American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1918-03-05

Iut HnoHlhu iniaAleH III one ntlv aNu lh
another they were mixed with corn.
Tho thistle silage came out rather
dark In color. but the cattle ate il
fairly well. The mixed silage from the
other sllo came out better IN color
and quality and a relished more by
the cattle. Mr.. Guilbert concluded
that Russian thistles did not make
very good silage.
Last summer Mr.. John Shaw. stock
ton. filled his silo with Russian this
ties for the first time. lie has been
wintering about 75 head Of breeding
COWS on nothing but thistle silage and
straw. and reports these COWS are GO
ing through the winter I'm a very sat
~iafactOry condition. In fact Mr..
shaw likes thlstles sllase so well that
he viii put some IN his silO every
year. The thistles are run through
a silage cutter. as they pack much bet
ter Ina the silo lie says that no mat
ter how plentiful feed might be he
would mn one sllo with Russian this
ties. II feed was scarce he would fill
both silos with thistles.
MIR. W. Edwards. Webster, has been
feeding So head OF cattle on thistle
NlANEN anu niiAWa 0RhAN VI fhfn taA
, tie we're COWS sucking calves. These
cattle did well until the severe wealth
er In January, when they lost some
flesh.
Russian Thistle Meal
A few farmers are feeding Russian
thistle meal this winter. Mr.. Ben Bigge
OF stockton put up some thistle hay
I Last summer and in the fall bought a
. grinder attachment to his sllage cut
B ter. with this machine he has made
I thistle meal OF his hay and this has
been the sole ration fed to his stock
consisting Of II head OF cattle and sew.
s eral head OF horses. The horses have
n been fed a limited quantity Of thii
3 meal and apparently are doing well
s Mr.. Bigge says that his six mich cow
3 give as good a milk flow on this thistll
r. meal as when previously fed on al
falfa. He says there Is no waste II
feeding this way and thinks it pays L
j. grind his hay.
IS Harvesting the Thistles
l. Russian thistles are usually cut wit
.s a moving machine and raked an
X stacked while green. In this wa
"a they handle better and make a super
p LOT UMNlAAN VI nN1 nNhA' A1hR Wv
into cocks, while others prefer to us
the buck rake, putting them into lars
, en- heaps. while still others stack thei
"a in ricks. II well stacked the ha
A. keeps IN better condition.
mir. G. f.. Folkers. Wakeeney, pl
up ten large ricks of thistle hay La
"A summer by cutting with a grain hea'
err. Mr.. Folker was very much please
with this method OF putting up thi
ties. II is much faster than the NOV
Ing machine, saves at least one han
ling and keeps the hay free from dir
- On account OF the large amount
Juice in the thistles the header canvi
became quite wet. so that It was ne
cessary TO remove il at night and d
no H. out
- Methods OF Feeding
There are two general methods
os- feeding followed, one is TO allow I
stock to have free access to the hea
or stacks and the other is TO haul o
the desired feed each day and feed
racks or scatter on the ground. The
is perhaps some more waste in pc
~ hitting the cattle to run to the stacl
=. but there is not as much waste as o
would think and incidentally some
,n Dor r. saved. owing to the nature
i, the thistle hay cattle seem TO eat
~. with a little more relish when allow
nts TO run to the stacks.
ION account OF the interest in fee
ing Russian thistles among farme
In western Kansas the Fort Ha
branch experiment station in coo
GRAFTON with the agricultural cole
a., az Manhattan is planning to carry
49, q series OF feeding experiments
which Russian thistles will cons
tute an important part in the ratio
Hay put up az different stages
growth. thistle meal. meal with II
lasses and thistle silage will be fed
the rations
As Much Protein rs Alfalfa
Analysis shows that Russian tn
Ties contain practically the same p
centagc ct protein as alfalfa. but
high On srudc fiber and ash This
hay has been fed 20 an kinds of C
tile. including breeding cows. and
have heard of no losses In calves
otherwise as a result. The feed
- quito laxative and acts as "a diure
- $50 that b is not as satisfactory "a f
for inside barn feeding as outsi
The best results have been obtaiI
|. when some other feed Is included
J the ration that will counteraCt IN
actions. such as straw or beef buff
grass ia the winter months k
sas city Star.