VOL. LXIV
INDIANAPOLIS, MAY  15, 1909.
NO. 19
TIMOTHY FOR PROFIT.
Handle Carefully.
lst Premium.—Whether or not timothy is a profitable crop for me to grow
upon my farm depends greatly upon
how it is handled under the regular rotating system. This is the only way
it pays, either in crop production or
the good of our soil. Clover and timothy sod for corn, then oats, then
wheat, then clover and timothy again.
A little timothy may be sown in the
fall, with wheat, then clover in the
spring. But do not sow all timothy
and no clover. Right here is where
timothy is most emphatically not a
profitable crop, for any land that we
can rotate with corn, oats and wheat
successfully will grow clover. Two
quarts per acre is sufficient for timothy,
and from four to six quarts of clover is
about right. Then under no circumstances allow this meadow of clover
and timothy to lie more than two years,
for mowing, or pasturing. One year in
meadow is usually better, for as a rule
the clover is mostly gone after one
year, and then the timothy has full
sway. Timothy plants are provided
with creepingroots,hence willget thicker each year until it is what we call
"sod bound." After the first year as
a meadow the timothy will commence
crowding the clover out. Even if
the clover did not winter kill, in a vary
few years it would be pretty nearly all
gone. But if we sow clover alone,
then there are bare spots that otherwise might produce timothy instead of
weeds. Then too, if tho land is fertile tho clover will fall down and is
pretty hard to cut. Also I think a
little timothy improves the hay, but
it improves the soil very little.
Many of us make a sad mistake in
allowing our meadows to lie for a number of years, or worse still, in not sowing clover at all, thinking timothy hay
sells liest and tiiat clover seed is too
high priced. Wo therefore grow tim
othy hay, letting it get pretty ripe, then
sell   the   hay  off  the   farm. This   is
where the unprofitableness of timothy
comes in. This is surely robbing our
soil of its fertility. I would just as
soon my farm would grow corn year
after year as to grow timothy for a
number  of  years. But  with   proper
rotation, clover always every throe
years, with a little timothy making the hay early, then plowing again
after one or two years, in this way I
regard timothy a profitable crop.
If for any reason we fail to procure a
new stand of grass for hay, do not under any circumstances, if possible to
avoid, allow this clover and timothy
meadow to lie for more than two mowings or pasture, but plow it down. If
we are short for hay, plant some legume, instead of lettingthe timothypull
the life out of our soil. The legumes
will improve and build it up.
Subscriber.
(■ood on Mm k Laml.
2d Premium.—Taking all the pros
and cons into consideration, timothy is
one of our worst soil devitalizers, if
Brown upon loams, clays or gravelly
land. But upon swamp or muck land
it is Just the ideal crop, improving the
soil by making the muck heavier and
more of a loam; rooting deep, thus
Parting better capillary action and
bringing   immense   crops   of   the   very
finest hay, heavy in weight and of a
feeding quality. I have seen wornout
muck land sown to timothy that, after
several years, raised an immense crop
of corn, where before none would
grow.
On other soils than muck, I do not
regard timothy as a profitable crop,
because it saps all of the strength from
the soil, leaving clay soil like a road
bed an dtaking usually several years to
improve the fertility enough to raise a
good crop of any grain. On muck soils
just the reverse is found. Whore the
water   does   not   stand   on   top   of   the
things in its favor. It is easily grown,
and makes good pasture and an abundance of hay. It will yield from 1 %
to two tons to the acre, which is a good
income, considering the present price
of hay. Besides this, if the season
is favorable it will afford pasture for
several months after harvest
Notwithstanding all this, when
everything is considered I do not regard timothy a profitable crop. If it
should all be fed on the place, and the
manure returned to the ground, the
fertility of the soil might not be so
greatly depleted, but where the acreage
ground timothy will grow splendidly,
stooling well, and in a year or so becomes a permanent bed, yielding a big
crop of hay and then furnishing pasture when it is so scarce for tho stock,
which it will do until snow Hies. Tho
cattle become fat on it, like on alfalfa,
and in the fall this meadow more than
pays  for  itself. However,  I  do  not
pasture It in the spring, because it injures the coming hay crop.
I know that the timothy meadow on
the bottom or swamp land has paid
me better than the hest corn crop I
ever raised on it in any year. I had
lost so many corn crops through floods
that I became tired of putting this
piece of land to corn, so one spring I
left it, plowed in June, harrowed it well
several times after, then sowed it heavily the first of August, with timothy
and a small amount of red top, (which
improves the hay and makes more pasture, as it grows readily in wet ground).
