The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1912-08-14
AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION.
Concrete SiIOS Popular In Ken
lucky.


College of Agriculture of the State
University of Kentucky, in coop
Grafton with the Dairy Division of
the U. S. Department of Agricul-
ture, has been active in promoting
the building of silos and carrying
on other dairy extension work
throughout the State.
Seven concrete silos we're built
and seven home made siTos set up,
and repairs were made in several
other cases. In addition fifteen
other silos of various types we're
set up under the direction of the
Dairy Division.
All the silos proved satisfactory
and especially valuable during the
past severe winter. Everyone who
built silo has expressed himself
as especially well pleased with it
and many intend to build additional
silos this summer. More concrete
silos are being built this season
than last and they are proving eco
nomical to build, many farmers
preferring them to the wooden
types. A 12x32 foot concrete silo
was built at Lebanon last year for
cash outlay of less than $3.50. At
Somerset a concrete silo 16x40 was
built at a total cost of $500.
1t is expected that twenty-five or
more concrete silos will have been
built by the end of this season.
About twenty of the wooden types
are being built under the super
vision of the Dairy Division and in
some cases have resulted in a saw
ing of $50 to 500 each to the
farmer. Farmers are availing
themselves of this opportunity as
is evidenced by the great number
of inquiries that are coming in all
the time.
The activity of the dairy extern
sion work has not been confined
to silo building alone, but plans
have been furnished for a number
of dairy barns. Five new barns
were built complete last year and
seven were re-planned and rebuilt,
being changed from unsanitary,
inconvenient arrangements to
clean, convenient barns. In each
case the supervisor visited the
farm and made individual plans,
using existing conditions to the
best advantage with the least ex-
penditure of money. Just now
there are five dairy barns being
built and as many more being re-
modelled. Old tobacco barns are
readily converted into practical
diaries without much expense.
The swing stanchions are gener-
ally used and concrete cutters and
hangers are installed in almost
every case. Where bedding is
readily secured concrete floors are
also used. In some cases cork
brick or creosote blocks are used
on the platform where the cows
stand. In 1911 three new milk
houses we're built and plans for
five others that are being built
now were made.
In connection with the con-
struction work, individual records
are kept of $50 cows in eight diff
erent diaries. In one dairy of 25
COWS it was found that the entire
profit was $642 in one year, the
best COW yielding only 247 pounds
of butter fat and the average be-
ing 200 pounds apiece. One COW
yielded 105 pounds of butter fat,
which was not enough to pay her
board. Another herd of eight
cows profted $547 in a year, with
the best COW yielding 332 pounds
of butter fat, the herd average be.
ing 267 pounds. One dairyman
milks and cares for sixteen cows
to get the same money that an
other milks eight cows for.
Wasteful feeding and inefficient
cows lose years of labor and thous-
ands of good grain. The dairy