The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1881-05-07

have been very great in most of the
Western States and Territories, owing
to negligence on the part of their own
ers to provide food and shelter, and the
animals which do survive must neces
sarily come out in spring in very pool
and weak condition, and require extra
care and a generous supply of food in
order to restore health and put flesh on
their bones. Perhaps the coming sea-
son will be so favorable to the growth
OF the native and introduced grasses
that no extra effort will be required in
the production of food for stock, but
as it seldom happens that the farmer OF
stockman has surplus of food, it may
not De time wasted to make preparation
for raising an extra quaetity.
Cattle frequently suffer for food
during the months of August and Sep
TENDER, especially if dr5ughts occur,
and as matter of safety Preparations
should be made for making up any de-
Gciency likely to occur. If the crop
raised for feeding in summer is not re-
CURED 1t Is an easy matter to cure it and
lay it aside for winter use. If those
farmers and stockmen who are now so
bitterly lamenting the scarcity of fodder
had sown some of the annual grasses
last summer or spring and cured them
for winter use they would now have no
cause of complaint. What has occurred
may occur again, and we shall probably
have long summer droughts and severe
winters in the. future as in the past,
and as no one can tell in advance the
date OF their coming, the only safe plan
IS to be always prepared for them when
they do come. The stockmen on the
plains could have had an abundance of
fodder gathered for their animals, and
shelters prepared for their protection
from cold, but they neglected these
precautionary measures, trusting to
luck, and it has turned against them.
1t is not their first loss and in all prob
ability will Lot be their last, any more
than a short supply of fodder among
Eastern farmers is anything new, or
likely to be an unknown condition of
affairs in the future.
But the severe droughts of last sum-
mer and the severity of the present
winter ought to serve as lesson to all
owners of live stock and make them
more diligent in the raising OF fodder
plants of all kinds. Their safety is in
what are usually termed the annual for
age plants, as many of these thrive in
seasons and on soils where the perennial
kinds utterly fail. We would not of
course, advise any man to neglect his
and pastures, but in addition
put In few extra acres of drill corn,
millet or sorghum, to be fed out during
The late summer months If needed, or to
be cut and cured for feeding in winter.
An acre of corn sown thickly in drills
will yield far more food than when
planted in hills and left to mature the
grain. The sorghums of various kinds
ire nearly if not quite equal to corn for
his purpose, while millet can usually
De relied upon for sowing little later
n the season, as it comes forward rap
dly during the hot weather, yielding |
heavily. and, if cut early and well-cured |
making a fair quality of hay.
The sorghums are allexcellent fodder
'lants, but the large seeded varieties. |
which have recently been disseminated |
lnder the names of rice corn and PAM
'as rice, are probably better adapted
o dry soils than the smaller sorts;
nut the farmer can scarcely tail |
0 produce valuable forage from any
4 them, If they are sown at the
roper season and in moderately rich |
oils. One acre in sorghums will yield
i've to ten times as much fodder as the
anne area in the ordinary perennial
'rasses, and while the fodder produced
nay not be worth as much per ton, il is,
0 use a common Western phrase.
very filing" and great way ahead
I a straw stack or nothing.
The farmer should take this fodder
uestion into consideration the coming
pring while laying out his plans for
ne summer, and reserve piece of land
on the farm for these annual
,rage plants. If he has no field that
an be spared then he should use all the
mall patches here and there about the
lrm for this purpose, putting in some
arly and others late. In fact, anv plot
ground that can be spared or plowed
p, even as late as the first of July, NAV
sown with corn, and il the season is
all favorable, . good heavy growth
Ia usually be secured before the first
osts Of autumn. Corn will usually
,me forward more rapidly than the
illets or sorghums when sown late, or
dry weather. as the grain is larger;
there is more substance
ON which to produce . young plant.
18th the hundreds of excellent forage
ants in cultivation. and our cheap and
CHI lands and favorable climate, It is "a
sgrace to the owners of stock of all
nds that an animal should ever want
suffer for food at any time or season of
g year. 1t is not at all necessary that
oder should all be consumed during
9 year in which it is put'up, or in the
lowing. for well-cured hay may be kept
good condition for several years; and
is is another good reason for laying |
} supply when it is abundant for
ne of need. We hope every farmer
III think of this during the coming
ason and not neglect any opportunity
at may offer for Increasing his stock !
n NJ