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Show By Robert S. Murdock Counly Agricultural Agent Every year a great many fire:, are started by the Christmas tree. We hope we have none this year in Duchesne County and I would like to recommend a few safe-guards against this. Keep your tree as moist and fresh as possible while it is in 1 your home. Christmas tree fires j are real tragedies, which bring sadness into your home at the holiday season, i Christmas trees are naturally high in inflammable resins, and as the water dries out of the needles, the danger of a fire increases. Some trees are harvested har-vested two or three months before be-fore Christmas and are dangerously danger-ously dry before being sold These can be detected readily by feeling the needles. Fresh needles are felxible and feel damp when crushed, while dried needles are brittle and may even ev-en fall when the branches are shaken. A tree can be kept fresh from time of purchase until it is put into use by standing it in a pail of water in a cool garage or on the shady side of a building. An occasional sprinkling of the foilage with water will also help, according to the County Agent. Once inside the home the tree can be kept fresh by standing it in a large pail of wet sand and gravel. This makes a sturdy stand, as well as providing a means of replacing the moisture which evaporates from the needles. Additional water should be poured into the pail as the tree absorbs it. Directions for chemically fire-proofing fire-proofing Christmas trees can be obtained from the State Extension Exten-sion Forester at the Utah State Agricultural College, Logan. Be , sure the tree is placed well away from fireplaces, warm airducts, radiators, radios, and place it so' it will not block an j exit in case a fire does occur. i Supplemental feeding' of livestock live-stock is used by nearly all producers, pro-ducers, in some form and each has his own reason. I would like to give you a few of my reasons why I think a supplement supple-ment can oftimes be profitably used. 1. One reason is that proper nutrients are not available in sufficient Quantity in most farm grown feeds. 2. Economy is another reason for supplemental feeding. Small amounts of concentrated feed will actually cut over-all production produc-tion costs, the Agent points out. For example, to obtain her daily protein requirement a cow would have to eat about 150 pounds of corn silage Only two 1 pounds of cottonseed meal contains con-tains the same daily ration of protein. 3. Feed supplements can also supply the same energy produced pro-duced in 30-40 pounds of straw, which will supply a cow with her daily need. Ho'wever, on a straw diet, cattle lose weight and calves fail to grow properly. proper-ly. Straw is also low oh protein, calcium, phosphorous and carotene, caro-tene, necessary elements in the animals' diet. 4. Livestock producers who want to increase the size of calf or lamb crops, weight and rate of gains and the breeding efficiency effi-ciency of the herd will continue to use feed supplements as a necessary addition to their other feed; and don't forget bone meal and salt free choice. |