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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1925-10-22, Page 7ALFALFA FOR THE FRUIT GROWER Alfalfa Works in Well With the Fruit Grower's Program. BY HERBERT'NAFZ•IGER. To be th$ possessorof a 'good alfalfa field gives any :farmer a pleas- ant and soul -satisfying feeling; but for a fruit grower who :has work horses and a fest' cows to feed, it is satisfying to the seventh degree. Perhaps T feel that way because I am a fruit grower and., have in the past experienced the woes and irrita- tions of the man 'who has to buy all or nearly . all, of his hay and other feed. A man who lives in the midst of a highly intensive fruit country natur- ably wants to have as much of his. farm as possible in fruit. Further- more, the fruit grower has his farm equipped and geared up to grow fruit. That is the thing which he can do most efficiently and with a minimum of lost motion and ,expense. The fruit specialist is not, as a rule, equipped to raise grain, and if he tries to raise some corn or other grain on the side, he will sooner or later find himself between the horns of a dilemma. He finds that he has to hurry over or neglect some part of his fruit growing in order to take care of the grain, or he has to tend strictly to his fruit and let the grain Neither ,alternative is desirable in these days of high efficiency and small profit margins. The alternative of neglecting his orchard operations is especially undesirable, as sometimes a; few days' neglect proves disastrous. cessful results. Several plans have To cite an instance, a neighbor of been tried out on our farm, and I will mine had a nice field of corn started briefly describe the one plan that has which was at'the time badly in need or us roved racti al of cultivation. The weather was warm, I p p y infallible. weeds were growing lustily, and a Tit- Most ec yfour lowing old have been tle more neglect would mean a weedy wade directly following the soda as of corn field. On the other hand, it was wishedg atcultivated o obviate necessityonayear time to spray his apples. What to' do? raising g alfalfa. cropThe ground s He finally decided that the apples t plowed late in the summer after the could wait a few days longer, so he went into the corn. hay crop is off and is occasionally worked with a spring -tooth harrow until winter sets in During the win - After the corn was cultivated and ter, or early in the spring, it is given he was just getting a good start on a good coating of marl. Then, as the spraying, it began to rain, not an early in spring as possible, it is thor- ordinary shower, but, a week's rainy oughly disked and again kept worked spell. As a result, scab obtained a to kill weeds and sod -until about the foothold in his orchard, to the detri- ` fifteenth of June; at .that time the ment of his pack at harvest time. !ground is given • an application of s He told me that his loss from that about 250 to 800 pounds of 'acid phos - false move was much more than the phate per acre. This is harrowed in entire corn field ins worth. ! and then the ground is seeded, with - This is an age of specialists. A man out a nurse crop, and with the best must:, put his hand and brain to some certified northern -grown seed avail- • special line if he expects to make good., able. The. seed is lightly covered with The Jack of all trades is a back num-1a spike -tooth harrow and then rolled' her, Whatever he tackles he finds down with a land roller.. • Some time himself competing with experts who in midsummer, the field is mowed to can _run, rings around him. ,a • , keep the weeds down. The clippings There are few lines of busine:,s are left on_ the field unless heavy which require such 'a high degree of enough to cuse danger of smother - vigilance, judgment, knowledge and ing the young alfalfa. After the first strict' application as does the grow- year, a light application of acid phos - Ing ofhigh-grade fruit. A good motto phate is given anrivaliy.. When seed - for a fruit grower is "Hew to the line ing is made in the above manner the and lel some other fellow pick up the use of the ground is, of course, lost chips." 