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EXPERIENCE DEPARTMENT. Growing Millet, Sowing, Etc. cut lst Premium.—Growing millet has be- I come a very important item in this county, the last few years, as the fforms have taken all our clover. To grow a good crop millet requires a I rich moist loam, and should be sowed* some time in June. In preparing ground for millet I do not wait until I am ready I to sow, but prepare the ground when it is I m the right fix, as it will hold moisture' I better than if it is prepared when so dry. I plow my ground, follow with a roller, I then hanow with a good harrow and roll |a»aln. I harrow occasionally till I am I ready to sow. When I am ready to sow I 1 harrow both ways and.drill*seed broad- least with 100 pounds of phosphate per licre; after which I roll again. It Is best I to sow early in June if possible, as millet lis hard to cure for it has to be cut green. |lt should be cut when it is in full bloom 1 or in fall head, but not allowed to stand I longer, as the stalks get woody and are I not relished as well :by the stock. Millet lis one of strongest, foods'we have, and 1 therefore I think it is rather hard on the I ground. It should not bo allowed to get 11103ted as the stock do not like it so well. I It should be sowed tolerably thick, if left I thin the stalks get very large and woody. Harrison Op. .., , Ben*. Williams. ■.'■ST;.'*- ' -■ ^ ^ .-_ ^ v i_..,, ,e_-. 2d _^rtounm<^li^-^r5n__r^4hs5uld ■ be IprepareOor sowing millet in the spring ■ hold a great deal more moisture than if I It not prepared until time to sow, as that snot till about the first week in June, |i>r till the ground is thoroughly warm. If ground is thoroughly prepared as if Ifor spring crops and harrowed occasionally a good stand of millet will be sure, lit it is a dry season. And when hay is a lihort crop, aB it was last year, millet fur- 1 nishes a large amount of winter feed per here and is much easier handled than so Imuch corn fodder. Millett requires a Inch moist soil for a good crop; it also does Iwell on low marshy soil; but I think on l&tt-ount of the rapid growth it makes I that it would be very exhaustive on the Isoil, and for that reason should not be Imade a yearly crop. Millet is difficult"" to cure, both because ■growth is rank and because it must be ltut before very ripe, or the hay will be Itoo woody. But if cut when just fairly ■out of bloom, and cured well in the sun- l-l-ine, and put in barn before it gets lramed on, I think it will be relished both Iby cows and horses as well as any other |~**d hay. James D. Lemay. Harrison Co. sowing of one-fourth bushel per acre. I once fattened 18 head of steers (that were thin to start with), with.German millet, cut from four acres, and sold them on the market* for 5*4 cents per pound. Have not found millet so hard on ground as corn or wheat. It keeps the ground well shaded, and wheat may be sownupon the stubble without rebreaking ~ the ground.' My experience is that a German millet crop properly managed is one of the most profitable crops we can raise upon the farm. '' O. F. Lane. Putnam Co. - , 3d Premium.—In the first place the pound must be well broken, then thor- Nghly pulverized and made smooth be- P»- sowing seed. Then sow pure German millet seed, I have found no other pays me. I generally sow one peck to *" acre if the ground is likely to remain Mst enough to germinate all the seed f-d start it well in growth. Never sow per one-half bushel per acre. Generally low first half of June. After seed is sown TM"o*vitinwelland you can nearly be !-"«of a crop. Don't cut until the heads fr8 "ipe, then it is easily cured. Bick r«l or mow, salt lightly, but carefully, ■ i!rt WiU have oneo1 tn« best stock f Ms that can be raised upon the farm. A |«t all kinds of stock will eat and relish H nP°*i which they will thrive. The f r"ge farmer sows one bushel or more LA acre> thls is too much. It is a tm °*!.seed and tbe Ieed w11- not be so I0 " The average farmer cuts millet belt matures, hence it is very hard to I-allt ~Jr0pei~y CT~red and the feeding lUnri. -"--"---"-factory. Following my Im if? never faUed t0 h*™ a crop, Ib-n, hat Btoct would rather have tut-*Ta and hay- ~* have had a yield of and one-half tons per acre, from the ; BEVIEW. The reader will notice three conditions named in these articles and I think that failures usually occur as a result of violating some one of them. Men often "conclude" to sow millet after other crops have failed and break dry, cloddy ground. One may ''conclude" late in May, but ground for all spring crops should be broken in dry years before getting hard. Then if you don't finally want millet plant something else. The second point made is to so mr first of June in • southern Indiana. Many sow. abont harvest and cure the hay when a foot deep in the swath in September. The dew don't leave lt till 10 a. in. and falls again at 2 p. ' m. and you can't cure it unless you Violate the third point, to cut early, and cut it brown. Then is nearly worthless,except forseed. Last season J" had^Jield, -iosl like'thost? that these ihen "describe—a fine dust mulch on top of a damp, firm seed bed in low ground. I drilled three pecks of millet per acre * in a McSherry.wheat drill, putting it in the wheat boxes instead of the grass seed box. The shoe is like a corn planter and parted the dust allowing the seed to fall on firm, damp ground. It made fine hay. If I had sowed broad cast