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Address communications to Agronomrat, 73 Adelaide et. West, Toronte
BRANDING DAIRY PRODUCTS, manent sod, added nitrogen is likely
"Merchant," Huron Co., Ont.—
'Quer•---What are the regulations re-
"` garding the branding of packages
containing dairy products?
Ans.—Every package containing
whey butter, or a mixture of whey
and creamery or dairy butter, or but-
ter from a mixture of ordinary cream
as separated from ,milk, and cream
Which has been separated from whey,
146, must be branded at the time of pack-
ing' with the words "whey Butter."
Every package containing a piixtarre,
of dairy with creamery butter, -or
boxes similar to those used for cream-
ery butter that are packed with dairy
butter, must be branded "dairy but-
ter." Parchment paper used • for
' 'wrapping blocks, squares, or prints of
dairy butter must be branded "Dairy
butter." Skim -milk cheese must be_
so branded within twenty-four hours
of leaving the press. So must every
box or package containing skim -milk
•cheese. All packages containing but-
ter or cheese must be branded ac-
corduig to their contents in letters
not less than half an inch long and
three-eighths of an inch wide except
in the case of parchment wrappers,
when the letters; must be not less than
:.� a quarter of an inch wide.
GOING TI•IE NITROGEN LIMIT
Time was when the introduction of
any considerable quantity of nitrogen a
to be a necessity from the start, and.
in relatively large quantities. If one
will cut and remove the hay from the
sod orchard it will be found necessary
to replenish the nitrogen supply with
generous applications. And let Ifs
say right here that such a practice
will be disastrous to the fruit crops
unless the orchard soil `fs retentive
of moisture.
If one has a convenient and cheap
source of mulching material, such as
straw or swamp hay, which can be
applied around the trees so as to form
a thick layer of decaying organic mat-
ter, very good results can be obtained
with only moderate quantities of nit-
rogen or possibly none at all. -
The best measure of the quantity
of nitrogen needed by the trees is the
growth they make. Young apple trees
ought to make eighteen to twenty-
four inches annual growth on many
of the leading shoots. When the trees
come into bearing, twelve to fifteen
inches may be enough, and with old
trees that are beginning to crowd
each other a less growth may answer.
But it is probable that rarely does a
mature tree growing less than four,
to six inches at the ends of many
branches produce satisfactory crops. j
It follows that if trees are growing
less than the amounts indicated there!
should be applied enough nitrogen to!
get the desired growth. This may be
nywhere from 100 to 300 pounds to',
into an orchard fertilizer ' the f its t f d i
HANDSOME HUSKIES FOR QUEBEC DOG DERBY
Some of the dogs which participated in the International Dog -Sled Derby
at Quebec last year. These beautiful animals were close runners up and are
competing again this year.
POULTRY
When saving 'winter eggs for
hat'ehing, try and keep them in a
temperature between forty and fifty
degrees. Eggs that go below thirty-
five degrees may be chilled. If they
go about sixty degrees a rapid de-
terioration results. It pays to gather
the hatching eggs often in winter, so
that most of the eggs are taken from
under hens. Visitings the laying pens
every hour from nine until early af-
ternoon, will usually save most of the
eggs produced from being chilled. 1
Eggs that weigh close to two ounces
each are the best for hatching pur-'
poses. There is a tendency for hens
wa p q ye—gg e o
Sup- acre o n a e o so a or e u o aye s c
OS
eszeo e
posed to be about as disastrous to the lent quantities of other nitrogen -j eggs that produced them. We do not
trees as putting a liberal quantity of
arsenic into the baked beans for the
church supper would be to the hun-
gry eaters. • Now we apply nitrogen-
ous fertilizers with a prodigality that
would have dismayed the fruit grow-
ers of ten years ago.
One of the biggest things the ex-
periment stations have ever done for
fruit growing has been to dissolve
this old fear of nitrogen and show
v that it is really the most valuable of
all fertilizer elements in the orchard
and the most likely of any to bring
profitable returns.
