Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-08-08

crops sometimes III rainy seasons or iroin
its not being broken t. tn, rpqusit; hrn!
ness. The Intelligent farmer. by close or
scrvation ofthe habits and appe.ites, likes
AMI Iii 'iiies of plants, can iecd them with
as much certainty as he can feed an an
itnil. Ana he may analyzr hi, soil, and
know what it is wanting in, and what
will supply the want, and not work blind
ly and mechanically i'm the dark.
Then the question, before us individu-
ally is, what Is tnc formation of our soil,
that we may know how to begin to i'm
prove. or may say save it, from loss in the
mannerl have before stated. In order that
| may be better understood, | Will tell
you the experience OF an old pioneer, who
settled near olympia, as he related To me.
lie said When first piowed and plant
ed. the crops grew tall and good. The
next year they were not so 20 ii. the
next Il little shorter, the next still shorter,
until at last SO short l could not gather it,
50 short and few were the stalks. Tnen |
began to realize that ] had completely,
lost my Land. believe me, sir, Siid he. II
sail washed down, gone below. solo tor
what could get, and determined To try
another locality and hereafter, will ca
anime my land and see what | have. l
cannot say that our farms Will meet tie
same fate but do believe that II we do not
rest our soil from annual plowingitwillg 20
up by evaporation Then what Is our rem
ei,? We must either by thorough cultiva-
| ton of root crops. or by dairying (Which
| plan have concluded To- give trlan
abolish the old methods of grain raising.
Exclusive grain raising has been, and Is
the banc OF our county, which we must
pay dearly for. if not carefully considered,
| and taken in time.
Dairy and mixed farming are the most
profitable branches of agriculture, one
of which l have made my careful study
| tor the past two years. l have been at
considerable expense in establishing
| first class cheese factory, by securing an
experienced man to take charge of it, in
order that we might make the best cheese
and if possible make the enterprise sue
cess. This would enables us to give rest
to our over-worked lands, and bring us a
revenue from them and new lands which
| have not been entirely cleared, but cap
able ofprOducing good rich grass. Wheth-
er we shall succeed in inducing sutti-
cient number of our n-ghbors t. encour-
age the enterprise sufficiently to retain a
tirst-class manager yet remains to Dt
I seen. The extreme dry Summer has
been unfavorahle. and has caused some t.
be f artul, as to their ability to make II
profitable. / am perfectly satisiieG, M
/ things considered We had many disad-
vantages in beginning. We were unac-
| customed to selected and managing COWS,
and we had but little chance for selection,
| as good milk COWS We're few. The only
alternative was to select young heifers and
train them for the dairy, which some did;
vet that was discouraging to new begin
| ners. Those who have patrOniZed us are
willing to continue but there are not,
enough to Justify y good cheese maker to
! remain. But am yet in hopes that we
, wilt receive the wanting encouragement,
Lewis County, is in all respects, equal
and in some respects superior, to Her
kiner county, New York, the banne:
cheese county otthn United States. Both
| have plenty of pnre running water, and
the soil OF each ranges from the NOUN
ttin sides to the richest of bottom lands
The severe Winters "f lIerkimer county
necesstate about double the amount of
fodder the mild winters of Lewis require
Our market is better than theirs. Then
how are we to utilize these advantages :?
| Dy surviving failures and successes of
Herkimer county. Formerly each dairy
farmer, in Herkimer. made his own
cheese, consequently the qualities in the
| market were about as numerous, as were
tho brands of the makers. = father and
sons near each other put the milk OF their
| dairit together to he made into cheese
and from this originated the factory PLAN
| The immediate results were, uniformly
good quality and prices, and great say
farmers family. As many as two or
three hundred cows are desired to each
factory, though many use the milk ofthree
times that number. AS to the quality of
proud, IRON the fact that it IS selling in
the markets, from three to five cents above
other cheese, which has heretofore, been
considered very good. Being strangers in
the markets, this certainly is encourage
ing; Unfortunately cheese has ruled low,
and cautious This uneasiness is often
| shown by some dairyman, when products
are more remunerative than now, in old
dairy countries. They are wont to change
| from cow to sheep, from sheep to beef,
then back to the dairy again, remaining
only long enough in one branch to INCUR
the expense, and not reach the profits.
There is not any specially in agriculture.
which can he tested in two or three years
Experience is large factor in any BUSH
ness. One dairylIian will make more pro-
fit, from his herd, with butter at 20 cents,
than another at 80. The increase of pro-
ducts per COW, from selection and man
sSemenb in VIII make ak the differ
after, year. without learning the individu-
know which one pays, or which one runs
him behind; thinking that q, cow is a
A wise. dairyman knows that each COW
has character of her own. and that char
acter determines her value. A COW is Of
ten given better name than she deserves
because she yields q large mess Of milk
yield through the season is less than an
other cow that gives two-thirds as much
per day. at the best, but holds out two
months longer. All these facts must be
determined by tests of each COW there
should be standard, below which no COW
| should be retained. This should not be
the highest, but rather an average, as
may be easily reached with good feed and
care. This standard will then be the low
est in the herd. This standard should
not be fixed below 1900 lbs of milk per
year, but it often will reach 6,O0O lbs or
more, and with unreasonable care, s, 600 lbs
can be easily reached per COW. The av-
erage product realized in the State of New
selection of these cows may DO easily
made by weighing the milk one day in
each week Now whist cows are low
tho time is most favorable for selecting,
and wedding out all that you think would
not come up to the standard have given.
shall now leave tho subject of dairy
ing, perhaps already tiresome to you, and
talk Tor few moments about our horses.
For the past year the expectation of horses
from the United States to Great Britain
has acquired very considerable dimen-
siOns. With only two exceptions, all the
lines of steamers leaving for the British
Isles, are accustomed to carry over week.
ly shipments, averaging so head, while on
| all the vessels of the two largest lines,
| there are atohloa pauApiallv arra nuod tn