The Woods County News. (Augusta, Okla.), Vol. 1, No. 39, Ed. 1 Saturday, September 9, 1899 Page: 3 of 8
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FAitM AND GARDEN.
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MATTERS OF INTEREST
AGRICULTURISTS.
TO
Soma Op-tO'Duto Ilint* About Cul-
tivation of the Soil ami Yield*
Thereof—Horticulture, Vltf.ulture and
Floriculture.
lotion for a series of years, a strain
can be established on thp upland por-
tion of any furm which will be well
adapted to that and other soils similar
to location and composition. An eight-
inch ear from the upland will ordinar-
ily prove better for planting on the
upland than will a twelve-inch ear
from a draw in the lower portions of
the farm.—J. M. Westgate.
Mulching Trees.
(Condensed from Farmers' Review
Stenographic Report of Northern Illinois
Horticultural Convention.)
Mr. Friend.—I don't believe strong
mulching is worth anything unless you
have rain enough to keep it moist be-
low. The air can escape through the
mulching and the ground cracks open
and gets Just as dry below the mulching
as it could get where there is no mulch-
ing. I have a place on my farm that I
<'all the "bad acre." When a nursery-
man sends me a tree that is not true
to name I plant it on that bad acre.
Among others I have a little apple
trpe near where I throw the barnyard
manure. This little tree through the
summer had from four to eight inches
of dry manure all around it. close to it,
so It would serve as mulching if mulch-
ing was any good. I. have dug that
away after the season was over and
found the ground cracked open. Such
a mulch may keep the smaller rains
from going down to the roots and in
that case it doesn't help the tree a bit.
1 am confirmed in the notion that such
mulching as would be applied by the
farmer, is of little value. I believe that
the only mulch that is worth anything
is to harrow and dig up the ground.
Mr. Hoxie.—Mr. Bailey is credited
with saying. "If you have a watering
pot, throw it away." This gentleman
believes in stirring the soil.
Dr. Humphrey.—There is a differ-
ence between mulching all over your
farm and a little local mulch around
trees. Nature makes a mulch in the
forest by the leaves. Nature mulches
your strawberry bed with leaves in the
winter. I mulch my apple trees, but I
just mulch them with the potato vines
grown in my orchard. I commence
digging the last of June or the first of
July and I invariably put the tops of
my potatoes around the trees. It is a
little local affair and it isn't mulching
the whole ground. I have never found
that it did a particle of harm, but I
believe it has always done good, and
the trees have flourished under a little
mulching of that kind. I am sure it
holds moisture because 1 have exam-
ined many times. A little mulch
around individual trees of nearly every
sort I believe to be a good thing and
so far as I know makes a thrifty and
long-lived growth. I never had but
one calamity. I undertook to feed the
catalpa as I would feed the cherry and
apple, and the trees nearly died,
dwarfed them so they never amounted
to anything.
Mr. Morgan.—I do not believe in
mulching trees. I do not care to use it
on anything but asparagus beds and
pie plant. While on the farm I always
mulched my pie plant heavily with
horse manure.
Q.—At what time?
Mr. Morgan.—In the fall. I always
did, and I always had the largest, fin
est kind of pie plant and asparagus.
Mr. Clybourn.—On my place in
southern Illinois I raise peaches. One
of my neighbors raises the same sort
of peaches that I do, but mine were far
superior to his this summer, and the
reason was that I had the ground cul-
tivated between the trees and the fruit
proved to be larger and far superior,
Mr. Hartwell.—I want to endorse
Mr. Morgan. This mulching for sav-
ing labor is a delusion and a snare
You cannot save labor by mulching.
Your mulching don't hold the moist
ure as the cultivating will.
I'lnchlng Melon Vine*.