Ten years ago the usual fertilizer
recommendation for orchards called
for a relatively high proportion of
potash, a moderate proportion of
phosphoric acid and little or no nitro-
gen. The fear of nitrogen arose from
the belief that it promoted vigorous
growth of the trees. This was thought
to be mischievous in two ways. One
was that the trees would go into the
'winter with soft immature wood, and
most Iikely suffer killing from low
temperatures. The other arose from ` f
the belief that vi -
carrying fertilizers.
Even larger quantities may be pro -1
fltable on light poor soils, especially'
if the. orchard is producing heavily. 1
In most eases the Iimit is imposed not',
th
as
by stimulation of excessive grow
and decrease of fruitfulness, as w
formerly thought, but by a failure
secure high color of fruit. This cora
about through excessive growth
leafy shoots that shade the fruit an
a prolongation of the growth perio
of the fruit, and consequent d
layed ripening. In most cases th
grower wants to get his early fru
on the market as quickly as possib
and with late -maturing sorts the
coming fall season may prevent th
perfect maturity of the fruit.
When there is a reasonably hea
growth of a cover crop the trees wi
rarely, if ever, be suffering fro
starvation. The production of .a goo
cover crop in a cultivated orchard i
of extreme importance for many rea
sons. It prevents soil washing an
holds the surplus nitrates over win
ter and, decaying, releases them agai
or the use of the trees.
The older the trees and the heavier
the crop borne, the more nitrogen is
ceded. It is rare indeed for an or-
hardcof aged trees to bear well with-
out some help from added nitrogen.
Yet it does occur in some cases' when
the orchard is located on a soil of
high natural fertility.
As to the best time to apply nitro-
�en, the usual recommendation is to
ut it on a short time before the
eaves start in the spring. As good
results follow this practice it is the
est course to follow until it is' shown
that some other time is better. An
abundance of available nitrogen a
is time favors the quick production
o a large leaf area. With lots o
I
the tree is in a position to
anufacture Iarge quantities of
torch, and it is very generally
greed that a large starch reserve in
the tree always _ accompanies. fruit-
ud differentiation. Here lies the ar-
gument for early applications of
uickly available nitrogen. If plenty
of nitrogen is available all through
the summer the tree is likely to use
to make new growth all summer
ng, and in so'doing use up the
ewly made starch, so that there is
little on hand the next spring to
help along. the formation of fruit
da Old bearing trees stop grow -
ng and form their terminal buda
much earlier than do young non -bear -
g trees..
The limit in the use of nitrogen is
at quantity that is finest profitable.
ing beyond this may be merely a
as te of so much money or it may
extend to a' positive harm to the fruit.
ost likely this will be in poor color
the fruit or' in late maturity.
Another possible harm in overdoing
o'nitrogen game is poorer shipping,
ality. A liberal nitrogen supply
ay mean a softer -fleshed apple, more
sily bruised in handling. These
ssible bad results are most likely
be encountered in cultivated or-
ards than in those in sod.'
wish to oversize eggs as it costs too
much to produce them. Small eggs
are not desired by the best markets.
A standard two -ounce egg is just
about right for both market and
hatching purposes.
Dampness in the poultry house is
to reduced by frequent cleainng of the
es dropping boards. The droppings con-
e, tain a large amount of moisture.
d. Overcrowding of the poultry house
d soon contaminates the litter and
e) makes the house damp.
e Keep up the supply of green food
it for the hens that are laying eggs for
le, hatching. The vitamines in both green,
viduals in the flock. The large num-
ber of cockerels which can be raised
from the special mating can be care-
fully culled andused as breeders for
the free range flock the next year.
SHEEP
In my experience in keeping sheep
I find that fresh air is an inexpen-
sive but important item in the com-
fort of the flock. So long as the sheep
are dry they will scarcely ever of
their own will and accord seek pro-
tection from chilling winds and cold
weather.
Housing breeding ewes too closely
is poor practice. Like many a flock
owner, I have closed the doors of the
shed on stormy nights and forgotten
to open a few windows, The follow-
ing morning the air in the shed would
be stifling with the sheep logy from
rebreathing the foul atmosphere.
In arranging for an ample supply
o res air, I gleaned to prevout
1 draughts from hitting the animals.