'for one year, but a certain and long Considering farm efficiency we lived -stand of alfalfais surely ample found that the only fed crop that we compensation. eould safely raise :elle n our fruit, farm was hay. So we seeded some spar land to clover.; nd timothy. For sev oral reasons this plan did not prove tit be ideal. First, the cloyer an timothy would -ellen out and need re nerving. Second, our feed bill remain ed rather high, because we had t buy grain in considerable amounts t supplement the hay, and also became the hay crop from the' land available was not enough' to carry us throug the season,.. ADVANTAGES oe ALFALFA, Rog Types).I Here is how one hog man deseribes his type of hogs; Perhaps. the first thine. we should look for in a hog' that $ts modern requirements is a strong hack, uniform in width from fluent to rear,,And, .uniformly arched.' This is where the high-priced cuts are found, • and we want it as near perfect as _ possible. We want to avoid a flatness over the shoulders, qr any narrowness d across the loin. Look well to the side; we think more of it now than we used to. It is p these deep, straight, smooth sides that o cut up into nicely striped baeoe. We' e. do 'not want the value of these savory slices marred by creases or wrinkles. e They also cause much extra work in scraping when butchering time comes. round, and the deeper you can get this side, the more bacon there is. The hams and shoulders should also be deep, well let down on the body, and well filled, but not neces'sa'rily bulging. They should fit neatly; into the body, and so even with the side that a straightedge held along the side would touch, the body all the way. Too much bulging inclines to coarseness, and takes the growth that might bet- ter be some place else.' As the animal walks off naturally, the underline should be straight all the way. If the sides are deep, the flanks both front and rear are full, the hams and shoulders well let-downand not j too much nor"too little owl, the underline will be all .right, 'and like- wise the heart girth that 'we used to talk so much about, And then the feet and legs: There is not much meat on them, to be sure; but they support and carry the whole works. They are the foundation and you know the importance of the foun- dation if it isa superstructure you wish to build. So we want the legs and feet of good size, and straight, toes close together, not sprawly; pas- terns short and straight and stalky, not slender, long and sloping. Knees that knock toward each other, and hocks set at too great an angle are common faults and should be avoided. Alfalfa, however, comes as near the ideal as possible. . It stands many years without renewal. It has high feeding value, thus cutting the grain bill down to a minimum, and finally, it yields a large amount per aere, thus enabling the fruit man to raise enough feed on a small acreage to carry him through, We cut our alfalfa twice in a sea- son because, if we cut three tines, the last 'cutting interferes with the fall' fruit harvest. Incidentally, we found that cuttihe only twice preserves the vigor and life of the stand, and makes practicaI4y as much .hay as three cuttings. In these days of certified and adap- ted seed, the problem of getting a Stand is not nearly as"" acute as it formerly was. However, on much of our fruit belt land a new seeding still needs considerable coddling far sue FALSE ECONOMY. LITTLE APPLES Suppose that every manufacturer of automobiles should set aside every car that shows some slight defect, label it "Cull,"• and send it ,out into the open market to be sold for what- ever it would bring. The price of perfect automobiles would fall to a point where the maker would no longer realize a profit. Many of the fruit growers of the country runtheir marketing on just such an unsound basis as the above hypothetical automobile business. It may be argued that the manufac- turers have few culls and that these few may be revamped and sold as "firsts," wheras the orchardist has many culls that he cannot afford to throw away. To a certain extent this is true, but at the same time it is a fact that every reputable manufac- turer of motor cars or any other pro - duet has a certain percentage of de- fective parts that must be disposed of. None of these defective parts ever reach the open matket. But too often the grower attempts to sell his un- sound 'merchandise, and as a result injures both himself and his brother fruit growers. When there is an abundance of small or slightly defective- apples the temptation to get rid of them in some way is always a strong one. One sea - ion our Yellow Transparents set an • unusually heavy -crop of fruit. It was et season Inede unusually busy by the fact that weatherr conditions keptus from doing our work as promptly as we wished, and we did not have time to thin all the trees. A SAVING THAT MEANT LOSS. Consequently at picking time we'. had a .large number of apples that! measured one and a half inches and less in diameter. The market that year was flooded with Yellow Trans - permit apples;'' and what we should have done was to take the entire lot and plow thein under in the orchard for such fertilizing value as they iini .lit have he tem t tion'"t " g a.. o p. " ge Something out of the°ni was too strong, however, and we shipped. direr :dime. s ith our larger; weI-grRcet fault.' Many other gi.ceo apparently did' theea•rie thing, Slid as a result the 1 Yellow Transparent market was de- moralized to such a point that even the good fruit sold slowly and at poor prices. Before the end of the season we realized