Macon beacon., 1905-12-09
FARMER AND PLANTER.
GROWING FEEDING STUFFS.
All ROughnge For Feeding Live
Stock should lie Produced On
the Feeders Farm.

RQnomy in raising live stock de-
aTNss;he production Of all trough
ness or roughage materials on the
farm BY roughness, or roughage Of
course, you understand bulky food,
like hay, grass, clover, stover, etc. 1t
is possible to purchase all roughage.
and yet make financial success of
growing farm animals, but this GER
talnly Is not the surest way to succeed.
Every farm should raise all its feed
stuff. In deciding what forage and
grain crops to grow We should decide
upon:
l. The crops best suited to our soil
and climate.
2. The crops best suited to our line
of business.
3. The crops that will give us most
protein.
4. The crops that produce the most.
s, The crops that will keep our soil
in best condition.
/. Crops Best Suited to Our Soil
and Clmate.-Farm crops, as every
child of the farm knows, are not equal
ly adapted to all soils and climates.
Cotton can not be produced where the
climate is cool and the seasons short.
Timothy and blue grass are most pro-
ductive on cool, limestone soils. Cow
peas demand warm, dry soils. But in
spite Of climate limitations, nature has
been generous in the wide variety of
forage she has given us.
Our aim should be to make the best
use of what we nave, to improve by
selection and care those species best
adapted to our soil and climate, and
by better methods Of growing and cur
ing to secure greatest yields at least
possible cost.
2. Crops Best Suited to Our Line
Of Busincss.-A farmer necessarily be-
comes a specialist. He gathers those
kind of live stock about him which
he likes best and which he finds most
profitable. He should, in carrying on
his business, do the same with crops.
The successful railroad manager de-
termnes by practical experience what
distances his engines and crews ought
to run a day, what coal is most eco
nomical for his engines, what schedules
best suit the needs of his road, what
trains pay him best. These and a thou
sand and one other matters are set
tied by the special needs of his road.
Ought the man who wants to make
his farm pay be less prudent and less
far sighted? Ought he not to know his
farm as the railroad manager knows
his road? Should not his past failures
and past triumphs decide his future?
If he be a dairy farmer, ought he not
by practical tests to settle for himself
not only what crops are most at home
on his land, but also what crops in his
circumstances yield him the largest re-
turns in milk and butter? If swine
raising be his business, how long ought
he to gaess what crop on his land
Yields him the greatest amount of hog
food? Should a colt be fed on one
kind of forage when the land that pro
luced that forage would produce twice
as much equally good forage of an
other kind? All these questions the
prudent farmer should answer prompt
" and in the light of wise experiments,
8. Crops That VIII Give Us Much
Protein. 1t Is the farmers business
10 grow all the grass and forage that
MS farm animals need. He ought never
10 be Obliged to purchase a bale of
forage. Moreover, he should grow
mainly those crops that are rich in
protein materials, such for example as
,owpeas. alfalfa and clover. If these
iinds of crops are produced on the
arm. there will be little need Of buy
ng cotton seed meal, corn and bran
or feeding purposes.
4. Crops That Produce the Most
We often call crop a crop without
Considering how much 1t yields This
S 4 mistake. We ought to grow, when
ne have choice of two, the one that
S best and most productive. Corn, for
Instance, yields at least twice the
of feeding material an acre
hat timothy does.
5. Crops That Will Keep Our Soil
n Best Conditional good farmer
hould always be thinking of improv'
ng his soil. He wants his land to
support him and to maintain his chill
ren after he is dead.
Since cowpeas, clover and alfalfa
i'd atmospheric nitrogen to the soil,
md at the same time are the best
eeding material, it follows that ~Aese |
rops should hold an important place |
n every system of crop rotation. BY |
r,Ner rotating, by proper terracing, |
ne by proper drainage, land may be |
nsde to retain its fertility for genera |
w. Burkett, in Progressive
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