The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-01-02
Cattle Feeding Experiment

Now that many farmers Tn Alabama are turning their attention to cattie raising the feeding experiment being conducted on the farm of B. M. Allen at Allenville by E. Gibbins of the state demonstration department, with the cooperation of Frank K. Curtis ot the United States department of agrlcul- ture. is of great practical interest.
 Mr. Allen is one of Birmingham's most active practitioners of law, but he is also one of the most extensive and most successful farmers in Ala bama: and because he has the largest herd of cattle-and they are high bred cattle, too-the government se- lected his farm in Marengo county for it's experiment. In two-column re- port published in the Demopolis Times recently the two experts, Mr. Gibblns and Mr. Curtis, explain their methods of experiment and present many pertinent facts.
 "There are many reasons why the southern states should raise more beef cattle than are being raised at the present time," the report says. "First, the south under the present system of farming has thousands of acres-and good ones, too-which are not being used at all. Statistics tell us that about only 40 per cent of the tillable or arabic land of the south is being used. Sixty per cent of the land is lying idle and returns to the owner not a cent of wealth. All of the lands cannot be used as cotton lands, because first there are not enough people to work the lands in any such way; and second many of these pauper acres are not suited for cultivation. In fact, many acres that are now under cotton cultivation should be turned into permanent pas- lures and grazed with live stock. No state can become wealthy when only 40 per cent of the land capital is being used"
 That is sound common sense, and the quicker the farmers realize the situation and act upon the advice now being urged, the sooner will Alabama take it's position high in the list of beef cattle states and become known far and wide as one of the wealthiest states in the union.
 The Alabama experiment station has been doing investigational work in the raising, feeding and finishing of beef cattle in various parts of the state during the past five or six years Until now most of this work-virtual- ly all of it-has been done in Sumter county. The results have been pub lished in pamphlet form by the United States government, under the title of Farmers Bulletins, Alabama Experi- ment Station, and can be obtained through the mail by those interested free of cost, merely upon application to the agricultural department al Washington.
 In 1914 the United States depart nent of animal industry, seeing the state work being done so well, with. drew from these experiments and the Alabama station is now conducting them solely in cooperation with MT Allen.
 Mr. Curtis in published statement says in part:
 The object of the winter experiments
 is to determine the best feed for in-
 1shing steers on pasture for the win
 ter markets, and to determine this Mr.
 Oibbins is feeding five lots of 12
 steers each on the various rations
 which are available to the farmers of
 this section. and by the gains made
 will be able to say which is the most
 profitable. The steers are 2-year-olds,
 the most common sized steers that are
 finished here, and have been purchased
 from local men of Hale and Marengo
 oounties. thereby making the experi-
 nent typically local.
 At the same time that the different