that we had made a mis- take and also that' we were not alone in our error. In a desperate effort to correct the trouble we had a large display card printed with the heading "Jelly Ap- pies." On this card we called atten- tion to the fact that the small apples were well adapted tothe makingof jelly, and told briefly how it could be done. We followed up a lot of our shipments and by the use of these cards stimulated the :sale of fruit that might otherwise n ever have been sold. Ona of our customers was "stuck" with seventy-five bushels of these small apples, but after using the cards he e:eaned up the entire lot in a few day's_at a price that cleared expenses I am satisfied that our experience with the small apples cost us much more than we would have lost by dumping the whole lot. Amendments o Dairy Pro- duct Act and Regulations. The text of The• Dairy Product Act as amended this year and regulations under the Aet have been published by the 'Dept. of Agriculture at Ottawa in uniform `style with other Acts relat- ing to agriculture. There is one new amendment to the Act authorising the Governor -in -Council to make regula- tions that will enable the Dairy Pro- duce Grader to refuse to grade ally dairy produce and to withhold grade a certificates. Sections 24:to 28 inclu- sive have been added to the previous m 23 of the regulations. These provide: av that any butter cut or moulded into ,prints or blocks shall be deemed to be not.. graded and that no. person shall brand, mark, etescribe or adver- tise for sale as graded, butter which shall have been so cut or moulded; that a grader's certificate covering po any such lots shall be deemed can- celled; that no person shall pack but- Ja ter in a package bearing marks of previous grading; that no person shall sell, offer for' sale or have in his possession butter branded, inarke.d, described or advertised contreey to W these regulations anti that any butter ole which mould has appeared, wheelie): on the butter itself or on the pestle, inept lining, even though all, trace has Preen removed, eha' 1 be classified 1s "no -grade." 1 Meat and Bone By-products. The Dominion Chemist, Dr. F. T. Shutt, and his assistant, Miss S.N. Hamilton, have prepared and the Do- minion Dept. of Agriculture has pub- lished a fourteen -page bulletin de- scribing what is meant by "Meat and Bone By-products,". and'designed to furnish that knowledge of their_ corn- position om position and nature that is essential to their economic purchase and. use. The feeding stuffs on the market that, come under' the foregoing heading :en - eludes meat and blood:' meals, ,tank- age, bone meal,"'fish.meals and' other .related materials, mainly the `by-pro- ducts y biro - ducts of the packing house, slaughter house. and fish 'canneries, and 'consist of varying proportion's of meat, fatty tissue, blood and bone, according to their source and method of prepara- tion. As a c'_ass,, states the .bulletin they are highly nitrogenous and phos- phatic concentrates that constitute a valuable source of protein •and bone - making material and are especially useful in the feeding of swine and poultry. It is essential that they should be prepared from fresh ma- terials and as purchased should be sweet and sound, free from rancidity and mould. As a consequence, con- tinues the bulletin, which can be had on application to the Publications. Branch, Ottawa, it is obvious that these feeding stuffs should "be pur- chased always on guaranteed analysis. One obJect of the investigation, the results of which are recorded in this bulletin, was the establishment of standards, in percentages of protein, fat,, and phosphate of liine, for the various classes of products ` under consideration. Producing Clean Milk. A c:ean pail, a covered pail and a clean animal are the big things in producing clean milk. Ail other sources of contamination are of lesser importance, states the Dominion' Agri- cultural Bacteriologist in hien report for 1924. To insure clean milk the pails should be washed and scoured, and, if possible, treated with steam,• and care taken to have no dirt fall from the cow into the milk, The re- port, which is distributed free by the Publications Branch, Dept. of Agri- culture, Otawa, describes in detail the methods of insuring complete clean- Iiness. Manure should be moved out of the reach of the animals, the cows should be regularly brushed, the milk_ er's hands must be carefully washed, and the foremilk should be discarded. • A 1.1alfowe en Game.. Games are always in high favor for Hallowe'en frolic and here le one'in which all the folks, young and old, ay join. The group is instructed to rite a word beginning' with "Jack" after each statement as it is read by the` leader. A given time is allowed to accomplish this and the one having the greatest number correct may re- ceive a ,Tack -o -lantern for a 'prize while the :consolation may be a lolly -1 p or. a popcorn ball. A Jack with a long bushy taite--1,' ekal. A Jack who couldn't` eat fat—:Tisch- Sprat, A Jack.who is very cold --Jack Frost. ' A Jeek who is a bowerJack in the !. . . Pulpit.' e,.