THUNDERBOLT OF FAC
How to Farm for a Profit in Utilizing the
Small Economies of the Farm.
by J. w. BUSICK.
"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,"
and it's no less tho prico of the profits of
the farm. The day has passed when we
can afford to ignore the small economies of
the farm, the shop or the factory. "Gather
up the fragments that nothing bo lost," is
an important necessity in those days of
strong competition and small profits. Industry, economy and a thorough knowledge of our business must go hand in hand
if we would hope to make a financial success of our lives. First: we will consider
the necessary implements employed on
the farm and the manner in which they
are cared for.
TO BUY AN OUTFIT
for a farm of 100 acres will cost $500. The
careful and economical farmer will prepare
a shelter for his implements and when the
work of the different periods of the year is
over, they are carefully cleaned and put
under shelter there to remain until the
time comes to use them again. His mower, self-binder, tedder, rakes and a hundred other articles aro all in their proper
place and safe from the ravages of the elements. Once every year on a rainy day,
with his paint can and brush, he gives the
wood-work of each'a coat of paint, thereby
prolonging the average use of them at least
15 years. On the other hand, the man who
owns the same number of acres and requires the same implements at the same
cost—the man who provides nothing to
protect them from decay and rust, but
leaves them standing in the field where
last used, sticking in the ground exposed
to the action of the wind, sun and rain, or
perchance he may use a little economy by
putting them in the fenco corner for safe
keeping until the season comes around
again for their use. This man, by his persistent carelessness, will have reduced the
period of usefulness of his $500 outfit of
farm implements to 73. years, or half the
time of the economical and careful farmer.
Aside from the question of economy and
profit there is a pleasuro in using nice,
bright, clean tools, which cannot be figured
up in the account of dollars and cents but
which does go far toward aiding a man in
accomplishing with greater ease that which
he undertakes to do. No man can successfully contradict the statement that a
set of farming implements cared for in the
way and manner I have first noted, will
last on an average 15 , years. Each set
of implements cost in the beginning $500,
one set with care lasts 15 years, the other,
through carelessness, lasts but 1\_ years.
Now, the man who fails to care for his
tools will, at the end of 7_ years, be compelled to invest $500 more, and counting
interest on the last $500 invested in second
set of tools at 8 per cent will be $300, thus
making his farm implements for a period
of 15 years cost $1,300, or $800 more than
the man who gives his implements proper
care; difference in favor of economical
habits, $800 in 15 years on farming implements alone.
The caring for and utilizing of all the
products of the farm is another important
factor in the profits of the farm. The
straw and corn fodder that is
ANNUALLY WASTKD
on many farms is abundantly ample to
furnish 30 head of 3-year-old steers with
first class roughness for six months,' or
during the feeding season. Save your
straw under shelter, cut all your corn fodder, don't allow a'stalk to remain in the
field; place in shock *of 10 hills square so
that it will dry out early in the fall, and
when well dried out haul it to the barn
and with a power cutter and a traction engine cut stalks and all into lengths of one-
fourth inch. In cutting two hundred
shocks of fodder you should cut five tons
of straw and five tons of clover or timothy
hay. Cut on each at intervals so as to
havo tlie straw and hay well mixed with
the fodder; this will prevent tho stalks
from heating and save trouble of mixing
as fed out. Storo all away in your barn or
any other place where it will be kept dry;
prepare a tight box with close fitting lid,
large enough to hold twenty bushels of
this cut feed, or enough for one feed at a
time; build a cheap furnace out of stone
or brick, and place in it a kettle or box
that will hold 50 gallons of water. In using bring tlio water to a boiling point, having previously filled your box with tho
cut feed, mixing as filled, ground corn and
cob, ground oats, bran or shorts with salt
sullicient to season. Pnt in just the
amount of grain food you want your stock
to have, turn the boiling water on tho contents, close down the tight fitting lid and
let tho mass steam and soften for eight
hours or until next feeding timo comes.
When taking it out of tho box shovel it
over once or twice so as to thoroughly mix
the ground with tlie cut food and you will
have a grand ration of digestible food
equally relished by all kinds of stock and
at less cost than tho old and wasteful
methods of feeding hay, fodder, ear corn,
etc., give each animal just what it will eat
up clean twico per day.
..      FEED   AS  NEEDED.
