Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-11-24
DAIRY DEVELOPMENT.

DAIRY DEVELOPMENT.
THE people around Yorkville have
a great opportunity, II they only knew
1t. They have the opportunity to gel
on the ground floor in a business
which will be the whole thing in this
section within the next ten years, am
IL they would have the cream of II
(literally or figuratively, either way
you want to take it,) all they have &c
do Is reach out their hands"
| Mr.. .McClain Of the dairy division
of the agricultural departments live.
stock bureau, was the speaker. He
and Mr.. Mason. Of the same depart
ment, had spent the day investigating
] the progress Of dairy development ir
this section, and they were in the edl'
torial office Of The Enquirer wher
Mr.. McClain delivered as quoted.
NO" Mr.. McClain went on. "the
department does not want to create
the impression that all any man has
to do to get rich Is to buy a few cows
and commence coming money. The
department knows a great deal more
than that. In fact, 1t knows that jus1
everybody Is not suited to the dairy
business, and 1t does not want to see
any and everybody go into it. This 1!
because the department does not de-
sire to be the means Of persuadtng In
competent and unsuited people to fail
ure. but Of this one thing l can speak
with conviction. You have as fine
country for dairying as there is In the
United States, and up to this Time
none of you South Carolina people
have reached a point where you are
able to realize more than SO per cent
of the legitimate profits Of the busi.
Iness.
What 1 mean by getting in on the
ground floor Is just this Dairying !:
la new business here. You are only
about to start; but from what l see
| 1t is evident that you have people
who are capable Of making 1t go
AS they blaze the way. others VIII tt
sure to follow. Then the reputation
of the community will soon become
advertised. far and wide, and wher
people of other localities begin tC
follow suit, as they surely will, they
will naturally come to you for heller
calves of the kind that have demons
ltrated themselves to be money-mak'
ers. I am not prophesying, nor am
painting fancy pictures. IT ma:
worked that way in different state!
| in the west, and history has repeated
from the conclusion"
You people down here have heart
a good deal about alfalfa out In Kan
sas, Missouri and other western states
/ You have been told how a farmer
only has to seed his land to alfalfa
get good start and cut and sell a
500 a ton. That Is all correct; bu
let me tell you so. They have haC
alfalfa in the west for a long time
About ten years ago the hay was st
common that it went begging at );
a ton. The price got so low tha
farmers began thinking Of the pool
house. Some plowed up their fields
and began casting about for othel
crops from which they could get
living About that time some Of thu
most far-sighted of the sufferers be-
gan to figure that 1t might be worth
while to try convert their alfalfa hay
into milk and butter and sell the ha!
In that shape. They appealed to TIT
agricultural department and repre-
sentatives of the dairy division wen
and gave them information abou
cows-how to select how to care FOL
and how to feed them-and that i!
why alfalfa is now worth $40 or more
a ton.
| There had been nothing like thu
progress in dairying in some Of tht
alfalfa districts Of the west ten years
ago as Is to be seen here now. Yot
are years and years ahead Of wha
they were. AS to whether you vii
be able to produce alfalfa like those
people out west / cannot say GER
Itainly: but / would not be at all sur
prised. The probability is that yor
can. In what / have said, however
I am not banking on anything Of thai
kind. l see the time when your people
will be feeding ensilage, costing $1.5(
ton, where you are now feeding cot
ton seed hulls, costing Sc or 50 ton
The ensilage is not only cheaper bu
of the more progressive farmers gel
silos started and show what 1t Is worth
l am quite sure that others will fol-
low, and the difference will be no.
ticeable almost Immediately.
lone thing 1 hope to see soon Is
the introduction Of some first-class
herd bulls. There Is no other one
thing that could have better effect
| in the development of the industry
As to the breed makes little differ
ence. One recognized dairy breed Is
as good as another. Experts quarrel
over the subject, some standing for
one breed and others for another, but
the consensus of opinion is that this
quarreling is senseless. There Is one
thing on which all agree. and that Is
that whatever breed community may
select there should be no mixing
Mixed thOroughbreds don't give good
results. Three or four fine bulls dis
tributed around within few miles OF
Yorkville would make a tremendous
difference in the milk cattle Of this
lneighborhood within very few years
and that difference would be all for
the better.
while | feel that some of the
dairymen Of this. section have begun
to make money, / cannot say that
have seen anything approaching what
could be done. l have not noticed
what seems to me like a proper ap-
probation of the business end Of 1t.
When you go into dairying for profit.
you do not want to feed a single COW
that does not pay for her feed. You
want to ration each and every COW,
weigh her milk, see how many pounds
of butter fat she yields and give her
credit for exactly what she Is doing.
If she Is not paying her board and
a little over, let her go-beef her.
But here l find people feeding cows
that don't pay along with those that
do pay. That will not do"
While Messrs. McClain and Mason
were at Mr.. ]. T. Crawford's they
made arrangements with Mr.. Craw-
ford whereby Mr.. Mason Is to have
virtual supervision Of the herd. He
Is to give instructions as to how the
cows are to be managed, and Mr..
Crawford Is to see that those instruc-
tiOns are carried out. Both Mr.. Ma
son and Mr.. McClain declare that II
they cannot begin to show very de-
cided improvement within the next
few months they will be willing to
acknowledge themselves only as big
takers that are no good for practical
purposes
LOCAL lACONlCS.