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The Clinton News Record, 1937-05-27, Page 61'AGE .6 THE CLINTON NEWS -RECORD THURS., MAY 27; 1937;,; NEWS AND HAPPENINGS OF INTEREST TO ammatswasougo Timely information for the Busy Farmer (Furnished hed bytheDepartment of A ri c !tare Grain ,Feeding In all grain feeding it must be kept in mind that the product being used is an expensive one and can under no circumstances be used in th e feeding or finishing of low grade .or indifferently bred animals. Not only must the animals be of approved types, .but experience has clearly shown that certain .kinds of farm animals greatly excel othersin their ability to utilize the feed's provided. Especially is this true in connection With the feeding of grains: Poultry would probably head the list in this regard, with the pig standing a close second. in its ability to manufacture feed grains into meat economically. The dairy cow, because of her ability to give off from her body immense. quantities of milk during a long lac- tation period, would rank third, fol- lowed by beef cattle and sheep. Cleaning Out Cauca The eradication of couch grass, oth- erwise known as quack, twitch or ' scratch grass, is one of the hardest problems with which the farmer has to deal. Few people realise the enor- mous quantity of couch grass roots which exist in infested soil. Tests conducted by the, Central Experi- mental Farm at Ottawa show weights of roots ranging from 1,531 to 6,997 pounds to the acre --as much as a heavy crop of hay. No wonder it is hard to clean out when it spreads by roots as well as seed. Thoroughly cleaning out the roots is the one ef- fective way of getting rid of couch. In small areas this may be done by hand. In larger areas by shallow ' plowing and working thoroughly with the cultivator to keep the roots ten - ed up to the sun long enough for them to "kill." Only as large an ar- ea as can be thoroughly cleaned up at one time should be undertaken, as halfway measures are only lost time and effort. Crop Conditions The following sun Lary on weather and crop conditions at the beginning/ of May has been compiled by the Statistics Branch from reports of correspondents: The weather during April was very unfavourable for spring cultivation and seeding. Cold wet weather pre- vented operations on the land and at the end of the month less seeding of oats and barley was completed than in any year since 1922. Only 5 per cent.' of the intended oat acreage had been planted and 3 per, cent. of the barley acreage. Warm dry weather. Was greatly needed for completion of the seeding of spring grains and for good germination. Precipitation in Ontario during the five months, November to March, Was practically equal to the average received during the past fifty-five years. It became quite excessive in Southwestern Ontario, reaching flood proportions in the London area, Tile soil is well -supplied with moisture and provided satisfactory growing weather prevails from now on, the -yield of spring grains this season may be well up to the average. Winter killing of fall wheat was about the same as in 1936, being less than normal.. The acreage seeded last fall was '702,000 acres and win- ter -killing. amounted to 8 per cent:; leaving 646,000.acres to be harvested this summer, as against 509,300 acres a year ago.. This increase is due to the stimulus provided by rise in wheat eprices.. Fall rye suffered less injury with only an estimated 5 per cent, of the acreage being winter -kil- led. The cool moist weather has ,been 1 favour able for the 'development of fall wheat and fall rye and their con- dition at the beginning of May was almost' normal. With. good yields fall wheat will prove one of the best cash crops in years. The visible sup- ply of wheat in Canada is lowest on record since 1925. Hay and clover fields entered the winter in rather poor condition after the prolonged drought of last year and winter -killing was fairly exten- sive in all parts of the province. The acreage' of hay crops will therefore be considerably reduced. Pastures and meadows have not made the same growth as fall wheat and. fall rye and their condition on May lst was only 86 per cent. normal. Farm Bulletins The following list • of agricultural bulletins is available to Ontario far mars, having beeh published by the Department of Agriculture: Fruits 335 -The Strawberry in Ontario (rev. 1936). 