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Show THE UINTAH BASIN FARMER Farm Horseshoeing Information Given ;Using Unshod Animals Will Result in Tender Feet. ' (Prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture.) With the passing of the blacksmith Shop from every crossroad, hamlet and ' village, the farmer is experiencing considerable difficulty in getting his horses shod. The solution of the problem In a large measure devolves upon the farmer himself in learning to do the work on his own farm. To assist the farmer in learning to care for the feet of his work stock properly and to shoe his horses, if necessary, the United States Department of Agriculture has prepared an illustrated bulletin on farm horseshoeing, known as Farmers Bulletin 1535-F- . Using unshod horses and mules for pulling, beavy farm machinery wears off the horny wall of the foot at the ground surface more rapidly than growth Is supplied from above and will result in tender feet. A well-sho- d horse not only Is kept In service but he is a more efficient worker In that he can better apply his strength because he has a 'better footing. It is important, however, that shod horses have regular attention that about every four to six weeks the shoes be removed, the hoofs trim tned, and the shoes refitted. Ready-to-weshoes of various sizes for horses end mules can now be obtained and greatly simplify the shoeing problem for farmers. A copy of the bulletin may be obtained by writing to the United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, - . . , . ar D. a American Mule Ousting Horse for Farm Work Recent statistics Show that the d mule still continues to do a full share of the work of the d farm despite the progress of machinery, writes Uthal V. Wilcox in the Deafborn Independent. The mule population of the United States has grown nearly a million head fa the eleven years following 1811 It is now estimated at more long-eare- d, loud-voice- motor-propelle- than , If, however, one wishes to seed a piece of alfalfa in less than a year, he can get good effects by applying his lime several weeks in advance. The effectiveness, says the bulletin, which is for free distribution on application to the division of publications. University Farm, St. Taul is much increased by thorough mixing with the soil. Usually lime or ground limestone is best applied after plowing. Then the disking and harrowing in preparation of the seed-beprovides the necessary mixing. The farmer who decides a year in advance to seed an area to alfalfa, where lime is needed, may very well spread his limestone and then put the field into corn. The limestone will not damage the most sensitive young plants. d Muddy Potatoes Should Be Dried Before Storing Muddy potatoes should be dried so that they may be sorted before ing in winter storage. Rotting toes are hard to detect while covered with mud. and herein lies the chief danger of storing muddy potatoes. This year many of the potatoes are being dug out of the mud. The opinion that muddy potatoes will not keep In storage is unfounded. In the Andean highlands of South America, its native habitat, the potato tubers are stored naturally In 'the soil all winter. In tests at the Ohio experiment station, John BuSbndll, potato specialist, has found that sound potatoes keep equally well Whether stored muddy or dried first 'However, unless only sound bribers are stored the rots may spread during storage. It Is better, therefore, to dry and sort muddy potatoes 'before placing them la winter storage. If spread out in a thin layer on ;a 'floor the mud dries and usually Shells off readily, making It easy to sort the tubers when moving them from the drying bed to the storage cellar or pit Improve Dairy Herd by Sires Bull Is Essential if Improvement Is to Be Made. High-Cla- E, 411,003. Government officials note that the growers of cotton, tobacco, rice and sugar cane have swung over almost entirely to the use of mules in preparing their crops. Experience seems to Indicate that the mule can do the most work, on the cheapest feed and with the lowest grade of driver. Reports from the leading mule markets of the country, such as St Louis, Kansas City, Atlanta and other places, show that the demand for mules is today very keen. In fact, one handler of farm animals said that not since the war, when mules were used for cannon fodder, has the demand been so brisk. The mule is becoming a favorite ever the horse for the farm. The Kansas City market, ns an example, showed C3 per cent horses to 33 per cent mules in other years and now it is 85 per cent mules and 13 per cent horses. Lime for Alfalfa Year in Advance Is Favored 0 The best time to lime In preparation for alfalfa seeding Is a year in advance, according to a bulletin in Liming for Alfalfa," by F. J. Alway and C. 0. Rent c.f the soils division, Minnesota agricultural experiment station. In fact, lir a may be applied two or y la advance of seeding f n n. loss in beneficial effects. placpota- ss Prepared by the UlrteJ State Department of Agriculture.) s Every dairy herd needs a bull at its head If the herd is to be Improved, says the United States De- PAGE THREE tne aaugnters. xne bulls that do not get satisfactory daughters are disposed of. Study of Records. A study of the records of the bulls daughters of showed an average yearly mature production of 8,071 pounds of milk and 342 pounds of butterfat. In milk production the daughters excelled the dams by 13.5 per cent and in butterfat production by 14.4 per cent. Some of the sires are very outstanding. One sire, for instance, was mated with cows having an average yearly butterfat production of 347 pounds, yet his seven daughters from these cows excelled their dams by 57 per cent in milk production and 44 per cent in production of butterfat. Much progress has been made by selecting bulls on the records of their dams and granddams. The most rapid progress cannot come until dairy sires are selected on the production records of their daughters. A copy of the