Payette enterprise. (Payette, Canyon Co., Idaho) 1909-1935, 1917-05-31
CONSERVE THE
HAY PRODUCT
Editor Enterprise:

We have had some Biz men
come here to urge upon us the i'm
portance of conservation and eco
nomy and l presume we have all
been impressed and we all desire to
do Our Bit" and the most OF us
have done it to the extent of plant
ling a few extra potatoes. We would
| do more if we knew just what to
do / am writing this to suggest one
way to help little. We are called
upon to feed the world. That's
big job, but we can do it. We all
have some ideas of saving; here is
one of mine. I've been dickaring
around in the hay business for a
many meadows are not doing their
best Some are poorly leveled and
so do not irrigate evenly Some pla
ces are too dry and some places too
wet That cut the production, both as
to quantity and quality. Some mea-
dows have a poor stand of alfalfa
and the vacant spaces grow to weeds,
cutting both quantity and quality.
Other meadows have been in hay a
long time and the blue grass has
run the alfalfa out to some extent
SO the production is cut both as to
quality and quantity. In other of
the old meadows the alfalfa has
been winter killed so the production
is considerably reduced On the
whol2 there are few meadows in the
pink of condition this year, but l
can take you out and show you a
few meadows that will produce eight
tons of hay per acre this year. l
doubt if the average production will
be more than five tons. Now with
a prospect of SIS and maybe SO per
ton for hay this year, if the yield
could be increased three tons it
would surely amount to a big item
in this region. l suggest that this
would be a good time to break UP
some of these meadows. The price
of grain is high so there would be
no loss in the use Of the ground. |
There is time yet to pillow up some
of the worst of these meadows and
plant corn and build a silo and
preserve the feed. A properly con-
structed silo is the very best invest !
ment a farmer in this country can
make. 1t will beat Liberty Bonds, and
am not knocking Liberty Bonds
either. A farmer will better serve
his country and humanity by increas-
ing the production of his farm than |
by buying Liberty Bonds l had the !
good fortune to visit one of the
best and most prosperous dairy sec
tons in the United States this spring
and 1 learned some things about the
Silo and its use and l have time to
talk Silo with any one that is inter
ested One mighty good way to con-
serve food is to build a silo; build
it right and take good care to fill
it right and make good use of the
contents.
Grass is the most important crop
that grows. With care we can in
crease its production, on our culti-
waited land, thirty per cent. That
would mean a tidy addition to the
income of the country. Why not get
under the most important crop we
raise and boost it? You don't have
to go begging for market for it.
1t is the staplest staple there is.
With little foresight and cooper
alton, every pound of hay can be
marketed every year
If stock growers and grass grow
ers would practice the old maxim
of Live and let live" and cooper
ate for the good of both instead of
trying to skin each other this might
be the most prosperous community in
the world for there is no better
grass country Give your meadows
the careful attention you do your
and see what they will do
for you. But / am convinced that
the silo is a necessary adjunct to
The highest efficiency of the meadow.
And finally don't forget that a good
grade and an honest pack stack
IS as essential to success in the
nay business as in the fruit business.
can't make this letter any longer,
but if you are interested in the sub
iect see me. l would like to dis
,uss growing, curing and marketing
with you.
d. W. AINEY.