The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1907-03-08
FRIDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 8, 1907.
HE MAKES DATRYING PAY.
Mr.. Charles A. Councilman Gives
His Experience.
FEEDS HOMEGROWN RATION.

Mr.. Charles A. Councilman, Of Worth
ington Valley, Baltimore county, whose
article on alfalfa for Maryland, published
in The Sun of February l l, attracted wide
attention, has some decided views on dairy
farming
Zone of The Sun S readers he said,
"has written me the following pointed in
quiry:
BALTIMORE, February l5,'1907.
Mr. Chas. A. Councilman, GIyndon, Md
Dear Sir-I reside in city and own farm
in your county. The land is good and the
farm fairly we'll stocked. | have herd of
JERSEY COWS and employ an overseer and two
additional hands. | sell milk to the city, and
after paying my laborers' wages and paying
my feed bill, | do not get an old dollar Tor
new one. | have lost two of my best COWS
this winter. | feel discouraged and must
either change my system or rent my farm.
What financial benefit have you derived IN
feeding your cows alfalfa and corn and COW
pea ensilage? | will thank you to give me
your experience. | am, yours respectfully,
1.-THE above letter. continued Mr.
Councilman, expresses want felt on
many of the dairy farms Of Maryland. In
stead of a personal answer, it has been
deemed best to answer this communication
in the columns Of The Sun by giving my
personal experience, as | have found much
pleasure and profit in working out the
plans here outlined.
"In my stable have 80 Guernsey and
Guernsey grade COWS that we milk and sell
the product to Baltimore dairy. To this
herd of COWS we feed homegrown ration
consisting of corn and cowpea ensilage and
so much alfalfa hay as they will eat, during
the winter months. In the summer months
we run the herd on bluegrass pasture and
cut them wagonload Of green alfalfa and
feed them twice day, in the stable, with
this green forage plant.
,"Now the alfalfa furnishes the animal
with the protein in the heterogeneous end OF
the cows rations and saves 81, 500 year,
which we paid in the first year Of the milk
business for concentrated foods in the shape
of cottonseed meal, gluten meal and bran.
By such policy [ secured an immunity
from the Mill Trust, in growing all the
cows rations on the farm.
II have conducted many feeding exper
iments with my cows, which have enabled
me to arrive at correct conclusions.
director Patterson, Of the Maryland
Experiment Station, obtained about the
same results on feeding experiment with
homegrown. ration, as compared with one
composed of the concentrated foods, but
not so pronounced as mine, not having so
many COWS in the test as we had
Sin the early years of my milk business,
when cottonseed meal sold from SIS to $50
a ton, the best gluten at from S1l to 81
a ton and bran as low as SO Il ton, and
with cheaper labor than can now be OBJ
tanned, milk was selling at about the same
price it is bringing today. Soon after this
the Mill Trust was formed, and today it is
selling these byproducts at $50 ton for
cottonseed meal, 5000 for best gluten
and $40 a ton for bran. | soon found out
that unless | could grow my protein to
balance my COW ration | would have to
quit the milk business
''This conclusion led to series of ex-
periments First | grew large crop Of
early Russian sunfower seed. | knew that
Denmark was importing 500, 900 tons OF
sunfower seedcake from Russia each year
and that the Danes are among the best
dairymen in Europe.
"Well, | grew the sunhower seed at the
rate of 100 bushels to the acre, and when
| first fed the cows a ration of equal parts
of sunfower seed, barley and corn ground
together they ate the ration with avidlty
and increased largely in the milk yield, In
the course of month or six weeks they
refused this feed, and | found on investi
cation that the oil in the seed had turned
rancid, and as | could not grind and press
the oil out of the seed, like the Russians
on the Volga do, [ abandoned their culture
and had to take a great deal of good ma
tured chatting from the old farmers about
being "a disciple of the late Oscar Wilde.
81 next tried the SOFA japanese cow
pea, and while it furnished the necessary
protein | could not get a yield Of more
than l5 bushels to the acre, and although
one of the legumes and a great improver
of land it did not make large enough
yield of seed to justify its culture. 1t does,
however, when sown broadcast, make the
best hay of the cowpea family.
"When [ realized the failure of my ex-
periments I moralized over my misfortune
in the language of Cardinal Wolsey
Farewell, long farewell, to all my greatness,
This is the state of man; today he puts forth
The tender leaves of Hope; tomorrow bios
And bears his blushing honors thick upon
him;
The third day comes a frost-a killing frost
And when he thinks, good, easy man, full
surely
His greatness is a ripening-nips his root,
And then he falls as l do. | have ventured
Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders,
This many summers, in Sea of Glory;
But far beyond my depth; my high blown
pride
At length broke under me and now has left
Weary and old with service, to the mercy
Ut a rude stream that must forever hide me.
CATER thinking Wolsey' troubles over,
concluded that if he had been in touch
with ex-Gov. Frank Brown, Farmer Brown
would have tried some other policy.
''The first alfalfa ever grown in our
State was brought from Europe by the
Popplein family, who had country place
on what is now Madison avenue, north of
North avenue. They had small field of
this plant and they called it lucern 1t
afforded them food for tha;p cous and
horses and it was then commented upon as
yielding large amount of hay.
"My next experiment to find protein
that could raise on my farm was made
with alfalfa or lucern. 1 purchased five
bushels of the seed that was grown in the
Great Salt Valley in the State of Utah. l
plowed, rolled and narrowed dosn to a
fine bed in the month of April, 10 acres
of land--a good fat yield that had in