Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / Nov. 13, 1915, edition 1 / Page 3
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t- 'V V i XXX No. 46 VoL SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1915. $1 a Year, 5c. a Copy Timely Farm Suggestions JOyTAlT BUTLER What We Mean by a Well Drained soil , ; ; COMMENTING on ouf ' suggestion Vthat rape should be -sowed on a rich, moist soil, a reader. . says, "I thought rape did best on a well drain- edItdoes, but a well-drained soil is more likely to be "moist" in dry weath er than one that is not -welWrained. It is pretty certain that a. soil that is not well drained will not be raoUi in dry seasons. "On the otHer hand, neither is a soil off which', the water runs too quickly wfcll drained. A well Gained soil is one from, which an ex cess of water passes quickly enough to prevent injury to plants growing mi and in the soil -and yet does not pass off or through it so quickly as. to carry too large quanuuc i .autjc .or nlant foods with it. Such a 'soil will be a "moist soil," or at least, is more likely to be moist than -one; not-so drained. ' - " In other words, a well drained bil is "drier" in wet weather -and "mois ter" in dry weather, than one-not well drained. " " " '' Selling Cotton Seed to Esy Ccrh 1 READER asks: "Witt .it pay-me to sell mv cotton seed at 54 cents per bushel and buy corn at'50 cents ? vvnicn would raaKe tne Desi ieea witn hay, crushed corn or cottonseed meal?" . y ' C"-', - It will oav better to'self cotton seed at 54 cents a bushel and' buy corn at 50 cents. Tests indicate that. cotton seed, up to the limited quantity that can be economically usedhave just a little more feeding Iue,':ppund ifot pound, than corn. t But in Mississippi, where this inrmtrv comes from, a bushel of cotton seed weighs only 33H pounds, whereas : a bushel of corn weighs 56 pounds. In otherwords," 54 cents a bushel for cottonseed is" 1.62 cents per pound, while SO cents a bushel for corn is only ' .89 cents- a pound. It is, therefore, apparent that corn is much the cheaper feed 'at. the Pnces stated. - ;y" As to whether corn or cottonseed meal will be the better 'feed' to use with hay, it all depends on the hay, ad the animals "to be fed. With' le gume hays, the corn at 'SO cents: a DUShel will he cliMnpr than cattnn- ?d meal at present ' prices? ' With psb nays or corn fodder;' (corn leaves) it win be economical to use ome. cottonseed 1 meal, althoughvior hhi animals horse v for instance, " wdl be best to use a mixture of corn n.d cottonseed meal whengrass hays Reused. - ..- J there will be only slight if any loss in .feeding value. v ' ' As to the sorghum, there is proba bly some more danger of the frost Pro?Hc!ng changes or causing the for mation of injurious substances in the stalks.; If such danger exists, it will probably be much greater if the sor ghum .is allowed to stand for some , time after the frost; If cut at once, we do not think the conditions will be different from those stated as to corn. ' If the sorghum is only partially kill ed by the frost and is then allowed to stand for some time,' we would advise caution in feeding it until it has been thoroughly cured or made into hay. While green sorghum, that has been stunted or checked in its growth,, es pecially as with the second growth . during dry weather, sometimes devel ops prussic acid, a deadly. poison, we have not heard of poisoning with cur ed sorghum hay and if the frosted sorghum is promptly cut and .cured we : feel certain there is very" little danger if any at all, in feeding it. How Much Can We Pay for Feeds for Beef Cattle? A READER wishes to know what he . t r can afford to pay for peanut meal, linseed meal, gluten meal and cotton seed meal to feed beef cattle, with cowpea and grass hays and oat and wheat straws and corn stover for roughage. Of course, no one can answer this question. So much depends on the man doing the feeding, the grade of cattle and the markets, that no one can give anfnswer of any value with out more knowledge of those facts and conditions than it is possible for anyone to obtain from the inquiry as. stated. If this inquirer is a cattle feeder of experience he probably knows what he can afford to pay for cottonseed meal to feed beef cattle. It should, there fore,'while not answering the ques tion, be of some value to him to com- pare the digestible nutrients or feed ' ing values of these high-priced con centrates; The following table will ,give this information: DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS IN 100 POUNDS penenced in obtaining it. Gluten meal and gluten feeds are on all Northern feed markets and are good feeds, but are usually higher in proportion to their feeding value than cottonseed meal, especially for the Southern cat tle feeder. Unless cottonseed meal goes above ?35 a ton we would suggest that it is likely to be the cheapest source of protein in concentrates for the South ern feeder. For Balancing the cotton seed meal, if a concentrate rich in carbohydrates is needed for that pur pose, we would suggest that our read er investigate the prices on molasses and rice products, such as rice polish and rice bran. At present prices, in many sections, corn may be consid ered as a source of carbohydrates used in small quantities. HOW TO KEEP THE BARNYARD FREE FROM MUD Pro- Car'hy- Fat tein drates Lbs Lbs. Lbs. ' Peanut meal . 42.8 20.4 2 Linseed Meal (New Process) 31.5 35.7 2.4 Ghrten Meal 29.T 42.5 6.1 Cottonseed Meal i 37.2 21.4 9.8 - 1 . 4 Feedii It will be noticed that the peanut meal and cottonseed meal are richest in protein, and for this reason, unless a considerable part -of the roughage is cowpea hay, these feeds are likely to be worth more, or to be most valu able in this" feeding problem. . On the other hand if the greater part of the roughage is cowpea hay, .then gluten meal, which'is richest in carbohydrates, should be of -greater ' value . New process linseed mealis low in tU- i ' aus, IS lu Uie COuUlIlOn - till tum.ciii, wuujff" , Jhf develops after thefreezing..'- If er feeds; while old process Jinseed . 1S cut rjrnini ..t:-i. t..tj r.aitic 60 ner cent ot diges- SdVU f green before the froat tible fat, and owing to the purgative he fk,llled or seriously affected by properties of oil should not be used ne m large quantities. . That Unseed vet r.d!-PositiJnor;lldde-. meal should XSX eed anrjrd acomparatiye u h the sam t proDably contain about cured ;C ,eding vile as if cuVand Wis e befo;thtJrosL'If the H is aii,;evee and the corn 'green and outaf l?!td t0 stand and die and dry feedW I i frost' before it. is cut, the erabw i e win PbaMy be consid-: yjcssened, but if 'cut at once. m Froshtcn Ccrn aid READER wishes to imbw if Vora and cane (snrTlnn ri- ftnrnf- hL ? eed t0 livestock' after -.they A -S trosbitten. . . Asapphes to com at least, the dan- a comparaiiveiy - T - centrates in feeding beef fttle. H any of the other feeds named are used we would, therefore, eliminate any consideration of linseed meal for beef cattle feeding in the South. :Peanut cake or meal is fJ ally found on Southern feed markets, and more or less difficulty may be ex-. Keep It Well Drained and Don't Let Livestock Run on It, or Provide Open Sheds for the Animals A READER wishes us to telfhim how the barn lot can be prevent ed from becoming the mud-hole so common in the South during the' win ter months. . In answer let us ask another ques tion: Is there any reason why live stock should be permitted to tramp up the ground into mud and mire around all sides of the barn? . Re cently we saw a dairy barn that had green grass growing all around it, ex cept a narrow lane at on5 end, where the cows entered, and a driveway, in this case graveled, passing along the other end. We also recently saw a barn where on three sides, the land was raised above the surrounding land, well drained and covered with a good sod of Bermuda grass. The other side probably became muddy in long sea sons of wet weather, but one , could reach such a barn at any time with out wading shoe-mouth deep in mud. The truth is, no effort is usually made to prevent the livestock tramp ing the lot into a mud-hole on all sides of the barn. ; In the first place, the barn lot should be located on fairly level ground, raised slightly above the sur rounding land, and no water should be allowed to drain onto it from oth er portions of the farm. On the oth er hand, the barn should not be lo cated on a side hill where one half the fertilizer value of the manure is lost by drainage into" ditches or creeks.. Any lot, on which falls our usual rainfall will become a mire dur ing wet weather, if tramped by stock, unless it be large in proportion to the stock kept, is on sandy land, is abund antly supplied with long litter, like straw, or has a hard or paved sur face, - : , Any of these conditions- may be dif ficult to obtain in many ca'ses, and it is safe to state that most lots, where livestock are confined, will get muddy in wet" seasons but the point we in sist