Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1919-07-24

is usually possible to see fodder going
to waste.
No Waste in SiIage.
In feeding silage there is no waste,
while in feeding slower or hay the
waste will run from five to ten per
cent. A recent trip through a country
that at one time was considered use
less showed a pleasant surprise in the
number of fine farmsteads and in
every case the silo accompanied the
buildings A silo is usually seen in
well-kept surroundings. The farm
management contests ip Wisconsin in
Guiding several hundred farmers
showed that one of the main reasons
for this was the silo. A silo will go
long ways in helping to double the
efficiency Of the average farm.
The grand total of the nations pOul-
try production seeL0 large and it is.
But do the people have the eggs to
use that should be used? Does the
average farmer make poultry any por-
ton of supplementary enterprise dur
ing the winter?
Anyone about the average home Or
boarding house knows that the produc-
ton of eggs is far below the needs.
Only a superficial inspection Of the
average poultry flock tells the tale or
the lack of efficiency in meeting the
demand for eggs. On every hand the
all-colors- Of-the-rainbow flock that for
age at will and roost anywhere can be
found. Many fowls in Wisconsin lay
a couple of dozen of eggs, the average
not more than five dozen, while it is
not far from right to expect ten dozen.
In dairy and poultry those who are
most efficient are grading up their
stock and taking better care OF it.
There is surely a possibility of doub-
ling the efficiency of the dairy and
poultry production of Wisconsin and
there's good money in it. In doubling
the efficiency we'll come in other lines.
Hogs are a usual accompaniment OF
dairying in Wisconsin. We hate TO
touch upon the lack of efficiency with
this fine animal which is the mortgage
forage crops in the world can be
grown in Wisconsin, Yet how few
hogs grow up on forage. Hogs are
handled and usually squeal off today
all they ate yesterday. Self-feeders
would increase the efficiency in pork
production in Wisconsin, yet only
few farmers use self-feederS.
Do We Study the Market?
Markets are coming to demand GER
tain kinds of products. In the case OF
ters where many people are fed the
peeling is done by machinery. This
calls for potatoes Of average size,
smooth, and more or less round, and
sometimes of a certain variety. There
was a time when the farmer could
sell anything that was a potato. But
people are coming to realize that the
best product with little or no waste
is cheapest so from now on the eff
cheney of potato production will be
doubled by finding what the market
demands and supplying that demand.
To press this matter home a little fur
Their, at least one great hotel offers
five cents piece for potatoes that will
weigh about IL ounces and are smooth
and washed and wrapped in paper and
packed in boxes. Farms will not
double their efficiency by trying to
supply this hotel something else.
Are We Pulling Together?
Again efficiency is added where
whole communities produce the same
variety of crops or breed the same
breed of cattle Better shipping rates
and facilities are secured and adver-
Using costs less. One farmer growing
a strange crop usually has sorry time
of it,
So, again, community effort, team
work, in producing, helps to efficiency.
Everybody -his-way farming may
exc out an existence, but cooperation
tends to efficiency.
1t matters not how well the farmer
buys or produces, he must sell well.
too. There are seasons when markets
are higher. There are ways Of avoid
ing excessive charges on the way to
market. The whole business of mar
keting is next to an untouched sub
ject from the farmers standpoint. 1t
is almost certain that the efficiency Of
the farm can be doubled by farmers
taking up and studying together the
marketing process. They should give
a ready response to specialists and
associations which enter upon the
task of helping them in this respect.
In doubling the efficiency of the av-
erage Wisconsin farm credit will prove
a large factor. Other industries thrive
upon credit. Why should not the
farmer? But many times farmers
struggle along with inefficient stock
or machinery because they have no
way Of securing capital cheaply. Many
times little ready money at the right
time would improve the herd, or build
a silo, or get an efficient machine 1t
seems strange that some of the many
people from Europe who reside in Wis