VOL. LXIV
INDIANAPOLIS, JUNE  19, 1909.
NO. 24
The Much Despised Corn Cob.
By Walter S. Smith.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Corn cobs are rated by farmers about
like saw dust and broom corn seed, in
point of fertility; and all three are
thrown away, or burned as worthless
matter. In fact, at some elevators, where
corn is shelled by hundreds of wagon
loads, a furnace is provided and the
cobs are dumped into it from the shel-
ler,  to go  up  in smoke.
This is a. great waste, fully as great
as burning the strawstack. The cob is
especially rich in soil food. The large
residue in the way of ashes indicates
potash. The tierce  heat of the  cob-
fire indicates much carbon; and a
chemical analysis will show the pres-
. nee of phosphorus and lime in no
mean quantity. In fact, there is no
waste material in the eob. it is only a
little difficult to make available, because slow to rot. But there are two
ways in which this may be overcome.
First a farmer who has a corn crusher can run a load of cobs through It in
a few minutes, and thus render them
available to oxygen.
Second, they may be plowed under,
more easily than any other form of raw
unrotted material except saw dust; and
here their slow process of disintegration will be the very thing desired.
Nothing can be better under the surface of meadow-land or more useful as
a feeder for the roots of the trees in
an orchard.
I know this by experience. I plowed and tended my present little orchard
for eight years. Beforethe last breaking, I covered the surface all over with
half-decayed cobs from our elevator
(which fortunately has no incinerator)
and, with a one-horse bar-shovel plow,
I turned them under four to six inches
deep. It  is  now the  third     summer
since this was done, and anyone can notice the effect on the trees. They are
thrifty and their fruit is large and well-
shaped. The slow decay is just what
proves best for the supply of potash
and phosphorus and lime for the trees.
Incidentally, I noticed there has not
been a mole in the orchard since the
cobs were plowed under; and as they
are quite active just outside, I suppose
my cobs act as a hindrance.
The crushed cobs, when partially
rotted, can be used anywhere, as they
will thus not be in the way of the plow
or the hoe. And after one year under
ground the uncrushed cob will be sufficiently rotted to be free from that objection.
As the meadow is allowed to run two
to live years, they will be entirely
unobjectionable as an under feed
there.
I notice in my orchard now, that
when I put the spade down for any
purpose, it brings up a splendid soil
well  mixed  with  humus.
Arlington.
Fill's and Mosquitoes.
By C.  J.  W.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
If flies and mosquitoes have no place
to breed and feed, their numbers will
be few. In the matter of flies there is
little need to be troubled with them,
unless one has close neighbors who are
overrun with them. Location has a
Jiood deal to do about mosquitoes, those
living on or near low wet ground being
much more troubled with them.
There is nothing more enticing to the
house fly than milk. Where swill pails
are left about the house or barn, coated
with sour, decomposing milk there will
be a swarm of flies. The old fashioned
swill barrel is always black with them.
If the milk and separator rooms, stables
etc., are not kept cleaned up here will
congregate swarms of flies. Since looking after these things thoroly we are
troubled   little   with   flies.     Indoors,   all
mosquito crop very much smaller and
lessen the danger of disease.
In addition to all these things I have
my house well screened, with stout
springs on all doors. Flies are scaven-
gsrs, they do but feed upon the decomposing waste, and very often, perhaps cause diptheria, typhoid and malaria. Where there is not food for them
they will not obtrude themselves. The
moral is obvious. Keep clean,       out
doors and in.
Glover,   Vt.
.■ ■ ■ MR **'■
;*   *■' ,; ■'"-_*■■■
-**.«
Judging Cattle,   Indiana   State Fair  Coliseum.
milk, meat or other food for flies is kept
covered and used when fresh, none left
standing to decompose and attract flies.
No garbage is left in the cellar to decay. If swill is saved at the house it
is saved in a pan, emptied every day
and the pan washed and scalded. Mrs.
W. will not harbor a swill pail in her
house.
Slops are never thrown upon the
ground to decompose in the sun and
breed fever as well as flies. Here we
have running water and the waste pipe
is constantly flushed with fresh water.
At its outlet some distance from the
house it spreads out over the ground
and dries away. Here the fowls on the
place search out every crumb or bit of
food, so nothing remains to cause
noxious smells or breeding places or
feeding places for flies.
