Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1912-02-09

where the neTu OF COWS is not LOO
large, this is, / believe, the most eco
nomical system, because the feed is
always on hand. Some hay would
have to be fed to balance the ra-
ton.
The successful dairyman every
where in this North American CONT
nent is erecting silos. Land has in
creased in value so rapidly that it
would be entirely out of the question
to have enough pasture land, while
everyone admits that plenty of nice,
green pasture is the best milk pro-
Queer This gives the farmer who
owns a stumpy farm an opportunity
to keep a herd of COWS. He can have
pasture on the land that is too rough
for cultivation, and we have on the
west side of this state, where the rain
fall is much greater than on the east
side, thousands af acres that are pro-
ducing profitable supply of milk
which in the nature of the case would
9th erwise be useless.
l freely admit that we cannot grow
corn in this Pacific Northwest as prof
itably as they do in the corn states;
this, of course, is not on account of
a poorer soil, but due to climatic con-
ditions. Our nights, as you all know,
are cool and corn loves heat But
perhaps this is one of the reasons
why we have such magnificent spec
linens of mankind and womankind.
We can sleep and there is nothing so
invigorating as clean conscience
and plenty of sleep. Take, for in
stance, the feeding of the stock at the
college farm. AS | said before, we
have very little pasture. 1t has, how
yer, been the aim of Director Thatch-
er and his assistants to have silage on
hand to feed in the fall through the
winter and up to the time when peas
and oats can be grown to haul to the
barn, or practically nine months in
the year. Last year we put up 275
tons of silage and it will all be re-
quired. Notwithstanding much of
this corn was grown on land that
in the common method of farming in
the Palouse country would be sum-
mer fallowed, the necessity of silage
is so great that it would be almost
an impossibility to get along without
it.
There is another feature that in
fairness to the farmer we must not
lose sight Of and that is we can not
grow corn and fill a silo as cheaply
as they do in the corn states. We can
not produce the tonnage per acre and
the labor costs much more. There
is, however, a splendid market for
the products of the creamery in this
Pacific Northwest and | have noted
that the small farmer who has silo
and keeps herd of COWS is, general
ly speaking, a thrifty fellow, and his
farm gives one the impression that he
is doing we'll in life.
Taking one year with another, sill
age will cost $3.50 to S. per ron,
charging rent for the land and all
necessary expenses TO put it into the
silo. Even at that price it is the
cheapest feed that can be grown when
we consider the benefits that come
to farmer from the proper cultiva-
ton of a field of corn, and the profits
a dairyman will assuredly get in hav-
ing an abundance of succulent feed
for his cows.
1t would be futile for me to tell the
gentlemen assembled here how to
build silo, although it is question
frequently asked. There are many
different ways of constructing a ST.
10. Some of them are of a cheap or
der and while such structures may
deserve the name silo, it is on the
whole very much better to spend a
little more money and have a silo
that you know that when filled the
feed is not going to waste through
the use of poor material or improper
construction.
1t has fallen to my lot for many
years to be connected with the care of
livestock, here and elsewhere, and I
have proved this fact very satisfactor-
lily to myself, that even In a country
where there is an abundance of rain
fall well-filled silo is mighty fac
tor, not only in saving the pasture,
but in keeping the cows in that kind
of condition to do a profitable bus
mess, and what is good for cows Is al
so good for steers.
Not very many years ago 1t was be-
lieVed that clover would not make
profitable crop in this part of the