I   harrowed   the   seed   in   well. The
first year the crop was light, but the
second year I had an immense crop of
the very finest hay. The cattle ate
it better than they did the clover hay,
and that which I sold brought several
dollars moro per ton, because of its
nice, bright appearance and fragrance.
I believe that timothy on muck land
is the most profitable crop that can be
grown upon It; at least this has been
my experience. H. I_
An Unprofitable Crop.
3d Premium.—Whether timothy may
be regarded a profitable crop depends
on the standpoint from which the matter   is   viewed. Timothy   has   many
is quite lings' this is seldom done. There
may not be enough stock kept to con-
sumo all of it, and tho temptation to
sell the hay and get a quicker return
is often too great to be resisted. But
even if the manure should all be put
back on tho ground, nothing more
would be added to Its fertility than had
been drawn from it ,and there is always a considerable loss between the
feeding and the return of the manure
to the field.
Timothy draws heavily on the soil,
as much so as most any other crop that
may be raised; and the farmer who
raises and sells it is selling his fertility
and depreciating the value of his farm.
I have noticed that where this practice
is followed, good crops, in time, become
the exception. I prefer to raise clover.
It makes better pasture than the timothy, and while It may not yield quite
so much hay yet with the seed crop it
is fully as valuable. For farm horses
and young stock I consider clover hay
much   better   than   timothy. If   the
clover is permitted to stand but one
season, it is all right to sow a little
timothy with it; but the second season
it will be nearly all timothy, and the
soil will not be benefited by tho crop.
Clover gathers nitrogen from the air
and stores it up in the soil to be drawn
on by future crops. Then if in itself
it is as valuable as timothy, why not
raise the clover and also get the indirect profit from the increased fertility
of the soil?
The farmer's capital is the producing
power of the soil, and he is most successful whose farm is most productive.
The problem is to maintain, or increase,
fertility, and this cannot be accomplished by raising timothy. In my opinion, if only the immediate crop is considered, timothy may be regarded as
profitable, but in planning for the
future   it   has   no   place. For   this
reason we have never given it any place
in our rotation. Reader.
No. 68S, May 22.—Describe the effect
of buckwheat upon the soil and show
how to grow and harvest the crop.
No. 689, May* 29.—Are incubator
chicks as easily raised as those hatched
by the hen?      Give experience.
No. 690, June 5.—Would it be wise
for County Fairs to offer prizes on fat
stock ?
Tsui Many  Rabbits.
I noticed In the last issue of the
Farmer an article In regard to our
Game Preserve, while one of our
homo papers also had something to say.
a short time ago, concerning the rabbits. We farmes pay but little attention to what we read in our homo
paper, for wo know just how the farm-
<r stands in regard to the preserve.
But when it comes to a state paper I
feel like saying something.
As I organized the preserve I know
how   we  all   feel  about  it. It  took
about three hours of my time to get
something over 4,000 acres of land. In
this body of land owners there was but
ono man who refused to join us, and he
had  loss than  40 acres of land.
While I was at this, there were three
other petitions out in the county, but
this was a case of flrst come, flrst
served. It was understood this spring
that Commissioner Sweeney would lot
the county have another preserve, and
in less than six hours, they had as
many thousands acres joining us.
Both the pheasants and the partridges, as well as ournative Bob Whites
are doing fine. The pheasants are
very tame and will follow the plow in
search of bugs and worms. I venture
to say, that at tho end of three years
we will want three more of it
As for the rabbits, where he can find
no better protection than in a county
like ours, thoro need be no fear of overproduction. I feel confident that
there are not a dozen moro rabbits to
the section than there wero a year ago.
More than that it doesn't require three
or four old hounds and as many guns
to catch a few of them.
The farmers prefer anything to the
careless hunter, and the city sports,
who oftentimes run out for a day or
two, with a pack of dogs, plenty of
ammunition and frequently plenty to
drink, and if ordered off one's place
he stands a chance, in addition a good
cursing, of getting some of his stock
crippled. So, fellow farmers, if you
care to have a little protection as well
as caring for the birds get in the preserve. J. B. G.
Tipton  Co.
How Careless We Are.
Last year moro than 13,000,000
pieces of mail matter wont to the dead
letter office, a large proportion of which
could not be delivsroil because of carelessness in writing addresses. About
30,000 of the number were contributed
from Indianapolis, which means that
one person in every six in Indianapolis
misaddresses one letter every year, or
every person misaddresses nne In every
six years.