The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1902-09-10
THE VIEWS OF AN EXPERT.
What Has Been Done in Development
of Dairyine and Stocking Raising.

Mr.. L. A. Ransom, who is we'll
known in the South on account Of his
conspicuous work in agricultural mat
tarS and his connection with the South
Carolina department of agriculture.
and now with the Southern Cotton Oil
Company, as District Manager, at At
lanta, Ga. in writing about the influ-
erce OF cotton seed products on the de-
vclopment of dairying in the South,
says:
About 1850. a few wealthy and en-
telpriSing Southern planters imported
soma Devon cattle from England.
These were turned loose in cane
brakes with the native scrubs and al
lowed to roam over large areas of
wooded country, picking up precari-
Gus living on the scant pasturage af-
forded by the woods freshly burned
over by the forest fires in the spring.
Although widely scattered and a few
in number the prepotency of this breed
was SO great that in many sections the
evidence of this infusion Of good blood
is still visible in the stock.
No well-to-do planter at that time
considered that he had mich COWS
enough to supply the wants of his fam
lily unleS he owned at least twenty-five
or thirty head. These droves of half
wild and half-famished animals were
located towards nightfall by the ring
ing of a bell hung around the neck of
the leader. Theyowere driven to the
cow-pen, sometimes miles from where
they were found in the woods, a spas
modic effort was made to extract milk
from them, penned up over night, and
a second attempt made upon them the
next morning. The average yield was
about one quart per COW.
The idea of increa sing this produc-
III
thought Of. This was the rule, but of
course there were notable exceptions.
People who did not own unlimited acres
Of land, and who appreciated milk
and butter, took better care of their
COWS, fed them regularly, and allowed
them to pasture during the day on
their neighbors' land. This pasturing
was more to give them proper exer-
else, and keep them healthy than to
afford them any means of subsistence.
To such an extent had the cattle in
terests of South Carolina in 1880 depre-
ciated that the repairs to the farm
fence cost more than the value of the
cattle in the State, and the probability
is that the same was equally true of
nearly all the Southern States"
Then came the mo Fence Law"
which compelled the owners to fence
the cattle instead of the crops. This
forced the farmers to own good mich
COWS, or none at all, as it became too
expensive to feed poor stock. About
this time, or perhaps a little earlier,
appeared the Jersey" on the scene, a
breed of cattle as suited to the needs
of those who were too poor to own a
COW, and too proud to milk a goat"
But this beautiful little animal soon
demonstrated that she was not a
"quitter," and, furthermore, that she
filled a long felt want" and, with
proper attention, gave rich returns on
her cost and keep, and, like the Irish
Ilan's pig that he raised in the cabin
with his children, she paid the rent
as we'll as the freight. AS compared
with the Devon, she was smaller in
statue and gave less milk, but the pro-
portion of cream to water in what she
did give, far exceeded that Of the De-
Won, the Durham, and HolSteiI, and
She promptly became the prime favor
lite Of small families and butter-mak-
ers. But she could not live without
feed, and butter could not be produced
proftably on corn meal, wheatbran, or
cowpea diet, nor could it be produced
at all on what the Jersey could pick
up in the pastures.
Nature, always lavish, but provident,
hid away coal in the earth for ages,
only to be uncovered when the world
needed it most, pointed the way to the
gold fields only when this precious
metal was absolutely required for the
worlds commerce, and covered from
sight the phosphate rock of the Caro-
linaS until improvident man had de-
stroyed the fertility Of the fields, like
wise she held back the material re-
quired to make dairying in the South
possible and profitable, until condi-
tions were favorable for it's use.
The advent of the Jersey cow Gre
ated a demand for a cheap and rich
food, which the oil mills supplied with
hullS and meal. In a list of fifty of
the leading feed materials Of the Uni
ted States the National Department Of
Agriculture ranks cotton seed meal
first, in feeding value and places the
value of cotton seed hulls for the same
purpose above the best timothy hay.
The use of these products has fully
sustained the departments reports.
and dairy farming is fast becoming an
industry of Importance, and this has
been largely the result Of the liberal
policy of the Southern Cotton Oil CO.
of the Carolinas and Georgia. which
has headquarters at Columbia, S. c.,
Atlanta, Ca, Savannah, Ga. and Char
lotte, N. c., Goldsboro, n. c., and Au-
gusta, Ga.
dairies are successfully operated, sup
plying the people with wholesome
milk and rich golden butter from cows
fed on hulls and meal. The country
mills have accomplished the same
thing for the farms and small towns.
Around the factory towns the small
mills make dairying possible, and pro-
fitable, as the demand from the opera
tives is sufficient to consume all the
milk and butter that can be produced,
and the use Of meal for fertilizing the
land which is sold reasonably by the
Southern Cotton Oil Company, has
greatly enlarged the area devoted to
truck farming Of all kinds.
Without oil mill products dairying
would be impossible in many sections
of the South. The abundance, cheap
ness and convenience Of the products
has a.eady developed the business to
an interesting extent and it is only in
it's infancy, and it's growth will in
crease rapidly each year with the
steady improvement in the grade Of
mich COWS. Oleomargarine CONT ms
about forty per cent. milk, and The
compound is q wholesome product.
The establishment of cooperative fac