bulletin may be obtained by writing to the United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. hign-produci- bull-associati- For the who has a small herd and is finances, the cheapest and to obtain the use of first-clas-s bulls Is through the pure-bre- of Agriculture. d asdairy-bul- l work of a sociation. Purpose of Organization. A bull association is a farmers organization Whose chief purpose is the breeding of better dairy cows through joint ownership, use, and systematic exchange of prepotent dairy bulls of ancestry. Improvement of the herd that may be (expected through membership in such an organization is discussed in Farmers Dairy-Her- d Bulletin 1532-F- , ImproveBull Asment Through sociations, just Issued by the bureau of dairy industry, United States Department of Agriculture. Through the system of transferring bulls from block to block, the bull association makes it Impossible to keep the desirable bulls as long as they live or are fit for service. This enables a bulls daughters to come in milk and be tested while he is still owned by the association, and furnishes a means of determining which Jbullg j&re slr&g high-produci- on Sour or Wet Soils On wet, undrained fields where the production of ordinary crops is difficult or impossible alsike clover can be made to produce large quantities of valuable feed, says F. L. Davis of the soils department of the Missouri College of Agriculture. Alsike clover will grow and produce well on sour land where the common red clover wouldnt make a stand. It is the one variety of clover that tolerates acid soil. The most important reason for advocating alsike clover is that it will grow on sour or wet soils to which other crops are poorly adapted. The most Important benefits derived from growing it on these soils are: (1) It does not feed the land down to such an extent that it lowers the production of the following crop, and (2) it makes one of the best green manures of the legumes. Greater yields of crops are grown following alsike clover than other crops. An extended experiment at the Rhode Island experiment station comparing cabbages, mangels, rutabagas, buckwheat, potatoes, rye, corn, millet oats, onions, red clover, squash, timoCrude Pine Tar Smeared thy, alsike, and red top showed that on Husking Mitts Helps alsike was almost unsurpassed in this According to the Nebraska Agricul- respect. Alsike clover produces almost tural college authorities, crude pine as well as red clover and better tham tar smeared on the husking mittens crimson or white. several times during the day, will make them last longer as well as help the Substantial Floor for husker jerk the shucks. Excepting in Machine Shed Essential wet weather, well tarred mitts should last about twice, as long as Any implement house Is better those without tar. Enough thick tar than none even the simplest, most to cover the thumbs and palms and Inexpensive type pays for itself In a then a layer of dirt to absorb the season or two. But from the standstickiness will mate a surface on the point of convenience It pays to build' mitts that will wear well and also machine sheds, and a floor of some be rough enough to pull the shucks kind is a good feature. If of wood, the floor should be of quickly. A set of thumb stalls of heavy cotton flannel or light canvas two-inc-h planks, laid on joists or are mighty handy If a mitt should rip beams, which In turn should be kept or wear out more quickly than usual. off the ground by flat stones or conThe handiest addition to a husk-er- s crete blocks. Such floors last quite wagon is a little box hooked on long, especially If there be ventilathe rod of the front end gate In which tion beneath them to keep the wood he can keep his tar can, an extra dry. Concrete makes the Ideal floor for a pair of mitts and thumb stalls, and an extra husking hook or peg. machine shed, of course. It can be Cracked fingers and thumbs and laid right on the ground, if it is well, chapped wrists can be healed by soak- drained. ing them in hot water for about ten minutes and then rubbing them well with glycerin before going to bed each night Agricultural Notes Crop rotation Is the surest method, of weed control. high-clas- partment dairyman short on best way Alsike Clover Thrives Agricultural Facts '00' 00 reasonably Barley HO 2 17 Is er crop, where good as a cov- a legnme is not desired. Shallow cultivation is best for row crops, as It does not injure their roots so much as deep stirring. When planting seed potatoes be sure that it is good seed, free from diseases that will ruin crop and profit. Sugar-pea- s have edible pods which are broken up, cooked and served like string beans. They make a good ad- dition to the garden. Hill selection of potatoes is the only rational method of seed improvement, since It Is based upon the performance of the individual hill. If you see smutted plants In the pull them out and burn them. This will prevent reinfestation of the following corn crop. cornfield, The main purposes of cultivating corn are to kill weeds and to conserve moisture. Deep cultivation Is more wasteful of water than shallow plow-Ux- a. Save the straw. It will help to take the place of hay this fall and winter. Canada field peas probably make the heaviest cover and to stop washing they are hard to beat. In silo building, the first and most Important consideration is its size in relation to amount of stock kept. Early planted corn may not grow than later planting, but much larger the early planting will mature first. barnyard manure is a for the garden. It fertilizer good should be applied at the rate of 20 tons to an acre and should be worked Into the soil. Well-rotte- d At least two cultivations for soybeans which have been planted solid and at least three cultivations for those grown in rows will aid .in increasing yields and profits. Whether seed are dead or alive can now be determined within 12 hours by scientific test, so that farmers and nurserymen may no longer lose large turns by planting bad seed. |