This is easily done by opening win-
dows on the side of the shed opposite
the direction from which the wind
blows. -L. C. R.
on- feed and milk seem to enable hens to
e lay eggs with stronger germs. Many
failures with early incubation are due
to the quality of the eggs and not to
11 the incubator. Breeding stock that
m lack green feed and exercise contrib-
d ute many eggs that are either infer-
s tile or develop chicks that die in the
_ shell.
d Nearly every farm flock, no matter
_ how carefully culled, contains a few
e birds of much better quality than the
general run of the flock. If these hens
can be isolated during the breeding
season and mated with the best cock -i
erel ootainable, it is a great help in
increasing the per cent. of fine indi-1
was
opposed to fruitfulness. One could
have either, but not both, in a given I n
tree. This belief has been completely;
overturned, and now we know that!
within limits, growth and fruitfulness
go together. The more growth the
more fruit.
If then, nitrogen is a most helpful
element in the orchard fertilizer, ter- :b
tain further questions arise: What p
form is to be preferred? How much 1
is called for? What time of year is
it best applied? The final answers to b
all these questions have not been given
yet, but it is possible to give some
helpful suggestion. Taking up the th
see. `first question, it is probable that any f
of the usual noir
ogen-carrying mater-
ials will be beneficial. Nitrate of m
soda, sulphate of ammonia, barnyard s
manure or any of the so-called or- a
genic forms, as dried blood, fish or
tankage, are all good. For quick b
results one of the readily available
forms, such as nitrate of soda or sul- q
phate of ammonia, will be found sat-
isfactory. Probably nitrate of soda
has been used by fruit growers more it
Athan any -other form, but sulphate of lo
ammonia may be just as good. It may' n
too
bu
i
in
th
Go
w
4�....
1Ruu
res, inaeea:
"Well, well, think of meeting you
here!"
"Yes, the world is a small place
after all!'
The Royal Winter Fair
The second holding of the Royal
Winer Fair at Toronto saw this na-
tional exhibition of • Canadian agri-
cultural endeavor firmly founded and
definitely established in the life of the
t Dominion. At a.. single bound the
IWinter Fair has become Canada's
f , greatest farming exhibiion, Dominion-
' wide in .representation and as com-
prehensive in the scope of its variety
and standard of farm products. In
fact, the Winter Fair, in its brief
development has gone beyond purely
national limits and has taken on an
international hue, as is but 'natural
cnsidering the eminent position Can-
ada occupies among the agricultural
countries of the globe.
Whilst visitors were present from
many countries and all sections of the
American continent many states of,
Union were actually represented
in exhibits, notably. Michigan, Penn -
the+
sylvania, Massachusetts, Ohio and
Oregon. •
Whilst fairs and exhibitions held in,
every locality in Canada indicate the
excellence of the farm production of
those areas the Royal Winter Fair;
has, in a graphic manner summed up
the Dominion's. agricultural effort..;
The imposing aggregate of great di ,1
versity illustrates in a clear manner,
not only the' high standard of .Cana-
dian farm produce, but the addition
experimentation is making_ each year,'
through the discovery of other crops'
possible of excellent production on
Canadian soil and under Canadian
conditions.
ALL BREEDSr'
T
0 CATTLE EXHIBITED.
x
Beef cattle exhibits at the second
annual fair covered all breeds, and
were the strongest `exhibits of the
show. Dairy . cattle : came from five
provinces and two states, and included
Jerseys, I oisteins,' Ayrshires, Guern-'
eys, and French-Canadians. 1
The exhibition of draught horses
was. probably the best seen in Canada'
for a number of years. The sheep ex -1
hibits were exceptional coming mainly;
from Ontario, where the `raising :of
pure-bred sheep for breeding purposes
has been long one of the foremost in-;
dustries. The swine exhibit was out-!
standing, a feature being the.markedj
development towards the"establish-'
trent of a national type in Canada, l
The poultry exhibit comprised the
largest aggregation of fowl ever col-
be necessary, however,' to apply in
such cases a: dressing of lime'in occa-
asional years, especially where it is
'desired` to grow leguminous cover
crops or a clover sod in the orchard,
,,,,,Sulphate of ammonia will, if used re-
peatedly, bring about an. acid condi-
eon, of the soil which is fatal to
clover.
