THURSDAY,. JULY-
c
IVILIZATIOM .DEGMS' AND . ENDS WITH ' THE PL
OW"
-ill
1
51
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THINGS TO PLAN TO
THROUGHOUT COMING YEAR
The Farmers' Day at the test
farm at Swannanoa on May 17,
1328.
Poultry loading depot with facili
ties for grading eggs.
"'
An annual poultry show.
Monthly livestock sales.
.
Farmers' own line of delivery
trucks.
'
Purebred sires and seeds.
Guernsey cattle association.
.
' ' A semi-annual seed exchange day.
A Harvest Carnival one day of
the bread and butter show.
10 DECEMBER EGGS WORTH
AS MUCH AS 20 LAID IN APRIL
The average farm hen lays less than
60 eggs a year and she lays them
during the season of lowest prices.
It is quite possible to increase the
gg prof ts from the farm flock, says
Dr.M.iA. J ull, poultry husbandman
of the United States Department of
Agriculture, by developing a flock
that will not only produce more eggs
in a year but will produce them in
the fall and winter. Ten eggs laid
in December, he says, are worth 20
laid in April or May.
A study of the trend in the average
monthly , farm prices from 1910 to
1924 shows that the lowest wholesale
egg prices prevail in April, and. that
there is a slight increase it July and
August, with a more perceptible in
crease beginning in September. The
highest price is reached in December.
The' important point for farm flock
owners to realize is that it takes
fewer eggs from Otctober xo January
to payfor a given quantity of feed
than during any other time of the
year. Although the 'price of grain
'3, - or of. -eggs ran not ijbccontrollcxL. on
titatedr"f6 a"c jiisffteiitxcemv'
The ability to lay eggs is inherit
ed. JTo. develop an egg-laying strain
requires careful . .selection , .aiuT the
adoption of a consistent breeding
policy. The average farm hen should
not only lay at least 144 eggs in a
year but most of them should bo
laid from October to March. This
can be accomplished by building up
the flock from selected females that
have these characters and with males
produced by such females. Four
guides to improvement are the se
lecting each year of; (1) those hens
which mature early; (2) those which
lay best after they begin; (3) those
'which seldom go brody; and (o4)
those which lav well throughout , the
late summer and fall. Furthermore
it is important to hatch the chicks
as . early as possible. Inasmuch as
the general-purpose ' pullet does not
begin laving ''"til seven months old,
it is obvious tint October or Novem
ber layers c,,ould be hatched in
March or April
WINTFR DAIRYING FOR BUTTER
PRODUCTION IS INCREASING
A number of important changes in
the .production of dairy products dur
ing the pcru-.d from 1917 to 92h
have been, -v.!.' tod by . T. R. Pirtlc,
dairy market specialist of the United
( States . I )epa; u.ient of Agriculture.
' One of these1 changes of importance
to the milk pi oduccr is the increase
in '.creamery Luttcr production of 79.2
per cent (luring the period. Only
17.8 per cent of the total milk pro
duction of the United States was
used in the manufacture of creamery
butter in 1917, whereas the amount
- was increased to 25.54 per cent in
1925.
: In this connection it is interesting
to note that the seasonal trend ot
" creamery-butter production has varied
during the period. If the year is
divided into two parts, nahiely, the
feeding season (November to. April,
inclusive), and the grass season (May
to October, inclusive), it appears that
the trend has been to ward an in
creased production of butter during
the winter feeding season. In 1917
the; proportion of creamery butter
v made in the feeding season was 36.1
per cent and in the grass season
. 63.9 per cent. In 1925 the production
in the feeding season had increased
to 39.9 per cent of the tot-1 output,
leaving 60.1 per cent for' the grass
seaso.