This is an important point that should
not bo overlooked. Don't throw in
onough to one animal to last ono or two
days, but ascertain by observation just
what each ono needs and food that amount
and no more. If stock is fed in this way
and kept under shelter during inclement
weather, I guarantee better results than
by feeding hay and ear oorn, and a saving
of fully one-half tho cost, considering the
value placed on corn fodder, wheat and
oats straw in the past as a food ration. By
chemical analysis it is found that the two
combined, contain more ilesh and fat
forming elements than hay alone. In tho
winter of 1888 and 1889 we kept on tho
farm 28 head of Jersey cattlo, 15 of whicli
wero giving milk. In October we cut up
in one-fourth inch lengths 130 shocks of
fodder, stalk and all and four tons of hay
and five of straw and treated it in the way
herein described, fed nothing else excepting the mixture of ground corn and cob
and wheat bran and wo not only found
that the flow of milk was much greater
than the winter previous, but the cattlo
came out 25 per cont better in the spring
than when timothy hay was fed whole.
With ground corn and cob and wheat
bran dry, as a grain food; I believe it to be
the nearest thing to ensilago that can be
produced on the farm and as it might not
be profitable for the majority of farmers to
build silos, I would recommend tho cutting of straw, hay and fodder as being the
cheapest and most available food. Better
still, you convert all your corn stalks and
straw into lirst class manure, which by the
old method is nearly all lost. The profit
of the farm depends largely on the class of
stock kept and the way thoy aro treated
and fed as well as utilizing everything in
the shape of food for all it is worth.
THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ABE LOST
in this county annually by the reckless
way of feeding hay to stock. No calculation is ever made as to the quantity each
animal should receive, but tho manger is
stuffed full and when the animal has satisfied his appetite for hay, it will begin to
root about in search of something better to
eat and soon will havo the remaining hay
trampled under foot and rendered unfit
for food. Hay should be fed with as much
judgment as corn or oats, the number of
pounds necessary to keep the stomach
well distended should be fed and no more,
10 pounds per day of 21 hours, when corn
or oats are fed is plenty for ono horso.   I
have known many valuablo horses rendered worthless by allowing them to stand
to a full manger of hay the year round.
Economy in feeding all kinds of stock
should receivo much study, there's nothing
ontho farm that will give better returns than
judicious feeding and care of stock. That
there is a heavy drain on tho profits of tho
farm by the careless aud wasteful way of
feeding and caring for stock, must be ac-
knowledgded by all who will take the
trouble to investigate. The farmer who
owns 100 acres of land usually keeps 10
head of horses including work horses,
brood mares and colts. Now to illustrate
on a scale, suppose he could by careful feeding, save fivo pounds of hay per day to each
hoad, ho would savo in 305 days nine tons
250 pounds, this at $10 per ton, would
amount to $!U 25 and this is only tlio saving on hay alono for 10 head of horsos.
EABLY MATURITY OF BEEF CATTLE AND
1IOQS.
It is quite woll understood that there is
no longer any profit in keeping a steer until ho is four years old to make him weigh
1,500 and a hog until ho is a year old to
mako him weigh 250 pounds. The experience of parties who have fed tho Shorthorn and other thoroughbreds, go to show
that tho cheapest beof is mado at two years
old, and from Shorthorn cattlo tho cost of
a two-year-old steer weighing 1,500 pounds
is put down at threo ,_conts per pound.
The cost eacli year increasos and at five
years old the beof costs close to six and
one-half cents per pound. It is claimed
by breeders and feeders of tho Shorthorn
cattlo, that with good caro and proper
feeding thoy will weigh from 1,500 to 1,800
pounds at 21 to 30 months old. A well
rounded, smooth steer of tho abovo weight
will command the highest prico in the
markets of tlie world. To obtain theso results tho calf must bo fed on bono and
musclo making food, [up to ono year old,
when corn may bo given him freely.
ni'EI-'DI-s'r]   AND  FEEDINO   HOOS.
The breed most generally found in the
great hog raising States is the l'oland
China, with the Berkshire standing second.
The Chester White is not popular with the
breeders of this country owing to its color
and tho amount of food_and time required
to bring him to maturity. In tho report
of the Bureau of Animal Industry issued
by tho Secretary of Agriculture, tho l'oland China and Borkshiro aro accorded
lirst rank as "breeds unsurpassed for purity of strain and all tho qualities most esteemed for meat purposes." I know of no
strain that is the equal of tho pure blood
Poland China, thoy mature early and will
gross with moderate feeding 250 to 300
pounds at six to nine months old. For
breeding purposes, we should select from
this strain with great caro, our males and
females. If March pigs, they should be
bred so as to farrow about the middle of
February and again about tho 1st of July.