How rnuch to apply is a question
es.,
that cannot be answered definitely. A
young orchard planted on a fairly M
fertile soil and kept in cultivation of
with a cover crop plowed under every
spring may grow and just as th
well -..bear •,for. several - years, without qu
added nitrogen as •with it.• This has m
been proved by many experiments. ea
On very poor.soils nitrogen may be po
beneficial very early in the. history
to
of the orchard. For orchards in per- -ch
DAIRY
The best milkiia , cows in m "•her
� y d
are the best eaters.. A good appe-
tite seems to be a prerequisite to
heavy performance -at the:pail. Since
Certain foods stimulate the .appetite,
r find that the good dairyman can
wave much influence over the milk
Putput through the right sort of feed-
ing.
When 1:: fed- the cows large amounts
• of over' -ripe ,fray, frozen corn fodder
with much of the leaves shaken off,.
or' other foods of low digestible` value,
then the appe';tes of the animals
seem to become more' or less slug-
gish. But when I place before the
same cows some succulent food like
silage or roots, improvement started'
in a very short time: ' They not'only.
eat the succulent food more ravenous-
ly, but their appetite for the dry s
feeds is. stimulated.
Plenty of good water, fresh air and
a feed combination with a reasonable
amount of succulency, have gone a
long way in bringing up my milk
yields. These provisions will do much.
for others, and since they are well
within' the means of nearly every
roan who keeps dairy cows, there is
'not much excuse for so many low -
producing cows with the cost of milk
above the income.
lected on the continent, There were
interesting exhibits of water fowl,
'African, Chinese, and Embden geese,
Canada wild
oeese, snow geese, r;ast
j Indian and wild Mallard ducks. Rab-
} bits, guinea pigs, pigeons, canaries s
and other song birds, all further in-
dicated the latitude of Canadian pro=
I duction, whilst the exhibit of prize 1
foxes has probably never been sur-
passed anywhere.
The horse show continued its re
markable success of the previous year
and constituted what was probably
the best horse show on the continent
in the season. The jumping class
made a particularly noteworthy fea-
ture of the entre exhibition, and Mr.
Cox and his associates are to be con-
, gratulated for their perseverance in
adding this unusually interesting
phase to the exhibition. An addi-
tional novel feature of 1922, consider-
ably expanded in 1923, was the ex-
ceptionally fine showing of live de-
corative fish which was probably as
fine an one as has ever been drawn
together.
GRAINS, VEGETABLES AND FRUIT. •
A Valentine Party
By Margaret M.Scott
Have you ever:wanted to give a needles, tie 'a knot in the. middle and,
working together, ,each pair tries to
collect and.. string on{ the thread more'
hearts than.any other :couple before
themus.c begins again.•
After this pass out pencils and.slips
of paper on which' one or two lines
of an old love song are written. Ask
the guests ' Co finish" the. verse. For
instance:
'valentine party yet hesitated 'because
you could not think up anything new
to do? If so, take heart,' for here are
some suggestions that may cause you
to scout the old saying, "There's noth-
ing new under' the sun."
This invitation, written on a red
heart, sent out in a white envelope
with tiny red heart stickers might be
used: "Her face is like the sttowdratt,
Her neck is life tile.aw.an!"
Hear ye, hear ye!. List what fun I tried to. tell .her aIl.these things,
Is in store for everyone! But she said, "Aw, g'wan1"
Come check your heart
You might award a prize of a heart
shaped box of candy to the one who
gives the most unexpected twist to
You might suggest that .• colonial his verses
costumes be worn, if you want • a Next you night play Cupid's Game.
dressed -up party, for colorful clothes Give the boys a small heart fox every
add so much to the decorations. Or girl that is present. Then seat them
you could arrange to have each girl around indifferently numbered nooks,
wear a different -colored dress, and Direct each girl to go to a different
then give ,fancy caps to the guests as nook, where she proceeds to propose
soon as they arrive. The door knob to the young man she finds there. If
will take on a festive- air if it pro- he accepts, he gives her one of the
tudes through a heart. Just inside small hearts. The girl goes on to the
you might have a gayly decorated next nook and proposes again. When
booth presided over by Cupid, where the game is over, the girl who col -
the guests must chock their hearts lected the most 'hearts has to tell her
(the invations). •method.