These figures indicate tht winter
dairying for butter production is in
creasing.; There was a sound reason
for this change, says Mr. Pirtle. In
Minnesota,; for example, the average
price of a balanced ration sufficient
to produce a pound of butter in 1917,
was 24.96 cents, and in 1925, 21.6
cents. The average price of 92 score
butter in New York in 1917 was
42.7 cents per pound. In 1925 it was
45.3 cents. The feed cost had' de
creased 13.5 per cent while the price
of butter, increased 6.1 per cent for
these two years.
KEEP YOUR FARM AND IT WILL KEEP YOU AND YOURS
GENERAL FARM FLOCK STILL
BACKBONE OF EGG INDUSTRY
In spite of the growing importance
of the specialized poultry farm and
the commercial farm flock the gen
eral farm flock is still the backbone
of the poultry, and egg industry from
the standpoint of volume of produc
tion, according to Roy C. Potts, chief
poultry marketing sapeeialist, United
States Department of Agriculture.
The farm flock is rather smallrin
size and is only a small part of the
activity on the general farm, often
not being considered a very important
part.' But in the aggregate, more
than 80 per cent of the total pro
duction of poultry and eggs comes
from just such flocks. Because of
its minor importance the general
farm flock is likely to be subjected
to some neglect at times, to be less
cared for at all times, and to consist
of stock that has not been highly
improved.
Specialized poultry farming, how
ever, has been on the increase dur
ing th last six or seven vears and
continues to become more and more
imnnrtiint Snecialization is mainly.
alnna th lines of eere oroduction. On
specialized farms poultry is the . sole
or main business and the owner is
AeterAtrt linon it almost exclusively
fnr t5c living fneTallv the' most
up-to-date methods are employed 'arid
the most improved stock used.
Th commercial farm flock, on the
other hand, is not an exclusive en-
m it L
terprise on the tarm Dut is one inu
ic crivpn more than usual attention
in management and breeding. The
poultry and egg crop ot tne county
is produced by these three primarily
A((rfnt tvnps of flocks or farms, the
most important of which is still the
general farm flock.
RECORDS KEPT BY SEEDSMEN
SHOW SEED-ORIGIN TO BUYER
Time was when seed was purchased
with no more thought given to its
origin than that given to the origin
of a sack of salt. The progressive
seedsman,- according to G. C. Edlcr,
, " -.- o tt
' .1 1 - -1 : .nnMKl lf tVlf TTtlit-
SC lI-HIdl fctuiils Bici letups
ods to more fully meet the - famcr'sTHoucwc .have an effectual, pracn
for hotter information re
garding the origin of the -seed - be
buys. To be in a position to supply
information quickly and accurately,
the seedsman has found it necessary
to keep morse .-and- better! .records.
More than 90 PC cent of-'the pro
gressive seedsmen are now keeping
complete stock records.
I Hiring -the past year the depart
ment has given considerable study
to the problem of devising a system
of verifying the origin of seed. It
is believed that a system of records
which will preserve the, identity of
seed front the time it entered the
seedsman's warehouse, together with
outside supervision, would go. a long
way toward insuring that the correct
information as to origin would be
passed on to the buyer.
After a study of 250 record-keeping
forms now used by 60 different seeds
men, the department has drawn up a
tentative form which embraces the
best features of those now in use.
Revised forms for receiving, bulking,
and shipping records may be issued
,m the near iuiur.c, vium, '"B1-""-'
with the sample ot seed ana tne 101
number on the tag can be expected
to provide a ' chain of evidence that
would afford an effective check on
statements of origin. These forms,
says Mr. Elder, would tend to stim
ulate interest in the keeping of rec
ords and to bring about a greater
uniformity in those being used by
many seedsmen. Seed bearing a
"verif icd-origin" tag doubtless would
command a premium sufficient to
cover possible additional expenses m
the keeping of records and costs of
inspection or supervision. : ,
PUREBRED-SIRE SPECIAL
INTERESTS 7S.000 FARMERS
A traveling exhibit in the interests
of livestock improvement in KeniucKy
recently completed an unusually ef
fective tour of the state, according t
o rmnrt rpceived bv the United States
Department of Agriculture early in
- . . 4 i , 111 1. f' I J
June from Wayland Knoaas, neia
aeent in animal husbandry, University
of Kentucky. . ' .
