The Colfax Chronicle

HERE AND THERE.

-Less cotton and more corn has been preached in the south for a long while. Suppose we vary the cry now to "Less cotton and more wool."—Texas Farm and Ranch.

-Vetch is being used with good success as a forage plant in many parts of the south. It should be sown in September or October, at the rate of one-half bushel of seed per acre.

-Sheep ranching may be profitably followed upon comparatively poor land, and by this means the land may be gradually made fit for cultivation. The sheep is a wonderful enricher of the soil.

-The first great step toward the improvement of our sheep is to buy pure bred rams to cross with our present stock. Farmers near the cities should select good mutton breeds, in view of the growing demand for good mutton and lamb.

-Melilotus (sweet clover) is proving a valuable forage plant, and is also one of the best renovating crops that can be grown in the south. Trials at the Mississippi agricultural college and by planters in that state have established its value beyond question.

-The wise cotton grower uses his seed at home, either by feeding or returning it to the land as a fertilizer, while the wisest uses it for both, first letting the stock get from it what benefit they may on its way back to the soil. Cotton seed fed on the open ground should be hauled out fresh each day; if it becomes damp or wet from heavy dews or rain, it moulds and begins to rot. When in that condition we have observed that sensible and well bred cattle do not eat it so readily.

-In all road-making, the first matter of importance is to secure good drainage. All attempts at permanent improvement will be futile unless this is observed at the start. From what we have seen in some of our journeyings we are afraid that some road masters do not give sufficient attention to this.

-We should have no trouble about finding a sufficient diversity of products suited to both our soil and climate. We may select with profit from a long list, which includes, corn, potatoes, peas, sorghum, goobers, hogs, better horses and cows. Every man should be able to find something to suit him.—Farm and Ranch.

-We have nothing better for a summer pasture than Bermuda grass, and those who have had experience with it no longer fear its spreading habit, as formerly. When desiring to kill it out, turn the turf just deeply enough to get under the surface layer of sod containing the jointed stems in mid-summer, during the hottest and dryest weather, then harrow repeatedly, and very little will survive. —Texas Farm and Ranch.

-Close experiments have shown that the manure, liquid and solid, from a well-fed cow is worth about ten cents a day; from a horse, seven cents; from a sheep, a cent and a half, and from a medium-sized hog, one-half cent. Figure from this basis the value of the manure produced upon an ordinarily well-stocked farm—your own, for instance—and advise us whether a man can afford to neglect this source of fertility and spend money for commercial manures.