The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-03-15
DAIRY MEETING
AT STATE FARM

dairy meeting at the DeS4usSure
state farm. near Hagood. was well
attended. there being present be-
tween thirty and forty farmers Of
that section Of the county. The
meeting was held in the farm Su
perintcndent's residence, the sitting
room and dining room being
thrown together TO accommodate
the crowd. There. seated around
n comfortable fire. the farmers of
Hagood and Rembert section heard
one phase of the ".how- to beat the
boil wecvil" problem discussed BY
experts OF the United States depart
lncnt Of agriculture and Clemson
College and the international Har-
vester Company.
Mr.. G.. SchmollIe, who is in
charge Of the dairy extension work
Of :his district. opened the meet
ing with q general discussion Of
the dairying industry and the pos
sibilities OF that line Of work in this
section. His talk was along prac-
teal lines entirely. He particular
ly stressed the fact that this section
had incompatible advantages over
what is now considered the dairy
section Of the northwest and mid
die west in climate. ability to pro-
duce pasturage and feed stuff and
proximity to the greatest consunl-
ing markets of the United States,
all of which tended to make dairy
ing here more profitable than in
other sections, even though the
products are sold for the same
prices. The investment in barns
and other buildings need not be as
great as those OF the northwestern
dairymen, the climate permits all
the year round pasturage, the soil
and climate affords q greater va
riety Of COW food, and the differ
ence in freights alone will repre-
sent 4 profit on the products, ii The
business grows beyond the capac-
ity Of the local markets TO absorb
the output. But for years to
come, unless there is an unprece-
dented development of the dairy
ing industry, the home market will
! take the output of the creamer-
; les Of the state. Another fact that
he stressed is that to make dairy
ing profitable the cows must be
used first of all as the market for
the pastlrage, the legumes and
grains grown on the farm. No
dairynan can produce butterfat at
a profit if the feed dealer is his
source OF supply for COW food. He
asked il the farmers did not think
that they could compete with the
northwestern dairymen in produc-
ing butterfat, if they grew their
own velvet beans and cotton seed
meal. which the northwestern
dariymen have 10 buy in the south
; and ship Il thousand miles? Mr.
Schmolke also discussed the type
or cows that should be kept and
the care and attention. that they
Should receive. The most import
ant item is TO have cows. that pay
for their feed and a little more
There are many herds. that contain
q large percentage Of cows that do
not pay their own board and eat
up in addition all the profit that
the productive cows Earn. The
dairpman must know which cows
are producing a profit and which
are not There must be no guess
work, the milk must be weighed
and tested for butter fat, and then
the non-profit producing cows must
be weeded out IN developing a
! herd. il is important that a bull OF
an established butter producing
strain be secured and then the Sc
lection OF producers must be close
ly attended TO-. for all the calves
from a good bull will not be but
ter producers-some Of them will
throw back to. their scrub maternal
ancestors. He also touched on sep
aration Of cream and shipment to
creameries, the utilization of the
skim milk as hog and poultry
food.
Following Mr.. Sehmolke, pas
lures and pasture grasses were
discussed by Mr.. Jeffords Of the
; department of agriculture. He
spoke of the ordinary forage crops
now grown in this section, and the
/; native and we'll established grasses.
For certain types of land in this
section he stated that, Carpet grass
alone or in combination with les
pedeZa is superior TO all others,
for The reason that it has q longer
growing season than bermuda and
will stand closer grazing and main
lain 4 larger number 'of cattle to
the acre. He also advised that
pasturage should be supplemented
With ensifage in the winter
months, and made the positive
statement that a silo is one OF the
most profitable investments that a
dairyman could make.
Mr.. Abbott, OF Columbia. state
representative of the International
Harvester company, gave Il general
talk on farming in the south under
boil weevil conditions, and gave
from his experience and observa-
ton in other states the story Of
the Development Of dairying as q
profitable industry in place Of
cotton. He made q plain prac-
teal talk that applied to present
local conditions and illustrated the
often made statement that the
southern farmer can make a living