Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1907-10-31
HOLD ON To LIVE STOCK,

HOLD ON To LIVE STOCK.
Mr.. J. G. Durre]l. prominent
Otter Tail County farmer, gives the
ab owe advice in an article published
in the Fergus Fall Free Press, which
reads as follows: - ra*-n
Just as we are all rejoicing over
the change in farming methods that
is bringing prosperity to the doors of
our people, an enemy in the disguise
of ''high prices for grain and feed"
is about to do US more harm than
good. Many of our farm ers are talk
ing about the prices being SO high
that they cannot afford to feed their
stock and are about to dispose of
them. History repeats itself often.
l remember that in 1894, in Iowa,
we had drought that cut crops of
every kind short. Prices of grain
and feed went soaring. The un-
thinking decided to dispose of their
stock. An unseemly panic took
place. I knew of one man who sold
seven COWS for thirty-fve dollars,
and ten and twelve dollars was a
good average price.
There were lots of calves killed as
not being worth the cost of their
feed.
The only silver lining to this cloud
of foolishness was that where men
sold for a song there were others
that bought at the same price.
What was the result? The men who
took advantage of the low prices and
bought, took extra pains to fix warm
places for their cattle so that they
could be kept with the minimum Of
feed. They sent to Minnesota for
bran and mill feed. By using every
bit of rough feed they could their
stock was wintered. And in the
spring stock of all kinds was unusally
high. The man who sold his COWS
for five dollars could not buy them
back for less than thirtyfive.
A gentleman told me the other day
that feed was so high that he could
not afford to fatten his hogs but in
tended to turn them out and
roughen them through and fatten
them with next years feed. He is
making a great mistake. Better kill
them and be done with it. 1t takes
from fifty to sixty per cent of feed to
support life and keep his hogs
through. How much saner to add
the other forty or fifty per cent and
fatten them for the market. Hogs
are high now and I believe that
there is a good profit in feeding
good shoats even at the prices that
feed brings. Certainly it will not
pay to keep stock or hogs day when
you are not looking ahead to the
near time when thev shall go into
the hand of the packer. Sows kept
for brooding purposes can be kept
through very cheaply and each
should look forward to good lot of
April pigs which call soon make a
good living OF swill and the clover
that will be growing in June.
A. H. Dennison. who is one Of
your wholesome farmers that it does
one good to meet, who is farming
extensively on the flats near Fox
home, and who has raised very
meager crop of oats and little else
this year. has 100 head of hogs. He
is one of the few who knows exactly
what it costs to keep them. In tht
lot is 48 shoats that at six month:
and ten days old averaged l67 lbs
Their Iced had cost to date 264 anC
they were worth on the market al
that time S425. He had been feed
ing on macaroni wheat anC
midlings. The high prices have no
made him lose his nerve. He say
, he will 20 ahead just the same a
though grain was drug on tn
market.
We should all do the same. Thos
cattle aid hogs will be in deman'
next spring when clover is knee hig]
and begging to be eaten and we Cal
then discern the wise farmer VIII
has wintered his stock through an
it is dollars to doughnuts that n
will have the best bank account.
J. G.. Durrell.