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i Purdue University L I n R A R Y VOL. LXII INDIANAPOLIS, MARCH 2, 1907. NO. 9 WILL IT PAY, AND MOW? Some Farmers Have Proven That It Does Pay. We have in the past several months occasionally alluded to the fact that a certain per cent of the farmers in this and aatbier central states had greatly increased their wheat, corn and other productions per acre. Enquiry in every instance, revealed the reason for this in a very large measure, to be that clean, pure, plump aud perfect seed only were used in sowing and planting, and that this was' obtained by using graders and fanning mills of the latest and best construction, lt has come to be well understood that imperfectly matured, shrunken split and poor seed rarely germinate, and when they do the result is much the same as using scrub live stock in growing cattle, sheep, etc., for in fact these shrunken and runty seeds are "scrub," and as "like produces like," the result is scrub corn, wheat, etc., and hence the small yields |rt acre. But what is worse still, a very considerable part of these seed wain't germinate and even produce scrub grain, but pulls haral on the soil and absorbs the fertility which ought to go to the production of good yields, just as scrub cattle draws as heavily on- the feed lains aud at maturity weighs a thousand pounds, while the high grades at the same age and with no more feed weighs 1,500 pounds. That is pretty nearly the whole question iu a few words. The real problem is the want of clean pure plump seed to start with, and to obtain that grading machines and modern fanning mills are used by the farmers who average 30 bushels of wheat per acre, and have so increased their corn yields as to make it 15 to 20 bushels per acre more than they grew in the old way. Xo one is farming for his health purely, and in any case, each and every one is anxious to get the largest possible returns for his labor. To produce bigger returns is what the grader and fanning mills are for, it's purely and simply an investment, not a luxury. It reasonably seems very unwise for ai fa rmer to invest money in land, go to the labor and expense of enriching and cultivating the soil, buying implements to cultivate and harvest the crop, and then not sow the choicest of his grain for seed. It requires about the same amount of labor and expense in sowing poor seed and harvesting a poor crop as in sowing good seed and harvesting a correspondingly good crop. The threshing machines may seem to make a good job o* cleaning it, but their main object is to secure for the farmer nil t'hie grain or seed. Now, in order to obtain the best results it is necessary i.a grade out the small, leaving nothing I ul the large plump grains for seed, and, having to thresh quickly irrespective of the condition of the grain, and having straw, chaff, dust, wind, etc., to contend with renders this work for the threshing machine not only impracticable hut impossible. By passing grain through an improved fanning mill it will he found that after having come through the threshing machine there yet remains about one-fourth of it which is unfit for seed. Therefore in sowing 60 bushels the farmer throws away in seed alone about 15 bushels of good seed instead, the improvement in his next crop should more than pay for a fanning mill. Then, considering that the life time of a fan ning mill is 30 to 40 years, there should be no question as to having one being a good investment. Again, very often a farmer can realize from 10 to 15 cents extra on every bushel of his grain by grading it in first class style and selling it for seed. We are quite safe in saying that there is not one single acre of grain grown in the United States but what contains a large percentage of kernels which it does not pay to sow. Much of it contains different kinds of weed seeds, and that even the samples which are free from foreign matter are far from being fit for seed until put through the faning mill. To thoroughly satisfy yourself and prove that what we say is correct it nourish the first blade better and longer than a thin one, thus giving the infant plant a better start and a better hold of the soil ere it loses the nourishment afforded by the kernel. This can be seen by putting large and small seed into pots of elean, sharp saml or sterilized soil, and noting the time which elapses before eaeh plant dies. Moisture nnd heat will cause germination and sustain life so long as the blade can live upon the seed, but when that is sucked dry, and the tiny roots fail to find sustenance in the sand, the plant dies. There is no place where a farmer can get his seed or grain cleaned without pay- Says Auto Men Saould Build Their own Roads. Rdltors Indiana Farmer: I have taken the Farmer some 20 years, and like it very much especially the stand you take against the auto owners; they ought to have to build their own roads, as at least 90 per cent of them never paid a cent toward building or keeping the roads in repair, or they never will, and I don't think they ought to be allowed to use them to the detriment of those that have to foot the bill, the Farmers. Will you please tell me in the next issue if home grown apple trees are as hardy as Eastern nursery stock is; or, as they claim, is it better than our homo grown. It has been our opinion that our