The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1900-06-08
DAIRY AND POULTRY I q,
INTERESTING CHAPTERS Fob
OUR RURAL READERS.
Hsw saccsssfal Farmers Operate This
Departments OF the F.rm-A Few
Hats - to the Care Of Live Stock
and Poultry.
Ratioua for Dairy Cows.

| Rations for Dairy Cows.
Prof. d. H. Otis OF the Kansas Ag-
ritultural College, in an address to
ths Kansas State Board Of Agriculture.
sad:
During the past two years the Kan
sas experiment station has been test
ing several combinations Of feeds, and
we have found that on pasture or with
soiing crops we can produce q pound
of butter fat at from to 8 cents per
pound. On alfalfa and Kafir-corn meal
we produced butter fat at 11.9 per
pound; with Kafir-corn meal one
third, bran one-third and ground oats
one-third, with what Kafir-corn slower
the cows would eat, we produced but
ter fat at 1913 cents per pound; with
Kafir-corn meal one-half and soy-bean
meal one-half, with all the Kafir-corn
slower the cows desired, we produced
When we were obliged to buy high
priced concentrates, such as oil-meal,
or cottonseed meal, the cost Of pro-
ducing pound of fat increased to
15, 16 and II cents per pound. In
figuring the above costs the feeds
grown on the farm were charged at the
price the farmer could realize for them
on the local market. It will be noticed
that where the above rations were pro-
duced exclusively on the farm. butter
fat was not only produced much cheap
er. but the farmer would realize two
profits on his feeds, first on growing
them, and second on feeding them to
his cows. In the ration of alfalfa and
kafir-corn meal we have two drought
resisting plants that are excellent
yielders. On good soil alfalfa will
produce from four to six and even
seven tons of hay per acre. On the
average, alfalfa contains 10.6 per cent
digestible protein, but we have found
by digestion experiments at the Kan
sas State Agricultural College that
good alfalfa hay contains Is per cent
digestible protein, or % per cent more
than bran. We have also found, after
eleven years Of experimenting, that
kafir corn on upland has averaged US
forty-six bushels per acre per annum.
while corn under the same conditions
averaged thirty-four and one-half
bushels per acre. Our highest yield
Of Kafir corn in any one year was
ninety-eight bushels per acre, while
the highest yield of corn was seventy
four bushels per acre. In drier Sec
tons of the country the difference be-
tween the two crops would be still
greater. While bushel Of Kafir corn
is not quite equal to a bushel of corn
for feeding purposes, an acre of Kafr
corn 10 worth more than acre Of corn.
For those unable to grow alfalra,
red clover is undoubtedly the next
best roughness. and contains about
two-thirds as much digestible protein
as alfalfa. This can be supplemented
by soy-beans, which contain more di-
gestible protein than oil-meal itself.
During the past season the Kansas
experiment station has grown sixty
acres of these beans, which yielded
fifteen and one-half bushels per acre.
and cost US for planting, cultivatins.
harvesting and threshfng SIS cents per
bushe!. This means that the equiva-
lent of s37 pounds of oil-meal can be
grown per acre at the rate of $1S.19
per ton. Oil-meal is now selling in
Manhattan at s2S per ton. Here is a
saving Of nearly $40 per ton to the
farmer who raises his own concen-
trated feed. In addition to this soy
beans contain twice as much fat as
oil-meal. In these. days Of fierce COM
petition we need to have it our con-
slant aim to grow all the feeds we need
right here on the farm. 1t can be
done; it is only question as to
whether we will arrange our farm and
Plan our work to bring about the de-
sired results.
Poultry Notos.
The food that fowls get has some
thing to do with the fertility Of the
eggs. It Is entirely reasonable to sup
VHNoo fha$ xno1l .>ks-- 10,