The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1915-10-05
Some Things We Can Learn From the
Experience of Others.

Experience OF OTnerS.
A Fond du Lac county farmer learn
ed from a conference with one of his
neighbors where ne was making
mistake. He had too much good land
in pasture, much more per animal
than the average of the county. He
plowed up a part of that pasture and
the next year materially increased his
income
A farmer in Rock county discovered
that he was keeping too many horses
for his work. He sold two and man
aged to get his work done better and
much cheaper in 1914 than in 1913.
Another discovered that his horse
power was too weak He improved
it. Both of these farms made better
profit the second year.
The number of farmers in the state
who compare results at the close of
each year is steadily increasing. In
1913 $50 Wisconsin farmers cooperat-
ed in the farm management work of
the state The following year this
number was increased to 440 and in
1915-1916 $50 more farmers will keep
records of their business transactions
and report upon them for demonstra-
ton purposes.
In Racine county one company took
sufficient interest in the farm manage
ment work to offer cash prizes to be
distributed to the farmers of the coun-
ty who presented the best kept set of
books for the year
Making money is not all there is to
successful farming The home, it's
conveniences, it's beauties and oppor-
tunities for life; the soil and it's con-
servation to the future generations in
it's strength of vigor; the appearance
of the farm and sanitary conditions
of herd and family are all factors in
successful farming.
Farm management contests are far
reaching in their influence. w. j.
Dougan of Rock county, one of the
spansors for the movement in Wis
consin reports the county meetings
full of inspiration for not only the
contestants but for the whole county,
reaching far beyond those actually
present.
The silo experience Of Theodore
Cegelski of Oneida county is similar
to that of a very great number OF other
Wisconsin farmers. A year ago he
borrowed money to build a silo and
paid for it with the extra cream which
his cows produced as result of the
Improvement of their feed. His herd
went to pasture this spring in the very
best of condition.
So many farmers claim that their
silos have paid for themselves in one
year that there can be no doubt as to
their value. Two striking illustra-
tons bear out this fact. A farmer
near Madison CONSTRUCTED d Ii III. A
SO in. solid-wall concrete silo four
years ago. After he had had this silo
completed he heaved sigh OF salts
faction and remarked that this would
surely last a lifetime and hold all the
silage that he would ever want to
feed. But the silo fooled him. His
profits now were so much greater that
in two years he constructed another
silo of the same size. In another in
stance one of the northern counties
man was considering building a
barn But at the suggestion of his
county agent he built silo first. The
first year he carried the feed to the
cattle which were still stabbed in the
old log barn. At the end of the first
year, by using silage as a feed his
profits were enough to build his barn.
The silo prevented him from placing
plaster" on his farm which would
have been hard to remove.