THE RURAL WORLD.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 536, 25 January 1913, Page 6

THE RURAL WORLD.

FARM BOOKKEEPING. Two important points must be considered in an attempt at farm bookkeeping. What does it cost to produce farm products? By selling at market prices, what profit is made on them? "The problem of the farmer is.to meet conditions on his own farm in a way which will give him the greatest net returns for his labour and the use of his capital. He should receive interest on his capital as well as wages for his labour, but owing to the lack of proper records few farmers know what they actually receive. There is reason to believe that the majority of farmers are really living on the interest of their investments rather than on the profits of their farms." These suggestions are offered: Consider as one unit all that may be termed real estate as land, farm buildings, .fences, ditches, etc., whether the farm is rented or owned by the operator. 2. Do not consider that the farmer or his family receive anything for their labour unless they are paid in cash the same as hired labour. If there is a surplus at the end of the year, it is their compensation. In this way the aecounta will not be confused with items not strictly cash. 3. Farm products used by the household should not be credited to. the farm in the cash account along with the products sold, but should be taken care of separately.—Farmers' Review. CEMENT IN THE DAIRY. In our visits among the dairy farms, the creameries and the cheese factories, it is gratifying to note the increasing tendency to use cement and concrete construction. It doas not only show that those who employ this class of. construction have an eye to durability, efficiency and economy, but it indicates a permanency attached to the business that was less prevalent not many years ago. Then a dairy man built a shack for a barn, with dirt floor and no provision for drainage. His dairy house was a flimsy shed. He figured that this - kind of construction, unsanitary, cheap and flimsy as it was, would last him a few years, by which time be hoped to be fortunate enough to be out of the business. Have yon ever noticed that it is the class of people who thijnk like this that have to stay in it the longest whether they choose to or not? The dairyman with the right idea of economy, and who wants satisfaction and good service, goes in for cement construction. He knows that it is permanent—that it adds to the value of his property and that it wilt save him time and trouble in the years to come. Besides, he can do things with cement that can't be done with good wood. He can make a barn floor that will never wear out or leak, drains that will save him time and. trouble in the years to come and walks that will enable him and his to avoid the mud and the dirt for the rest of their lives.

And by no means the least; advantage is its cheapness. While the cement itself costs something, the sand and gravel to go with it can be secured close to almost any farm, and any farmer who can mix sand, gravel, water and cement and pound them down into forms can do concrete construction of the class required on a-farm. Some of the best construction in the form of stable floors, mangers, drains, culverts, water, troughs, silos and even ornamental gateposts, that it has been our pleasure to see, have been built by the farmers themselves. Indeed, if tnere is anything that will go further in the direction of satisfaction on a dairy farm than cement and a little work during the slack season. We wonder what it is.— The Pacific Review. CULLING OUT CULLS. Wfmust Babcock each cow regularly each month and reckon her monthly' fat prodcution on this basis: monthly milk times monthly test equals total monthly fat. Total [monthly fat times price of fat equals cash value of monthly product. With the average cost of maintenance of each cow and her actual cash return as closely as we can practically arrive at these, we have the first step taken in cull elimination. But—and it is a very big but, too —we must consider many things before being justified in condemning or retaining. If she is empty or bearing a foetus not over ■five months and is in good health'she has no excuse for her failure and should be blacklisted. I . would not depend upon breeding dates to determine foetal age and condition, but make examination per rectum. I would not consider myself much of a dairyman were I dependent upon breeding dates to determine whether a cow carried a calf. The cow long empty should be examined to determine cause of sterility and its possible «ure and cost in time and material. Is the ccw in good health? Had she placenta retention at last calving? Has she vaginitis? Is she in any way hindered or embarrassed in her work? Was she milked up too close to last calving? The eye that decides tween life and death sentence should be keen, and judgment should not be too hasty, but the cow that falls back should be studied hard for the cause and should have a very good, and amendable reason before she should be long retained. Pinch your pocketbook. I would not condemn a cow on the first month's revelation; but how long can we afford to keep a cow that falls back? COWS FOR SOCIETY OR PROFIT. We meet very many men who say they will not condemn a heifer on her first lactation period, others who will not condemn a heifer on her second period's work, and still others who do npt consider jpne;,full year's record a complete indication of the profit; of

a cow. Ob; you dairyman, when will you over pass judgment on a cow? What do yon keep cows for: Their society? Or the money they make i\.i you? The cow that runs behind one year simply adds to her future task. If she fell back £4 in 1911, she must make up her deficit before Bhe can be a profitable cow. Upon what do you base your guess? This is a mathematical problem; how do you start your problem? Should your cow fail one season, should she have another chance? ? - Should she fail two seasons, then what? What of her calves dur ing this period of probation? Did you ever hear "lfke begets like? Do yop believe it? Will you give her heifer calf two years and care in developing and two years of trial before you "condemn? If so, what of her calves? No! Most emphatically no! Such work is not culling the herd, it is just Qfirpetuatirig alike the good and tho bad: Whoever witnessed a herd suffering from too great cr too close culling? Kindly describe the symptoms and prophesy the future of that suffering herd and the afflicted owner. Who haa net witnessed . and experienced the result of too little or too slow culling? Who cannot describe the symptoms and write the result? The arrow rises no higher than it is aimed. The man makes the herd. If you are satisfied with a herd averaging 1201b3 or fat, I would gamble vou will not be afflicted with a herd average of 1801bs. When carefully collected facts prove that a cow in your herd, under fair conditions, fails to show a profit, empty her stall and stop the loss; feed hex rations to another, one that will pay for her dinner and part of yours also. Whenever I have met a man who .would give his cows another chance I've lived to see than man yearly afterward offering excuses. SOWING LUCERNE., A few years ago the Ohio Experi ment Station conducted an investigation to cumpare the difference in production between thick and thin seeding of lucerne. They sowed at the rates of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 251b of seed per' acre. It was distributed through a grass seeding attachment which dropped the seed in front and was covered by the drill holes. Lucerne seed may be sown broadcast or with a drill. The seed attachment gives better satisfaction than drilling it with the grain. It doeß not make much difference what kind of an instrument is used for sowing the seed. The point is to get the seed distributed evenly and covered about one inch deep or thereabouts. When the seed is broadcasted it may be covered with a common slant tooth harrow. Some times the seed ia sown with the inoculated soil. In such instances a fertiliser distributor is a very good implement to use. Unleaa there are reasons to believe that the soil is already inoculated, we have no hesitancy in saying that it shoulu be inoculated before it is sown to lucerne. It should also be mad.! sweet by the application of ground limestone or marl, and if these products cannot be obtained at a reasonable price, quicklime should be air-slacked and applied, for lucerne does not do well upon an acid soil.