and harrowed in the dirt.stirred by the harrow would have dried. out and much seed would have perished. Three pecks per acre is enough if the conditions are just right. After this millet was np two inches I hoed some of it with Breeds weeder, and It was quite helpful, breaking all crust. You can't do that if broad casted. Don't throw away money by breaking a dry, cloddy field and botching in millet among dry clods. I once sowed a small lot in fine condition and not one seed grew in foursquare feet. I suppose it had been heated in the stack before threshing. It is easy to test a spoonful. My neighborhood despises millet for hay; but last year my millet was so green after curing and so fine strawed that it was much liked.' As our writers this week say "cut early, or it will be woody." * ■ " ' . My own thought would be that one cannot afford to follow Mr. Lemay's sug' gestion to grow millet because it is more easily handled than fodder. Possibly this thought might apply with equal force to other hay crops, except clover, which is grown for its fertility and the hay and seed are by-products. But millet and timothy are grown for hay in spite of their exhaustive nature, and should never take the place of fodder, but only supplement it when short, or possibly be fed to horses in hard labor. Then I use clover instead of timothy or millet. Some Iowa farmers once wrote a certain agricultural paper that millet was so handy they wouldn't bother with fodder. The editor answered that possibly when his Iowa friends had exhausted some of the virgin fertility, and were face to face with a fertilizer till they would use the wasted fodder instead ot growing millet. Our improved machin3ry is fast making it practical to handle fodder, and I think we shall then depend on it arid' clover hay almost wholly for rough feed. Millet is hard on soil like-timothy. One thousand pounds of grain contains: - Nitrogen Potash Phos Acid Oats 19.2 4.4 e.2 Millet 20.3 3.4 5.9 Corn 11.0 3.7 5.9 The seed of millet is much like that of oats, and liko corn, except that it is much richer in nitrogen, which is the costliest of fertilizer elements. Millet should be cured in the shock, especially if rank and coarse.' I confess my own judgment would not agree with friend Lane in seeding only one peck per acre. It makes coarse hay, also in cutting ripe. I know it cures very easily, but the sugar and starch have passed from the straw into seed. Many farmers about Carmel sowed millet last year. The drouth and chinch got all of it that was not drilled in, and bur fodder was so nice and machinery so improved that scarcely any millet will be sowed this year. Great care should be used not to buy weed seed with millet and clover seed. ~* E. H. Collins. No. 15, June 6. Cutting and curing hay. No. 16, June 13. Name a few bad weeds and tell how you fig-it them. No. 17, June 20. Experience with crimson clover and alfalfa. No. 18, June 27. The value of rye and how it is grown. No. 19, July 4. How.do you save and use manure, . , * 1 ' * THE LAW OF Physical MOISTUBE IN PLANT 'WIH/Av^.t-t ••_.,-_ Mechanical Protection -GRQ-*. <rr -*_..;* f .* and Against Drouth, Editobs Indiana Tabmbb: No single factor in the production of crops are of greater importance than the moisture indispensable to the growth of plants; and none is so entirely beyond the control of the average cultivator. So conscious is the farmer of his dependence in this respect that it is probable that he would willingly, take the risks of all other obstacles and enemies surrounding his vocation, could he be assured independence in the single matter of water supply, protection alike against dirth and excess of moisture for the requirements of his crop. Permanent systems of drainage and irrigation combined, furnish this immunity from loss, since they give absolute control over conditions. Such protection is, however; at best only available on a comparatively small part of our farms, and then only as the result of heavy financial outlay. There are laws controlling the supply and movements of soil waterB, which If thoroughly understood and intelligently utilized in practice, would render the farmer comparatively free from the evils now so disastrous. The accomplishment of the end so desirable moreover, involved no expense not immediately repaid independently of the matter of increased control over available moisture. Two methods exist by which the object is attainable; a physical and a chemical, and both act by conserving the water of the soil. The former by the treatment of the soil itself, and the latter by additions to the soil. No season passes without serious damage to crops in some portion of the country which might have been either prevented or materially diminished in degree by the mere following of simple rules of practice, and this irrespective of the nature of the crop so long as it be one grown on plowed land. The first method consists of nothing more than a simple mulch on the surface of the soil through which the water, absorbed in the soil and naturally rising to the surface for evaporation into the dry air cannot pass; not being able to escape and become wasted, it is retained and remains available to the crop. The mulch of straw, leaves or litter, so commonly applied around young trees * and over the ground of berry patches, is a well-known and effective application of the principle, but impractical on the large scale of field culture. The same results