Imperial Valley press., 1914-07-11
DAIRYING IS BETTER
THAN GOLD MINING
Try Charles Cristadorol

(by On2rleS NElStadulVj
The dairy COW is the most useful,
the most productive, the most valuable
animal on this earth The fact thar
at m auction sale few days ago a
young bull Ga fine bred, not a scrub
GnimaD brought $4,000 in cold cash
unde., the hammer, goes somewhat II
prove what dairying means with pure
bred cows.
/ am going to quote Professor Far
rington of the College of Agriculture
of the University of Wisconsin, and
/ it will be as well to remember that
Wisconsin is today the banner dairy
state of the country, and will NJ
Goubt remain so, that is until Cali
forna takes the lead, which she short
ly is bound to do. He says:
"Dsirying does not exhaust the soil
fertility and there will always be a
good demand for milk, butter ana
cheese"
4 The dairy expert further points out
that since 1896 the dairy farms have
doubled in value per acre and the
market prices for cheese and butter
have more than doubled During the
time prices for city milk have risen
+ from 81 cents to S1.6S per 100 pounds.
Milk products of Wisconsin, he says,
have taken rapid advance every
five years between 1890 and 1910.
"Thc first step brought the value IF
milk products from $21,000,000 in
1890 to $36,0OO,OOO in 1895. In 1902
the valuation was $40,000,000; in 1905
$50 100000, and in 1910, sS0,O0O, 900"
These figures should make one in
terested in the future of Souther
California and San Diego county
especially, do some hard thinking.
Because of lack of transportation,
railroad and trolley, our back coun-
try is not ''an impossibility." l am
referring specifically to San Diego
county. Imperial Valley is also San
Diegos back country, but as she
turned out last year S5,0O0,00O worth
of dairy produce we are not worry
ing ever the Imperial Valley, especi-.
ally as she has, as it were, only start
ed into the business of dairy gold
mining, with her six to eight crops
Of alfalfa annually.
Nothing in agriculture pays so well
as intelligence dairying; let US call it
intensive dairying, or, better still, up-
to-date, brainy dairying. The keeping
of hit or miss scrub cows; using any
old lind of sire; feeding the cows
any kind Of feed, SO long as it fills
ssazs- --sss:ss,, -storlAcI-s,;; giving no hcea
to whether the cow is loser, a stand
pate. Gust making her milk returns
and food cost balance) or a producer;
taking no means to ascertain which
cows are "star boarders" and just
manure machines; disregarding every
sanitary measure and neglecting the
essential pasture of the cows COM
fort, TO aid her as a milk producer;
handling the milk with little more
care than dishwater, as to sanitary
efficicncy-all these do not come un-
der the head of intelligent dairying.
Sweet clover equals alfalfa, so it is
soid, in food value, and whilst it
will not, under a scant raiSfS..' c.
irrigation even, produce TIC volume
of alfalfa, it will grow where alfalfa
will not and cannot be made to grow.
There are sorghums, feterita, kaff;r
corn and other legumes that will grow
Gbundantly and silo perfectly, and in
sure succulent milk producing feed the
year around.
Had we an economic auto-truck
system developed through our back
country, over our superb roads, rail
roads tunneling and bridging would
not be called for.
We have dairy gold mine at our
very doors, even in our own country,
once it is settled up and the silo and
the dairy COW are in evidence coupled
with intelligent farming and dairy
methods.
A dairy, properly conducted, is bet
ter than gold mine. We should have
hundreds of them scattered through
the back country. Dairy development
Is what San Diego needs.
UoW fn Two nnu