The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1907-03-08

soon found out that
'sIt caused the contented cow to give a
pailful of creamy milk. 1t made the hens
cackle and the turkey gobble. 1t induced
the pig to squeal and grunt with satisfac-
ton 1t softens the dispositions of the
colts and hardens their bone and muscles
1t fattens lambs as no other feed, and pro-
notes a wool crop that is veritable golden
fleece Alfalfa is one of natures choicest
gifts to man. 1t is the king of the leg
umes. 1t drills for water 365 days in the
year, without any recompense from man.
1t surely brings gold into the farmer S
purse by processes more mysterious than
the alchemy Of old.
'''The farmer with an 100acre meadow
of alfalfa will have steady, enjoyable en-
ployment from May to October, for, as
soon as he has finished moving the hay at
one end of the field, it will be ready for
the mower again at the other. The cult
walton and feeding of alfalfa marks the
highest development of our modern agri
culture
at furnishes the animal with the mus
Gle former to balance the fat former in the
shape of carbo- hydrates which the Mary
land farmer is letting go to waste, because
he cannot afford to pay the Mill Trust for
protein in the shape of their by-mill pro-
ducts 1t enables the farmer to grow his
own protein and gives his immunity from
the Mill Trust to the nitrogenous end OF
the homegrown ration.
"Plant your ensilage and corn in rows
4 feet wide and Is inches apart in the
rows. Plant with every stalk of corn 3 to
6 cowpeas, of the running varieties-the
Wonderful or the Red Ripper. | prefer
the latter as it is somewhat earlier than
the Wonderful and ripens enough seed be-
fore you cut your silage for next years
planting.
''The running cowpea makes its greatest
growth in the month Of August; it being
one of the legumes it gathers its nitrogen
from the air and the corn plant robs its
host of the plantfood which it has gath
cred and appropriates enough to increase
the yield of corn from two to two and one
half barrels of corn to the acre. If you
plant the Southern Maryland white corn
for your ensilage, it will give you two to
three ears to the stalk-enough of the car
bo-hydrates to balance your alfalfa and
cowpeas.
Gas soon as your corn is too hard for
roasting ears and the cowpeas are over the
tops of the corn start to cutting with
corn harvester. Set your cutting box to
cut the corn and cowpeas ! to / length;
when cut in these lengths it packs and
keeps better. If you have a silo, when
filling keep the outer sides three to four
feet higher than the middle.
'If you are ricking the ensilage, keep
the middle three to four feet higher than
the sides of the rick. Start your rick 20
feet wide and you can add sections as your
material requires. Let the spout of the
blower deliver right along the middle of
the rick. The corn and the heavy portions
will fall in the center, and the light and
chaf'y stuff will work to the outside edges
of the rick. Tramp and pack it solidly,
build as high as you can and draw to peak
at the top.
cit has only recently been discovered
that just as good silage can be preserved
in rick as in an expensive silo. While
the loss will be somewhat greater than the
silo, it is not near so much as the old sys
TEN of cutting off your corn and husking
it and letting fodder waste and blow away.
"Messrs Shriver Bros, the extensive
Gamers of Carroll county, who are among
the largest feeders Of fattening cattle in
our State, are entitled to the credit Of this
discovery. They can largely peas and
corn, and the peavines, cornhusks and
cobs-the refuse of their packinghouse-
they run through cutter and pack in
great ricks and seem to have abandoned
silos. The English farmers, however, have
been ricking their ensilage for some years.
"Now, when you have put your corn
and cowpeas into silage and cured your
alfalfa hay, with leaves and blossoms not
wasted, feed your cows 30 to 40 pounds OF
this silage and as much alfalfa hay as they
will eat in their racks at night, and, with
plenty of clean, pure water to drink, you
may be sure that this balanced homegrown
ration will produce as much milk as the
balanced ration made out Of cornstalk,
mixed hay, ground corn, bran and cotton
seed meal. The homegrown ration has the
succulency lacking in balanced ration
made of purchased feeds.
1.-The average yearly cost of maintenance
of a COW on my farm, fed on the home
grown ration, is $40 1t will average So
a year when the COW is fed by the dry sys-
TEN and where all the concentrated foods
are purchased.
''In well-graded stable, when the night
and morning milk of each COW is weighed
and record of her performance is kept
and the poor cows eliminated, the stable
will average about 700 gallons of milk to a
cow year. The average price paid the
farmer by the city diaries, who distribute
the milk to the consumer, is about - cents
a gallon net on the farm.
eff the COWS are fed the homegrown IA
ton, your herd will make you some money
and give you plenty Of rich manure to fat
ten your fields.
II would sell that herd of Jerseys; they
are not suited for the milk business. They
are the rich man S playthings. They have
been inbred and pampered in close barns
until nearly one-third of the breed Is faint
ed with tuberculosis. [ would buy from
the range carload of shorthorn heifers
that have the dairy form--select heifers
that have never been in stable. You can
buy them in Kansas City and Chicago.
The stockholders will not buy dairy form
heifer. They are sold to Gamers, and you
can buy them at a price that represents
about $12 each on the farm. They are
Injured to cold weather and hard conditions
''Put them in feed lot without any
shelter and keep the yard well bedded.
Feed them high and give them as much
alfalfa hay and silage as they will eat, but