342—Fire Blight (1929) 354—The Pear (1930)' 355 -The Raspberry and Black-. berry (rev, 1936) 356 Insects Attacking Fruit Trees (1930) 383 -Peach Yellow, and Little Peach (1937) General Farming 218—Birds of Ontario in Relation to Agriculture (price 25 cents) 277 Motor Transportation in Rural •Ontario (1920) 29p—Sweet Clover (rev. 1928) 326—Farm Barns (1927) 331—Public Speaking and Debate (1938) 348—Amateur Dramatics (1929) 360 -Farm Underdrainage (1931) 361 -Farm Water Supply a n d• Sewage Disposal (1930) 864 — Manures an d Fertilizers (1981) • 370—Testing, Milk, Cream and Dairy By-products on the Farm and in the Factory 371 — l3uttermaking' on the Farm (1936) 372—Soft Cheese Making and Farm Dairy Cheddar Cheese (1936) 374—lase. More Ontario Honey (19'33) 376—The Weeds of Ontario (1934) 385—Cheese Mites and Their Con. trol. (1937) Livestock 804 -Infectious Abortion of Cattle (rev. 1935) 337 Parasites Injurious to Sheep (1928) 338—Hints on Judging (1981) 350—The Warble Flies (1934) 867—Pork on the Farm (1932) 373—Dairy Cattle (1983) 378—Bot Flies and Their Control (1984) 380—Parasites Injurious to Swine (rev. 1986), Poultry 305 -Diseases of Poultry (1932) 368 -Parasites Injurious to Poul- try (1931) 379 -Farm Poultry (re. 1935) Vegetables 358—The European Corn Borer (1931) • 375 -Ontario Grown Leaf Lettuce (1983),,. Bees 3S4—Bee Diseases (rev. 1937) Instructions A •copy of any bulletin (for which there is, no charge) will be sent free to farmers residing in the Province TITE-LAP ROOFING' The permanence and low up- keep cost of this metal roofing makes it one of the most eco- nomical on the market. Tite- Lap Galvanized -Roof ng gives greatest covering capacity. The end lap, is so tight it is almost invisible; positively excludes driving sleet, rain or snow. Send roof and rafter measure- ments for free estimates. RIB -ROLL ROOFING This durable roofing has extra rigidity that makes it'particularly good for roofing over a light frame- work. The secret of its strength is: the ribs are only five inches apart/ The most copied roofing of its kind on the market, Be sure you get the genuine, economical"Rib-Roll Roofing"! Ask your banker for details about re -roofing on the Government - ac e Hoare Improvement Plan. JAMESWAY POULTRY EQUIPMENT Uso them Write for information on any items in the com. —1 1 r with ell metal plate Jameswoy, line, Brooder houses heatingFa- HaoaMat roofing. The 1 ]eon on the systems. incubators, ayiaa ones orproator heed seal, systems. Uso Tamoaway equipment for profits. , the nail -hole. Eastern Steel procwts Gudah Street %t�•ti YPd Feeloiles'lso at PRESTON, ONTARIO MONTREAL andaTORONTO SOMETHING MUST BE DONE. TIMELY COMMENT ON THE WES TERN ONTARIO FLOOD SITUA TION BY HUGH C. TEMPLIN, EDITOR OF Ti -IE FERGUS NEWS -RECORD WHO HAS 'STUDIED THE SITUATION FOR SOME YEARS. Because thefloods Ontario. o s in the spring have been among the most de structiye in history, in spite of ex pensive local precautions, they hav attracted much attention, and ther is a widespread demand that some thing should be done about the pre vention of future catastrophes: the same time, it is taken for gra ed by many writers that ,there is n particular hurry. Conditions, they sa were unusual this year, and the sal combination spay not happen agai for a generation. We are not sur of that. Most amateur flood com mentators do not take into account the very factors that have brought these peak floods *hen heavy .rain- fall came — they are the advanced state of reforestation, the absurd length to which drainage and the de- struction of swamps. have been car- ried, and finally, the erosion of tilled fields and farms, which is always tending to run the water off the sur- face faster rather,, than allowing it to sink in. Something must, be done. Nearly everybody seems to 'agree about that, but most of thein wait for ,somebody else to suggest what can be done. It is time somebody offered at least the outline of a plan to stop bo floods and droughts in South-western Ontario, and as nobody else has don so, we offer at least an outline of plan. AND- HERE'S THE ANSWER The responsibility seems to be di vided. The municipalities along, tli rivers, the townships that drain into the rivers, the Provincial and Domi ion Governments seem to be concern ed, and therefore should share t costs. Three of the four seem to b prepared to do so, and the township need not be