home grown stuff, from a good reliable nurseryman, is just as good as any; but if I am wrong I would like to know it, as I am thinking of setting out an orchard. Providence. J. W. T. —We would as soon plant home grown trees as eastern, if the nurseryman is as reliable. More depends on the grower and packer than the location; as between east and west there is no great difference in stock; both do well if well grown and carefully shipped. Home of A. E. Shugart, Grant County. will only be necessary for you to extract the kernels from the side of a head of wheat, place them on a board, each kernel in its respective place as it comes from the head. This will also do more to convince one of the necessity of grading seed than all the talking we can do. It will also prove that no matter how good the erop is the seed requires to be graded each year. You do not realize the fact that yon sow with your seed every year, several bushels, which, if grada5d out by itself, would prove to be so inferior, that we venture to say you would not accept one dollar a bushel aud agree to sow it on your land, and it would not pay you to do so. Here are live points worth considering: 1. It is a recognized fact that "like begets like" in the case of all domestic animals, and the exceptions that occasionally occur go to prove the rule. 2. It is only reasonable to conclude that the same rule prevails in regard to vegetable life, and that we cannot expect to reap other than what we sow. 3. It has been proved that where seed oats were sown the average yield was usually ten or twelve bushels per acre better than the average from small seed. 4. In barley, too, the plump seed has always given the best results, while in the case of wheat, peas and potatoes, the laest seed generally gave 20 per cent better yield than that from medium or inferior seed.' 5. The superior seed must have an advantage, not only because like produced like, but also because a plump seed can ing for it, and no way in which it can be as conveniently and cheaply done as by having a fanning mill at his own place, where he can grade it on wet days. He saves the price he would otherwise have taa pay for grading, and has all his screenings, etc., at home for feed. All grain should be cleaned, not only the seed, but grain you feed should be cleaned. It prevents the foul seed in it from going back to the ground with the manure, where it will cost more than the price of a mill to get rid of it. Besides, the time one would lose in driving after a fn iming mill and returning it would, long before the machine was worn out, amount to niaare than the price of it. A great many farmers laelievo it is a good idea to grade their seed and they promise themselves that before tbey sow any more seed that tliey will take it to the elevator or some other place and have it graded, but when the rush of spring work is on, well the seed goes into the ground without any cleaning or grading of any kiml. The advantage in having a fanning mill of yonr own is obvious. We don't think you can get anyone to take the same pains in grading your seed that you would yourself. It's the other man's object to get through as much as he can, while it's your object to produce as good a sample of seed as possible. Spring will soon be here and if our readers have no good fanning mill to prepare seed, write to some good manufacturer and get prices and particulars of their mills and seed graders. Don't Want to Make Roads for the Auto. Editors Indiana Farmer: It was I". J. Freeman, of Richmond, whaa acquitted the case I wrote about siaiiii' time agaa. so would it not be better tai chase a few shops which don't cost half the amount of money we farmers have spent to make the roads, and keep the autos locked up in their garages, to rust away, than to be crippling or killing people every day? The auto people are worse than the horse thieves to contend with. The thieves don't endanger our families. They might as well put the number on their backs under their shirts, as where it is now. How can we look for a number and watch the horses? If speed is what they want let them make a road and speed on it. We farmers had better try to have a law passed so as not to compel us to work on the roads; it would be more pleasure to travel in the mud than to be in danger of our lives every time we go out on good roads. Kokomo F. Y. writes a good line, like many others, but what effect does it have on what we should have? If we had more good and true men in office we would get something done besides raising the salaries of the officers.. E. S. Good Resolutions. Fulton County Farmers' Institute, at its recent meeting in Rochester, passed resolutions offering $150 in prizes for the last corn grown next season by boys of the county: also one favoring, first, the teaching of elementary agriculture in graded schools; second, the county school term should last seven months; third, we agree with Purdue University in setting aside October 25 as Corn Seed day and favor its celebration. A farmer living in northern South Dakota, has made use of the surplus water, flowing at a great pressure from an artesian well, by compelling it to run a dynamo. This generator produces an electric current sufficient to furnish light and power for the farm. Some of Intliana's ortesian wells could be utilized in a similar manner.