The separator room is at the barn and
the skim milk pails are washed often
and kept covered when not in use as are
the separators. We are careful about
spilling milk around. About many
barns there are cess pools that stand all
summer. If the drainage cannot be
remedied they should be filled with
absorbent material, both for health and
for economy's sake. Horse manure is
a great breeding place for flies. Let the
hogs onto it to keep it from heating,
and get it out as quickly as possible in
the spring, and any time when it needs
it. Where ground is low and there are
wet boggy puddles, fill them if possible,
if not pour on them every week or two,
a small quantity of kerosene. If this is
done early    enough it    will    make the
New   Bulletin
on  Expei
Work.
incut     Station
The 57 Agricultural Experiment Stations in the United States issue a vast
number of bulletins and reports. The
Federal Department of Agriculture five
or six times a year skims the cream
from the best of these and churns into
being a Farmers' Bulletin on this "Experiment Station Work." The latest
of this series, which is now in press is
Farmers' Bulletin 360, (to be issued
about June 1) contains nine short articles, at least one of which should interest every one living on a farm. "Distance Between Corn Hills" contains valuable points for corn growers in the
Mississippi Valley region if not for all
corn growers—the results of extensive
experiments in  Illinois. Another ar
ticle discusses trees along our streets
and highways. Another is weed eradication by use of chemicals. Wild
mustard, wild radish, dodder, daisies,
cocklebur, bindweed, ragweed, chicory,
dock and other weeds were partially or
wholly destroyed in oat lields where
cheap spraying experiments were made
for the extermination of mustard.
"Spraying should be done on a warm
bright day, after the dew has disappeared." The solution used was iron
sulphate, costing about 5 0 cents an
acre. "Market Classes and Grades of
Sheep" is an exhaustive article—almost
a bulletin in itself, compiled, from a
number of reports. Vetch hay    and
vetch silage, it is stated, under this
head, is in many instances o nthe farm
replacing  red   clover. It  is a  great
nitrogen  gatherer. It  is valuable  as
a catch crop, as a cover crop in orchards, as a honey producer. The
digestibility of kale as a feed is another
subject discussed. Kale is rich in protein or muscle forming constituents. A
single plant of Thousand-headed kale
often weighs thirty pounds and yields of
30 to 4 Otons, green, per acre, are not
uncommon. An article on the nutrition and digestibility of hulled corn and
one on methods of mixing fat into
dough bring out some good points for
the housewife's study. The bulletin
le  frea- asn application.
Millet.
ESdltori   Indiana  Farmer:
The growing scarcity and high price
of farm hands makes it very important
lhat farmers raise the crops that require the least labor. Where help is
plenty, and not too dear, the corn
crop and the silo are very profitable,
but in dairy sections nr where beef cat-
tle ars- raised and wintered I find that
millet is a much cheaper and more
satisfactory crop. This past season
that has been so hot and dry Shortened
the hay crop materially. Being late
in getting in the crops in spring Japanese millet was sown instead of planting
to corn. The ground was carefully
plowed and thoroly manured, and a
liberal coating of stable manure applied. Millet seed was sown with a
seeder at the rate of 15 pounds of seed
to the acre. The stone was picked
clean and the surface smoothed with a
land roller. It came up quickly but
the drouth held it right there for a
long time. A little rain started it into
growth and as soon as it shaded the
ground enough to hold the moisture of
the heavy dews it grew rapidly. When
it began to head it stood Ave feet high
on an average; in many places over six.
On three acres of ground we harvested
15 tons of dry hay. It was cut when
tin snd was in the milk, and carefully
cured, utial the cattle ate it greedily. It
Is heartier than our meadow hay. A
eow will not eat so large a quantity at
aa i's s d and the will eat it clean. The
stalks, altho as large at the bass' as a
mans' finger, are not woody, and the
cattle eat them clean. The expense
was small compared to the returns.
The lield needed reseeding, so had to
be plowed any way. The fertilizer
was produced on the farm. After the
crop was off grass seed was sown on
the stubble and as It was well smoothed it is ready to produce hay another
year.
Some in this section cut the millet
twice. It is finer and easier to cure,
not so likely to get damaged by rain,
but the hay is not so hearty. The
yield in tons is somewhat greater and
either method is profitable. A farmer
with his team can do the greater part
of this labor alone; all of it in fact except carting the hay. It does not require sowing until late, therefore there
is plenty of time for preparing the
ground   properly. As  frost  will   kill
the young plants there is danger of
losing the crop if sowed too early.
It makes excellent green feed for
milch cows. Some like it better than
corn. I like it equally as well. Taking all things into consideration I am
very much pleased with it.     H. M. P.
The wheat has stooled out and come
forward wonderfully in the past few
weeks; from being considered almost
worthless many (ields will turn out
from  20  to  25  bushels  per acre.