Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1908-07-06
KALE AS A CROP
OF OREGON


crops in Oregon. When the Ore
gon booster wants to prove that Ore
gon is the best dairy state in the
Union he has to talk kale. Unless
he knows what kale will do to the
milk bucket he has not qualified as
a booster, It Is called the Thousand
headed Kale aud the botanist knows
IL as the Brassica eleracea, but 1t IL
the plain kale of four letters that
does the talking. The strange thing
is that Il has only been during the
last two or three years that 1t has
had an audience though II is nearly
80 years old In the Willamette val
ley. II has tried to talk all those
years but the people wouldn't listen
when Il sought recognition. I'VE
never heard 1t talk" they insisted,
back in Iowa and New York. Back
there cows produce milk without
kale and I guess they will have to
here" That is tradition. 1t took
80 years for kale to get an audience
in this state and live down tradi-
tion.
The dairymen of New York UNDER
stand what green succulent food
means TO the dairy COW. and they
build expensive 7ilos. buy expensive
machinery and grow fertlity-robb-
ing corn which they irrigate with
their sweat, in order that the farm
er during the long winter months
may have an excuse for milking HIS
cows. The Oregonian needs no ex-
pensive silos to remind the COW of
the good old summer time. Kalei
A thousand blessings on the Thou-
sand-headed Kalel II is making Or
egon the greate1t dairy state in the
Union.
When grown under favorable con-
ditions kale will yield 40 tons per
acre of green feed and its chief val
ne is as a soiing crop during the
fall and winter. Splendid results
are being secured by feeding kale
and vetch hay 10 dairy cows without
any grain or mill feed. DR.. Witty
combe Of the Agricultural College
says that 10 pounds OF vetch hay
and 40 pounds OF kale a day is a
practically balanced rationed for 4
dairy COW. Mr.. w. l.. Wilson OF
Banks, Oregon, says: 81 received
$207 from Il cows In the month OF
December and fed them nothing bu.
kale. turnips and vetch hay The
man who feeds chop would have 10
make S237 TO clear as much as do,
have not had speck OF mill feel
In the barn all winter" tei
Mr.. Byron Hunter of Corvallis
has. as assistant agrlculturist OF the
Bureau of Plant Industry. U. s. De-
partment OF Agriculture, made a
special study of the forage crops of
western Oregon and In Bulletin No.
81 published Jointly by the Oregon
Experiment station and the Depart
ment OF Agriculture. has the follow
ing 10 say about kale which is time-
ly:
Methods OF sowing-For fall and
winter use. kale Is usually sown in
drills on well prepared aud drained
soil as soon after the 18th OF March
as the season will permit. This
furnishes plants for transplantlng In
June aud July. The land used for
transplantlng IS well manured ana
plowed two or three times betweelS
the first of March and the first Of
June. With the land in perfect
tilth II is plowed again with a 12-
inch pillow about the first OF June
and the young kale plants dropped
into every third furrow about ga
20 feet apart. This places abolt
one plant on every square yard, The
roots CT the plants are placed where
the next furrow vores them, Leaving
the toDa uncovered. The plants that
are p,owed in during the day In this
way are rolled In the evening OF
the same day TO pack the ground.
Two or three civilizations are all that
can usually be given. for the plants
will soon touch in the row II they
do well. Any plants that fail 10
grow may be replaced by hand,
Some growers prefer to plant the
seed In hills. and when the plants
are large enough thin them to one
plant in a hill. Others put kale out
Just "a cabbage Is usually trans
planted, instead of plowlng It In.
The time of transplanting must be
determined by the size of the plants
and the condition OF the land. II