Object Description
Title | Indiana farmer, 1907, v. 62, no. 09 (Mar. 2) |
Purdue Identification Number | INFA6209 |
Date of Original | 1907 |
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 | 2011-03-23 |
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 | i Purdue University L I n R A R Y VOL. LXII INDIANAPOLIS, MARCH 2, 1907. NO. 9 WILL IT PAY, AND MOW? Some Farmers Have Proven That It Does Pay. We have in the past several months occasionally alluded to the fact that a certain per cent of the farmers in this and aatbier central states had greatly increased their wheat, corn and other productions per acre. Enquiry in every instance, revealed the reason for this in a very large measure, to be that clean, pure, plump aud perfect seed only were used in sowing and planting, and that this was' obtained by using graders and fanning mills of the latest and best construction, lt has come to be well understood that imperfectly matured, shrunken split and poor seed rarely germinate, and when they do the result is much the same as using scrub live stock in growing cattle, sheep, etc., for in fact these shrunken and runty seeds are "scrub," and as "like produces like," the result is scrub corn, wheat, etc., and hence the small yields |rt acre. But what is worse still, a very considerable part of these seed wain't germinate and even produce scrub grain, but pulls haral on the soil and absorbs the fertility which ought to go to the production of good yields, just as scrub cattle draws as heavily on- the feed lains aud at maturity weighs a thousand pounds, while the high grades at the same age and with no more feed weighs 1,500 pounds. That is pretty nearly the whole question iu a few words. The real problem is the want of clean pure plump seed to start with, and to obtain that grading machines and modern fanning mills are used by the farmers who average 30 bushels of wheat per acre, and have so increased their corn yields as to make it 15 to 20 bushels per acre more than they grew in the old way. Xo one is farming for his health purely, and in any case, each and every one is anxious to get the largest possible returns for his labor. To produce bigger returns is what the grader and fanning mills are for, it's purely and simply an investment, not a luxury. It reasonably seems very unwise for ai fa rmer to invest money in land, go to the labor and expense of enriching and cultivating the soil, buying implements to cultivate and harvest the crop, and then not sow the choicest of his grain for seed. It requires about the same amount of labor and expense in sowing poor seed and harvesting a poor crop as in sowing good seed and harvesting a correspondingly good crop. The threshing machines may seem to make a good job o* cleaning it, but their main object is to secure for the farmer nil t'hie grain or seed. Now, in order to obtain the best results it is necessary i.a grade out the small, leaving nothing I ul the large plump grains for seed, and, having to thresh quickly irrespective of the condition of the grain, and having straw, chaff, dust, wind, etc., to contend with renders this work for the threshing machine not only impracticable hut impossible. By passing grain through an improved fanning mill it will he found that after having come through the threshing machine there yet remains about one-fourth of it which is unfit for seed. Therefore in sowing 60 bushels the farmer throws away in seed alone about 15 bushels of good seed instead, the improvement in his next crop should more than pay for a fanning mill. Then, considering that the life time of a fan ning mill is 30 to 40 years, there should be no question as to having one being a good investment. Again, very often a farmer can realize from 10 to 15 cents extra on every bushel of his grain by grading it in first class style and selling it for seed. We are quite safe in saying that there is not one single acre of grain grown in the United States but what contains a large percentage of kernels which it does not pay to sow. Much of it contains different kinds of weed seeds, and that even the samples which are free from foreign matter are far from being fit for seed until put through the faning mill. To thoroughly satisfy yourself and prove that what we say is correct it nourish the first blade better and longer than a thin one, thus giving the infant plant a better start and a better hold of the soil ere it loses the nourishment afforded by the kernel. This can be seen by putting large and small seed into pots of elean, sharp saml or sterilized soil, and noting the time which elapses before eaeh plant dies. Moisture nnd heat will cause germination and sustain life so long as the blade can live upon the seed, but when that is sucked dry, and the tiny roots fail to find sustenance in the sand, the plant dies. There is no place where a farmer can get his seed or grain cleaned without pay- Says Auto Men Saould Build Their own Roads. Rdltors Indiana Farmer: I have taken the Farmer some 20 years, and like it very much especially the stand you take against the auto owners; they ought to have to build their own roads, as at least 90 per cent of them never paid a cent toward building or keeping the roads in repair, or they never will, and I don't think they ought to be allowed to use them to the detriment of those that have to foot the bill, the Farmers. Will you please tell me in the next issue if home grown apple trees are as hardy as Eastern nursery stock is; or, as