• A Jack a boy carries in his pocket —Jack-knife, o A Jack used on last day of October -J'a'ck-o'-lantern., -. •s' A. .1 whoi� r a a nient--- c .r g Jaci et. ' Canadiaia Eational Oil E1etiic Cars. HE Canadian National Railways haveput into service an entirely new type of motive power which may go far towards solving two of the most serious problems steam roads are facing, namely, high fuel costs and the competition of motor bus and lorry on the public high- ways. The oil electric car is the name given to this new method of locomotion and its creation is due to the mechanical officers of the National Railways who conceived the idea and carried it through. Relatively speaking, the principle behind the power which drives the car, is simple. In one end of the cards located a light fuel oil engine operating on the Diesel principle and this engine drives an electric generator which provides the energy to move the car. The engine is started by a small electric motor operat- ed from' storage batteries and these batteries are, in turn, recharged by the generator when it ' begins to function, se, that the cycle J performance is a close apprgech to perpetual motion. Two sizes of cars have been built, the large or articulated type and a small type. The top photograph shows the large type, consisting of two bodies resting on three four-wheel trucks, the ends of the two bodies being attached to' the centre truck in such a way, by a safety locking pin, that the rear car is able to swivel sufficiently to take the curves. This car has a total length of 102 feet and can accommodate 126 passengers. In the lower left hand corner is a photograph of one end of the fuel oil engines, used on these cars. On the right Mayor J. H. Balharrie of Ottawa is seen shaking hands with Mr. C. E. Brooks, Chief of Motive Power of the Canadian National Railways, -on the completion of the first trial run of the large car from Montreal to Ottawa. Below is a photograph of the small car which has a passenger carrying capacity of 56. Both cars have roomy baggage ends as well. An idea.of the possibilities.of these cars is to be had from the performance of the small car during a test trip froze Toronto to Montreal. The mileage between those points is 334 miles. The fuel consumption of the small car on the trip cost $3.50 and lubricating oil 48 cents, or a total fuel cost of $3.98. To have operated a steam train of similar passenger carrying capacity, even with the most economical type of locomotive; would have entailed a fuel cost of at least $66.00. The ability of these 'cars to produce speed when required. was demonstrated during the test run of the large car from Montreal to Ottawa. The trip was made in two hours and fifteen minutes actual running time or at an average rate of 52 miles per hour. Both cars shown in the photograph are now in service. The large car is in local service cn Canadian National lines out of the Tunnel Terminal between Montreal and Ottawa. The small car is in local service between Hamilton and Guelph, Ontario. WHEN THE GUESTS UNMASK AT MIDNIGHT The first autumn festival is a hand, and the housewife may enter tain with an informal frolic and co fume dance. The decorations may be carried out in pumpkin yellow and black, and • if you can add a few bundles of corn stalks from the field this will give you greater leeway in the decorations and arrangements. In one corner of the room, or in the hall, a tent may be aranged in a few minutes with the aid of a sheat and some of the pins used to hold pictures on the wall. Place" a layer of corn- stalks against the sheet, hiding it com- p etely. Everything is now ready for the fortune-telling witch. A cider well can be arranged in the kitchen and will be a spot of real merriment if a fairy is presiding,. and dispensing the drink. It is best to get the affair under 'way by 8 o'clock, for promptly .at midnight the guests must unmask and sit down to the supper. Old- fashioned games and dancing will fill the' intervening space of time. We:l- seasoned substantial menu will form an 'ideal menu for the midnight lowe'en supper, and this meal may be' served in platter form if you should desire, or if because of limited table space you find it inconvenient to seat the guests at the table. t der), two green peppers (minced - fine), three red peppers (minced fine), s- two stalks of celery (cut in dice), six large potatoes (cooked until tender, pared and eut in dice), one cup of finely chopped onion, three tablespoons of mustard seed, one tablespoon of cel- ery seed, three-quarters cup of finely chopped parsley, ane quart of cooked salad dressing (well seasoned). Toss to