TVi "Pnrphrpfi-Nire soeciar maae
52 stops in 46 counties and resulted
n the rer acement ot 40 graae ana
scrub bulls with selected purebreds.
Three stops were made a day, about
two and one-half hours being allot
ted to each town visited. "At total
of about 75,000 people saw this train,"
Mr. Rhoads stated, "and I believe all
of them were able to get the idea
of the value of purebred sires. In
the end of one car were two steers,
one of tbem a scrub 3 years old and
the other a high grade '2 , years old.
The scrub steer sold fpr $17 and the
Wh crrad SR5." The- sire of the
high grade steen Vas' a ;'! purebred
beef bull.
Tntcrpst in extendine the use of
niirphred sires, thus imurovinc the
quality .of Kentcuky livestock, was
evident from (the large number ot
The farm pages of The Press are
edited by the county agent in col
laboration with the editor.
public-spirited breeders and organiza
tions that consigned registered bulls
to be exchanged for scrubs. There
were -46 such consignors and the
bulls included' the principal beef and
dairy breeds. '
The "Rurebred-Sire Special" was
operated under the auspices of the
agricultural committee of the Ken
tucky Bankers' Association over two
railroad systems. ' The United States
Department of Agriculture made
available ; a .supply of I educational lit
erature on animal breeding and the
utility . value of purebred livestock,
supplementing the live-animal exhibits
and other features prepared by the
Kentucky Experiment Station and the
Louisville Board of Trade. In addi
tion ta the cattle carried by the
"Purebred-Sire Special," the train car
ried the state champion ton-litter sow.
HOG CHOLERA CONTROL CALLS
FOR YEARLY IMMUNIZATION
It has been suggested that . ef fdfrts
should be made to eradicate hog
cholera in the United States. While
eradication is desirable, according to
U. G. Houck, in charge of hog-cholera
control, United States Department of
Agriculture, the general distribution
and prevalence of the disease and the
enormous expense make such a gi
gantic undrtaking inadvisable, especial
ly while large sums are being ex
pended by the federal and state
governments for the elimination, of
the southern cattle tick and the eradi
cation of bovine tuberculosis, dourine,
and scabies of cattle and sheep.
The eradication ot hog cholera
would require the application of no
less comprehensive and rigid measures
than ' those adopted for the eradica
tion of foot-and-mouth disease in
this country, and our. hog industry
j ----- " ... , . j ,
cal nrrvpntive treatment aeainst hog
cholera which is not the case with
tuberculosis and some of the other
diseases with which we are contend
ing. Therefore, it seems advisable
to continue present efforts to mini
mize losses through the proper use
of the preventive treatment rather
than to attempt the complete eradi
cation of the disease.. '
A feeling of security was largely
responsible for the severe and. wide
spread outbreak of cholera last fall.
Herds were comparatively free from
the disease for a time and the owners
became negligent and failed to treat
their hogs in the country susceptible
it was only natural that the outbreak
spread rapidly far and wide.
Control of the disease is best main
tained by keeping the entire herd im
mune at all times. The nature of
serum ' production is such that it
can not be hastened to meet emer
gencies. Ordinarily about 55 days are
required to produce and test a quan
tity of the product ready for mark
eting. Severe outbreaks like that
of last fall create a shortage in the
serum supply with the result that
many herds are infected before they
can be treated. "
SCIENCE BREEDS RESISTANCE
TO DAMAGE BY WHEAT SMUT
After at least 2,000 years of injury
to the wheat crop from bunt or
stinking smut : of wheat, it seems
probaablc that science will soon con
quer this fungous disease and make
it innocuous. Since 1913 plant breed
ers in the United States Department
ot Agriculture and in state experiment
stations have been striving to find
means of saving the wheat that are
better than, chemical treatment of the
seed. These chemical treatments arc
not always successful in the Pacific
Coast states, where the fungus lives
in the soil as well as on the seed.
