VOL. LVIII.
INDIANAPOLIS, AUGUST 1, 1903
NO. 31
-
£s.pcvicncc gcpavtmcnt.
HOW SHOULD  THE   GROUND BE   TREATED
AFTER A CROP OF CLOVER OR WHEAT
HAS BEEN TAKEN  OFF?
Keep Clover Growing Three-Fourths of the Time.
lst Premium.—Oae way of treating
ground after the wheat has beeu taken
off is to let it lie undisturbed by stock or
plow until next harvest, provided we get
a cateh of grass or clover. Of course
pick out rocks, clip the waseds, fill a ditch
or manure a thin point as needed. Our
main object in raising wheat is to prepare the ground for the clover or grass
that follows.
If we fail to get the cateh of clover,
we simply go after it again. This is the
practice of most farmers in this country
that raise wheat. The treatment of
corn ground after the crop is off is more
varied. Some prepare at once and seed
to wheat. Others let lie until spring,
and   seed   to  oats.      The   former  is  my
will restore fertility rapidly, and is profitable, if the right kind of live stock is
kept on the farm. The entire corn crop,
as well as the clover hay, is fed nnd returned to the soil. This furnishes nearly enough manure to oover the corn ground
each year, thus allowing the greater part
of the farm to be manured once every
four years. This rotation required the
ground to be broken only once in four
years. W.   J.
Washington Co.
Pasture as Little  as Possible.
2.1 Premium.—Presuming thnt the wheat
ground has been seeded to clover, whieh
I think should always lie done, I would
take the mower and cut the .stubble as
soon as possible after the wheat has been
removed. Would cut a little higher than
if cutting hay. If the wheat was tall
enough, I would have cut the stubble
somewhat high. This will make a fiue
mulch for the young clover, aud protect
it from the hot suns of latter July and
August.        The  clipping  of   the    clover
think the dearest  feed we get is our stl^
pasture, yet, if we must pasture, we si
do so only when the ground is frozen. I
if seeded,   #hen  it  is  well  covered
snow.       Much tramping in the mua'
injure the soil many  times the vali
the feed obtained.        As I said befo-     a
much better plan is to save the stalk . as
ensilage or stover.   A dry eorn stalk that
has iH-en standing on the wind, rain and
snow  for two months after husking, affords little nutriment, nnd the stock must
eat it more for pastime  than  for praalit.
Carroll Co. D.C. J.
Have Something Growing  all the Time.
3d Premium.—For farmers owning clay
lands   this   subject   is   worthy   of   careful
study. Preserving     f.-rt il it _>-     depends
niua-h upon the care the land receives after these crops are removed. Perhaps
the best plan is to follaaw with s.aine growing crop. To maintain fertility and
keep the ground from washing, clover
titer wheat is a good plan.
With  favorable  conditions  it  makes  a
■a' giv r the first, second and third
■st ai fair l-fia'  Experience  Depart
ment eai eek. Manuscript should be
ent direct to the Indiana Farmer Com-
jiany anal shaaiild reach us one week before date of publication.
Topics for discussion in future numbers of the Farmer are as follows:
No. 380, Aug. 1.—How should the
ground be .Seated after a crop of wheat
or corn has been taken aaff?
No. 387, Ang. 8.—How do you make
cider ami keep it sweet? How make
aiiler   vinegar?
No. 3aS, Aug. 15.- -Will the ladies
phase t.'ll how to put up pickles and preserves   of   different   kinds?
Naa. 389, Aug. 22.—What points must
be observed in raising fall chickens? Do
they  pay?
PARKING l\ i.K.l.MANY.
There is a great deal of complaint at
the small margins on Germany's farm
production. It is altogether likely that
it would be so in this country were it not
f.ar the use of labor-saving machinery and
..r.YTtmSm
INDIANA   BUILDING    AT   WORLD'S    FAIR,    ST.    LOUIS,
choice. The gronnd is easily prepared
for wheat, if the corn has been properly
cultivated. We     have     demonstrated
several times that as good a yield can be
had from corn ground as from oat stub-
lala>, provided the wheat is sown at the
same time.
