The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1908-11-13
CHANGE IN METHODS.
farmers See Necessity of Getting Out
of Old Ruts.


by W. D. Foster. Foreman State College Expert
ment Farm. Pullm--i. Wash.
An up-to.date farmer nowadays must
study the problems that confront him.
Consequently there must be moving
out of the old ruts, and the adoption OF
improved and new methods.
In the eastern part of Washington
the growing of wheat is an almost ex-
elusive farming industry, but | believe
the present state of affairs in this re-
spect will in the future become merely
a memory of the past. There will be
changes. The younger generation of
farmers that is growing up around us
will assuredly adopt different methods.
If l can read the signs of the times
correctly, l believe l can safely pre-
dict that the state of Washington will,
in the near future, become great dairy
state. Even now the farmer who has
few good COWS and "tends to bust
ness'' is never bankrupt. He has in his
possession a certain producer of value.
With milk and butter he can go to
market twice week, instead of once a
year, and in many respects he is free
from the annoyances that harass the
wheat-growers. But there are some
things he must attend to if he would
-ucceed.
Many people there are, indeed, who
would not make even a bare living
handling cows. To use familiar ex-
preston, "They are not built that
way" Nevertheless, it is certainly
true that no matter how the farmer is
built, the cow is built to yield value
quite material in kind.
Lack of pasturage is an objection
to dairying in many parts of eastern
Washington, of course, but where al
falfa or clover will grow this hind
rance can be overcome. And these
two valuable forage plants would grow
in many places where they are
not found at present, if the land
was properly fitted to receive the seed
On the experiment station farm we
have two fields of clover that have
given splendid returns. Both alfalfa
and clover are valuable for feeding
COWS.
Farsighted dairymen now recognize
the fact that there is better method of
feeding dairy cattle than by pasturing,
especially in regions where land is as
valuable as it is in Washington. This
is by the proper use of soiling crops,
and silos. A very Indifferent mathe-
matician can figure that one acre of
land we'll titled and seeded to some kind
of soiling crop will equal two and
one-half acres of the best kind Of pas
ture land for feeding dairy cows.
Therefore, even if one has enough land
to pasture large herd of cows, it
would be unwise to do so. Every sue
cessful dairyman wishes his cow to do
the best and yield the best return pos
sible in consideration of the amount of
feed consumed and care given. The
cow must have favorable surroundings.
She must not be permitted to roam all
day in search of food, even if requiring
only that necessary for living, aside
from the production of milk. To give
a large amount of milk at night would
be contrary to nature.
The quicker you can get the COW
"filled up,' the sooner she will lie
down and masticate her food. I ven
ture to assert that when milking time
comes, if you have the right kind of a
cow, and are the right kind of mas
ter, she will not disappoint you.
There are many different kinds Of
crops that can be grown for. soiling
purposes. Winter rye, oats, barley and
oats mixed, peas and oats, clover, and
vetch are some; of them. A few will
suffice. Care, however, must be taken
not to SOW too much at one time, with
the exception of corn. That can be
planted in abundance, because as it ap-
proaches maturity it continues to make
good feed.
We have grown at the college farm
two and one-half acres of peas and oats,
which are sown on a north slope, the
steepest, perhaps, on the farm, and from
this plot have harvested five and one
half tons of hay, in addition to having
pastured on the same plot for five
weeks small herd of the experimental
farm cattle. This is an example of
what can be grown on small tract
carefully titled.
The farmer who undertakes to man
age herd of cows under this system
must make ample provisions. One ne
cessity, of course, is good stable,
This, without elaborate surroundings,
can be built at moderate cost. It
should be planned in way which will
enable the farmer to feed ten acres of
good pasture to start off with in the
spring. His intention should be to use
this ten-acre tract for night pasture
after he has commenced to feed the
cows in the stable. He will also need
a mower and a horse rake in the field
to lessen the labor of cutting and
handling.
For the purpose of winter dairying,
no up-to-date man would be without a
silo. In this part of the state corn is
past the experimental stage. It always
natures on the college farm. The cows
are fed the year around, and do well,
always having an abundance of silage.
This process, in my opinion, largely
solves the pasture problem.
Naturally, questions arise relative to
the expense connected with the feed
ing of soiling crops. Over in Ontario,
which is without doubt a dairy coun-
try, soiling and the silo go hand in
hand. Every farmer there will tell you
that it would not be possible to keep
up the flow cf milk in his herd without
resorting to these methods. If the silo
and soiling crops are necessary in a
country where, as a rule, they have
plenty of rainfall, how much greater is
the necessity for their use in parts Of
| A. Doa4e.a Nor&L--arA ~~rl.-o ena1 :.