Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-08-10
Importance OF Cheap : eeos.

1 In an address delivered before the
/ Wisconsin Dairymen's Association, MI.
Hill, the we'll known Guernsey breeder,
said, in substance:
mo dairy farm is fitted for sue
cessful years work without an abun1-
ant supply and a large variety of good
roughage. We are every year convinced
of the necessity of increasing the sup
ply, quality and palatability of our
rough feeds, and In no other way can
we supply the bulk of our roughage so
cheaply as by the use of the silo. II
a silage producing experiment, where
careful record Of all expenses was kept,
the results convinced me that in no
other way could roughage be produced
so cheaply. or the corn crop, which was
mature enough to cut for grain, be
taken care of so easily. Last year We
sowed soy beans with the corn and
were pleas with the results.
Without silage we should want %
quit dairying. We can feed twice as
much stock, both summer and winter,
in a small area, as we could otherwise,
and we advise any of you who ara
planning silo to make it large enough
to feed twice as much stock as you
now have, for you will at once want to
keep more cows when you find how
much you can do with the siio. You
Will not only be convinced of the value
of silage for winter feeding. but you
will learn that with plenty of siage
for summer feeding you will not need
to worry about drought and resulting
poor pastures.
AS an aid to cheap dairying, I am
convinced that we must have alfalfa.
In lieu of this we ought to have plenty
of early cut, shade cured, clover hay.
Nothing but alfalfa is as good. although
peas and oats, cut early for hay, make
a good substitute. AS for timothy hay,
it is no better than good corn fodder,
and one can raise three times as much
per acre of the latter. In some sections
beet pulp can be profitably used. Some
dairymen insist on having the roots.
but you will find very little need of
them IL you have the silage. Most of lis
will pasture our cows In summer, but
ought to have on hand in case OF
drought, soiling crops to supplement
the pasture. For this purpose nothing
is so cheap as corn silage. but even with
this, a succession of other soiling crops
will pay well. Rye. clover, peas and
oats, sorghum and corn, make good
succession.
II have often tried feeding oats as
part of my ration but never find 1t pays
unless they are worth less, ton for ton.
than bran. In those sections of the
state where peas grow we'll, they will
be found very profitable feed unless
the price Is unusually high. We find it
more profitable to sell our grain, wheat
and oats, and buy some of the feeds
that are by products of the mills. We
depend almost entirely upon bran, sup
plemented with o. p. oil meal and glu-
ten feed. We not only like the bran
as a feed, but the manure from 1t
is worth nearly twice as much as
from oats or barley and more than
twice as much as from corn. At the
prices that maintain this year, old
process oil meal is probably the
cheapest feed we can buy, but of course,
we cannot make this the entire grain
ration. Nearly all winter it has been
offered at $22 per ton. delivered any
where in Wisconsin, in car lots.
Because these are the cheapest feeds
we can buy does not prove they are the
cheapest for you. Local mills or deal
ers will often sell rye or buckwheat
middling malt sprouts or other by
prducts far below their value. Because
a feed sells for low price is no proof
it is cheap. In one locality ! nave
known farmers to pay $12 per ton for
buckwheat hulls worth no more than
straw. AS true producers we must con-
stantly study our local conditions ana
r,.ices and he governed by them in our
feeding operations