The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-01-12

hothlnS. There are some cattle that
you could never fatten. Many farmers
90 not know what a perfect finish is,
but bear in mind that the better the
finish the better the price.
Delegate-Are not better results to be
had from putting cattle in shed with
a dry straw stack during the winter.
IMAM keeping them in a close barn?
My experience has been that cattle
which are kept in a shed all winter
with a small yard enclosure with a.
straw stack. in which they can stay
shut out from the wind do better than
those which are kept in a barn with a
temperature Of about 70 and then are
taken out into the yard with the Their
mcmeter 20 below zero.
Prof. Shaw-Yes; 1 think that Is
preferable. but many farmers think
that cattle do well in a yard surround
ed with straw stacks, thus shutting
out the wind. without any shelter.
Cattle must be kept dry and away
from the wind. The colder the weather
the more the cattle eat and the more
nesh they take on. 1 would recon-
mend corn for fattening cattle in the
winter. They are always comfortable
when full of corn as their blood Is
heated, and are able to stand the
weather better. Don't forget when I
say shed for cattle is the best thing
for their protection in winter time, I
do not mean brick barns or any thing
of that sort
Gen. Mark D. Flower made a short
TALK. Gen. Flower said: "Our cattle
are all shipped to other states. Who
ever heard Of Minnesota going outside
to buy cattle. Last year we received
at South st. Paul 900 head of. cat
tie, of which 10000 were range cattle.
one would naturally infer that they
were all breeders, but over 80 900 of
them were feeders to be shipped to
other states. Most of them went to
farms in Southern Minnesota, and
were made ready for the market on
other farms than those upon which
farmer wants to go more into stock
raising, that is, prepare the thin cattle
winch are shipped in large numbers
to distant points to be fattened for
beer. An officer of the Union stock
yards at Chicago, suggested to me that
one-fifth Of the cattle shipped into
Chicago came from st. Paul We can
see from this that we are in a stock
raising country. If the farmer would
Iatten his two and three-year-olds for
beef and not sell his calf before they
are worth anything, it would result
In much benefit to the farmer What
we want is that the farmer of Mime
sofa Will get all he can out of his cat
tie. Cattle should be fattened on the
farm where they were raised, to reach
the best results"
There was more discussion on Prof.
ShaWs paper. Prof. Shaw answered
the questions of the delegates and gave
some interesting data on experiments
at the agricultural farm, along this
line, and to the best means Of gettins
more out of cattle raised in Mime
sofa. He thought the common stock
were always preferable, if sired by pure
blood, they could make more money
in this way than by breeding dairy
stock and even fancy stock.
TAME GRASS PASTURES.
c. D. Gilfllian spoke next on Tame
Grass Pastures" He said, in part:
The subject OF pasturage is the most i'm
portant feature in diversified agriculture.
me farmer with a cultivated crop, must
struggle to get something for himself, after
can get trife. for the use Of his property
and fer his labor expended. With that part
OF the farm which is in pasturage, the out
principally profit Not much trouble is
experienced, nor money expended, after the
land is once set in grass. The meadow is
II there be none. the farmer has recourse to
straw and corn fodder, the latter being the
surest and most prolific of all the grasses
When l. commenced to opan up q farm. in
my present locality, in Redwood county Ia
this state, had experience enough In farm
Ing on large scale, to know that the rule
exlseng IN most other lines CT business that
the greater amount done, the less per centage
the cost-did net apply to agricultural work
The more labor done, the greater the per-
centage OF cost This led me to the con-
ciuslon, that L must put considerable por-
ton of my capital so thst it would produce
something without the addition of much labor
Sc. the plan adopted, was: To endeavor to get
the greater part of 1000 acres into pasture
Inc land was SINH ar to that found in a great
portion of the state; it was composed Of a
foot or two of back soil, underlaid with
swsnnpy spots. The native grasses were of
the ordinary prairie varieties; as fast as
these were fed down, so that the earth ap-
peared, the bare spots were sown with bIus
grass and timothy, also with little ais Ike
and other clover, where it was wet Ths
timothy made cutie a showing next year but
blue grass made much of an appearance
In this way l got about 1900 acres into
good pastu5age. l thought, however. that
about 7GO additional acres, and sowed a crop
of wheat, seeding also with timothy and blue
grass. A part of this land l seeded with a
second crop of wheat, and the frs. year after
seeding, 1 had a good stand of timothy; but
the blue grass made slower progress than
upon the native SGD.
The farmer. however. who has his land in
manured and in good filth and with the
care exercised as herein related, Will Sue
ceed and will find that his pasture viii nay
him large percentage of profit, with less
care and anxiety than any other part of his
farm.
My experience with clovers fer rasturaee
has not been favorable. They are transient
in their character and cattle do rot eat them
with the same relish as they do the blue
grass or timothy. So far as my exep i
ments have gone, believe that blue grass Is
the king of all pasture grasses.
A discussion ensued after Mr.. Gilfl-
liam had finished his remarks. Col
Liggett said that blue grass was one
Of the best pastures for cattle that he
knew Of He had received letters from
farmers who had pastured their stock
on blue grass, and they had all said
that their cattle had fattened upon it,
There seemed to be a particular life
giving quality in the grass. He thought
If a farmer shifted his herds from
one pasture to another, having the lots
forced off, the pastures could be fed
all summer.
A delegate said that from his knowl-
edge he thought blue grass could be
grown most anywhere That it grew
especially we'll in the Red River valley
He thought 100 acres for sixty head of
cattle about right, if they were not
fed on the same spot at all times
D. r. McGnnis also added his testi-
mony to the usefulness of blue grass to
the stock raiser. He said when he was
a young man he was for some time en-
gagged in the stock business in Illinois
He had turned his cattle into pasture
Of blue grass and kept them there all
summer, and at the end of the season
his herd was fat, and the blue grass
had made money for him. He thought
1t required less cultivation than any
Of the tame grasses, and was most nu-
tritious for feeders.