106 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[July, 



iu the t.\h]f. Buckwheat removes not more 

 than corn, yet, probaljly, lias the reputation 

 of being more exhausting. The composition 

 of the crop has an influence on the degree of 

 exhaustion, but fails to explain the whole 

 difference observed. 



(2) A plant that feeds from near the sur- 

 face will, undoubtedly, produce an eflect on 

 the after fertility of the soil diflerent from 

 that of a plant feeding from a considerable 

 depth, especially if the crop which is to fol- 

 low is a surface feeder. A plant which draws 

 food from the lower layers of the soil and 

 stores part of the material thus obtained in 

 large roots, which afterward decay near the 

 surface, is a much better preparation for a 

 succeeding wheat crop than a plant feeding 

 from near the surface. This fact, probably, 

 explains part of the difl'ercnce between the 

 effect of timothy and that of clover. 



(3) It is well known that some crops can be 

 grown easily and profitably on land that will 

 fail to sustain some other crop. Buckwheat 

 is a plant that can get its living in a very poor 

 soil. Why ? Because its feeding power is 

 great. It is able to aiipropriate material that 

 is not available to wheat or barley. Oats can 

 also grow to a full crop where wheat cannot. 

 Barley resembles wheat more nearly in its 

 feeding power. Now when wheat, for in- 

 stance, follows a crop that is a real scavenger 

 that is able to grasp the last remnants of ma- 

 terial which is at all available, it has a hard 

 chance. Oats are said to be exhausting, 

 though this crop takes very little more from 

 the soil than wheat. lias not this croj), as 

 well as buckwheat, obtained this reputation 

 for being exhausting simply because it is able, 

 by its great feeding power, to reduce the fer- 

 tility of a somewhat worn-out soil to a still 

 lower point, or to a point where other grain 

 crops of less feednig power cannot flourish. 



(4) The roots and stubble which a crop 

 leaves behind decompose and aid in the growth 

 of the subsequent crop. The quantity and 

 composition of this residue determine the ex- 

 tent to which it can furnish plant food. The 

 roots and stubble from an acre of clover are 

 much more in quantity than the roots and 

 stubble from timothy, and arc also much 

 richer in the important ingredients of plant 

 food. Wheat succeeds better in a clover than 

 in a timothy sod, not because the timothy has 

 removed more from the soil in the grass that 

 was cut, but because it leaves a smaller and 

 less efficient manurial residue. It is more 

 correct to say of timothy that it makes poorer 

 preparation for a succeeding crop than clover 

 does, than it is to say that it is more exhaust- 

 ing, because it takes more out of the soil.— 

 Prof. W. H. Jordan, State College, Pa. 



RAVAGES OF THE CLOVER WORM. 



Secretary Edge, of the State Board of Agri- 

 culture, contributes to the Ilarrisburg Inde- 

 pendent the following account of a worm, said 

 to be injuring the clover heads : 



It is likely the clover seed midge (Cccidomya 

 kguminicola, of Linter). It produces two aud 

 in favorable seasons three broods each season. 

 The first perfect insects are usually seen about 

 the middle of May, but the time of their ap- 

 pearance will vary with the season, so that no 

 exact date can be given. Soon after their ap- 

 pearance the female deposits her eggs near the 



base of the undeveloped florets. The eggs are 

 usually laid one at a time, but are often to be 

 found in clumps of from five to fifty iu a single 

 clover head. In due time these eggs hatch 

 and the larva; may be found within the flowers 

 even before the head is fairly open. At the 

 proper time for transformation the larvte le.ave 

 the head and fall to the ground, where they 

 soon spin a cocoon and go into a pupa state, 

 from which they emerge as perfect flies ready 

 to go through the same course in the propaga- 

 tion of their species. A sutlicieut number of 

 the last broods survive in order to damage 

 the crop before harvest. The second crop is 

 the one that usually does the most damage to 

 the second or seed crop of clover. In accord- 

 ance with nature's invariable rule, we find 

 this insect followed by one or more parasitic 

 enemies, whose special duty it seems to be to 

 keep the clover midge in check and prevent 

 its too rapid multiplication. Owing to the 

 peculiarities of seasons and sections, we find 

 that parasites are much less numerous some 

 seasons than others, and as a consequence we 

 find that the worm in the absence of its enemy 

 flourishes and does much more than the aver- 

 age amount of damage. The fact that we 

 find it to be unusually numerous this season 

 does not necessarily prove that it will continue 

 to be so. Next season the parasite may flourish 

 to an unusual extent and the worm may do so 

 little damage as to pass unnoticed as iu the 

 past. 