I know there is a projudicoamong farmers
against sows farrowing in February and I
myself, was at one timo quite as much opposed as anyono to having pigs farrowed
in mid-winter, but I have learned by experience that a sow properly cared for, can
drop her pigs in February with as much
safety as in April or May, but to do this
she must havo warm quarters and receivo
tho attention necessary at such times. By
this system of breeding, tho first litter of
pigs can bo fatted out to 300 pounds by tho
1st of October and the second be made
ready for market at a weight of 2 .pounds
by March 1st following. Thus you market your corn crop twice a year, instead of
tho old plan of onco a year. How are thoso
results to bo obtained? Not by tho old
method of stuffing a pig with corn as soon
as it has passed the sucking period, nor
yet, by turning it out to "hustle" for itself or starvo. "The root hog or die" plan
is with the intelligent breeders and feeders a  thing  of  tho   past, observation has
taught us all, that the thrifty, constantly
growing animal is the profitable animal.
We should not permit a day to pass without a gain being mado, and to do this we- '
must feed such foods as contain the most
nutritive substances needed by the young
growing pig, these mako bone and muscle
and thereby develop tho size; such foods
bran, shorts and ground oats always in
Uniform of a slop, aud the pig allowed to
run on clover. Puro water is as necessary
to the health of a hog as to any otlier animal and he should not be compelled to
drink tho filthy stuff in which he wallows.
THE JIOO   PRODUCT OF THIS  COUNTRY
ranks third among our agricultural industries, and as the prices paid to-day aro
more remunerative than any ono other
product of the farm, wo should givo this
branch of industry especial care. And
when wo consider that Europe tikes only
about $50,000,000 worth of our hog product
per annum, and that the balance of tho
$350,000,000 worth produced in this
country is sold in our home markets and
consumed by our own population, wo
should show great respect for our laws of
protection by which tho consumption of
this largo surplus has been mado possible.
Woro it not for our great manufacturing
interest and tho men employed therein,
and in different kinds of public enterprise
and improvements, our pork to-day
would not bo worth al>ovo two cents per
pound, if a market could be found for it
at all.
Wabash county.
 .  m ,	
Hardy Varieties of Wheat.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
If tho lessons of tho past wintor and
spring in testing what aro the hardiest varieties of wheat are heeded, they will prove
of great value to tho farmers of the Stato.
Several varieties that had heretoforo beon
popular wero almost totally ruined by tho
sovero freezing in the first half of March.
Tho I'oole and Fultz had both beon regarded as standard varioties, but aro almost entirely dostroyed here, whilo the "Now
Monarch," "Badger State," Ontario Wonder" and "Ued Clawson" have stood tho
test pretty well. If tho wheat crop of
Boono county had all been sown of tho
"New Monarch" it would undoubtedly
havo increased the yield in this county
moro than a quarter of a million bushels as
this variety is not much injured. Tho
tender varieties should be discarded for
tho iron clad sorts, otherwise wheat culture will bo carried on at a heavy loss.
Thorntown. I. N. Barker.
Wheat From tho Purdue Farm.
Kditors Indiana Farmer:
I enclose, not tho tallest, but better than
an average specimen. In comparing with
your sample you will seo that our season
is much later than yours.
I think wo aro two to three weeks later
than somo sections along the J. M. it I.
Bailway. W. C. Latta.
—The stalks aro a little short of two feot.
—Eds.
J. F. McClintock's large barn, 12 miles
east of Columbus, burned on thle Oth^to-
gether with adjoining farm buildings and
a large amount of hay and grain. Soveral
head of horses were also burned. It is
thought a tramp sleeping in tho building
started the fire.
C. A. I'arsons, of I'eru, had been an
noyed for somo time by an eruption on
ono of his arms. Ho consulted a physician, who removed therefrom a common
sowing needle. Mr. Parsons thinks it
must have entered his system during
childhood.
On tho afternoon of tho llth, a locomo-
tivo at East Buffalo, N. Y., started out
witli 27 cars. It had just crossed the Lake
Shore tracks when the boiler exploded
with terrific force blowing the engine, engineer and fireman to atoms. Causo unknown.