The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1906-05-01

the Matsqui prairie, situated between
Sumas, Wash, and Mission City, b.
c.. and crossed by the G. P. R., Seattle
branch.
Up here we have some old grain
growers and stockmen from Minneso-
ia, the Dakotas, etc., and they claim
it does not pay to keep milk cows
here. 1t takes more of tame hay to
bring the cattle through the winter
here than it did of wild hay in Da-
kota. Says one man: There is no
strength in the timothy, although it
looks fine, and the alsike clover the
cured. not a drop of rain on it," he
COWS won't eat" "My hay was well
says. I asked him what time he cut
his hay. when the clover doomed
the second time, following the ad-
vice of two farmers who have lived
in the west for army years" This sur
prised me. never heard of cutting
the clover so late. Cut when in full
bloom, and hurry up when some heads
are getting brown, is the advice 1 al
ways heard.
''No when the clover is cut early
it becomes so dusty that you can not
feed it to the animals. The same is
true with timothy" he said. "And
COWS can not be kept up in milk by
| feeding western-grOwn clover only
although it should be balanced ra-
ton. It takes much grain or meal
in addition That is what they say
all those that have tried it here"
Now, this question of the right time
to cut the grasses must be very i'm
portant to a farmers success, and,
therefore, I request you to kindly give
your opinion Is it true that the hay
out on the coast has so little feeding
value compared with eastern hay?
Is it the best way to SOW the grass
seeds in the spring together with
nursing crop of oats? Or is it better
to sow in the fall after the grain has
been cut and threshed? The oats is
inclined to lay down on new land here.
Would barley be better for nursing
crop? Or wheat? Wheat stands bet
ter, they claim.
Another advice for breaking the sod
for tame grass is: Plow the land very
shallow. say two inches deep, and burn
it when dry; then disk and seed at
once. What do you think about that?
Answer by H. L. Blanchard: Mr..
Souge does we'll when he consu1ts
his neighbors regarding the questions
mentioned in his letter Local cond1-
lions have much to do with matters
involving the best practice in farming
operations. &c. while the farmer is
getting his experience in locality
where conditions are new to him, 1t
is always the part of wisdom to first
ascertain who are the most success
full farmers about him, and then study
the practices, with view of thor
oughIy understanding the why's" and
the "wherefores." AS the writer under
stands the matter, the objective point
with Mr.. Skouge in this matter is to
substitute tame and merchantaDle
grasses for the wild and unmerchant-
able ones. To do this he, of course,
must first get rid of the wild grasses
that now cover the land. This can
only be done by killing them.
There are various ways of doing
this, but only one really successful
way that the writer knows Of VIZ.
by pairing and burning, which con-
sists of blowing the wild sod to
depth of one or two inches-one inch
is better-in such a way that the sod
thus turned over will stand on edge
as nearly as possible, until the grass
has become thoroughly dry so that
it will readily burn. BY the aid OF
a high wind such burning can often
be very successfully done without fur
Their labor than igniting the same at
the proper time. Without the vino
it would be necessary to collect the
sods in small piles and then burn,
taking the pains afterwards to dis