they claim, is it better than our homo grown. It has been our opinion that our home grown stuff, from a good reliable nurseryman, is just as good as any; but if I am wrong I would like to know it, as I am thinking of setting out an orchard. Providence. J. W. T. —We would as soon plant home grown trees as eastern, if the nurseryman is as reliable. More depends on the grower and packer than the location; as between east and west there is no great difference in stock; both do well if well grown and carefully shipped. Home of A. E. Shugart, Grant County. will only be necessary for you to extract the kernels from the side of a head of wheat, place them on a board, each kernel in its respective place as it comes from the head. This will also do more to convince one of the necessity of grading seed than all the talking we can do. It will also prove that no matter how good the erop is the seed requires to be graded each year. You do not realize the fact that yon sow with your seed every year, several bushels, which, if grada5d out by itself, would prove to be so inferior, that we venture to say you would not accept one dollar a bushel aud agree to sow it on your land, and it would not pay you to do so. Here are live points worth considering: 1. It is a recognized fact that "like begets like" in the case of all domestic animals, and the exceptions that occasionally occur go to prove the rule. 2. It is only reasonable to conclude that the same rule prevails in regard to vegetable life, and that we cannot expect to reap other than what we sow. 3. It has been proved that where seed oats were sown the average yield was usually ten or twelve bushels per acre better than the average from small seed. 4. In barley, too, the plump seed has always given the best results, while in the case of wheat, peas and potatoes, the laest seed generally gave 20 per cent better yield than that from medium or inferior seed.' 5. The superior seed must have an advantage, not only because like produced like, but also because a plump seed can ing for it, and no way in which it can be as conveniently and cheaply done as by having a fanning mill at his own place, where he can grade it on wet days. He saves the price he would otherwise have taa pay for grading, and has all his screenings, etc., at home for feed. All grain should be cleaned, not only the seed, but grain you feed should be cleaned. It prevents the foul seed in it from going back to the ground with the manure, where it will cost more than the price of a mill to get rid of it. Besides, the time one would lose in driving after a fn iming mill and returning it would, long before the machine was worn out, amount to niaare than the price of it. A great many farmers laelievo it is a good idea to grade their seed and they promise themselves that before tbey sow any more seed that tliey will take it to the elevator or some other place and have it graded, but when the rush of spring work is on, well the seed goes into the ground without any cleaning or grading of any kiml. The advantage in having a fanning mill of yonr own is obvious. We don't think you can get anyone to take the same pains in grading your seed that you would yourself. It's the other man's object to get through as much as he can, while it's your object to produce as good a sample of seed as possible. Spring will soon be here and if our readers have no good fanning mill to prepare seed, write to some good manufacturer and get prices and particulars of their mills and seed graders. Don't Want to Make Roads for the Auto. Editors Indiana Farmer: It was I". J. Freeman, of Richmond, whaa acquitted the case I wrote about siaiiii' time agaa. so would it not be better tai chase a few shops which don't cost half the amount of money we farmers have spent to make the roads, and keep the autos locked up in their garages, to rust away, than to be crippling or killing people every day? The auto people are worse than the horse thieves to contend with. The thieves don't endanger our families. They might as well put the number on their backs under their shirts, as where it is now. How can we look for a number and watch the horses? If speed is what they want let them make a road and speed on it. We farmers had better try to have a law passed so as not to compel us to work on the roads; it would be more pleasure to travel in the mud than to be in danger of our lives every time we go out on good roads. Kokomo F. Y. writes a good line, like many others, but what effect does it have on what we should have? If we had more good and true men in office we would get something done besides raising the salaries of the officers.. E. S. Good Resolutions. Fulton County Farmers' Institute, at its recent meeting in Rochester, passed resolutions offering $150 in prizes for the last corn grown next season by boys of the county: also one favoring, first, the teaching of elementary agriculture in graded schools; second, the county school term should last seven months; third, we agree with Purdue University in setting aside October 25 as Corn Seed day and favor its celebration. A farmer living in northern South Dakota, has made use of the surplus water, flowing at a great pressure from an artesian well, by compelling it to run a dynamo. This generator produces an electric current sufficient to furnish light and power for the farm. Some of Intliana's ortesian wells could be utilized in a similar manner. |
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