Judge Miller asks a question lu re-
gard to pinching melon vines. He says:
"I have questioned different melon
growers on the point. Some say pinch
them when the vines have run three
feet; others say don't pinch tbem at
all." Both parties are wrong, and on
the extreme each way. I will give my
way of doing, sayB a contributor to
Colman's Rural World. When the
melons havo set on the vines, end get
about tfie size of a goose's egg, pinch
the tops off, and the tops of tbe side
branches also, and you will havu larg-
er melons than if not pinched, from the
fact that instead of the vines growing
and spreading, the substance will grow
into the melons. Is that not reason-
able? The vines may probably not
have as many melons on, but they will
be a great deal larger. Try a hill or
two and be satisfied. It is somewhat
on the same principle of trimming
fruit, that left will be larger than if
all the fruit were left on the tree. I
raised some of the finest pumpkins last
year that I ever raised by pinching
the tops off. I raised them between
the apple tree rows, one way of my
young orchard. 1 shall do so again
this year.
Seed Corn Selection.
Many farmers owning both bottom
and upland corn fields make the mis
take of using the same seed on both
kinds of soils. Corn which is adapted
to the soil and moisture conditions of
the valleys will not do so well on the
upland as will some variety that has
by several years of cultivation and se-
lection become adapted to the condi-
tions there. It is for the same reason
that the large Colorado potatoes that
have been grown for years under irri-
gation will do so poorly when used for
seed in Kansas without the accustomed
supply of water. It is generally the
case on the farm that the corn from
all the fields, both upland and bottom,
is cribbed together. When the time for
Beed selection comes the largest ears
are picked out irrespective of the kind
of soil that grew them. As the bottom
land produces the larger ears It is
more than likely that the bulk of the
seed will be from the lower and molst-
er portions of the farm. This is the
proper seed for the lowland, but It Is
not bo well adapted to the dryer and
poorer upland as is seed that has been
raised there. It is advisable to select
the seed either before or at husking
time, when not only the quality of the
ground but the character of the In-
dividual stalk and ear can be taken In-
to consideration. As has been suggest-
ed before, a small box attached to the
gides of the wagon-bed into which the
desirable ears can be thrown is the
most practical device that can be rec-
ommended. By a little judicious se-
The Lodging of Grain.
From Farmers' Review: The lodg-
ing of grain is a source of considerable
loss, not only in the failure of reaping
machines to make a clean harvest, but
because lodged grain is not fully ma-
tured and forms on hardening a wrin-
kled and underweight grain. Lodg-
ing, however, implies a greater loss
than the mere loss in harvesting or in
underweight grain; It shows unmis-
takably that the crop has not been
properly handled, that the soil is not
favorable to grain. The falling off in
yield began long before the straw
became so weak that it could not sup
port the grain heads. The popular
idea is that silica has much to do with
the stiffness of straw. This has been
shown to be a mistake by the famous
experiments at Rothemstcd, England
Straw badly lodged was found to con-
tain more silica than a sturdy, stocky
straw which held its seed-head erect
under severe tests. It was found by
experiments that potash gave strength
to stalk and straw, and soils low In
available potash invariably suffered
from lodging. The cure or rather the
preventive measure is very simple, for
there is 110 cure. The point is that the
manure or fertilizer applied should be
well balanced. The chemical analysis
shows that a full grain crop contains
about the same amount of phosphoric
acid and potash, hence the percentage
of these two ingredients in the fertil
Izer should be about the same. A fair
average fertilizer for grain would then
be 6 to 8 per cent phosphoric acid and
the same amount of potash together
with about 2 to 3 per cent nitrogen.
If any one ingredient is deficient the
excess of the other two will not make
up for it. All three ingredients of
plant food must be present, and, as we
said before, in proper proportions.
This lodging of grain is quite an im-
portant matter to wheat growers, but
with a little care and study it can be
prevented. Rational manuring will
solve the problem.
L. J. FARMER.
Dogs,
Sheep Killing
C. P. Reynolds, writing in Mlchl- |
gan Farmer, says: I recently heard
a well established and practical farm-
er in speaking of sheef prospects as-
sert: "I wish there wds a tax of five
dollars per head on evkry dog In the
state today; perhaps jhen we could
thin out a few sheep-killing curs."