As a case with which to illustrate our mean- 

 ing we may take the Colorado beetle or potato 

 bug when first it was (like all other pests) far 

 in advance of its parasitic enemies. Within 

 the past two years these parasites have passed 

 eastward over the same ground, and having 

 overtaken the Colorado beetle have attacked 

 it as they did in its native home, and when 

 these parasites exist in their average numbers 

 the beetle will do but little damage, but when 

 from some unknown cause (as the present 

 season) the parasite is only to be found in 

 limited numbers, the potato patches will suf- 

 fer more than the average amount of damage. 



VARIETIES Ol? FOOD FOR STOCK. 



The majority of farmers are not familiar 

 with the terms now .used to classify the difl"er. 

 ent qualities of food for stock, for they do not 

 take kindly to such expressions as " albumin- 

 oids," "carbo-hydrates," etc. Yet, after 

 all, the modes of expression are simple, and 

 embody nearly all the constituent elements 

 that enter into foods grown upon the farm for 

 stock feeding. Some foods are fat-producing, 

 such as corn, while others promote the devel- 

 opment of muscle, bone and nerves, such as 

 clover. All foods are classified under appro- 

 priate heads, each ranking in proportion to 

 its nitrogen, carbon and mineral ash. Thus 

 in order to arrange together those foods that 

 are nitrogenous or muscle-producing, the 

 term "albuminoids" is employed, because the 

 nitrogen is nearly always in combination in 

 the shape of albumen. The "carbo-hydrates," 

 or heat-producing substances, are those rich 

 in starch and sugar, and as starch and sugar 

 both contain a large proportion of carbon, and 

 also large quantities of oxygen and hydrogen 

 (water), the term applied illustrates the value 

 of the food as well as its composition. The 

 base of all the nitrogenous foods is protein. 



When we know that certain foods contain 

 fibrin, gelatin, albumen, or casein, which are 

 found in all animal and vegetable organisms, 

 the fact that nitrogen is present is made plain, 

 because that element is necessary in such sub- 

 stances ; and when we understand that foods 

 contain starch, gum, sugar and oils it is ap- 

 parent that they must, of necessity, contain 

 carbon. 



In feeding to animals the farmer, by his 

 knowledge of the difference between flesh- 

 forming foods and those that form fat, is en- 

 abled to so combine the different foods as to 

 provide for all their wants. Knowing that the 

 "albuminoids," or nitrogenous foods, produce 

 muscle (lean meat) and milk, in order to allow 

 for heat and fat he must balance tlie foods for 

 the purpose of avoiding too much of the one 

 kind and not enough of the other. On an 

 average the proportion of nitrogenous food to 

 the carbonaceous is as one to six ; or rather he 

 should add six times as much of the carbon- 

 aceous as he does of the nitrogenous. The con- 

 ditions, however, affect the proportions ; for if 

 an animal is highly exercised, as is the case 

 with working horses, the nitrogen may be in- 

 creased and the carbon diminished ; but, if the 

 weather is very cold, the proportion of carbon- 

 aceous matter, on the contrary, should be in- 

 creased. By a knowledge of the composition 

 of diflerent foods the farmer who feeds for 

 milk will regulate the material allowed to his 

 animals according to its quality, a,n(l noiquan- 

 titij, as is frequently the case. In fattening his 

 animals he will use the fat-forming foods, al- 

 lowing only so much nitrogenous matter as 

 may be necessary for the existence of the ani- 

 mal. 



It is also economical to feed only as much as 

 may be re(iuired. If too much carbonaceous 

 material be fed to an animal tlie excess will 

 be a loss, for the reason that the animal will 

 assimilate and appropriate only the actual 

 amount necessary for the purposes required 

 by the system ; and even when the farmer 

 feeds liberally of carbonaceous material he 

 will starve his animals if they do not receive 

 nitrogenous food. Hence we often notice that 

 on some farms where the stock is liberally 

 provided with certain kinds of food that the 

 animals are not thrifty, the young ones do not 

 seem to grow, and the farmer is annoyed at 

 the unsatistactory results of what he supposes 

 is good management, when the cause is a lack 

 of perhaps only a single element, which, in 

 connection with a less quantity of the kind of 

 food given, would produce a radical change. 



It is important then, in order to derive the 

 best results from feeding animals, that the 

 farmer thorougly understands the quality of 

 the material used. Its feeding value depends 

 upon the proportion of those elements best 

 adapted to the purpose in view, and unless a 

 perfect knowledge of the composition of feed- 

 ing stuffs is gained by the farmer he will feed 

 at a loss and derive but little benefit from his 

 stock. 



CULTURE OF ROOTS. 



We have frequently remarked in answer to 

 correspondents with reference to feeding ani- 

 mals, "feed roots if you have them." We 

 have felt the necessity of adding, " if you 

 have them," for we know to what a large ex- 

 tent the culture of roots is neglected. In- 



