THE HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



BKEED YOUR SOWS NOW 



Every breedable sow should be 

 bred to bring a fall litter. It is im- 

 portant that all sows be used to in- 

 crease he food supply, and no sow 

 biould be carried over the summer 

 ur^bred. Fall litters under common 

 sense management are profitable. 

 The pigs should come in early fall — 

 September and October — so that 

 they may be weaned and have at- 

 tained sufficient growth to shift fo;" 

 themselves before cold weather ar- 

 rives. The earlier the pigs come in 

 the fall the cheaper their growth 

 v/ill be made on available pastures 

 and the stronger they will be 'O 

 withstand the winter. The period 

 of gestation for a sow is approxi- 

 mately 112 days, so tliat a sow bred 

 On May 15 would farrow about Sep- 

 tember 5. Tliis means the sows 

 must be bred for fall litters during 

 the months of May and June. 



All sows should be bred. Scruples 

 over breeding immature sows should 

 be forgotten. While in normal 

 times most hog raisers do not breed 

 gilts earlier than eight months of 

 age, sows will breed as early as fi/e 

 to six months of age. There are 

 thousands of young gilts farrowed 

 last fall and winter which will take 

 the boar and should be bred this 

 spring. By breeding them this 

 spring the feed given them through 

 the summer will have been more 

 completely devoted toward food 

 production. It will help to produce 

 a greater meat supply and a supply 

 ready for market six months earlier 

 than if they were not bred until 

 fall. Breeding such young gilts will 

 have no bad effects on the farm 

 herd. Results at the Missouri Ex- 

 periment Station show that the 

 young pregnant sow continues to 

 grow under proper feeding and that 

 the size of the litter is not appre- 

 ciably reduced. Suckling the pigs 

 retards the growth of the young sow 

 but this permanent retardation of 

 growth is small and of minor im- 

 portance when the sow will produce 

 a good litter of pigs. 



Larger litters are obtained by 

 flushing sows before breeding. This 

 is done by feeding in such a way as 

 to have the sows putting on weight 

 at the time of breeding. The suck- 

 ling sow should have her pigs wean- 

 ed shortly before being bred. Her 

 udder should be dried up by a re- 

 ducting of. feed. Slie should then 

 be flushed and in a , few days can 

 usually be bred. After breeding, 

 the sow should be watched to be 

 sure she has caught. If she has not 

 21 days later she will again show 

 indications of heat and can again 

 be bred. 



A good pure-bred boar should be 

 used, preferably, of the same breed 

 as the sow or of that breed which 

 predominates in the sow. This wih 

 result in a more uniform lot of 

 pigs and an upgrading of the breed- 

 ing herd. For the young gilts and 

 small sows a breeding crate may b3 

 necessary if the boar be large. 



The pregnant sow should be fed 

 a ration consisting of bone-making 

 and muscle-making feeds. She 

 should gain weight but not be made 

 fat. Pasture with a small grain ra- 

 tion proves excellent for carrying 

 the -pregnant sow until she is al- 

 most ready to farrow. — U. 3. D. A. 



TIMELY GARDEN NOTES 



The early varieties of cabbage 

 should have been set out several 

 weeks ago. It is now time for the 

 mid-season varieties such as Ball- 

 head, Succession, All Season, or 

 Flat Dutch. 



The Ball-head variety will be 

 found best for storing and shipping. 

 Cabbage responds in a marked de- 

 gree to thorough cultivation, and 

 this is particularly desirable when 

 plenty of manure has not been 

 available for use. 



When transplanting tomatoes the 

 plants should be set deep in the 

 , ground, nearly up to the first 

 branches in fact. As the plants 

 root all along the stem, it is evi- 

 dent that deep setting will result in 

 a better root system. Tomatoes 

 will grow on much poorer land than 

 most crops, and fertilizzaUon is not 

 of so great importance. If a paper is 

 wrapped around the stem of the 

 plant when it is being set, so as to 

 project one inch below the ground, 

 no danger from cut 'worms need be 

 feared. The growing plants may be 

 supported by frame work or allow- 

 ed to rest on the ground. One me- 

 thod strongly recommended is to tie 

 them loosely to poles set about six 

 feet above the ground and trim off 

 all the shoots leaving one leader. 



Common varieties are Earlyann, 

 Bonny Best and Chalk's Jewel. New 

 Stone and Matchless are representa- 

 tive of the good late varieties. 



In planting cucumbers and squash 

 make hills one and one-half to two 

 feet in diameter, work in thorougnly 

 about two forkfuls of well rotted 

 manure or a cupful of good com- 

 mercial fertilizer, cover to a depth 

 of one inch. Twelve to fifteen seeds 

 should be planted in each hill, r 

 is desirable as soon as the plants 

 appear above ground to dust them 

 with dry slack lime as a prevention 

 against the striped beetles whicn 

 usually appear at the same time. 



Blight which appears later in the 

 season and is indicated by the 



leaves shriveling and turning brown 

 may be prevented to some extent by 

 the use of Bordeaux mixture as a 

 spray. — M. A. C. News Letter. 



PLENTY OF HIRED MEN 



The labor situation seems greatly 

 alleviated. The Bureau has spent 

 a good deal of time in seeking to 

 fill places on farms in the county 

 and several men, most of them stu- 

 dents of nearby, colleges, Iiave been 

 placed in this way. However, duo 

 to the increased interest in farm- 

 ing, the conscription bill, and tho 

 rapidly advancing season, the de- 

 mand for help seems to be largely 

 met. Some farmers have told U3 

 that help has not been so abundant 

 for years as now. If any of the 

 readers of the MONTHLY desire 

 help for any length of service, the 

 Bureau will do what it can to sup- 

 ply it. Many desirable boys of 

 high school and college will be 

 available for the summer vacation. 



WHY WE CULTIVATE 



We cultivate to keep down the 

 weeds, it is true. But we cultivate 

 for other reasons also. One of 

 them is the preservation of mois- 

 ture in the soil. Most soli under 

 normal conditions contains a great 

 deal of moisture. This moisture is 

 constantly being drawn upward 

 (and sideways too for that matter) 

 ) through the minute pores of the 

 ground by a law called capillary 

 action. The smaller the passage- 

 ways, the farther the moisture will 

 be drawn by this action. Now this 

 is very important for the plant be- 

 cause it depends upon this moisture 

 for sustence. But there is a dis- 

 advantage in the action of this 

 law; the little passageways that 

 are consantly forming in the soil 

 quite naturally continue to the 

 surface. The obvious result is that 

 the moisture passes readily to the 

 surface where it evaporates quite as 

 rapidly as from clothes which aro 

 hung out to dry, and is lost to the 

 plant. By cultivation we break up 

 these passageways near the surface 

 and hold the moisture in the soil 

 for the plant. Moreover a loose soil 

 surface allows rain water to enter 

 readily and reduces the loss by run- 

 off. Such cultivation should not 

 be deep but it should be constant. 

 And it should begin early. Inci- 

 ocutally we catch the weeds when 

 they are just starting to grow. Cul- 

 tivation, moreover, opens up the soil 

 to the air, which results in increas- 

 ed activity of certain benignant 

 soil-organisms and increased avall- 

 abilty of plant food, both the orga- 

 nic matter which is decaying and 

 thf mineral matter as well. 