pressed to do anything. Ontario t but it will grow rapidly worse in the • next few years. There - are several results. Good land is ve ruined for fanning. Creeks and riv- e els, fill. tip with silt (we can' show you an example within a mile of the office this week). The water runs At off eroded land more quickly through tit- gullies and because it does not sink o in as far. These things all tend'to y, make worse floods, and comprise tie reasons why floods in' recent years n have been so bad,. Several means of e controlling erosion have been worked .. out in European countriesand the United States and it would be the duty • of a' Conservancy Commission to study and apply these. FOURTH: Water can be retarded by certain farm methods, some of which obviously must be used in On- tario soon. It is necessary to make the farmers aware of these methods and their benefits. In many ways, present farm. methods cannot be im- proved upon,for this climate, because there is crop rotation and a large per- centage of pasture and grass land on the hillsides. FIFTH: Drainage has been carried th to extremes in some ,parts of the province and must . be controlled by some central body that knows what it is aiming at. No new drains a should' be dug out in . such areas as the Lathers, Amaranth and Mclane- then, without permission from this commission. It may be necessary to - . go. so far as to extend this control e over some swamp areas. n- SIXTH: Ice adds to the destruc- tiveness of the ordinary spring flood he on some Ontario rivers. Ice can be e retarded at certain points by trees s and other control means. The value of cedar and some other tough va- rieties of trees has been demonstrat- e ed in Fergus recently. We have been studying this feature lately and are e pleasantly surprised at the eonelus t --. Action should be initiated by th Ontario Government. The Dominion while probably prepared to share th cost, puts the initiative on the Pro vine. T h e municipalities canno take action outside their own boun- daries, without action by Ontario. We believe the best way is to ap- point a commission patterned after the Niagara Falls Parks Commission, or, if you will, after the Ontario Hy- dro Electric Power Commission. We believe three members would he the ideal number of commissioners, but one or two might do: Or the Grand healer Conservation Commission aright be put in charge of work throughout the province. The Water Conservancy Commis- sion (as it would probably be called in England) would need fairly wide powers. It must inquire into the causes of floods and droughts in various drainage basins. This has already been done along the Grand River, in a preliminary way. In the case of the Grand, one or more stor- age dams must be built to prevent floods at once, but there are other things to be done. The following are some of the things which can be done to prevent or control floods, and most of them also' preserve and store up water for the . hot summer season. FIRST: The building of dykes along the edges of the rivers, or le- vees, to use the Mississippi term. This has been done by the municipal- ities. Brantford has the most exten- sive system. London's dyke system proved inadequate, and the city must have to build higher ones if nothing else is done. A dyke does not lessen the flood level; it merely confines the water up to a certain point, tend- ing to make the levee higher. When the flood does go over the top, the re- sult is worse than ever. Dykes are costly to build and do nothing to save water for summer use. SECOND: Reforestation. When the land was forested, there were no such floods as at present for reasons which have often been mentioned on this page. It, is obviously impossible to reforest all the land draining in- to the rivers, or even, all the land at the head waters, but there is no, doubt that certain places can be profitably planted. Th e Ontario Forestry Branch is doing a good work, but a Commission could be givenpower to designate areas that must be plant- ed, areas that should be planted, and so on. .. THIRD: The ;prevention of eros- ion. This curse is just beginning to be felt seriously in most, parts of of Ontario and to Ontario Schools for library purposes. In no case, how- ever, will more than six' separate pub- lications be sent to any address' at one time. Application from teachers should Show location of School Section in Townshin or