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CATCH  CROPS.
Buckwheat   is O. K.
1st Premium.—Small patches and pieces
that were got ready for other crops but
failed or were never planted can be readily
utilized for catch crops and big returns can
he hnd from these places where otherwise
nothing but weeds would grow. For early
feeding especially, if your corn supply is
short (as with a large number of farmers
iliis year), peas make a very good crop for
early feeding of hogs. They should be
sown early, in ground prepared as for oats.
They can be either drilled or sowed broadcast. Some sow oats with them for support, but I would not advise this because
I lie oats is generally a waste, for they will
not be ripe as soon  as the peas. You
ran either turn your hogs upon the peas
s.r you can mow them aud then rake them
together and haul them up and feed in the
lsog lot, but by having a fence around the
patch a whole lsst of hard work can be
s;.ved. It seems to me that more profit-
si I.le returns can be gotten from free range
ihan by doing the extra work, or this
has always been my experience. In go-
iiif; to the extra work you lose a great deal
of feed and this cuts down your profits. If
i.ot desired for hog feed the peas can be
gathered and threshed out with a threshing
machine, and sold at a good profit. If
cut for this latter purpose, care should
be taken that they do not have too much
rainfall upon them or it will rot a good
many.
After the peas are off this ground can
be utilized for still another purpose. Harrow it up well, then sow a few pounds of
rupe seed, and In a short time this will
make a good pasture for both your hogs
and sheep until frost comes. It is excellent feed for hogs. Thus you get double
returns for this small plot of ground.
If your supply of hay is short for any
reason, nothing makes a nicer, finer or better feed than Hungarian grass or millet.
The former makes the better feed, because
it is finer and not given to forming such
woody stems as does millet. These can
be sowu as early as May 1st, and up to
•'I'ly 1st, for bay or pasture as desired. A
vuluable Item in favor of millet is its availability as a feed in the winter time for
cliickens, the seed being tbe part they so
much relish and as an egg producer it has
no rival. But in cutting either of these
for hay care must be taken not to wait until it becomes too ripe, or it will be woody
and not fit to feed to stock because of its
'■■digestibility in this state. It is best
cut just when it is in bloom. For bay it
'an be handled the same as timothy or
clover, being careful to get it thoroughly
<lry before putting it iu the barn. They
will cure easily and make excellent feed
for milch cows, causing them to give a
•arger flow of milk. It is not the best
feed for horses, but is excellent feed for
Mieep. xhe grasses are not hard upon
''le soil. They leave it mellow and in fit
''•'idition for other crops to follow.
A small patch of sunflowers as a crop is
a Paying investment. Plant about the
"fst of J„ne or a little later, cultivating
•ne same  as  you   would  corn. When
nPe cut off the heads nnd spread them in
an outbuilding to dry. When they become dry enough to shell easily, take a
ft stick in one hand and in the other
Kr"p the sunflowers. By striking the
See°9 eai> be removed.     They should then
be stored! away for winter feeding. This
is one of the best feeds for the chickens
when moulding that can be found, because
of the great amount of oil the seeds contain.        If you wish to feed without shell-
cereal. I would advise every farmer to
sssw a patch of buckwheat, even if you do
not care to cut it. Turn it under. It
(oaken as good a fertilizer as clover, ansl
beneath  the soil  it  forms  the  basis  of  a
can be found. It grows quickly and can
be pastured until nothing but the roots remain, and if you do not care to plow it
under until the next spring for corn, it can
be pastured again. For sheep there is
no better pasture. There is a sufficient
amount of nutriment in rye to produce
proper growth. This is my favorite
catch crop for pasture in the fall and
spring. Then when turned down for corn
in the spring it will bring a crop to be
proud of, and that is saying a good deal;
but then if you are a trifle egotistical once
in a while it does good, even in growing
a catch crop for soil fertility, etc. Experience, commonsense and hard, persevering work makes the general farmer a successful business man. H. Ia.
Farm Home of Sam Reynolds, Hamilton County.
Stock Barns on Mr. Reynolds' Farm.
ing, all you need to do is cut the heads off
the stalks and throw them out as desired.