are, however, even more simply accomplished. Before proceeding to the application .of a brief review of the laws and conditions' involved is essential. The entire supply of water, on which the crop must depend for life and growth Is the absorbed moisture of the soil, constantly In motion. ' During times of - drouth this movement is always upwards to the surface where evaporation and loss is inevitable unless artificial intervention is interposed. The cause of the'upward movement is the exertion of capillary force, the same cause raising the soil in a lampwick. This force manifests itself through capillary tubes through which the water is conducted,surface attraction, or pulling up power, like the rising of water around the edge or sides of a glass being the actual impelling force. " The smaller the tubes, or the more perfect their condition, the greater is the action and the larger the quantity of water passing through. The more compact the soil, the more perfect are the tubes, and also the more water they are capable of carrying up to the surface and '! into the air beyond the immediate reach '- of the plant. It therefore naturally foi-' j lows that any means for destroying the " V-_ compactness of the soil, \>iea.U_srifpJ^'"^-^ capillary tubes^; interferes -r* ' ' ~~— "*" action and diminishes the amount'* oi •*"' water escaping through them. Cultivation accomplishes this, and any implement by which thorough surface pulverization is effected is adapted to the the purpose. The smoothing.harrow, or a fine-toothed cultivator are most effective tools for the purpose. When the crop is suffering from want of water, the oftener the surface soil is thoroughly stirred the better protection is secured to the crop by the check placed on evaporation; the operation should be repeated at least as often as the surface becomes at all impacted or hardened. The depth to which the cultivation should be practiced has been found by repeated experiment for many years to be approximately four inches, to attain maximum results. The thoroughly pulverized and dried layer of soil thus lying on the surface becomes a veritable mulch of dry earth, a dust blanket, acting exactly like the mulch of litter mentioned, through which water is unable to rise, and the moisture is therefore retained in the moist layer underneath where it is accessable to the growing crop. Protection from drouth by chemical means is based on the fact that certain substances of important fertilizing value also possess the property of increasing capillary action and therefore the amount of water brought to the surface In a given time of drouth and thus made available to the crop, otherwise a sufferer, is increased. The salts of potash, when incorporated with the soil, perform this office to a marked degree; a fact wholly distinct from their value as furnishers of plant food, and justify their being classed as important aids to freedom from the ravages of drouth. p, a. D. Correction. Editobs Indiana Faemeb: My arltcle in last week's Farmer should have read the acreage of corn had never increased more than 7,000,000 in any one year until this lastyear, when It increased 20,000,000 acres. Wm. Adams. Jeffersonville. There never was a day when what horses a farmer can use to advantage- were worth as much to him as they are to-day. This is the era of improved farm implements of all kinds, and the best can be made out of them only with the best of horsepower. - , *
Object Description
Title | Indiana farmer, 1896, v. 31, no. 22 (May 30) |
Purdue Identification Number | INFA3122 |
Date of Original | 1896 |
Subjects (LCSH) |
Agriculture Farm management Horticulture Agricultural machinery |
Subjects (NALT) |
agriculture farm management horticulture agricultural machinery and equipment |
Genre | Periodical |
Call Number of Original | 630.5 In2 |
Location of Original | Hicks Repository |
Coverage | United States - Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Collection Title | Indiana Farmer |
Rights Statement | Content in the Indiana Farmer Collection is in the public domain (published before 1923) or lacks a known copyright holder. Digital images in the collection may be used for educational, non-commercial, or not-for-profit purposes. |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Date Digitized | 2011-02-24 |
Digitization Information | Original scanned at 300 ppi on a Bookeye 3 scanner using internal software. Display images generated in CONTENTdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
Description
Title | Page 1 |
Subjects (LCSH) |
Agriculture Farm management Horticulture Agricultural machinery |
Subjects (NALT) |
agriculture farm management horticulture agricultural machinery and equipment |
Genre | Periodical |
Call Number of Original | 630.5 In2 |
Location of Original | Hicks Repository |
Coverage | Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Collection Title | Indiana Farmer |
Rights Statement | Content in the Indiana Farmer Collection is in the public domain (published before 1923) or lacks a known copyright holder. Digital images in the collection may be used for educational, non-commercial, or non-for-profit purposes. |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Digitization Information | Orignal scanned at 300 ppi on a Bookeye 3 scanner using internal software. Display images generated in CONTENTdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
Transcript |
EXPERIENCE DEPARTMENT.
