Durant weekly news. (Durant, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 190?-1944, 1914-11-06
Cows for Cash Income.

MIX, and its products. butter,
cheese, etc, are the most important
sources Of food in civilized country.
No country has ever reached high
stage in agriculture, so far as we
know, without making dairying an
important industry and dairy product
an important article OF food. This
fact is emphasized by Marting, who
called attention 20 the fact that the
primitive race Of America, Africa and
Australia, who never used milk, new
er developed past the stages OF bar
barism. whereas. the primitive peo-
pie of Western Europe and Asia and
their descendants, used milk; and
according to Marting, the dairy COW
is in no small degree responsible for
the great progress made in intellect
ual development by the people of Eu-
rope and America. This fact may be
doubted by some. but for the influ-
ence of the dairy COW and the pro-
gress Of those who keep her, we have
only to compare Russia with Zen
mark, Holland with Spain and any o:
the cotton states of Wisconsin.
1t will be found that in the states
where the highest type Of farming
is developed will be identical to the
states that produce milk, butterfat,
cheese and butter in great quantities.
We have needed more cows on our
farms in the Southwest since the mar
ket has been in position to take
our dairy products at fair price.
For several years we have IA elitod
For several years we have failed 10
produce as much butter and cheese
as our people consume. But we have
never before had as great an oppor-
tunity for raising and feeding beef
and airy cattle as we have now. Our
lands have increased in value without
a corresponding increase in the fertil-
fty. The plain truth is, our fertility
has decreased because of our exten
sive system of selling our grain and
our hay crops. The cost of living
has increased; meat, milk, and eggs
and other products are high. This
gives the dairy farmer of the man
with few cows a great opportunity
for producing number of dairy pro-
ducts.
Al the cotton acreage is reduced,
wh'oh seems quite likely. why not
plant some of the reduced acreage in
grazing. hay, and fodder crops suit
able for maintaining dairy cows? The
crops will in this case be utilized ec-
onomically and no marketing of the
bulky crops will be necessary. but
the cows will convert the hay. silage.
etc, in finished products which re-
quire the minimum of expense in the
marketing but maximum in the
profits. The fertility of the farm will
be conserved in keeping the cows on
it. Instead of selling the plant food
nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash
in the feed and getting very low
price for it. it can be saved in the
manure with increased valuation and
returned to the soil.
As means OF distributing labor
dairying is especially desirable. Even
with but a few cows the hands are
given employment through the win
ter when work in the fields cannot
be done. The cotton farmer and the
one-crop farmer is greatly pressed at
certain seasons; at others they are
idle. Not so with the dairyman. he
has regular work.
The regular income is perhaps the
greatest reason why the cotton farm
er should get few COWS to produce
enough milk and butter for the home
Mr.. 0. w. Fighter. an Indiana
farmer, reports that he placed win
matured corn in concrete siIo four
Teen years ago, and emptied the bot
tom Of the silp the past July. Mr..
RICHTER says that the only, difference
he has been able to detect between
the fourteen year old silage and that
nut in recently is that tn former con-
aained q little more acl5 than the