The stalks the next year con be utilized
for kindling wood. If thoroughly dry,
with a little kerosene oil placed on them,
they cannot be beaten for starting fires,
One of the greatest soil renovators, as
well as an ideal catch crop, is the good
old-fashioned buckwheat, the producer of
so many good breakfasts and the best of
country cheer. It will thrive on any
kind of soil, the heaviest clay, or sand or
muck. Among many of the farmers In
this vicinity June 27 is regarded as "Buckwheat Day." The crop can be sown broad
cast and harrowed in the ground. If
you have a hive of bees it improves the
value because you gain a number of pounds
of honey from the blossoms. It should
be cut as soon as ripe, placed iu little
shocks and allowed to dry. If you have a
large field, you can cut it with the binder.
As soon as dry thresh it, either with a
machine or by the flail, and clean it
through the fanning mill. It commands
a good price in the market, generally .SOc
per bushel. You get the very best of
profits from this crop. It yields well, is
easily handled, and leaves the soil mellow
and enriched, and no farmer can do better
than by sowing a small field of this great
good crop of any grain you care to plant.
In tbe coru field which has been checked
or marked so that the corn can be cultivated either way, it is never an advisable
thing to replant corn where the bills are
missing, because it never ripens with tbe
other, but this is just the right kind of a
place to plant the little white soup beans
(or Navy beans, as so many know them.)
After the 20th of June, the date when the
bugs are so apt to infest them, take a hand
corn planter and fix it so that it will drop
from two to four beaus, and plant beans
in every missing corn hill. They will be
ripe at corn cutting time, and you can
gather them as you go along and hang
them ou the shock to dry. When done
cutting oorn gather them immediately and
put in the barn to dry. If you have a
place over the barn floor they will dry very
rapidly; Select a day when it is not
cloudy, aud flail them out. Clean
through a fanning mill. With a little
picking over-they are ready for use or for
market, where they readily bring two dollars a bushel. *
Rye makes an ideal fall pasture, if sown
about the middle of July or first of August.
It can be sowed on land used for peas or
early Hungarian grass. It makes the best
all around pasture for fattening lambs that
Many to Choose Prom
2d Premium.—Under the head of catch
crops I would place cow peas, soy beans,
millet, sorgum and sugar corn for feed for
dairy purposes, and add rape for hogs and
sheep. Auy of these crops may be planted
any time from the first of June to the first
of July, aad if there is anything like a
good season they will make an abundance
of pasture, or dry feed if wanted for
winter use.
The soil should be well pulverized and
the ssied may be sowed broadcast or in
drills with bone meal. When sowed in
drills for pasture, or if wanted as hay,
sorgum, millet, sugar corn, etc., are drilled with wheat drill, using all the hose. If
wanted for fodder, aud the crop is to be
cultivated, sow in drill rows about 2 or
iy_ feet apart, aud cultivate same as a field
eorn crop. Millet and rape are not cultivated.
Soy beans and cow peas are best for
feeding purposes when the pods are well
filled and some of them turning yellow.
They may be used as a hog pasture to good
advantage at this stage, or may be cut
down for hay for dairy cattle or horses at
this stage. They will require more curing, or in other words more bright days
to cure, than clover and other hay, and ■
if tbe season is wet this time it is difficult to make hay from them.
Sugar corn is a fine feed for horses, cows
aud cattle, and is used to best advantage
when the corn is going out of the roasting ear stage. We generally feed all
we raise when in this stage, or while the
stalks are still green and juicy. We
sometimes have some for fodder and have
found it good as a dry roughage feed. Sorgum may be used any time, from the time
it is two feet high or less till it is headed
out and the seeds begin to ripen and the
stalks to turn yellowish. When sugar
corn or sorgum is drilled close for hay, the
stalks are small and may be cut with a
mowing machine aud cured like cow peas.
It is best to mow before there is danger of
frost, as the taste of the hay is impaired
if frosted on even after it is cut, if it is
not thoroughly cured. If it is cut and
cured before frost comes, it is one of the
best of feeds and may be stored away in
the barn for winter use. If it has been
drilled and cultivated, it should be cut up
in shocks like field corn when stalks begin
to turn. The sorgum heads or seed is a
fine poultry feed and is also valuable as a
ground feed mixed with bran.
Millet should be cut for hay when the
heads are all filled out and some are getting ripe. Some farmers would rather
mow it earlier, just about the time the
bloom is all off, but it is just a matter of
choice, as many other things in the hay
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