The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1919-12-31
IT PAYS TO. CURRY HAND FED,
STEERS

3a Little Johnnie" MOmmSen, of near
\ MaquOketa, recently marketed in Chi
cago his fourth load Of handled steers
4 receiving the top of the market, $19.66
the fancy kind and were purchased by
the packers.
Mr.: Mommsen is a great believer in
the care Of his animals and says he
likes TO have them so tame that they
& will eat out @Of his hand. MOmmsen
makes cnr5ying his steers part OF
their care.
The steers which he marketed recent
" were prime Herefords, averaging
1855 pounds and were fed ration OF
crushed corn, oats, oil meal and clover
hay twice a day. AS feeders they were
bought at a price of $13.S5 from local
parties and he makesi:it a practice to
buy locally whenever he can.
Mr.. Mommsen's plan of feeding is
simple. After getting the animals home
he puts them on pasture for a few
weeks until they become accustomed
to the place. He then starts them on
light feed of crushed corn. He then
gradually works them to full feed. In
good weather he curries his cattle. He
says that the old saying that currying
the horse saves SO per cent of the feed
bill holds good with cattle too.
Feeders in his territory used to laugh
when they saw him currying the cattle,
bit when he repeatedly topped the mar
ket they began to sit up and take notice
Of his methods. "Currying, if nothing
else says Mommsen, makes the
steers gentle and quiet. This is a big
advantage, for q nervous steer does not
gain as well as one that is contented.
The cattle are a little afraid at first, but
after a few days they begin to look for
II. have taken very wild steers and
after curryingor brushing them a few
times have made them So tame that
they would eat out of my hand"
III sS-[Fl-
A COW valued a $l400 was recently
being transported over the Rock Island
to Guthrie Center. and while the, car
was standing on the track at Menlo she
gave birth to 81 calf. Kind hearted rail
way employees carried the calf into the
depot to protect 1t from the raging
storm. and after the storm was over the
cow and calf were sent on their way
none the worse for the experience.
COST OF FARMING AN IOWA
sS INDIANOLA, Dec. 2S-Two high
school boys, Kenneth Work and Cleo
Flesher, of the Indianola high school,
have figured out the cost OF production
on q So and IS acre wheat field as part
OF their school work in the vocational
educational classes in the school. The
figures are given as follows:
Kenneth Work SIS acre field of wheat,
labor spent in field between September
Esd and October 14th:
226 man hours at SOC --$ G7.8O
835 horse hours at zoe - 167. 80
SS5 equipment hours at &c 80 1910
~ bu. seed wheat at $2.O5 1852
Use Of land valued at $500 an IL
acre ------4 - --------E-------- $1,000
Taxes on landss--+- --------------- $500
Interest on money invested in y x
crop as labor and seed till Il
Is harvest Observation-Disclosures a31.68
Total cost I'll harvest time Il, 377 40
Total cost per acre to dates 23.74
Following ARE the figures of Cleo
Flesher on a s35 acre wheat field Labor
spent in the field was from October 18th
to 18th. The labor consisted of ploW-
Ing, narrowing and drilling:
SO man hours at soc ---------$ 26.70
256 horse hours at zoe ----- 712O
$50 equipment hours at &c ------s.2L36 SO.
50 thu. seed wheat at $40 .-- 1850
Use Of land valued at 1926 per
acre, 5 per cent interest ---- 39375
Taxes on land --- 29.75
Interest on money invested ins
crop till harvest time -------- 11.53,
II Total cost crop to date -----s---.Ss 1865 .oe:
Total cost per acre E--------e 1910
According to County Agent OverleY
the above figures on both fields Of
wheat do not include any upkeep of
fences, manuring or building up Of soil,
harvesting and threshing and market
ing expenses. Rolling of ground IN the
spring may add more expense. Moth
ing Is added for risk against hail,
drought, grasshoppers, hessian fly, black
rust, smut and other things that gener.
ally take their toll.
Figures on the two fields vary some
what, due to different valuations placed
on the land and the preparation of the
seed bed. In discussing this work re.
cently Mr.. aOverley said: with the high
priced land that we will have to deal
with from now on it is becoming more
ana more necessary that we give some
III sARn NfHTR fVAYY fsTYn1