Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1923-04-05
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Wisconsin Proves Dairy
Cattle Farmers Profit
WISCONSIN LEARNS THAT LIVE
STOCK CONSTITUTES MAIN
STAY OF AGRICULTURE


Too often the business of farming
is looked upon as merely the cultiva-
ton of the soil for the production of
cereal crops. In Wisconsin, in earlier
years at least, these were largely mar
keted as grain More modern methods
have shown the superiority of sys-
tenn of livestock husbandry in which
crop production is only one part OF
the industry. The old system devel-
oped grain farming with its loss of
soil fertility and often unsatisfactory
returns to the producer. The more
recent system markets the crops thru
the medium of animals, thereby con-
serving the fertility Of the soil and
providing a better remuneration for
the farmer. In these times, when the
economic situation of the farmer is
relatively. trying because the postwar
deflation of prices has greatly disturb
ed the balance of exchange values be-
tween raw materials, such as the
farmer produces, and the finished
commodities of commerce, it is Of ex-
ceeding Importance that the products
of agriculture be marketed in an
orderly fashion through the most suit
able channels and in as nearly a finish
ed form as possible.
We in Wisconsin have learned that
livestock constitutes the mainstay of
our agriculture. By marketing the pro-
ducts of the soil through the medium
of our animal industry, this state has
carried through the period Of hard
times in a manner which is second to
none; and the livestock phase of our
farming has become the ideal of many
states less fortunate than ours. In the
pursuit Of this industry it has been
well established that not only is good
stock required but it is of the utmost
Importance that the animals be well
nurtured In the conversion of field
crops into animal products, feeding
methods are of prime Importance, and
in this field the Experiment Station
plays an exceedingly important role.
Modern methods have long passed
the mere feeding trials Of earlier days
which simply compared one feed with
another. More and more it is realized
that the work of the chemist and the
physiologisf must now precede the
labor of The practical feeder. The new
- nutrition, many OF
..llsh. hays come directly ffe44 the
work of this Experiment Station, have
given an entirely new concept TO the
whole field of animal feeding Farm
ers now realize the part which Vita
mines play IN the nutrit' IN of live.
stock {even though their character is
not yet known that the successful
growth Of animal life is quite as de-
pendent upon the presence Of these
hitherto unrecognized substances as
upon the producing qualities of
the feeds employed; and that success
is best attained when these growth
stimulating materials are furnished in
abundance.
For the purpose of rapid experimen
tation the chick with its early matur-
ity offers peculiar advantages. The
Importance of the succeeding studies
here reported is of special significance
in Wisconsin agriculture as poultry
is rapidly becoming an Important and
powerful adjunct to the dairy COW. In
the decade between the last and the
foregoing census, the value of poul-
try products in this state mas increas-
ed $50 per cent. In 1920 the poultry
output was over ten and three-quar-
tiers millions Of dollars. Inthe last de-
cade Wisconsin has passed both Michi-
gan and New York in toa1 poultry on
farms, Wisconsin registering nearly
eleven and one-half million fowls. In
the period of stress through which
agriculture is passing, no phase of
farming has been more stable nor
maintained better prices on the whole
than the products of the dairy and
the poultry yard. In pulling out of
the present economic situation in agrf
culture, the state of Wisconsin can do
no better than to combine the enviable
lead which she already has in dairy
ing with steady advance of other lines
of the livestock industry in a highly
diversified system of general farming.