The Dickinson press., 1897-02-27
Like the Winter Of Ten Years Ago.
Stock Farmers.
SPR1NGvALE STOCK FARM,
Stark Co.. N, D., Feb. %, ~.

SPR1NGvALE STOCK FARM,
Stark Co., N. D., Feb. %. ~.
EDITOR PREss:-I came home from
the east week ago and find our coun-
try still lin the clutches of winter.
The temperature has not been ex.
treme. yet the long continued cold,
and and the unusual depth of snow,
with frequent high winds, has pre-
vented our customary winter grazing.
This exceptional season will undoubt-
edly cause considerable loss in our
live stock. The want of proper shell
ter and insufficient feed will be the
cause, not the climate, nor the coun-
try. We are apt to charge our mis-
haps to fixed conditions, rather than
to our personal lack of adaptation to
those conditions. This winter is but
a repetition of ten years ago and is
liable to occur again. The practical
lesson for US to study is to be always
prepared for it. Here in the
farmer settlement, which settlement
is yearly increasing, it has been
question of maintaining profitable
business of uniting stock growing
with farming, as the farms multiply
the summer range is lessened and the
supply of prairie hay is not sufficient
to reach around among so many, al.
though we find as prairie fires are
kept out the greater the yield of grass
and hay.
Now to come to our objective point:
last spring there was a series of in
stitute meetings at Taylor, at which
W ere discussed methods to meet the
requirements of our development.
and practically to further the proft;..
BILE industry, the stock farm. The
question of fodder crops was discuss.
ed, and l understand was put to ex.
pertinent by a number of our citizens;
what we want to know is whether it
has been success. My intention
was to request an early meeting of
our institute for the purpose of com.
pairing notes, but with the present un.
favorable condition of the roads a
meeting would not be practical.
Therefore / take the liberty Of CALI
ing attention to this subject through
your columns, and request the par
ties, who have made experiment in
this line to give 1t early publication,
The crop season is near at hand, and
the stock farmers should make that
farming largely tributary to their
flocks and herds.
The question what to do and how
to do it is what we want to get at.
Some advocated millet, others corn
fodder, also oat and rye hay and mil
let is a tried crop with us, when sown
early it has uniformly given fair
yield, and is excellent food for milk
cows and young stock. I have fed it
to flocks of lambs all winter with
good results. Last spring l advocat.
ed and gave special attention to rye
hay, and while my experiment has
been quite satisfactory, both in yield
and in feeding qualities. I find i;
neighbor who raised quite quantity
of it has not met with the same sue
cess. Our cattle and horses eat 1t
greedily and thrice on it, but my
neighbor claims his stock eat it spar
ingly and will leave it for straw. In
comparing sample Of his hay wit
ours. I think the difficulty is that
his is cut too green; it looks somewhat
wilted and is tough; while ours. cut
just out Of blossom or in the milk, is
full stalked and more brittle. We
have wintered lot of calves on one
daily feed of oat straw and one feed
of the rye hay, and they are all right
If others who have tried it will give
the readers of the PRESS the result Of
their experiment it will help solve
the problem of successful stock farm
ing in Stark county. I have great
faith in rye hay, and purpose growing
a larger acreage this year. Rye has
the advantage Of quick growth; s0wn
early it will be out of the way before
the dry season and other work, as il
can be gathered in June. We will
SOW bushels to an acre, ~ last yeal
was not thick enough.
With oat hay and corn fodder we
have had but little experience. I un'
derstand our friends Mr.. Cryne o1
Gladstone and Mr.. Fenpo of Taylor
can tell US something about corn fod.
der, and hope they will do so. In al
Interview yesterday with neighbor
| learned these corroborating facts o
my theory of the capabilities of thi
country for stock farming: From hal
a section of land, 100 acres under cul
tivation, he summer pastursd 4 milcl
COWS and horses, cut so loads Of hay
raised 1000 bushels of grain (whic
was under an average yield) and 2
loads Of rye hay. Is wintering Is hea
of cattle on the rye hay and oat straw
and they are in prime condition. y
course he and other farmer stockmel
have their cattle ranged out in tn
summer, on some ranch, paying $1.0|
q head for the season, May 1st t
Nov. 1st. By doing this and winter
ing at home and farming for the pul
pose, every farm Of 800 acres ca
successfully maintain herd of 100 Q
more cattle and run no risk fron
these occasional hard winters.
Very truly yours,
| T. s. UNDERH1L1
! Don't allow the lungs to be impair
ed BY the continuous irritation of