Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1895-03-21

Again. the grasses of the region are
both abundant and of the most nutrit-
ious nature. Millions of buffalos have
found support on these prairies- But
we must look farther. Practically all
plants and animals which are now
domesticated and used by men in all
countries. and in all chimes, were wild
and coarse, crude before man took them
and improved them. Natures laws do
no. change, and if crude plants could
be improved both in quality and guam
'ity in this part, the same thing can be
done now. Chance may have played q
great part in this d~elelopment in this
part, but we ought to be sufficiently
advanced at this time and age, to ar
ticipate chance, and use reason, analy-
sis, and experience at its head
Every farmer has access to the diff
erent seed catalogues which are now
SO plenty. / am surprised at the num-
Der of grasses and fodder plants which
are offered in these, and it behcoyes us
TO study these and experiment with
them for the purpose of reaping some
practical benefits from the experiments
of others Take away the largest part
of the promised results in these cata-
logues for the purpose of selling the
goods, and there is yet a good deal of
fact undertaking. Take for instance
the promise made for the newest fodder
plant said 10 have been discovered,
Sacaline, and IL only one tenth of what
is promised for it is true, we have dis
covered a mine of wealth. And this
region could bid good bye to poverty,
to mortgages, to poor dwellings, TO
cheap and old clothing, and TO all the
rzNn- ..n saA-n .-l .Ea - -
the ubiquitous croaker would be gone
forever. The advertisements claim
that from 90 to $50 IONS green fodder
car be produced from it to the acre.
Zone tenth part of this would satisfy
all of u.s. 1t is claimed hat pastures
once started Will last a long time, etc,
etc. Blue joint grass thrives here wild,
especially if the fire is kept away. May
this not be a hint given by mother
nature as 10 what kind of grass she has
prepared this country for. You know
it Is an old saying that God helps those
who help themselves" Those who
take advantage of circumstances and
conditions, and work out results. and a
truer saying never was passed through
human mouth, or penned by human
hand There are numbers OF other
grasses which are of the nature of this,
and it is our duty, If we want to reap
the benefit which is possible to reap
from the conditions present, to make
experiments and ascertain the posi-
billties around US, and make them
s~ubServient to US / advise that a
number of farmers combine. lay out a
piece Of land, procure such seeds as
they can, land l am sure that the bust
ness men in every place will financially
assist such effort) and make expert
ments to the best of the conditions
available. Take 5 acres, put il in good
shape, lay it out in half acre lots, study
and get all the information possible
regarding all kinds of grass; put in a
half acre of each, making ten varieties
Do not take in any croaker into the
partnership, you cannot afford him. he
Is too dear a luxury. Let him use your
experience after you have done the
work and learned some facts, and keep
him away from interfering with the
project. Try these ten varieties, fol-
low instructions as to how TO cultivate;
observe closely and there will be re-
suits.
/ intended to say something in regard
to pastures, but l trespassed too much
on your space the last time, and will
reserve that subject for a future issue.
In he mean time, readers of the FAR
MEB, do not forget the subject of the
dairy. If you have not made any move
towards it, do SO at once. Get together
and discuss the question honestly and
squarely; get all the information you
can and do not drop it. If any neigh
borhoods will start into d~airying ana
follow il nationally and in a businesslike
manner, these neighborhoods will
stand out co~nspicuously from all
others as prosperous in a short time.
And you who have not taken this in
dustry up will never be able to make
up for lost time.
Do not forget the corn. Put in all
that you can work properly, not one
acre more; but put in what You can.
First and foremost get good seed; keep
the field clean and well cultivated, and
you will get good pay for it. / do not
know if l shall violate the ethics of
the newspaper when l say here that l
think hat the experiences and man
ner of cultivation as practiced and ad-
vocated by Mr.. Campbell of Putney,
Brown county, strikes me as the most
rational and practical of anything yet
presented. And il behooves all to in
sestikdtc MS system anu study IL, ana
accept it if they find it agrees with
their experiences. l will also say here,
that while l write against the produc-
ton of wheat, 1 do not wish to be
understood as advising farmers to 60
out of wheat entirely. My advice
would be to put in some wheat in the
best prepared and fitted land, but in
stead of making ii a speciality, make il
a part of the farm: one of the mixed
things put in. / hear them tell of
putting in 100 acres of corn. With few
exceptions our farmers are not pre-
pared to raise such an amount, and
failure will follow such an effort.
Corn must be properly attended to, or
there are ~" results. The farmer who
puts in a little of everything is the one
who will succeed best in the end.
Eeedipp Salt IN Cows