Growing Millet, Sowing, Etc.
cut
lst Premium.—Growing millet has be-
I come a very important item in this
county, the last few years, as the
fforms have taken all our clover.
To grow a good crop millet requires a
I rich moist loam, and should be sowed*
some time in June. In preparing ground
for millet I do not wait until I am ready
I to sow, but prepare the ground when it is
I m the right fix, as it will hold moisture'
I better than if it is prepared when so dry.
I plow my ground, follow with a roller,
I then hanow with a good harrow and roll
|a»aln. I harrow occasionally till I am
I ready to sow. When I am ready to sow I
1 harrow both ways and.drill*seed broad-
least with 100 pounds of phosphate per
licre; after which I roll again. It Is best
I to sow early in June if possible, as millet
lis hard to cure for it has to be cut green.
|lt should be cut when it is in full bloom
1 or in fall head, but not allowed to stand
I longer, as the stalks get woody and are
I not relished as well :by the stock. Millet
lis one of strongest, foods'we have, and
1 therefore I think it is rather hard on the
I ground. It should not bo allowed to get
11103ted as the stock do not like it so well.
I It should be sowed tolerably thick, if left
I thin the stalks get very large and woody.
Harrison Op. .., , Ben*. Williams.
■.'■ST;.'*- ' -■ ^ ^ .-_ ^ v i_..,, ,e_-.
2d _^rtounm<^li^-^r5n__r^4hs5uld ■ be
IprepareOor sowing millet in the spring
■ hold a great deal more moisture than if
I It not prepared until time to sow, as that
snot till about the first week in June,
|i>r till the ground is thoroughly warm.
If ground is thoroughly prepared as if
Ifor spring crops and harrowed occasionally a good stand of millet will be sure,
lit it is a dry season. And when hay is a
lihort crop, aB it was last year, millet fur-
1 nishes a large amount of winter feed per
here and is much easier handled than so
Imuch corn fodder. Millett requires a
Inch moist soil for a good crop; it also does
Iwell on low marshy soil; but I think on
l&tt-ount of the rapid growth it makes
I that it would be very exhaustive on the
Isoil, and for that reason should not be
Imade a yearly crop.
Millet is difficult"" to cure, both because
■growth is rank and because it must be
ltut before very ripe, or the hay will be
Itoo woody. But if cut when just fairly
■out of bloom, and cured well in the sun-
l-l-ine, and put in barn before it gets
lramed on, I think it will be relished both
Iby cows and horses as well as any other
|~**d hay. James D. Lemay.
Harrison Co.
sowing of one-fourth bushel per acre.
I once fattened 18 head of steers (that
were thin to start with), with.German
millet, cut from four acres, and sold them
on the market* for 5*4 cents per pound.
Have not found millet so hard on ground
as corn or wheat. It keeps the ground
well shaded, and wheat may be sownupon
the stubble without rebreaking ~ the
ground.' My experience is that a German
millet crop properly managed is one of
the most profitable crops we can raise
upon the farm. '' O. F. Lane.
Putnam Co. -
, 3d Premium.—In the first place the
pound must be well broken, then thor-
Nghly pulverized and made smooth be-
P»- sowing seed. Then sow pure German millet seed, I have found no other
pays me. I generally sow one peck to
*" acre if the ground is likely to remain
Mst enough to germinate all the seed
f-d start it well in growth. Never sow
per one-half bushel per acre. Generally
low first half of June. After seed is sown
TM"o*vitinwelland you can nearly be
!-"«of a crop. Don't cut until the heads
fr8 "ipe, then it is easily cured. Bick
r«l or mow, salt lightly, but carefully,
■ i!rt WiU have oneo1 tn« best stock
f Ms that can be raised upon the farm. A
|«t all kinds of stock will eat and relish
H nP°*i which they will thrive. The
f r"ge farmer sows one bushel or more
LA acre> thls is too much. It is a
tm °*!.seed and tbe Ieed w11- not be so
I0 " The average farmer cuts millet belt matures, hence it is very hard to
I-allt ~Jr0pei~y CT~red and the feeding
lUnri. -"--"---"-factory. Following my
Im if? never faUed t0 h*™ a crop,
Ib-n, hat Btoct would rather have
tut-*Ta and hay- ~* have had a yield of
and one-half tons per acre, from the
; BEVIEW.
