274 
'1 L-L tu NEW-YOKKEK 
Save V* Mile per Acre k| I S I* A 
The Wide-Spreading liTh«T&v!d?A/ 
Wide-Spreading 
The ordinary 5-foot spreader requires 1.8 miles of travel to 
spread an acre. The Nisco spreader does it in 1.3 miles—a 
clear saving of a half-mile of wear and tear on horses and 
machine for every acre. Multiply this by the number of acres 
on your farm and you’ll see what the Nisco will save you. 
This is only one feature. There are Forty Features that make 
the Nisco stand tip-top among the spreaders of the world. 
No Gears to Strip, Break or Freeze. 
Twice The Efficiency With Hall 
The Parts of Other Spreaders. 
A chain-drive spreader that is abso¬ 
lutely successful. J.oads full capacity. 
12 inches above sideboards, and pulls 
easily. Double cylinder and distributor 
takes three whacks at the manure. 
Pulverizes and spreads a load in three 
minuten. No clogging. Steel sills. Seven¬ 
teen- : ath clearance for conveyor. Two 
level o afford simple control. 
The Nisco has only about half as 
many parts as other spreaders. Easier 
to handle and less danger of breakage. 
Ask Your Dealer or write for catalog. 
New Idea Spreader Co, 
SPREADER SPECIALISTS, 
196 First St., Gold water, Ohio. 
BEFORE YOU PAY 
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THE UNITED FACTORIES CO., ,£KrB38«r IBS 
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FREE 
F*otato Planter 
Profitable for the large or small grower. Plants 
potatoes at lowest possible cost. One man operates 
ft. Opens the furrow—drops the seed any distance 
or depth required—puts on fertilizer (if wanted)— 
covers up—marks the next row. Accurate, auto¬ 
matic and dependable. Sold with or without Fer¬ 
tilizer Attachment. 
Here’s why you should select the Eureka Potato 
Planter:—Furrow Opening Plow is directly under 
the axle—that means uniform depth at all times. 
The seed drops in sight of driver. 
Steel and malleable construction 
makes long life and few repairs. 
Made in three sizes—for ono 
or two rows. 
We also make the Kurekft Mulcherand 
Seeder. Shipped from branoh near you. 
EUREKA MOWER CO., box mo, uric*. n.t 
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WARD MFC. CO. 337 Ward St., Decatur, Inch 
Make Deep Ditches 
For 5 Gents a Foot 
You can make clean, smooth ditches 3 to 4 feet deep and 
5 to 6 feet wide at the top in the hardest ground or the wet¬ 
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RN 
Name. 
Address. 
SHEEP FARMING IN EASTERN STATES. 
The Daniels Method. 
HE decadence of sheep husbandry in 
New York and New England dur¬ 
ing the past 25 years is now a matter of 
history. On many farms the dairy cow 
has been substituted for the sheep. Even 
those farms that lie well back among the 
hills, once well stocked w'ith sheep, are 
now’ more or less typical dairy farms, 
the products of which are delivered at 
the local cheese or butter factories or 
milk shipping station. 
It is a question, to-day. whether be¬ 
cause of this change in the type of farm¬ 
ing on many farms in the East, these 
farms are returning to their operators 
a larger labor income from the sale of 
milk and young stock than they formerly 
did from the sale of w'ool and mutton. 
There is no question that for a time, 
particularly between 1885 and 1900. the 
profits made in sheep farming were low. 
The causes of this depressing period are 
generally well known. In the minds of 
many of the Eastern farmers the fre¬ 
quent tariff juggling was the prime cause 
for low profits in the sheep business. 
Statistics, however, do not sho * that the 
tariff was the prime cause of low profits 
in sheep raising. The free range of the 
great West, now almost a thing of the 
past, was one of the chief causes of the 
decline in sheep raising in the East. 
However, the past is now history. Suffi¬ 
cient for the day are the problems that 
confront us. Can the hill farms of the 
East again be restocked with sheep and 
thereby be made to return to the opera¬ 
tors a labor income equal to that now 
being made from the dairy and mixed 
types of farming? In other words, is 
there as much money to be made in sheep 
farming to-day as in dairy or general 
farming for the hill farmers of the East? 
Under the present system of dairy 
farming there is a monthly income from 
the sale of milk. On the more or less 
typical sheep farms the products are 
marketed, on the average, twice a year; 
mutton in the Fall or Winter and wool 
in the Spring. Doubtless the monthly 
milk check has helped many farmers to 
finance their farm business with greater 
ease. This does not necessarily follow 
that the profits at the end of the year 
are any greater. There are to-day a con¬ 
siderable number of typical sheep farms 
in the Eastern States operated by men 
who, during the panicky times, held on 
to their flocks. Either they had faith in 
sheep or else they bad no liking for the 
dairy business. On the average these 
few remaining sheep farms are operated 
with as great profits as are the farms of 
neighbors who once were sheep farmers, 
but who are now dairy farmers. Some 
of the sheep farms a-re not highly profit¬ 
able, however, chiefly because the oper¬ 
ators have not changed their methods to 
meet present day needs. Some there are 
who are reluctant to admit that the wool 
crop is of less importance than the 
production of mutton. They cling to the 
old Merino type and feed the lambs from 
eight to 10 months, often at considerable 
expense in feed and labor, marketing the 
mutton in February and March. 
