The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1903-06-25

mar,.et thai no man or hog ever got
rheumatism from lying on the ground u
One farmer expressed the opinion that
hogs should have a place to "wallow"
in-mud and water, but both Prof.
Elliott and DR.. Nelson took issue with
him upon this point, contending that
the cleaner the hogs are kept the
better They should, of course, be
abundantly supplied with water, but
not to wallow in.
Dairying
The afternoon session was devoted to
the subject of dairying, to the initial
steps of the organization of a county
institute and to a short talk by DIR.
Nelson on animal diseases and their
treatment and veterinary la"s. The
talk on dairying was given by Mr..
Blanchard, of jefferson county, who is
president of the State Dairymen's
Association and has been very success
ful i'm this branch of agricultural in
dustry under conditions almost idsnti
cal with those existing in this county.
He said he could see no reason why
this county should not rank high as a
dairy county. Glover, peas and oats
are standard feeds for dairy cattle and
they can all be produced here in great
abundance. There are now many cows
in the state which are producing 400
pounds of butter year, but there are
more-a great many more, that are not
producing 12O. The former are very
profitable, the latter very Improbable
to the dairyman. The results oh
tanned depend very largely upon breed
and feed. From rate Of cost for feed
ranging as high az 1S cents per COW
per day. in the early part of his exper-
ience as a dalryman, Mr.. Blanch-
ard has reduced the daily cost for con-
centrated feeds, such as bran, chop,
etc, as low as 8 cents per cow per day,
and the chief agency in bringing about
| this great reduction has been the silo.
| "There is not silo In this county" re-
marked the editor of the ISLANDER.
ain ten years it will be dotted with
Them" said Mr.. Blanchard. In his
opinion there is no better ensllage than
that made Of clover, peas and oats.
"The notion" said he, "that clover
does not make good silage is altogether
an error. 1t comes nearest to being
perfect silage of any feed there is. Corn
silage is good for milk production,
but larger proportion of concentrated
feed is required with 1t to supply pro-
tein, the chief essential, than is neces-
sary with clover" Replying to ques-
tion as to the comparative values of
corn and clover ensilage he said: III
wouldn't swap ton of clover sllage for
ton and half Of corn silage," and he
added that "peas and oats are just as
good" and he spoke well of rye alsp.
Before he built his silo he fed thirty to
forty pounds of roots daily to each
COW.
No difficulty need be experienced in
making first-class clover ensilage if the
clover is cut early, say between the
Goth and 25th of June, and well packed,
before it dries or willis, in a properly
constructed silo, which must be abso-
lutely air tight. By cutting the first
crop of clover early second crop can
be obtained which can be made into
hay. Mr.. Blanchard's dairy herd con-
sists of Jerseys and grade Jerseys, with
thoroughbred bull at the head of the
herd.
Later in the session Prof Elliott also
talked Interestingly of silos and their
construction and strongly advocated
their Use on farms where ten or more
head of cattle are fed. He expressed
the opinion that farmers generally in
this county would find it profitable to
pay more attention to dairying than
they now do, and be remarked that
large areas of upland now more or Less
covered with underbrush and timber
of little value might be made to yield
good returns to the owners by convert
ing them into pastures.
The Evening Lecture
Quite large audience assembled in
the evening CThursday) to hear the
lecture by Prof. Elliott, illustrated by
steriopticon views of scenes in various
parts of the state-farming and forest
scenes in western Washington, great
wheat farms in eastern Washington,
the buildings and farm of the State
Agricultural College and School OF