The plan of wheat following corn has
much to recommend it, especially on rolling
gronnd that is apt to wash during the
winter. The soil is kept filled with
live roots which hold the elements that
would be lost from a bnre soil. The
greatest trouble is getting the corn off
in time. We cut and throw on a low
wheel wagon, and take outside the field,
or set against a wire stretched in the
field. Two wires stretched across the
field will hold the whole field. The
wheat may then be sown, and the com
can be taken off when dry with bnt little
alamage to the wheat. Some seasons the
corn can be cured and moved off before
sowing the wheat. Corn, wheat and
.lover is my rotation. The clover stands
two years, thus making a four years rotation. In the four years the ground
is bore only a short time, and live clover
roots fill the soil three years out of the
four. Only, from the time the sod is
turned in the spring for corn until the
savaling of the clover root, with its nitrogen trap, out of the soil.       This rotation
will make it a stockier, hardier plant.
Unless there is a large amonnt of shattered or down grain, I do not believe in pasturing the stubble field much. If the
season be wet, and the yonng grass makes
a strong growth, as it did last year, light
pasturing will not hurt.
If the weeds should come up, later in
the season, I would mow again, cutting
higher than before and being careful not
to mow so late in the fall that the clover
will not have time to get a good growth
after mowing.
If the ground is to be reseeded to
wheat, it should be plowed as soon after
the removal of the wheat as practicable.
Drag or roll the ground as fast as plowed.
Ilarrw, with a spike-tooth harrow, every
ten days. A good time to do this is
after a shower. In this way your ground
will be in fine shape by seeding time.
If your stubble is to be left for corn,
mow the weeds so they will not form seed.
A noted agricultural writer said, "Cover
the ground, and it will cover you." Believing this, I think the corn field should
always be seeded, and I think it would be
better if ensilage or stover were made of
the entire corn crop and fed to good
stock. But we have not yet reachaed that
stage of agriculture in Indiana, and most
of the eorn stalks are left in the field
to be pastured.    While .*■. am inclined to
good growth by winter, and while it protects the ground it stores some nitrogen
in the soil. If manure is applied to clover
sod, its roots take up the best part of it,
and instead of being washed away it
benefits both clover and soil.
If there is no growing crop, the ground
sluaiilal be noticed during the winter, and
places liable to wash should be covered
with straw or manure, especially where
the land is broken, as it is here in the
southern part of the State. Much fertility is lost neglecting this.
Corn ground should be sown to grain,
and an effort made to get as good a sod
as possible before cold weather. Several
years ago wo heard a man say that he
wanted "every foot of ground covered
with some growing crop during winter."
Ground lying bare lose some fertility, and
its mechanical condition is injured by
becoming packed.
Rye is very useful for this purpose, and
if not wanted for anything else is valuable
to plow under. Its roots loosen and enliven the soil. Much of the corn ground
here is sown to wheat and then clover.
By sowing fertilizer with the wheat, good
crops are obtained and the fertility of the
land kept up. W. J.
Jefferson Co.
Premiums of $1, 75 cents and 50 cents
Improved methods of farming. German farmera still use clumsy implements
and methods and a great deal more manual labor, and the "man behind the hoe"
and spade is a reality there. It is stated
that from carefully prepared returns covering many hundred farms in central Gar-
many, it is found that the average income of tho German farmer is only a little above 2 per cent on what is assumed
to be the value of his holding. The returns thus collected of gross income, outgo and net income place the latter between 1.1 and 3.2 per cent, having as an
aggregate average the percentage we have
just mentioned. It is this entirely satisfactory showing that probably accounts
for the intense interest shown by the
farming class in Germany to have American competition in agricultural products
brought to an end. While the land, in
Germany is not especially fertile, the systems of agriculture adopted there have
probably made the farms quite as productive at the present time as they were
in past years. But the prica*s of foodstuffs of all kinds have been brought down
in consequence of the ease with which
supplies can be obtained from distant
points of production, particularly the
United States, and the German farmer
has thus been compelled to content himself with a diminishing profit.