One of the most profitable and success¬ 
fully operated typical sheep farms in 
New England is the E. 0. Daniels farm 
in the town of Lebanon, N. H. This has 
been a typical sheep farm for a great 
many years, and is at present operated 
by a descendant of the Daniels family. 
The farm is situated in a hilly farming 
section some five miles from the rail¬ 
road station at West Lebanon, opposite 
White River Junction, Vt., and contains 
some 300 acres of land of which less 
than 75 are tillable. Between 200 and 
350 sheep are kept most of the time. A 
couple of cows, a team of horses and a 
yoke of oxen comprise the other live¬ 
stock. 
Aside from the farm help required dur¬ 
ing haying and harvest and during the 
lambing period in the Spring practically 
all of the labor is performed by the 
owner. A study of this farm and its 
operation brings to light certain simple 
business-like principles that the operator 
has worked out as a matter of policy in 
order to adjust the sheep farming busi¬ 
ness to present day requirements or de¬ 
mands. Mr. Daniels did not hesitate to 
change his methods when he was con¬ 
vinced that a change was desirable. The 
principles under which this farm is 
February 2o, 
operated may be stated briefly as fol¬ 
lows : 
1. That the farm shall produce practi¬ 
cally all of the feed and forage required 
by the live stock. If feed is to be pur¬ 
chased, which is seldom, some potatoes 
or apples are sold and the money re¬ 
ceived from these sources used to ex¬ 
change for feed. Flint corn and oats 
are grown. 
2. That the flock shall always contain 
a strong strain of Merino blood. The 
owner finds that cross-bred Merinos 
make for hardiness and vigor. He does 
not hesitate to make use of Hampshire. 
Shropshire and Dorset rams on full, 
half and quarter-blood Merinos, thereby 
securing larger lambs for mutton, but 
the breeding ewes must always carry a 
strain of Merino. 
3. All mutton lambs are finished on 
rape and meadow pasture and marketed 
early, usually before November first. 
These lambs receive practically no grain, 
and average approximately 80 pounds 
per head at from five to six months of 
age. Thus they are grown and fitted for 
market at a very low cost. Old worn- 
out ewes are also sold in the Fall. The 
rse of rape as a finisher is considered 
highly valuable. 
4. No sheep are wintered except ewes 
that are to drop lambs and young ewe 
lambs. Hence nearly every mature ewe 
drops lambs in the Spring. Ewes six. 
seven and eight years of age are wintered 
if their mouths are in good condition and 
are in shape to reproduce. Thus flock 
efficiency is provided for. 
5. The owner gives much personal 
supervision to the flock. 
This farm is profitable. It pays all 
expenses, interest on the capital invested, 
and to the operator, a handsome labor 
income. The pastures are excellent. The 
fertility of the tillable land is kept up. 
and the type of farming is suited to the 
location. The chief factors that have to 
do with the successful operation of this 
farm are; personal supervision of the 
operator; low cost of operating; flock 
efficiency; quick growing and early 
marketing of mutton lambs finished on 
rape; hardiness of flock due to Merino 
blood, and faith in and a liking for th<- 
business. This farm is typical of thou¬ 
sands of others in the East. M hat Mr. 
Daniels is doing can be done by thou¬ 
sands of other farmers. 
F. E. ROBERTSON. 
Keeping Silage; Heating Hay. 
AN you tell me what makes corn 
silage keep? I supposed it was the 
fermentation of carbonic acid gas 
excluding the air. but others say not. 
2. Why does hay heat shortly after being 
mowed? Is it a chemical process or 
change? If so, what takes place? Can 
it cause spontaneous combustion? 
Pennsylvania. W. B. F. 
1. Corn silage is packed firmly to ex¬ 
clude the air. The sugars in the silage 
are then broken down into acids and 
alcohols. Carbonic acid gas is also 
liberated. It is the formation of from 
one to 2 per cent of lactic and acetic- 
acids which keeps the silage from de¬ 
caying. 
2. This question can be answered in 
no better way than by quoting from 
Henry's book on “Feeds and Feeding 
“When hay heats oxygen is taken from 
the air and organic matter is trans¬ 
formed into carbon dioxide and water. 
The water thus formed further moistens 
the hay, which then ferments, owing to 
the presence of bacteria. The first fer¬ 
mentation may cause a temperature of 
133 degrees F., and this leads to a higher 
one of 194 degrees F. When this temper¬ 
ature is reached, the hay heats still more 
and charring goes on rapidly. All these 
processes together destroy at least half 
of the material present. According to 
tests clover hay will ignite at 302 t<> 
392 degrees F. Therefore the tempera¬ 
ture may become sufficiently high for 
spontaneous combustion, which is indi¬ 
cated by the hay becoming darker in 
color and finally black, by sooty odors, 
aud by smoke. It is probable though 
not certain, that spontaneous combustion 
does not occur in partially dried clover 
or grass even if quite damp provided it 
carries only its own natural moisture 
Spontaneous combustion generally, and 
possibly always occurs in stored or 
stacked hay that carries external mois¬ 
ture in the form of dew or rain." 
11. F. j. 
