1881. J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



69 



specimen of Cermatia foroeps, an animal that 

 belongs to the Mykiapoda or " many feet ;" 

 and they destroy cockroaches ar.d bedbugs, 

 and are, therefore, very desirable about a 

 house. Tliey are quite common in some 

 localities in this county. 



Selections. 



CULTIVATING SPRING CROPS. 

 The first grain crop to be put into the 

 grouud is spring wheat, and this should be 

 sown so soon as the ground can be made ready. 

 Out of its proper district, marked by climate, 

 it is of no use to grow spring wheat. There 

 are other crops that are surer and give mueli 

 better returus. Oats should come immedi- 

 ately afler spring wheat in time of sowing. 

 S'.iccess with oats in our hot climate largely 

 depends upon early sowing. Tlie cooler cli- 

 mate of Canada and New Brunswick is more 

 favorable for oats, where they are plumper 

 and much heavier than those grown in most 

 parts of the United States. By using seed 

 from the northern localities above mentioned, 

 we can grow heavier and better oats than 

 when our seed is sown. The aim should be 

 to harvest fifty to sixty bushels per acre. This 

 cau be obtained by having the soil rich and in 

 good condition, and sown with about three 

 bushels of the best seed. Oats are a succes- 

 ful crop in the far Southreu States, as they 

 can be sown and make their growth in winter 

 and the crop kept out of the way of hot 

 weather. 



Growing Barley. 



Barley, under favorable conditions, is a re- 

 liable and profitable crop, and should not be 

 considered simply as material for brewing. 

 There is no better grain to feed to horses, and 

 when ground with corn it makes a most ex- 

 cellent feed for cattle and growing swine. 

 The two rowed varieties yield more than the 

 six-rowed, but bring somewhat less in the 

 market. The grain should be sown thickly, 

 2k bushels per acre. Barley will succeed in 

 any good, well prepared soil, but it prefers a 

 mellow, clay loam, in good tilth. 

 Corn Planting 



Corn planting comes later in the spring, as 

 it requires a warm soil for the grain to ger- 

 minate, and snfters from late frosts. The 

 time of planting of course varies with the 

 locality, and the soil can be prepared in read- 

 iness for the coming warm, settled weather. 

 Sod turned under not too deei>ly is conducted 

 as the best for corn, but excellent crops can 

 be grown upon stubble, provided there is a 

 good supply of manure given to take the 

 place of the vegetable matter of the rotting 

 grass, etc., of the turned sod. 



Cultivation of Beets' 



Beets, including mangels, need to be put in 

 very early. There is much difference of opin- 

 ionas to the advantage of soaking and sprout- 

 ing the seeds before sowing tiiem. If thus 

 treated they should be carefully watched, and 

 be sown as soon as soon as the minute germ 

 or sprout appears on a few of them. Drying 

 with fine gypsum (laud plaster) will make the 

 sowing easy. This treatment will insure quick 

 germination, and the young plants will get 

 the start of the weeds. As soon as the plants 

 are up sutficiently for the rows to be seen, run 



a hand cultivator between them and witliin 

 an inch or so of the plants. This will leave 

 a strip next to the rows to be treated with 

 hand-hoes. Use a horse-hoe for most of the 

 latter cultivation. The manufacture of beet- 

 sugar promises succe.ss, provided enough roots 

 are grown in apy one locality to make it pro- 

 fitable to erect the necessary buildings and 

 machinery for extracting the sugar. This 

 needs co-oj>eration among the farmers them- 

 selves, and between them and the manufac- 

 turers; upon this the success of beet sugar 

 making in our country depends. 

 The Potato Crop 

 Farmers have so thoroughly learned how to 

 manage the potato-beetle that it is not neces- 

 sarp to plant early with a view to escape its 

 ravages. But it is well to plant early, espe- 

 cially if the crop is to be sold, and there is a 

 ready market. The earliest pays the best, 

 and the one who is first gets the cream of the 

 market. The Early Rose still holds its rank 

 among the most desirable varieties. 



SOILING MILCH COWS. 



Soiling is a method of feeding cattle that 

 are confined in yards, pens or stables, with 

 green fodder grown for the purpose and cut 

 and carried to them. It is a jjractice suited 

 best to lands that are of high value, and to 

 small farms upon which pasturing cannot be 

 made profitable. For instance, a farmer that 

 has .^0 acres of fair land would do well to 

 keep 10 cows upon it under ordinary circum- 

 stances, but if by soiling his animals he can 

 support 30, 40 or even 50 cows, the advantages 

 are very obvious ; and this result has been 

 reached by farmers who understand the sy.s- 

 tem and know how to apply it economically. 

