The Colfax chronicle., 1904-04-23
FARMER AND PLANTER
DAIRYING IN THE SOUTH.
Constant Source of Ready
Cash Income.

The farmer of the old south detest-
ed the idea of churning-except when
done by the old black nanny or some
of the children. The farmers wife
dreaded the daily routine of churning
with its problems of "foaming milk"
white butter and cleaning pans, cans
and crooks. While making Just
enough butter for our own use" 1t is
impossible to break away from these
the farm family costs twice as much
per pound in labor and feed as does
the best creamery butter. The COWS
are often fed at loss, the milk is set
improperly, cream is not fully churned
and there is no help derived from inn
proved machinery or labor saving de-
vices. But the farmer who makes but
ter for market as a side crop or who
sells his cream to factory located 100
miles from the farm finds all of the
tiresome details lightened and simpli-
fed by the dairy inventions of our
day. The cheap hand cream separator,
improvements in setting milk, better
churns and cheap transportation have
brought about this improvement and
money has flowed in upon farmers by
SIS, $25 or $40 each month and proved
real surprise to the good man or
woman who had risked few dollars
on this new enterprise.
In a new and rapidly developing
country cattle raising is limited chiefly
to beef production because natural
feeds are cheap. Such cattle are usu-
ally crude, unfinished specimens and
fill the markets with low grade stun.
Improved blood soon appears in the
breeds of cattle and the local supplies
of feed are used to finish the cattle
grown on farms or small ranches.
These better bred cattle constitute
the class quoted as feeders. The
southwestern cattle interests have now
reached the feeding point" From this
time forward thousands of finished,
well fatted cattle will be turned of
by those farms upon which a surplus
supply of feed is found. Here lies
the greatest possible profit per acre
| and per man in cattle raising.
We should not express surprise that
| Texas and other southwestern states
have recently imported butter by the
ton from the older states. The cattle
industry here has been operated upon
a pioneer basis, known as the range
system. This has Influenced the man
ner of keeping cows, even in the older
well settled portions of these states
! The lessons taught under this old re-
gime was briefly: "The southwest Is
naturally COW country, therefore II
is useless, it is extravagant to supply
| feed for cattle or to provide for them
| with system" With the passing d
this fallacy and the increase of feed
| ing facts among farmers the farmer II
confronted by the question, Can
make money feeding dairy eows?"
II any class of cattle can be fet
profitably in country dairy cattle as
suredly can. We see the reason fol
this in the proven fact that more o
| the feed is returned to the owner wheI
fed to the milk cow than when fed t.
the beef steer. Add to this the estab
| lished fact that there is smaller vari
alton in the market price of dairy prod
ucts than meat and we discover an as
sured income based on secure market
and cheap production. The dairy farm
er has cash in hand because he foot
up" weekly or each month and know
the extent of his success or failure Il
time to change and improve upon hi
system. Unlike the farmer wh
grows a crop of corn or cotton for
year he gets his returns continual
and does not need the assistance {!
of the credit system.
The cash returns each month. tn
growth of pigs and calves fed apo
nourishing milk slops, the sale now an
then of good calf, constant increas
in the richness of his lands-these ar
sufficient arguments to keep the farme
selling cream or butter without mer
tioning the pleasures OF full suppl
to the household of all those tab
dainties and necessities that are to /
found only upon a farm where goo
milch cows are kept going IL months
the year-Texas Farm and Ranch.