The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1875-04-08
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS TO ORR
FARMERS.
Town OF MANITowoc. J
a :

interest al article IN your issue of April
list, from the pen of I'D. E. H. giving
doleful account of the scarcity of hay
IN the town of Maple Grove, and urging
as most natural remedy, that farmers
should keep less stock; OF, lie further
suggests, that every farmer should seed
down more land, raise less grain, etc.
Now, not wishing to call in question any
OF the good suggestions given by our
brother Granger, I wish to call the at
tention of those of your readers who
follow the plow to a few statemets Of
fact
1st.-The more stock the farmer keeps
on his farm the more manure he makes.
2nd.-My observation leads me to be-
heve that there is coarse fodder enough
wasted, not only in Maple Grove, but
also in many other towns in this county,
to winter double the amount of stock
they now keep.
This wastage is made at the time Of
threshing.
When the ten horse big machine is set
up, help is scarce, all is hurry and hustle,
the farmer wants the big swarm of help
ers off his hands as soon as possible. the
10 horses, if they stay long, will make
big hole into the oat bin, and the four
threshers and ten hired helpers Will
make big hole into the flour bin, but
ter tub, sugar box, pork barrel and hen
roost.
So hurrah, boys, so ahead, is the
watchword, the nice bright wheat straw.
and the beautiful and valuable oat straw
is only tumbled out of the way,
poorly stacked, OF not stacked at al
If stacked, SO poorly sheltered that the
fall rains soak through, and that NAM
9th pile of straw from 1000 bushels Of
oats and wheat, affords hardly enough
for bedding, to say nothing of the
amount needed to feed fine stock Of
young cattle.
Ny practice is to stack the grain out,
to leave the straw barn empty, and then
to thresh my straw in, thereby saving
the labor of stacking the straw, which
requires one OF two men more, and then
all my straw and chatf are saved, both
for cutting for the stock and bedding
for both horses and cattle. IF I had
barn room enough [ would leave one
barn empty and thresh from one barn
into the other. My remedy for scarcity
of hay is cut straw with small mixture
of hay, which ii cut fine enough, makes
good feed for dry COWS, young cattle,
horses, colts, calves and sheep. Many
farmers in the county have power cut
tiers capable Of cutting 100 bushels Of
straw an hour, some claim they can
easily, with two horses, cut one ton of
hay per hour.
Many of these farmers having power
cutters are selling hay to their neigh
bors. / believe in raising stock; at the
same time believe in saving all the
straw from the coarse grains for fodder
and bedding:
The farmer who raises only hay to
sell will in few years run out his farm
The suggestion of cd. e. H. about
seeding down every year OF 10 acres
to grass, proves him not farmer or at
least not acquainted with the farmers OF
Manitowoc county, for not one farmer
out of fifty can be found who does not
every year seed down more than that
quantity. believe we have as good q
country for stock raising as even Kansas.
True, our winters are longer. but our
cattle are enough healthier to make it
all up. In summer our pastures are far
better than those In southern cline,
and If we have cool nights in summer,
we are not troubled with those swarrns
of poisonous flies which draw the LIES
blood from their cattle and horses.
Vermont and Northern New York have
been noted for more than SO years for
raising the best cattle and sheep, and if
in that cold climate men have become
wealthy by raising cattle, sheep and
horses, We need not become discouraged
in Northern Wisconsin. To raise hay
exclusively for feeding stock will not
pay, for 6months feeding of hay will eat
up the entire value of COW, calf or
steer. But by raising largely of wheat,
oats or barley, we get three values from
the land. But in raising bay to sell
we get but one.
1st-We get the cash value Of the
grain, which can III all cases, and III q
/ short time after threshing, be converted
in to cash.
2nd-We get another good value IN
the straw. Ii the same is cared for, cut
and mixed with small quantity of hay
it viii give q growth of stock, sheep or
colts nearly equal to the value Of the
grain.
3d-We get another value in the
manure gathered from the straw bed
| ding of all the stock. And this Sd yaIue
properly saved and increased will, if
judicously spread upon the farm, in tee
end prove of as much value as the grain
and growth of stock together.
To condense my suggestions in few
words, SO L may be understood, 1 re-
/ commend:
1st-Warm stabling for stock.
2nd-Put every pound Of straw under
shelter.
3d-Keep as much stock, horses, cat
tle and sheen as this straw mixed with