 The method may be described as follows : To 

 begin, a green crop should be prepared fof 

 use early in the summer, but a beginning 

 may be made at any time. The system can, 

 however, be better understood by going 

 through the whole detail, supposing every- 

 thing is in working order. The first crop pre- 

 pared is winter rye or wheat, or both, sown 

 early in the fall and later, so <vs to give a suc- 

 cession of crops for cutting. A piece of 

 clover and grass is also kept in readiness, and 

 a field of orchard grass is useful. The rye or 

 wheat is ready for cutting in April and May. 

 and is cut and fed as it_ is required. One 

 square rod will supply a cow for one day if 

 the crop is good, as it ought to be. Near the 

 end of May orchard grass and clover will be 

 ready for cutting, and timothy and clover in 

 June. Oats are to be sown on fall plowed 

 ground as early as possible in the spring, one 

 acre or more at a time in strips so that tlie 

 fodder will be fresh and tender. Oats and 

 peas sown together yield twice as much as 

 oats alone ; barley and vetches also make a 

 good crop as a change from oats. This lasts 

 until early Canada corn, or early sweet corn 

 becomes ready. This is ready as soon as it is 

 in tassel, and lasts until the ears are harden- 

 ing. If there is a market the ears can be sold 

 for green corn ; if not, they make rich fodder. 

 Corn is sown in succession so as to keep com- 

 ing in in the best condition. 



When the first rye is cut off it will make a 

 second growth and may be pasture if desired, 

 but it is better to plow the laud at once and 



plant com or mangels, or oats and peas on it. 

 The oat ground is plowed and planted as soon 

 as an acre is cleared, and in this way the 

 land is never idle but is always producing 

 Hungarian grass or millet is sown in July on 

 the late oats or the earliest corn ground, and 

 thes(! crops carry the cows through until the 

 frosts make it necessary to cut the corn and 

 millet. Rye may be sown in August for late 

 pasture if needed or for early cutting in the 

 spring, and later. When a new crop is ready, 

 what is left of the former one is cut and cared 

 for winter feed, while it is in good condition 

 and before it gets ripe and h^rd. An acre or 

 two of mangels or sugar beets should be 

 planted iu May or early in June for winter 

 feeding with the surplus fodder or hay not 

 used in the summer. The corn is planted in 

 drillB from 18 inches apart for the small 

 kinds, and three feet for the larger kinds, 

 and the hills are made from six to twelve 

 inches apart. Some bran and cornmeal should 

 be fed, as these make the manure rich and 

 pay for themselves in the increa.sed growth of 

 the fodder crops. 



The fodder is fed in racks in the yard or 

 feed troughs in the stables, and all the ma- 

 nure is saved by using abimdance of Utter, 

 such as dried swamp muck, leaves, hard 

 wood sawdust or even earth drawn in from 

 the fields and scattered around liljerally. An 

 enormous quantity of the richest manure may 

 be made by feeding liberally of such feeds as 

 malt sprouts, bran, middlings, palm meal, 

 cotton seed meal, and the extra milk and but- 

 ter pay for the feed. A cheap stable for ten 

 cows to be used for soiling may be made by 

 setting posts in the ground fourteen feet apart 

 one way and seven teet apart the other way 

 and boarding up and dividing into stalls ; two 

 cows can be kept in each stall, fastening each 

 to one side of the stall. The stalls are 9x7 

 feet and a feed passage runs iu front from 

 which the fodder can be given. The fodder is 

 best cut 12 or 2i hours before feeding, and it 

 can be put into the feed passage through 

 windows from the wagon so as to be readily 

 distributed to the cows. Each cow will eat 

 50 pounds of green fodder with an allowance 

 of meal, or 80 pounds without, but the meal, 

 if it has to be bought, is always advisable. 

 The feeding should be iu the uiorniog right 

 after milking, at noon, and after milking at 

 night. Abundant water also should be pro- 

 vided, as much as if the cows had dry food. 

 The manure should be wheeled out twice a 

 day and a deep gutter made to carry off the 

 liquid into a hollow where it is absorbed by 

 proper material of some kind. As soon as a 

 piece of land is ready, the manure is spread, 

 .resh as it may be, and plowed in, so that but 

 ' i ttle of it accumulates and none of it is wasted . 

 The cows may be kept very clean if well lit- 

 tered, or the stable is well drained and cleaned 

 twice daily, and a brush and card should be 

 used before milking. It is but little trouble 

 and it pays both in the health of the cows and 

 cleanliness of the milk. 



FODDER CORN. 



With your permission I will give your read- 

 ers my experience in raising fodder com. 

 There are but few articles that a farmer can 

 raise at a better profit than fodder corn, yet 

 how many farmers mow over fields year after 



