday at our office and gave us an 

 account of his crop of Kaffir corn, says 

 the Lake Charles (La.) American. He 

 planted the corn on new ground that had 

 never been fertilized, and put no fertilizer 

 on the crop. He says the yield was five 

 wagon loads of heads per acre, that would 

 shell out fifty bushels of clean corn. Since 

 cutting the first crop, the corn has con- 

 tinued to grow and has put forth new 

 heads on which the grain is now forming. 

 Mr. Shaeffer says the Kaffir corn will con- 

 tinue to grow until frost. In view of the 

 above facts, given by one of the most care- 

 ful farmers of this region, .we claim that 

 Kaffir corn is the best food crop to grow 

 in this region. 



The points in its favor are, first, that it 

 grows luxuriantly and yields well on new 

 and unfertilized ground; second, that it 

 will stand a drought better than almost 

 any other crop equaling sugar cane and 

 sorghum in this respect; third, that it will 

 give a large yield of grain amounting 

 from forty to sixty bushels per acre, the 

 first crop, and will then produce a second 

 crop of grain, and an enormous yield of 

 fodder for a second crop; fourth, that the 

 grain is excellent, fully equaling in value 

 the common corn for stock feed, and pro- 

 ducing, when ground, meal or flour much 

 superior to the common corn. It is said 

 that flour made from Kaffir corn is fully 



equal to buckwheat flour for griddle cakes, 

 and makes a delicious bread when baked. 

 The drawbacks are few, the principal 

 one being that birds are very fond of it; 

 and when only small patches are planted 

 they destroy it badly. When this corn is 

 planted largely, as it should be by our 

 farmers, this objection will cease. 



General Purposes. When searching 

 for an all-purpose animal, whether it be 

 cow, sheep or hen, just remember that no 

 animal can use its food twice. If a cow 

 converts her food into milk she cannot 

 convert the same food into beef. If a 

 sheep converts his food into wool he can- 

 not convert the same into mutton. If a 

 duck converts its food into feathers, it can- 

 not convert the same food into eggs; 

 hence, if you pick your ducks and geese 

 regularly, you need not expect many eggs 

 from them. Of course every animal gets 

 a living from what it eats enough to sus- 

 tain its life and strength before it turns 

 off any surplus for you. But if it has 

 been bred to turn the surplus into beef, 

 you will lose money trying to persuade it 

 to yield butter instead. Decide what 

 kind of a surplus you want, and get the 

 breed which converts its food into that 

 product, and don't expect one mill to turn 

 out graham flour and horseshoe nails. 

 Texas Stock and Farm Journal. 



In Egypt a t least 50,000 pumps and 

 water-wheels are in use. The power used 

 for propelling these consists of wind and 

 oxen. About 200,000 oxen are used for 

 pumping water from wells which are 

 shallow and and dug after a very crude 

 manner. The water thus secured is used 

 for irrigating rice and cotton. The aver- 

 age cost of well and pump is about $150 

 and the cash rental of land ranges from 

 $2 to $5 an acre. This method though 

 crude, enables the farmers of Egypt to 

 secure good returns. 



Massachusetts has the largest cider 

 mills in the world, using 8,000 bushels of 

 apples per day and producing 32,000 gal- 

 lons of refined cider daily. Our readers 

 who are not in the apple belt will readily 

 see the profit in the fruit for the growers 

 get from six to nine cents per bushel. This 

 factory exports over one and a quarter 

 million of gallons to England annually. 