on is, that there is no need for confining the-stock in small lots sur rounding all sides of the Jbarn; that larger grass lots sodded with Bermur da, or smaller lots well drained and' away from the barn, or touching one side of it only may be provided with out difficulty. In sections where the mud becomes deepest, open shelters, or paved loU should be provided, if the livestock must be kept in a small enclosure. We have no need to make special provision to protect , our livestock from cold, throughout the Cotton Belt; but the rain" and mud of xur Southern winters, are more injurious to livestock than are the colder tem peratures farther north. . If a larger lot, raised slightly above the surrounding land and protected by ditches from all water except that which falls on it, cannot be kept rea sonably firm by the use of abundant litter, then we insist it will pay to provide an open shed in order to af ford a dry place for the stock to rest when they desire. .In any case, if the lots cannot be kept in passable con dition, there is no reason, if a mud hole must be maintained, that it should extend, around all sides of the barn. . - . When livestock are fed in' small open Iotsr experiments indicate that the saving in manure in two or three years will pay for the cost of paving them, even though the stock should do no better; but as a matter of fact it is very probable that the stock will do enough better to pay for paving if no manure were saved. Open, covet ed sheds, larger well drained lots and the location of the lots on one or two sides of the barn only, are the most practical means of abating the mud nuisance so common around most farm barns in winter. Best Time to Sow Rape A READER wants to know "At - what time rape seed should be . sown for fall and winter grazing for hogs." ; The Progressive Farmer has prob ably stated this a dozen times a year?' for. the past 10 years; but that. is no reason why any reader should not -ask the question, if he does not know v it. v It is our purpose to help those who need help and it is only through' such questions that the Editor is able ' to know just what his readers need. Or, in other words, only by our read- K ers asking things they do not know are we able to be.certain of just the things they want to kilw or things -which "should be discussed in the pa per to be of most' benefit to the larg est number, Itmatters not how many times a 'question has been answered, -if a reader does not have the infor mation that he needs we want him to write The Progressive Farmer for it. Of course, we would prefer that all regular subscribers keep indexed files of the paper and refer to these . when -they need information, but if they , have no files or if they canriot find the -information wanted in their files, we want them to write for it, if it is an agricultural problem. Only by this -cooperation can we best serve them with the informatipn of actual, pres- ent-moment helpfulness, which will make the paper of most value to . them. . : In the northern half of the Cotton Belt we would sow rape on rich, moist land from August 20 to September 15, or still better between September 1 . and 10. , Farther South it may be sown up to October 15, or even up t November 1 ; but the earlier it is . sown, provided the weather is not too -hot, the larger amount of fall grazing will be obtained and the earlier it will be ready for grazing. vOf course, it may be sown rater than the dates mentioned, 'especially on the southern limits of the areas mentioned, and with favorable weath- er good results will follow; but while rape likes 'cool (not cold) weather and rich, moist soils, still, if sown too late, insufficient growth is made be fore the weather becomes too cold for its best growth. NOT A COMPETENT GUIDE " Billy Sunday stopped a newsfcoy tn Fhila 1,, idelphia. and inquired the Tray to the post office. , r; "Up one block and torn ta the rtgrht," said , -th boy. : ' Ton seem a' bright little feUow," said Sunday. , "Do you knour who I am?" - . .-. "Nope." - "I'm Billy Sunday, and if you. come to my meeting tonight T 11 show you the way t "Aw, go on!" answered the youngsUrr 'ysu didn't eren know the way to the post- y office." V A V, V, i iS M, i 1 1 1 h V ! til p 7 1( 11 I ( 111 1 i v I 9 r 4 iff- A I '1 j: is vim i i n f i 5 t ; .f ii ; "i i ! i t ft
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
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Nov. 13, 1915, edition 1
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