otherwise.' Bulletins are NOT supplied to pu- pils free of charge, but if desired, may be obtained at is cents a copy. A. charge of 10 cents a single bul- letin and 5 cents a copy for circulars is made when forwarded to an ad- dress outside the Province of Ontario. FARMERS ions reached. SEVENTH: Such peat areas on high tablelands as the Luther and Amaranth marshes must be preserv- ed at all costs. They hold one secret of water conservation in this part of Ontario. Some body with certain powers over such peat areas is or - gently needed. Besides their value for water conservation, they are ideal wild fowl and wild animal sanctuar- ies. EIGHTH: S om•e', experiments should be'conductet .or more informa- tion gathered about the restoration of springs and artesian wells. This is one subject 011 which we cannot speak definitely. NINTH: In some cases, as 011 the Grand where immediate steps must be taken to supplymore water for drinking and sewage disposal in sum- mer, large storage dams supply the most certain and obvious solution. They provide immediate and absolute control• of both floods and low water, and do so at a lower cost than scat- tered work done by, the municipali- ties. TENTH: The Water Conservancy Commission must have the power to levy rates on the 'municipalities, or must have some other source of in- come. . SO LET'S GET STARTED That's the program we suggest. No doubt we have overlooked some things. Just as surely, some of these things are not essential on all rivers. In fact, such local_ control works as high dykes'should ba unnecessary. If this program in full, or even in part, could be put into operation at 'once, it would be the greatest single bene- fit that could be conferred on Ontario at -the present time. It would be less costly than one such flood as that which recently rushed down the Thames, or than those which fre- quently devastate the Grand, and it would remove the serious difficulties of health and sanitation that have worried the cities along the Grand in the past three years. It would pre- vent the soil erosion which will ruin some good farms within the next quarter-century, and it would help the farm water supplies. The need is urgent, It is recog- nized by every Ontario daily newspa, per we have ,read lately, and by many of the weekly papers, particu- larlyfrom the flooded areas'. It. seems 'that the Ontario i Government could not make a more popular move than to set in motion the machinery. .e, for the prevention of floods era South-western Ontario. For the seventeen weeks of 1937,. ended 29th April, 1,400,431 hogs were: graded in Canada, as compared with 1,112,708 in the corresponding weeks. of 1936.. • • • what does she sag?' No matter what "it" ,may be — the price of eggs, that other recipe for shortbread — are you sure your not -very -frequent visits with the neighbours give your wife real ,ample opportunity to "talk it all over"? Wouldn't a telephone suit her far better? - A telephone never lets you get lonely, Maybe good roads and automobiles have brought us all closer together .. , but not within a moment's speaking- distance. That's the telephone's job! NEW LOW RATES for farm telephone service are now in effect! was THOUGHTS and Things The business of living; when boiled down and all the froth skim- med off, is just a matter of thinking. Each of us is •continually thinking ideas of our own and swap- ping them for the ideas of others. If there is a famine of outside ideas we shrivel up ourselves. Children with• "nobody to play with" are unhappy and unmanageable. From thinking with our heads to doing with our hands is but a little step and then our thoughts become things. The originator of an idea is not much better off than before he originated it till he gets some one else, to absorbit and enjoy it and benefit by it. The man or woman surrounded by better thoughts and things but who pays not the slightest attention to them is not much better off than the one with "nobody to play with." The advertisements in real newspapers are thoughts—telling you about the things that other men and women have created for your use.. Read the ads. They are the voices of hundreds of thousands of looms, shops, foundries, studios, laboratories, where millions of minds are turning pleasant thoughts into worth -while things for you and your family, The Clinton NewsKecord 'Gives the News of Clinton' and Comma rity--Read`It