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Show A-FORAGE CROPS FOR ; WESTERFARMERS i A. MERRILL, Director Exfen-jion Exfen-jion Division Utah Agricultural. College. Qroson Short Line Railroad Dem-(3stration Dem-(3stration Train Lecture. (Continued from lust vet?k) The Soiling System. There are a great many people in ,i is country ' who have come to the ' inclusion that the soiling system ,ifers many advantages over pas-jrfS. pas-jrfS. I have had considerable experience ex-perience with soiling crops, and have Accrue entirely converted to the fact it there is a place in our western j.-riculture for this system of hus-Kiiidrv. hus-Kiiidrv. By "soiling" we mean growing grow-ing a constant succession of crops, cutting them and feeding to the ani-Bi5 ani-Bi5 in an inelosure. The advantages claimed for this system over pastures pastur-es are numerous. It is claimed that j. saves land; 2nd, saves fences; ;ni, saves food; 4th, results in better aqj joj ijojiuod ajout pun uoiiinuoo arm animals; 5th, a greater produc-lioa produc-lioa of "beef, milk, wool or mutton; 6th, focreaesd quality and quantity of f barnyard manure. The disadvantages ' jre that it requires increased labor. On oar small irrigated farms, how- ' ever, there is no question but that the increased profit more than compensates com-pensates for the extra labor. Mr. H. Stewart, who has had many years of experience in soiling, says that (led spent in extra labor by this system, sys-tem, is replaced ten times over in the saving of land, saving of feed and saving of manure. There is no reason rea-son why the farmer should object to the extra labor when there is found to p a profit in it. It is rarely that a car. accumulates wealth from the labor la-bor of his own hands. Some of our Western farmers have tried this system and have found that tie soiling system gives even better results here than in the Eastern section sec-tion This is due to the fact that in I the East lack of moisture may at critical times seriously retard the pow.h of plants, while here under irrigation ir-rigation moisture can be applied at J iny time desired. ' Some years ago I made an experi-Ernt experi-Ernt with the soiling system in Salt Lake county. It may seem somewhat surprising to say that the product of two acres of ground proved sufficient to maintain 12 dairy cows from the lsth of May until the 5th of October, i It should be added, however, that : titese cows ate in addition to the ; feeds suggested here, some alfalfa, i'-i each had a daily grain ration farying from four to eight pounds, j The following soiling crops were used i s:d the time of sowing is shown, I is well as the time of cutting, the iaiiy feed per cow and the average required for 12 cows : . C K ! o Q fc. - ? o 10 m 50 2 3 01 m it' a 2 s -o Z ? n n eo co StoSStrinS 02 rH 02 K! 02 02 -? I Sr 5 ! 1-1 mown d o n m ooci j WMW CO M M M tf M ( i - Jh " 4 "5 O - M T" 3 3 2 ? 9 ! irS S.ii 1 :. E E o .- u a. j n j : S2"Siio"t5 Sr35'' r to s, ; n, S'ibw i-j -2 a,5; On S 3 3 : rz,C- bH. CO, j ! aoas fe-j" i It will be seen that some of the land I f odueetl as much as two, and even ; t!iree crops. Plat A, for instance, Eon to fall rye on Sept. 10th, had e crop entirely removed by June 1. . nis plat was immediately manured, rr'gated, plowed and seeded to peas d barley. Plat B, produced three ?ri''S of alfalfa. Plat C, seeded to tjas and oats on April 1, had the crP removed by June 25, and on 'We 30, after having been manured lrid irrigated, was igain seeded to 'as and barley. These crops were jt every other morning and a rack ficlent feed to last for two days. Dry alfalfa was also always left, in the manger under the shed, and the cows ate during the season between two and three tons of hay. We believe that we have in this system solved the problem of the small farm. It has been argued in the past that for successful dairy practice, a large acreage was necessary. neces-sary. We believe that we have demonstrated dem-onstrated with this experiment that this is not essential. There can be no possible objection to using the same land over and over again during the same season if care be taken to replenish the' elements which are taken out by the crops. These cows are kept in close confinement, con-finement, the manure is carefully conserved and returned to the soil. We do not claim for this system that it is a new practice. l!epeatcd experiments have been made in other oth-er states, notably Wisconsin, on this subject, and with excellent results. We wish also to refer you to the Channel Islands, Guernsey and Jersey. Jer-sey. The Island of Jersey is 27 miles long aud four to seven miles wide. It has a population of 55,000 and has forty to fifty thousand visitors annually. an-nually. The average size of the farm is eight acres, and there are now 10,-000 10,-000 acres farmed. On this amount of farming land they are keeping approximately ap-proximately 12,500 head of Jerseys, aud 2,500 head of horses. This makes approximately 15,0i0 head of live stock supported from 10.000 acres of land, or 1 '- head to eevry acre of farm. All the cattle are soiled the year round, except the cows for milk which are tethered. These Jersey farmers are the most scientific farmers farm-ers in the world; they make enormous enor-mous profits from their land and I believe this is due largely to the soiling soil-ing system. In speaking in somewhat specific terms regarding these soiling crops, I desire to make a plea particularly for a few of them: Rye is less sensitive sen-sitive to cold than wheat and its vegetation is more rapid. It makes a vigorous growth early in the spring and by May 15 on an average farm in the West, cutting can be . under way. I would recommend that the seeding be rather heavy, at least IVi to 1 bushels per acre. Alfalfa, of course, is the king of all forage crops. There is no question as to its adaptability to our western soils. It is almost a perfectly balanced food in itself, and is an ideal crop in the soiling system. I have found, however, that, when it comes to a question of the very best soiling rations ra-tions for producing the greatest amount of milk, there is no forage crop that excels peas and oats sown together. Sow as early in the spring as the ground will permit, and begin cutting just as soon as the oats begin to head out and the peas have well grown pods. .1 have had succes-ful succes-ful experience in seeding these at the rate of 1U bushels to the acre each, drilling the oats one way and cross drilling with the peas. The peas should be put in deeper than the oats. There are some farmers in Salt Lake county who feel that peas and oats are more profitable as a forage crop than alfalfa, and since experimenting with this crop have decided that the alfalfa weevil has no terrors for them. It will be observed that when seeding seed-ing peas and oats the second seeding is made ten days after the first, simply sim-ply so that we may have the crop in right condition for feeding. If allowed allow-ed to stand too long the crop is not palatable. Corn, of course, should be sowed thick. The most convenient conveni-ent way of planting is with the grain drill so arranged as to drop a kernal every four to six inches and in rows about 18 inches apart. Barley is planted with peas in a later seeding, not because barley is any better than orUs, but simply because it thrives so much better in the dry, hot part of the season than 'does oats. There are a great many other crops that are used for soiling purposes in other sections of the country, such as winter vetch, cow peas, soja beans, etc., but these crops do not seem to thrive well under the climatic conditions condi-tions prevailing here. I do not mean to infer that dairy cattle are the only animals that can be successfully put under the soiling system. It is just as feasible to soil horses or sheep as It is cattle. I believe, be-lieve, too, that this system works as well on cheap land as on high priced lands. The system is an excellent application of the idea of "a small well tilled, etc." It is my firm conviction con-viction that nowhere in the world will a soiling system work to better advantage ad-vantage than right here in the irrigated irrigat-ed valleys of the West. |