Barton County democrat., 1914-03-06
FATTENED SHEEP ON sILAeE.
Pawnee County Stockman Ends It Is
A Paying Business.

Larned Tiller and Toiler-
A. L. Stockwell shipped the first
carload Of his sheep to the Kansas
City market Tuesday Of this week.
The shipment was part of 1000 head
which he has been wintering.
He has been feeding the she p on
silage. They were finicky about eat.
ing the silage at first, but Mr.. Stock
we'll says that after they got a taste
of it they cleaned it up like 1t was
green pasture. When he opened his
big 25O-tOn silo early in the winter
he brought a fruit jar Of the silage
to town and favored the writer with
a sniff of It. 1t smelled plenty good
enough 10 a human to eat, and it Is
not surprising that the sheep consid-
cred it a delicacy compared to dry
feed. Mr.. Stockwell believes the 81
10 and sweet clover, combined with
more diversified farming and more
attention to dairying and similar lines
will be the solution of agriculture in
this section. He Is an enthusiastic
convert to the virtues of sweet clov-
er, especially as a crop for waste
land not suited to alfalfa.
Two years ago Mr.. Stockwell SOW
ed Z acres to sweet clover. After
pasturing it until harvest last year,
it was as high as a horse when it
was cut. He bound it and the bun
dies were as big as wheat shocks.
He expects to put out 100 acres of
sweet clover and rs acres of alfalfa
early this spring. He will drill it in,
and expects to commence about the
first of March if the weather per-
mits. He says that the understand
ing that it is necessary to wait until
after frost to SOW, is a mistake, and
that the seed can lay out all winter
without injury to its fertility.
Mr.. Stockwell is also decidedly in
favor of the cement silo over any of
the several other forms. He says
there are now 81 silos in Pawnee
county, Of which 9 are of cement.
The cement silos have a total ca
pacity of 2,750 tons-about equal to
the capacity of the remaining %.
These 9 cement silos, 4 filled in a
good feed year, hold more, in feed
value, than the total crop raised in
Pawnee county last year. AS 1t was
not a silo in the county was filled
last fall, so far as can be learned.
Mr.. Stockwell was able to put only
about so tons in his 25O-ton silo.
Cement silos are best because they
retain the moisture in the silage bet
ter than any other form, Mr.. Stock.
well says. Three inches from the
! top the contents of a cement sibo is
as good as at the bottom.
Mr.. Stockwell, Roy Boisseau, H.
L. Brooks and John Lewis are the
owners of a cooperative silo company
Heretofore they have had the forms
for but one size, 16 It,, but this year
they intend to add a 12foot form and
expect to do a regular business build
ing silos for other farmers. Abe
Beales, who before coming here had
several years experience with a s;lO
contractor at Manhattan, superintends
all their work.
A 16[oot silo 80 feet high will hold
250 tons Of feed, while a 12-foot, 40
feet high holds about 100 tons. Wal
lace Libbey's siIo, the largest in the
county, is 2Ox6O and holds 500 tons.
/ H. N. HaIloway and C. A. Scherzer
both have the $50 or declaration ST.
los. Their experience sustains the
claim that the cost Of these wood
silos is about one dollar a ton. The
cement silos with reinforced concrete
roofs and floors, cost only 81 ton.
Mr.. Stockwell says that the wood silo
is as good as the cement for only
one season and there is no question
but that the cement form Is the best
and cheapest as a permanent i'm
iprovement for a farm. 20
The wheat pasture this winter has
been fine, and most farmers with
stock have already realized a. fair
crop from their wheat even though
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