A musical hunt begi:,s the program. I After this 'St. Valentine himself de -
Small paper hearts aro placed, but tides who shall be supper partners.
not hidden, ail'around the room. Part-! His costume is made of two large
hers. for the occasion are chosen by, hearts after the fashion of a sandwich
giving a heart to each girl. She tears' man. The girls' names are put in one
it in two uneven pieces—one she keeps basket, and the boys' in another. St.
the other is put in a basket which is. Valentine draws a name from each
passed to the boys. Each boy finds basket and "cries" them aloud as val
the possessor of the other half of the' entines. Those whose names are
heart he drew. Then each couple re -;coupled are partners.
ceives two yards of heavy thread and} For the supper you might have
two big needles. 1 heart -shaped sandwiches with pimen-
When the music sounds, partners, to cheese or ham filling, cherry ice
march, in a double row around the cream, small heart cakes, and coffee.
room, continuing until the music stops' Little baskets of old-fashioned motto
when they break ranks, thread the candies would make amusing favors.
At my' front door—
February-14th, '24. .
Prospects for Market Cattle
Referring to the outlook for m
ket cattle the Markets Intelligen
Service of the Live Stock Branch
Ottawa, states that the prospects a
present conditions in the live stock r
dustry are on the whole far more fa
ourable than they were a year ago,
feed is plentiful and store cattle a
cheap. The producer and feeder
is taking advantage of this is in
fairly secure.- position, especially
where intelligent methods of winter
feeding are practiced.
In emphasizing the influence com-
mon stock has uplift market prices,
the same authority says: "Insofar as
the West is concerned, the general
quality of the run (November) was
so mediocre that the so-called hi
grades decreased in price along wi
the poorer grades."
With the top price of steers, for tl
week ending December 20, 70 cen
per hundred 'above what they were
the same week last year and calves
50 cents, and with prices in excess
of what they were the previous week,
for all live stock except lambs, it must
be admitted that the prospects are at
least promising. Again, with all the
slaughtering that is going on in Brit-
ain on account of the foot and mout
disease, there is likely to be an i
creased demand in the future for ca
tle; as usual, the man having th
Tight sort will reap the most profi
study of the weekly market report
ent out by the Dominion Live Stoc
will show how true this al
tivays is. At Toronto, for instanc
the week ending December 20, goo
steers averaged $6.36 per hundre
and common $4.64; good veal calve
averaged $10.51 and grassers $3.83
select bacon hogs averaged $9.05 an
extra heavies $6.05; good lambs 10.2
and common $9.15, and light sheep
$6.09 and common $2.02. Surely
there's a lesson in these figures.
• Wintering Bees.
ar- A very comprehensive bulletin on
ce 1 "Bees and How to Keep Them," by
at the Dominion Apiarist, has recently
nd been issued by the Department of Ag-
riculture at Ottawa. In the chapter
v dealing with wintering, the author
as calls attention to a number of points
re of importance. The bee cellar should
u' ho be well ventilated but not draughty,
a and the best temperature, in the early
part of the winter, is usually around
48 degrees F., but towards spring it
should be lowered from three to six.
degrees, care being taken to keep the
bees as much as possible from rest-
lessness. The air in the cellar should
not be too dry, nor damp enough to
allow moisture to condense on the
gh floor of the hives. Good drainage is
th a necessity, and the bees should be
kept in darkness and left undisturbed.
re The date that the bees should be taken
to out of the cellar depends upon their
hi: condition and the state of the wea-
ther.
Keepers of bees will do well to res
member that mice and rats are ene•
mies of bees and will sometimes de-
stroy colonies in the winter if care
is not taken to exclude them from the
bee cellar or wintering case. Colonies
th wintered outside may be protected by
n- .reducing the width of the hive en -
t— trance to three-eighths of an inch so
e that mice will be unable to get in; in
fit. the cellar they may be poisoned.
ck Salt and Water for the Sheep.
ce, During the winter when the snow
d is available and especially where a
d liberal supply of roots is being fed,
the flock will not suffer a great deal
if water is not given, so says the' De-
gpartment of Animal' Husbandry, On-
tario Agricultural College. .At the
same time sheep will drink more or
' less water if it is to be had, and if
All grains in such an excellent crop
year •were naturally of high standard,
and of particular interest at the pre-
sent time were excellent corn exhibits.
