98 



THE IR r TGA TION A GE. 



Some people have good success in start 

 ing plants in small boxes in the hou* e. 

 My plan is to make a cold frame for the 

 earliest varieties and sow the medium and 

 late ones in the open ground. A cold 

 frame may be made very cheaply by dig- 

 ging a hole two feet deep and say six feet 

 square. Fill in one foot with fresh stable 

 manure that has been stacked long enough 

 to heat thoroughly, then add six inches of 

 soil and sow the seed, covering lightly. 

 Cover the bed with a cotton cloth, sur- 

 rounding it of course with a frame work of 

 boards or timbers. If the bed is kept 

 moist the plants will come on early. Later 

 ones may be had by burning a brush heap 

 and digging up the land, while warm and 

 sowing the seed. Keep it bunched with 

 brush until frost is over. 



Plants should be set about eighteen 

 inches or two feet apart, either way. If 

 the furrors run north and south and the 

 plants are set on the west side the roots 

 will retain moisture longer than by any 

 other plan. Where irrigation is practiced 

 the young plants should be kept moist for 

 a few days until thoroughly established 

 Cultivation should be frequent and 

 thorough, using small shovel plows and 

 wecders. If the worms are troublesome a 

 few applications of wood ashes or the 

 liquid made from ashes and soft soap, 

 pretty strong, will kill them. When ready 

 for market the heads may be broken from 

 the stems. If to be kept over they may 

 be buried by putting in trenches head 

 down, leaving the roots sticking out. 

 Sourkraut is saleable throughout the win- 

 ter. It may be made by shredding the 

 cabbage fins, and putting in a barrel, using 

 about one pint of salt to four gallons of 

 cabbage, and weighting until it gels eat- 

 able, usually about three weeks. 



JOEL SHOMAKER. 



PROFITS IN KAFFIR CORN. 



Kaffir corn is a new and valuable seed 



and forage plant, coming from South 



Africa. It has been grown in some. of the 



<jry sections of the United States for the 



past ten years, and reports are favorable, 

 as to yield and feeding qualities. The 

 distinctive varieties of red and white have 

 produced from 35 to 58 bushels per acre in 

 Kansas, while the best yield of corn 

 planted in the same field, was but 45 

 bushels. An acre of red Kaffir corn will 

 produce from four to six tons of fodder, 

 which can be used in the silo, or fed dry 

 to advantage and profit. The seed of both 

 varieties makes good meal for bread and 

 cereal products and the whole grain is 

 splendid feed for poultry. When cracked 

 and fed with other foods the Kaffir corn 

 possesses valuable fattening qualities for 

 horses and hogs. Different analysis show 

 that the seed is similar to corn, except 

 that it is not so rich in protien. 



The Kaffir, like other corn does best in 

 rich loamy soil, but by proper plowing, 

 careful cultivation and suitable fertiliza- 

 tion the crop may be profitably grown in 

 most sections of our country. It is a 

 great drouth resister, and is therefore 

 suited to all semi-arid sections, and will 

 make a crop where the rainfall is short, 

 when all other full season cereals fail. 

 The soil should be well plowed, thoroughly 

 pulverized and put in the best possible 

 condition. As the plant produces heavy 

 seed heads it requires abundant food of 

 potash and nitrogen. Jf a fertilizer con- 

 taining about 9 per cent potash, 8 per cent 

 phosphoric acid and 4 per cent nitrogen 

 is used, at the rate of 500 pounds per acre, 

 and liberally applied in the spring, it will 

 prove beneficial. Every farmer can obtain 

 full information about these fertilizers and 

 how to mix them fiom his seedsman or by 

 securing publications from houses hand- 

 ling fertilizers. 



The seed is very small, but weighs 56 

 pounds to the bushel. Six pounds will 

 plant an acre if grown for seed, while 

 double that quantity is necessary where a 

 heavy yield of fodder is desired. A corn 

 planter is one of the best implements for 

 putting in Kaffir seed, but the press grain 

 drill may be used satisfactorily, llows 

 may be thirty inches apart and the stalks 



