The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1899-04-21
GROWING PROTEIN.
Dairymen Urged to Raise What
Grain They Need.

Ua1rymen UrSeO 10 RAISE wnat
Grain They Need.
In an interesting letter to The Ma.
tional Stockman F. A. Converse of
New Ycsk expresses the belief that
more than half the money put into
grain for our dairy cows can be and
should be saved by raising the grain on
the farm A farmer with silo never
needs to buy any cornmeal, as his feed
already has enough starch. What is
wanted, then, is some feeds to take the
place of the bran, gluten, middlings, etc.
What, then, can be raised to best take
the place of these feeds and balance up
the silage or the other coarse fodder we
may happen to have, such as mixed
hay, cornstalks and straw? The an
swer to the question, it seems to me, is
to raise oats and peas.
I have tried several ways of raising
this crop and will describe the one
most successful Our rotation Of crops
is CD clover, (2) corn for the silo (3)
potatoes, (4) oats and peas
After the potatoes are dug rye should
be sown to keep the ground covered dur
ing the winter with growing crop. AS
early as possible in the spring pillow this
rye under and fit the land thoroughly
for the oats and peas.
Mix the seed, one bushel of White
Canada peas to two bushels of oats, and
70 Of no
per acre, drilling it in rather deeply
Three bushels of seed per acre should
be used only where the land is very
fertile and we'll cultivated. After the
grain is sowed roll the field Or go over
it with 'clod crusher, " followed with
a weeder or smoothing harrow. Never
leave piece of grain just as the roller
leaves it; always "roughen' it to hold
the moisture. Go through the oats and
peas once a week with the weeder until
they get so high you must stop. This
will hasten the ripening of the grain,
keep down the weeds, especially wild
mustard, besides increasing the fertility
by cultivation.
Just as the top oat begins to turn cut
the crop with moving machine and
cure as you would hay. The advantages
of the early cutting are: The straw is
worth as much as timothy hay to feed,
the peas will not shell in moving and
raking, and the grain cut thus early
will fill out and be as plump and weigh
more pounds to the bushel than it will
if allowed to stand and mature before
harvesting The grain is cut so green
it cannot be cured cut if cut with a
binder. but with a mower it can be
treated exactly as you would treat hay
When dry, it is ready to be thrashed,
and we will get grain enough from one
acre to feed dairy COW one year. In
other words, on good land we can raise
so bushels per acre, which will weigh
1900 pounds, about the amount ordi-
narily fed to dairy COW in 10 months
or an average of six pounds per day
The analysis shows that cats and peas
have nutritive ratio Of about one to
five Of course this is more or less vari
able as the two crops mix,
On some land person can sow more
peas per acre. AS rule, would say
SOW as may peas with the oats as will
stand up and not lodge. Some years I
have mixed them half and half with
good results, but cannot depend on it.
AS basis Of grain ration for
dairy cow no grain is better or cheaper
than oats and peas. To this cream glu-
ten or cottcnseed or linseed meal can be
added in small quantities to suit the
needs of the animal fed. AS soon as
this crop Of oats and peas is taken off
seed to clover. The land will be in a
mellow, loose condition and can be fitted
with spring tooth harrow without
blowing Sow on the clover seed eight
quarts to the acre and harrow in light
ly I seeded this last year the first week
in August and have good results. I
heartily commend this plan of growing
protein to the dairymen to stop that
everlasting feed bill When a farmer
draws So worth of milk to the creamery
and draws back S. worth of grain, he
has to do lot of business to get much
money from his dairy. Let our motto
be to raise more and buy less.