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Show FARM NEWS NOTES j I BY LEW MAR PRICE j i County Agent J i t , CULLING IMPORTANT IN FARM POULTRY FLOCKS It is doubtful if there is any other subject pertaining to the poultry industry that has received as much attention as that of poultry culling-. However, with The present outlook for the price of feeeds, it is a matter of great importance to get rid of the boarders in the flock. At least two complete cullings .- hould be conducted, one in early .-ummer to get rid of) those birds which are unquestionably culls, and then again in the fall just before the' pullets are ready to be put into their winter quarters. A few deadline j birds that develop cull characters- i lies can be taken out as they showi up during the season. j If feed conditions have been right,! hens that went into molt before the first of this month are generally low-egg low-egg producers. Yes, they will produce pro-duce eggs, but not in numbers sufficient suf-ficient to justify their retention in the flock. Feed and egg costs are more or less out of line, so that only the good producer will pay her keep. The head of a laying hen is red and full of blood. The bird that has quit has a bloodless appearance about the head. The lay bones of a laying hen are soft and separated; on a non-layer non-layer they are hard and close together. to-gether. The abdomen on a laying hen is large and soft; on a non-layer it is small, shrunken, and harder with a tough texture much the same as that of the male bird. If you have any difficulties in determining de-termining the non-producers in the flock, the agent will be glad to give any assistance he can. ' Humas In Soil Stores Water One of the important explanations of the desirability of hashing a quantity of humus in the soil is found in its capacity for soaking up and toring te-a-Ver wheh thus ,mede available later for use by growing plants. Experiments have revealed that 100 pounds of sand can hold only 25 pounds of water; and 100 pounds of clay soil can hold only half of its weight in water. In contrast, 100 rounds of decaying organic matter r.iay hold as much as 190 pounds of water. Most soils are mixtures in varying proportions of sand, clay, silt, ard organic materials. The (Continued on last page) County Agent Notes (Continued from first page) greater proportion of organic matter contained in the soil, the greater its absorptive capacity, and the greater reserves of moisture it will retain for resistance to droughty and hot weather. Barnyard manures are our best source of humus, and they also contain con-tain great fertilizer value. Some of our farmers hesitate to put manure out on the land in the fall because of leachi n processes of the winter storms, but little wter runs off cultivated culti-vated land in winter, and the plant food elements become better incorporated incor-porated in the soil for use of the plants of the next season's crop. It is a good plan to put barnyard manure on the land as fast as it accumulates, ac-cumulates, thereby getting full benefits bene-fits of its fertilizing capacity. Add Water To Silage in Trench Harvesting of corn for silage will be in full swing n our county within the next few days. Upright and trench silos are being made ready, machines are being assembled, and cooperating groups are laying their plans for the rush of the project. In the haste of the harvest some of the necessary, details are sometimes neglected. In the trench silo, especially, espe-cially, water is needed to get the proper pro-per cure. The dirt walls draw moisture mois-ture from the corn and causa de-j de-j composition instead of giving the proper cure. Thorough tramping is ! also very necessary in the trench, j while it i-s s-aid to be unnecessary in i the upright type of silo. Oftimes a little attention to details such as these saves many tons of feed and the entire amount is of better I cjuality. |