bend, and serve in crisp nests of lettuce, Garnish with slice of hard-boiled egg. SAUSAGE SANDWICHES. Use the pocketbook or Parker House roll for this sandwich, and have cook- ed ook ed and steaming hot fresh country sausage. I have found' it made a de- cided hit to arrange this sausage sandwich on a tray covered with nap- kin, and have a young lad act as. the sausage man, going among the guests crying hot sausages, take 'em while they're hot, 'ot, 'ot. TOASTED CHEESE SANDWICHES. Place in bowl: One pound of store cheese, one grated onion, one teaspoon of paprika, one-quarter cup of cream. Work well to paste, and spread on nicely buttere'a. bread. Place in the broiler of the gas range for two min- utes to toast slightly and then place the top slice ,of the bread in place, cut into triangles and place on paper doilie, and serve from tray like the sausage sandwiches, NUT AND CELERY SANDWICHES. Place four large stalks of celery and one pound of shelled nuts through the food chopper, adding one red and one green pepper, four branches of parsley, two medium-size onions. I Pace in howl and add seasoning to taste and three-fourths cup of either' inayonnaise or eookc:l dressing. Mix well and make into sandwiches. 'CRULLERS. Place in a mixing bowl: Nine cups' of sifted flour, 'five level tablespoons of baking powder, two teaspoons elf salt, one teaspoon of ginger, one tea spoon of nutmeg, two cups of gran - Sift twice to blend and then rub into this prepared flour: rive table-' spoons of butter. Pae in mixing; S bowl: Three `•arge ;eggs, one and three-. uartars C a s of mills. q p Beat with the gbeatei• to blend and use to form a .dough; roll out about one-half inch thick on well - floured pastry'=board; cut and fry in smoking hot fat; roll in griznulated sugar andcinna n g ion, just as they carne from the fat. Macadoine Salad Toasted Cheese Sandwiches Sausage Sandwiches Nut and Celery Sandwiches. Witches' Punch 'Putepkin Tarts Mince Tarts Crullers Coffee Apples, Nuts and .Raisins Serve the punch, as you will find that many of the guests will prefer this beverage'to the coffee, „� WITCHES' PUNCH Place in a mixing bowwi: Three pints of .crushed tee, two quarts of water, three bananas (sliced thin), two oranges, (pee'.ed and sliced thin), one Cup of cranberries (sliced thin), four noes (cut in paper-thth slices); one' quart of grape juice, Pace in large punchbowl or 'clean wooden bucket and cover, the. outside' with pumpkin-colored'ceepe paper,'tie to' keep in place with back two-inch • bands of crepe paper, and fasten a'" whisk broom to the side of the bowl.; uACADOTNE .SALAD Pace in large mixing bowl: One can f welt -drained peas, three cups of finely shredded cabbage, two cups of ii ell diced cooked beater three large, C (diced and cooked until ten-; elated sugar. The crullers should be sent in to the supper just as they come from the stove and served smoking hot. If piled on tray and a lad with a white cap to pass and serve, it will add to the occasion. Light Up Your Faces. All have Jack -e' -Lantern seen From earliest youth, I ween. His face lit up from a light within Showing his teeth in a friendly grin. Very bright his eyes are, too, From the same source shining thru Radiating fun and cheer Thra the darkness far and near. Light up your face with a smile, Make it worth ev'ry one's while, Only to travel your way Just to pass the time 0' day. Let them see your soul shine thru Smiling lips and eyes so true. . Such a spirit, by God's grace, Transforms e'en the plainest face. Light up your face, be very glad, • Drive out all the sorry and sad. Be a good sport•and play Life's game Every day and just the same. It will cost you no more to smile It will add to your years the while, If you will let Love have its way And be happy the livelong day. Masquerade Sandwiches. Sandwiches that are just the thing for a Hallowe'en party can be made from brown bread that has been steamed in one pound baking'powder cans. Two slices ere allowed for each sandwich, Spread the under slice with a liberal covering of peanut but- ter. Make masques of the top slices. With a sharp thimble cut two small circles for the eyes. Underneath- them make with the thimble another circle for the nose and below that cut a slit with, a small sharp knife for the Mouth. Press eaeh masque firmly upon the buttered surface of the under slice and then 'add the final touches that. give the sandwiches their humorous appearances Various expressions can be given by dropping a dried currant in each eye. Ripe olives snake emus - Mg' noses, of every imaginable shape. Strips of brilliant red, cut from sweet peppers, make lips that curl in 'gay- ety,'est and amusernen -an t d -ou J� may be sure that the sandwiches will .arouse plenty of mirth! Course of Whale Currents, Deep sub.nta:iee currents containing whale food fio,v from tbo north A't. ,ntie to 2,000 south of.tkn equator,