The reader will notice three conditions
named in these articles and I think that
failures usually occur as a result of violating some one of them. Men often
"conclude" to sow millet after other
crops have failed and break dry, cloddy
ground. One may ''conclude" late in
May, but ground for all spring crops
should be broken in dry years before
getting hard. Then if you don't finally
want millet plant something else.
The second point made is to so mr first of
June in • southern Indiana. Many sow.
abont harvest and cure the hay when a
foot deep in the swath in September.
The dew don't leave lt till 10 a. in. and
falls again at 2 p. ' m. and you
can't cure it unless you Violate the
third point, to cut early, and cut it brown.
Then is nearly worthless,except forseed.
Last season J" had^Jield, -iosl like'thost?
that these ihen "describe—a fine dust
mulch on top of a damp, firm seed bed in
low ground. I drilled three pecks of millet per acre * in a McSherry.wheat drill,
putting it in the wheat boxes instead of
the grass seed box. The shoe is like a
corn planter and parted the dust allowing the seed to fall on firm, damp ground.
It made fine hay. If I had sowed broad
cast and harrowed in the dirt.stirred by
the harrow would have dried. out and
much seed would have perished.
Three pecks per acre is enough if the
conditions are just right. After this millet was np two inches I hoed some of it
with Breeds weeder, and It was quite
helpful, breaking all crust. You can't do
that if broad casted.
Don't throw away money by breaking
a dry, cloddy field and botching in millet
among dry clods.
I once sowed a small lot in fine condition and not one seed grew in foursquare
feet. I suppose it had been heated in the
stack before threshing. It is easy to test
a spoonful. My neighborhood despises
millet for hay; but last year my millet
was so green after curing and so fine
strawed that it was much liked.' As our
writers this week say "cut early, or it
will be woody." * ■ " '
. My own thought would be that one
cannot afford to follow Mr. Lemay's sug'
gestion to grow millet because it is more
easily handled than fodder. Possibly
this thought might apply with equal
force to other hay crops, except clover,
which is grown for its fertility and the
hay and seed are by-products. But millet and timothy are grown for hay in
spite of their exhaustive nature, and
should never take the place of fodder,
but only supplement it when short, or
possibly be fed to horses in hard labor.
Then I use clover instead of timothy or
millet.
Some Iowa farmers once wrote a certain agricultural paper that millet was so
handy they wouldn't bother with fodder.
The editor answered that possibly when
his Iowa friends had exhausted some of
the virgin fertility, and were face to face
with a fertilizer till they would use the
wasted fodder instead ot growing millet.
Our improved machin3ry is fast making
it practical to handle fodder, and I think
we shall then depend on it arid' clover
hay almost wholly for rough feed.
Millet is hard on soil like-timothy. One
thousand pounds of grain contains: -
Nitrogen Potash Phos Acid
Oats 19.2 4.4 e.2
Millet 20.3 3.4 5.9
Corn 11.0 3.7 5.9
The seed of millet is much like that of
oats, and liko corn, except that it is much
richer in nitrogen, which is the costliest
of fertilizer elements.
Millet should be cured in the shock,
especially if rank and coarse.'
I confess my own judgment would not
agree with friend Lane in seeding only
one peck per acre. It makes coarse hay,
also in cutting ripe. I know it cures very
easily, but the sugar and starch have
passed from the straw into seed.
Many farmers about Carmel sowed millet last year. The drouth and chinch got
all of it that was not drilled in, and bur
fodder was so nice and machinery so improved that scarcely any millet will be
sowed this year. Great care should be
used not to buy weed seed with millet
and clover seed. ~* E. H. Collins.
No. 15, June 6. Cutting and curing hay.
No. 16, June 13. Name a few bad weeds
and tell how you fig-it them.
No. 17, June 20. Experience with crimson clover and alfalfa.
No. 18, June 27. The value of rye and
how it is grown.
No. 19, July 4. How.do you save and
use manure, . , *
1 ' *
THE LAW OF
Physical
MOISTUBE IN PLANT
'WIH/Av^.t-t ••_.,-_
Mechanical Protection
-GRQ-*.
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