Judging from the reports of sheep
killing by dogs from virlous parts of
the state there are a gopd many sheep
raisers who wish the sime thing, and
most heartily. I have it on the au-
thority of one who is ip a position to
know, that there have been over one
hundred and twenty-flv< dollars worth
of sheep killed In thlj township al-
ready this season, and the first two
months of pasturing ark scarcely past.
One farmer is reportel to have lost
sheep to the assessed valuo of forty-
six dollars; another has Just suffered
losses that will sum tip to fifty dol-
lars or more. These esllmates are not
exaggerated, and in 4H probability
come close to, if not bdlow, the actual
value of the sheep killfd and injured.
Other small losses, cofripartively, are
reported that will easily bring the
damages up to the estimated value of
sheep destroyed. And what is more
to the point, the chainces are very
poor indeed that any of the loserB will
be able to realize mori than fifty per
cent of the value as estimated at the
time of killing by the) appraiser.
Some states are enacting laws
against mob violence by making the
county responsible wit^i a substantial
cash consideration to tjie party or rel-
atives of the party suffering injury.
It is supposed that this is about the
only thing that is goipg to have the
desired effect. Would ^t not be a good
idea if the sheep farmers of the state
were protected in sonie similar man-
ner? At the most, it is scant pro-
tection that they have at present
when Injuries are paid pro rata out
of the dog fund.
Mechanical Condition of the Soil.
Reports of some careful experiments
concerning the mechanical conditions
of soils and the effect of cultivation
show the result of frequent stirring of
the surface soil, rolling, bed, and level
culture. It was found that crops give
better returns on soils kept in a
crumbly condition than on those re-
duced to a powder-like fineness. It
was found that stirring or hoeing the
surface is beneficial when the soil has
been packed by rains, but that the
practice is detrimental during drought
when the soil is already in a good
mechanical condition. Rolling the land
favored a uniform sprouting of seed,
but in general the yield of the rolled
ground was smaller than the unrolled.
Packing the surface soil by means of
rolling was detrimental to plant
growth when the soil was not subse-
quently stirred. Results were gener
ally in favor of level cultivation as
against bedding.
I NOTES OF THE WHEEL
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO DEV-
OTEES OF THE BICYCLE.
Punishment of Team Work- Hard to
Dctoo* "Crooked Work" In Handicap
Knees—ltourrlUon, the Cliaiuplon of
France—The Steam MotoeycWi.
Cropping with Legumes.
The effect of continual cropping in
the exhaustion of soil nitrogen has
been made the subject of study in
planting peas, buckwheat, oats, etc.
The results of the experiments show
that only the leguminous plants were
able to utilize the nitrogen of the air.
An increase was noticeable in the yield
of each succeeding crop of peas, while
with the non-leguminous crops, each
succeeding yield was poorer than the
preceding one. The experiments sjmply
show, what every farmer knows or
ought to know, that planting clovers,
cow-peas, vetches, or any legumes
tends to constantly improve th« soil,
while cropping with non-leguminous
plants, such as corn and wheat, unless
fertilizer of some kind is used, con-
stantly depletes the soil. Vast amounts
of fertility can be saved to the soil by
the liberal planting of leguminous
crops. _____
Crating Butter.—In some of the
Eastern cities, notably in Boston, a
considerable amount of the butter en-
tering into the trade is packed in five-
pound boxes, and these, in turn, crated
by dozens, so that each crate contains
sixty pounds. They go to retailers who
have a family trade where the cus-
tomer buys a box at a time. Up to a
certain point it is desirable to put up
butter in this way, says Homestead.
It costs, however, about 65 cents a
hundred more to pack it; consequently
when the small-package trade is
glutted and It has to sell on the basis
of tub-butter prices, there is a loss in
packing this way. This glut occurs oc-
casionally because the trade to which
it goes, although a very good class of
trade, is limited.
Plants from Turkestan.
