The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1908-03-12
AMONG MARY
LAND FARMERS.
Silage Preserved in a Stack-The
Industrious and Thrifty
0unkards.

people, set i'll the midst of a popu-
Ious, thrifty farming community.
The land is somewhat rolling,
we'll adapted to a variety of crops
and we'll farmed. Through here
in the early summer of 1865
marched the Federal battalions on
their way to the frightful carnage
at Gettysburg, the turning point
in the war and in the worlds his
tory. In front of the courthouse
where we held our institute are
two iron tablets concentrating
the march and the camping ground
where many Northern boy slept
before he lay down the next day at
Gettysburg to the sleep that knows
no waking. These things are
pregnant with suggestion to the
thoughtful, but to this generation,
thank God, they are only history!
They have hung the trumpets
on the wall and study war no
more
There is large amount of sweet
corn raised here for the canneries.
The Messrs. Striver own several
canning factories as we'll as farms.
They are feeding between seven
hundred and eight hundred steers
this winter, largely from the re-
fuse from these factories. This
they have been doing for a num-
Der of years. When the corn is
cut from the cobs the latter are
broken up by running them
through spike machine; these,
with the husks, are put in i'm
mense piles out IN the open. They
are spread in alternate layers, but
with large amount of the husks
on the outside. At first the teams
drive right on the pile, which is
made convenient to the stable.
After it gets too high a carrier is
rugged and the stuff is elevated.
All is thoroughly trodden down,
and a pile perhaps one hundred
feet long and some twenty feet
across and twenty feet high is
made. Will it not rot? One
would naturally think so. To my
surprise l found that about one
foot on the outside was entirely
rotten; inside Of that it was as free
from decay and as sweet as any
silage l ever saw. Doubtless the
large proportion of cobs lying so
compactly helps to keep it. These
men at first used silos, but they
found that the proportion Of loss
dn these large piles amounted to
less than the interest on the cost
Of the silos. When fed it is cut
down like cheese, so that there is
good admixture of cobs and
husks. These cobs, of course,
from such corn, contain a good
amount Of sugar. as we'll as a good
bit of the chit of the corn. The
cattle are fed all they will eat in
two feeds daily, the freshing be-
ginning in November.
There is no other coarse fodder
used except peavine silage, the
vines from the factories being used
and put up in the same way in
jules. This helps in some way to
balance up the ration, but the
supply of the cutter is limited. A
bunch of seventy that are being
finished for export are getting in
addition six pounds Of cottonseed
meal and four pounds of wheat
bran a day. From that amount
down to couple of pounds to
those just being started is fed. l
was told that with growthy steers
for the first two months there has
been a gain of between sixty and
seventy pounds month an
animal. After that the gain is
much less, but a more thrifty,
healthy lot of steers l have never
seen.
Through this part of the state
one finds great number Of far.
mers belonging to a sect called
Dunkards. They dc not believe
in ornament in dress; the men
wear straight-cut coats, broadbrim