The collection fruit and vegetables
gave fair indication of the manner in
which these crops are expanding in
both volume and variety. The variety
of blooms in the flower exhibits proved
that the northern latitude is no han-
dicap to floriculture. Fine honey carne
from every province, showing how
apiculture is developing: in the Do-
minion. e
An exhibit of primes nearest was a P
collection of nuts from an Ontario
orchard of about one hundred bearing'
trees.: These included the Japanese!
and Canadian black walnuts, pecan
filberts, almonds and English walnuts
equal to anything grown in Califor-
nia.
The 'Loyal Winter Fair has become
Canada's; annual agricultural expres-
sion, a yearly summary of what the
fauns of the Dominion are doing, for
others to see. It is of particulzr in-
terest to Canadians, and by reason of
Canada's gradual ascent among other
nations whose agricultural industry is
of great importance, must, in the '
fu-
ture, attract greater attention from
other parts of the world.
Cost of Maintenance.
Considerableworkwas done durin
the winter of 1923 by the Departmen
of Animal 'Husbandry, Ontario Agri
cultural College, to ascertain the'cos
of maintenance of the farm work hor-
ses. For heavy. horses at teaming
work necessary around the farm, such
as drawing manure, etc., it costs from
31% to 86.6 cents per horse per day
for feed, stabling and care. The cost
of feed was 54 per cent. of the total
cost of maintenance and the cost` of
labor was 22 per cent. of the total
cost.. Horse labor during the winte
cost 21.6 cents per hour.
DAIRY HEIFERS.
Records kept by the Department of
Animal Husbandry, O. A. C., on the
cost of winter maintenance of dairy
heifers, showed that the average cost
of feed per heifer was 16.3 cents, and
that the total daily cost -of maintain-
ing an average heifer weighing 880
ounds was 27 cents. The total Best
of winter maintenance per 1000 lbs.
of live weight was 32.5 cents.
at all convenient it will pay to pro-
vide it even in the winter. After the
ewes have lambed in the spring and
during the summer while on grass, an
g abundant supply of clean, fresh water
t should be at hand. Especially during
- the long, hot days of summer the
s sheep will drink quantities and the
health and comfort of the flock de
wands that it be available.
Salt should- be before the'flock at
all times during the year. A box or
trough set up in the pen during the
winter or in the field, while on pas,.
ture, in which there is always •a sup-
ply, will assure the owner that his
flock is always well provided with
r salt.
•
Mangels Versus Beet Pulp.
During the winter of 1923 the. Ani-
mal Husbandry Department of the
Ontario Agricultural College, con-
ducted an experiment to determine
comparative values- of mangels and
sugar beet pulp. There was very
little difference in the actual produc-
tion of the cows when on each of the
twofeeds, but the mange's were a
much cheaper ration.
Fight cleanly, each for your ideas:
Hit hard, but never below the, belt.
—General Sir an Hamilton. •
Prolificness by Months.
Investigational work carried on by .
i the Department of Animal Husband-
; ry, 0. A. C., during 1923, to gain
some light on the question of sheep
in gave nave the following results:
March . .. , .. 150.8%
April ..... ... . ; ... 146.6%
' January .., ... 140.9%
I February - 137.8%
May 184.7%
June ..... ..... ... 128.0%
0
Of the eleven breeds studied only
three showed a higherercenta a of
P S
rip e Ian- sing es, t Ie
Dorset Horn, Oxford Down and Lei-
cester.
Percentage yeanings, singles. 56.
g G%'
Percentage yeanings, twins 42.0.
Percc :ta
ge year' Ings, triplets. _ 1.%4%a
Do not apply furniture polish
� to
soiled furniture, or it 'will never look
bright. Wring a cloth out of warm
soapy water, and wipe the furnitexe
carefully. When quite'drw, polish as,.
usual.