Instead the plant breeders experi
mented with various strains of wheat.
planting them under conditions fav
orable to smut development. Some
strains were almost runied bv smut
Others were onlv lichtlv affected, and
three White Odessa, Martin, and
Hussar hardly at all. these and
other wheats were crossed wits sus
ceptible but agriculturally important
varieties, and tne more oesiraoie
hybrids that proved smut free were
selected for further propagation. An
offspring from Turkey and Florence
wheat is called Ridit. This wheat
has been tested by farmers and is
so free from smut that it need not be
treated, and about 1,200 acres ..were
grown in 1926. Andther smut-resistant
hybrid is Albit, which ;dscfl)s
from White' Odessa' and f Hybrid 128"
This has ' proved not only V smut re
sistant hnr of siinerior' rtnnlitv and"
piityields1 the standard varieties grown
ai me vvasmrigiun gricuuurai tx
npriment Station. Riflit is a rpfl
wheat and Albit a white wheat. Oth
er smut-resistant selections and hy
brids are ni process of development.
Just About the Farm
The National Pig Survey completed
last week, has the following report
to make: '
"The pig survey compiled last week,
showed a spring pig crop this year
about seven per cent less than .last
spring. This is equivalent to a de
crease of about 4,000,000 pigs. . The
number of sows bred or to be bred
for fall farrowings, after making the
usual satistical allowance, indicates
about nine ner cent fewer sows to
farrow- next fall than last fall in the
Corn Belt, and fifteen per cent fewer
in the United States. This pig survey
gives the most definite evidence avail
able on the potantial hog supply. " It
would appear to confirm the belief
of observers that the general hog
cycle is. now in the phase of declin
ing production and rising prices."
.'.''
The general farm conditions in the
South from North Carolina to Okla
homa is as follows:
"Too much rain from North Car
olina to Oklahoma has caused some
river valleys to be badly flooded.
Pastures, corn, truck, and fruit een-
erally -- is in good,; shape, but?, tilled
crops need ' warm,' dry weather a .
cultivation. There were heavy ship
ments of potatoes last month."
DAIRYING
The world's recod Jersey cow pro
duced in three hundred and sixty
five days 1,197 1-2 pounds of butter
fat, which means, 1 though regretfully
we say it, that she produced more
than any ten average cows in Macon
county.
, -
At forty cents per pound this cow
brought in $478.00 in cash for butter
fat alone.
I sure " wish we had more dairy-
cow-minded folks in this county.
. '
- HOGS
No. One two-hundfd pound hogs
are selling today for $11.60 per hun-
et ""next season, VTT" ZZZ7,' "T
Wonder what the fellow -who cut
loose and killed his brood 1 sows - last
fall is feeling like now. ' '
. But it is the same old tale. When
prices are high so many people lose
their heads and throw their money
away, aqji when prices are low they
lose their heart and throw their
chances away.
s. .... ,
INSECTS
Nearly everything that comes to
the Cannery shows unmistakable signs
of the lack of judicial application of
spray materials.
. .v .
The quicker people realize that
spraying is as essential as cultivation
the quicker will they reap the profit
to which they are entitled.
. .
This insect and fungus disease con
trol begins with the first lick of
preparation, and should be unceasing
until the last .bushel of the crop is
harvested and stored.
r
Why not plant to take you a good
course of reading along this line
during the long evenings of this com
ing winter?
FALL AND WINTER CROPS
Now is the time to make plans and
preparations for winter crops.
Remember the progressive farmer
will have every field a green field
this winter and his fertilizer bill will
be materially reduced next spring.
SEEDS
People are still writing to know if
we will grow purebred seed for them,
and while quite a number of farmers
have written to say that they want
to do this, there is still room for a
good many more.
'
Here is the proposition in a nut
shell. The winter crop of grain
properly put in may be grazed during
the winter to a very great advantage
to the crop, the stock, the soil, and
the owner's pocketbook. l
i .