The Department of Agriculture has
received for distribution to careful
farmers a considerable quantity of
seeds from the dry regions of Siberia
and Turkestan. Among these are hairy
vetch, which is drouth and also cold
resistant, a variety of winter rye which
is especially hardy and drouth resist-
ant; oats and one or two kinds of win-
ter wheat. Most of these seeds are
thought to be suitable to parts of the
country having extremes of tempera
tures. They might prove valuable in
the Dakotas. The rye, Mr. Jared
Smith suggests, might be worth
trial in the South. Some of the Turke-
stan alfalfa supposed to be very drouth
resistant, is also on hand. The pecu-
liar advantage claimed for this alfalfa,
however, is its ability to withstand in-
tense heat.
runlshmeiit of Team Work.
Although team work has been worn
threadbare as a subject of discussion,
it is the absorbing theme among race-
meet officials just at present. The as-
sistance of one contestant in a race by
another is a difficult matter to control
by rules, as has been discovered by
tho L. A. W. and in turn by tho N. C.
A. Just now it is the latter body that
has to deal with the matter. The re-
cent suspensions of McFarland, Eaton
and Kusel for objectionable work in
races has caused endless discussion
and has also set the riders to scliein-
ng to devise a now method to lend
;heir mates valuable help without
bringing down upon their heads the
punishment of the officials. Well-
posted officials have been selected at
all the important meets thus far and
these have warned the riders that
team work would be dealt with se-
verely. It is a nice point, however,
to decide what is fair and what is
unfair in this line. In many races,
especially handicaps, the working to-
gether of the back-mark men by
changing pace to mow down the long-
mark men le the most interesting
feature of the event and does more
than anything else to make this class
of contest popular. If the scratch men
fail to work together in harmony
there is generally a loaf and the race
becomes a failure by reason of the
limit man walking away with first
prize. Therefore this changing about
of pace, in open scratch races as well
as in handicaps, is encouraged,, and it
has even become necessary for penal-
ties to be imposed so as to force each
contestant to take his turn at pacing.
The feature of team work that is dis-
couraged is the regular assistance of
one rider by another In race after
race, the one pulling the other along
as far as he can last and then pulling
out to let his mate, still fresh, make
a sprint for the finish and win, he
himself being content to tal^e second
or third or even to drop out altogether
to the manifest danger of other com-
petitors. The difficulty of formulat-
ing rules to cover all such work will
make it necessary for the officials to
use discriminative judgment and warn
offenders that a repetition of certain
tactics will be punished.
Rouhours Wins Hour ltacc.
Bouhours, of France, won an hour
race at Antwerp from one of the best
fields that has entered a race this year.
He rode against Edouard Taylor,
Champion, Walters and Slmar. Bou-
hours' splendid riding was a revela-
tion, and during many kilometers he
did not lose an Inch, despite the fan-
tastic riding of quarter miles in 25
and 26 seconds by Taylor. Champion
quit at the ninth kilometer, owing to
pains In the side, and Taylor, after
several accidents to his pacing ma-
chine, gave up discouraged in the
twenty-third kilometer. Then, after a
Walters, In an attempt to break Bou-
hours' record, added ten yardB to the
figures.
ftmirrlllon, the French Champion.
Paul Bo'irrlllon, erroneously re-
ported to hi.ve a- "ed In Canada, has
after many deft this season come
to tho front with a victory that lu
worthy of him. From a field of twenty-
eight competitors he won the most Im-
portant race of his country, the cham-
pionship of France. The five qualify-
ing heats were won by Nossam, who
defeated Bourotte by a narrow mar-
gin; Bourrillon, Louvet, Domain f\nd
Courbe, who became the surprise of
the day when he won out by a quar-
ter of a length from Jacquelln. The
final was a procession until at 300
meters Courbe made a sudden jump
and stole eight or nine meters on tho
bunch. Bourrillon, who was In pecoiul
position, went afler him and closed
with Courbe In less than seventy-five
The Old Sitter—In the meantime
the good wife had procured a few
eld biddies from a neighbor and set
them in old barrels. We passed by
them several times each day for all
the long twenty-one days. We never
looked about the temperature, the
moisture or the ventilation. The old
biddies didn't, either. They just set
there and slept. The stupid things.