When the grain is cleaned for
market thert will be enough screen
ings for the, livestock and then , a
spring crop may be planted and harv-"
ested in the fall as usual.
When we get to thinking and prac
ticing thusly there will inevitably be
well-painted, beautifully-kept homes
and yards with electric lights, run
ning water,' a nice motor car, good
books and , magazines, . and a greater
-'spbittirof cheerfulness and , optimism
will prevail in the home. '
' ;
" f . ' ... .
It will also mean that son and
daughter will stay at home in the
clean healthy rural environment and
feel that they are filling a worthy
place in life.
They will also have that sweet
THINGS TO PLAN FOR RIGHT
NOW
That, cream check every two
weeks.
' '
That cannery check every time
you come to town, i
'
Fat hog sale in June.
'
Bread and Butter Show next
fall.
Encourage the 4-H Clubbers.
Big Farmers' day next fall.
Local Curb Market. .
"
Breed sows so that the pigs will
go on the market in March, April,
August and September.
reflection ' that father and mother
were fully alive to their responsibil
ities and opportunities.
. . .
Dig down in your brain a little and
think this over and see if you do not
get a vision of the best and most per
manent farm relief available from any
source.
"' Macon'' county the ' land of super
farmers that think perhaps. .
' .
LYLES HARRIS, ; :
County Farm Agent. ' ' Z
Macon Farm Happenings
Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Burnett
from Scaly, were in town the other
day on a visit to the cannery. After
inspection of the cannery they ne
gotiated with the superintendent, Mr.
Jonathan Case, for a home canning
outfit and are taking care of all the
berries in their community.
' ..
Mr. and Mrs. Burnett arc twenty
five miles from Franklin, ' and it is
almost impossible to get berries down
in a good condition in hot weather
num. !L u ;. . , . .
blazed the trail for similar activities
forother sectbns. But then you can
always expect Marshall Burnett and
of course Mrs. Marshall to be trail
blazers. They are built that way.
Another indefatigable community
worker is Mrs. Humphrey Childers.
She has a great organization of 4-H
boys fand girls, and .is . picking berries
every day for the cannery.
.
My old friend, Bob Clark, of bee
keeping , fame, was in the office last
week and reports having a crowd
lined up and they are giving the ber
ries a .rough passage in his commun
ity. '
Up in the Patton settlement there
is a bunch of folks that are bringing
in berries in twenty and thirty gallon
lots to the cannery.
Mr. Moore from odwn Iotla way
reports that he is lining up a berry
picking outfit in his section.
Bill Higdon up on Ellijay says he
is engineering the berry picking in
his settlement and from all accounts
Bill- is sure doing a good job of u.
But then you expect that of Bill.
.
Not every body is hitting the high
places, however, for it is reported
from three different sources that qne
man took a truck load of beans to
Atlanta because he could not afford
to take cannery pricer,. But after
four days effort in i Atlanta he took
half a cent less than the cannery is;
paying.
Two other men took loads of beans
to Canton and Waynesville a'ndJ
brought them back and sold them to
the cannery.
The cannery is paying three cents-
a pound to those who have contracts
and two and a half cents a pound
to all others.
)''
There is one thing a hick farmer
never does that . a super-farmer 'al
ways does.
v
It is your guess. m '
' J .' ' -
Question: "Seeing as how we arc
having' pole-sitting marathons, danc
ing marathons, "bunion derby" mar
athons, and . numerous other mar
athons, it just occurs to us that if
Macon county would put on a work
marathon, the agricultural millennium
would approach appreciably nearer.
......,
The' knockers' marathon is " a con
tinuous institution apparently.
V...
THE CANNERY
I counted thirty-six folks at work
down at the cannery this morning.
Guess that looks like business.
The John Case-Charlie Teague team
is a sure mover. ,
o
J
6
COWSin.T YOUR
LAWYER