How do they know what the tempera-
ture is? One of them is blind in one
eye and has her tail feather pulled
out. Four of them had sixty eggs.
When they began to "pip" the oiu uid-
dies woke up and said, "Chirr, chirr,"
with an occasional cluck. Fifty-seven
chicks crawled out of those sixty eggs.
The old blind hen hatched every egg
and has not "crowed" about it, either.
She did it with her little "hatcau."—
3x.
Grasshoppers and Fungus Diseases.
—Thus far we have been only par-
tially successful in our attempts at
destroying grasshoppers by the use of
fungus diseases. Unlike the chinch-
bug fungus the one that attacks lo-
custs in North America is compara-
tively slow in its action and only ap-
pears to take hold of the insects after
they are about half grown.—Nebraska
Station Bulletin.
Ensilage.—W. D. Hoard—"Ensilage
has passed the stage where its health-
fulness as a milk producing food can-
not be questioned by practical dairy-
men or by anyone who has practical
knowledge of th? subject."
PAUL BOURRILLON.
meters. At 100 meters from the tap«(
Bourrillon passed Courbe easily and
won by a lead of fully a length, and a
half, while Nossam ran third by a_
length behind Courbe.
Success of Steam Motoeycle.
There is considerable difference
the operation of the steam and th« •
petroleum motor pacing machines
After the former gets under way thi
two riders cease pedaling and devott.
their entire attention to guiding thi
machine and controlling the. motor-
whereas with the latter the motor ii
only supplemental to the leg motion ol
the riders, to whose speed it adds about
ten or twelve miles per hour. Tlu
steam motor works swiftly, noiseless
ly and without odor, emitting small
puffs of steam and setting a steads
pace, while the riders sit motionless*
As the spectator has perforce to gain
his idea of speed from the rapidity ol
motion of the performers' feet, record
breaking back of such a machine loses
much of Its exciting feature. . With a_
few exhibitions the novelty may bt
expected to wear off and the public tc
ask for fresh developments to titillate
the fancy. At the New Bedford trial,
however, the spectators became enthu-
siastic as they saw the quarters reeled
off in 23, 22, 20 4-5 and 22 1-5 seconds,
reepectively, the men and machines
taking the banks at an angle of almosl
forty-five degrees. Although the firs!
half was ridden slower than recorij
time, they Hnew that this was more
than made up in the last half, and
before the time was announced re.
alized that they had seen McDuffe?
make the f istest mile that had evei
been ridden on the track.
BOUHOURS.
chase of twelve laps, Bouhours suc-
ceeded in lapping Walters and had the
race won. The Frenchman won by
three laps, covering 32 miles 50 yards
in the hour. Walters was second and
Simar third. On the following day
Hits of Racing News.
Arthur Gardiner is now taking a resl
at his summer home at Fox Lake, 111.
John Lawson, the "terrible Swede,'
is touring Utah with a vaudeville com-
pany of his own.
Seven prizes in five races were cap-
tured by Savages at a recent meet in
Rockford, 111. The victors wer<
brothers, designated as K. and R.
Members of the Lake View C.)jC. ol
Merrill, Wis., are trying to secure per-
mission to run off the state champion-
ships which were prevented by the fias-
co at Janesvllle.
Milwaukee leagu# members are going
to the national meet in Boston pre-
pared to make their bid for the na-
tional meet of 1900. The Milwaukee
boom was well launched at Indianapo-
lis last year, as will be remembered.
The Instruction of each student costs
the French universities about 54]
francs per annum on an average. There
are fifteen universities, with 27,08®
students, of whom Paris has 12,057.
A man's own breeding is the best se-
curity against tha ill-manners of oth-
er porcts.—Ex.
I
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The Woods County News. (Augusta, Okla.), Vol. 1, No. 39, Ed. 1 Saturday, September 9, 1899, newspaper, September 9, 1899; Augusta, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc235907/m1/3/?q=War+of+the+Rebellion.: accessed June 22, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.