OCR Text |
Show FORAGE CROPS FOR WESTERNJFARMERS By L. A. MERRILL, Director Esten-slon Esten-slon Division Utah Agricultural College. oVegon Short J.lne Itallrosd Demonstration Dem-onstration Train. J.e.'tiir.'. (CnntlntiM Irnm lal wrk) The Boiling Systsm. There are a great many people In thin country who have roine to the conclusion that th" solllim syn'em offers many advantages over pastures. pas-tures. I have had connltlernhle ei-perlenre ei-perlenre with soiling rropn, and have become entirely converted to the fact that thero In a place In our w. alern agriculture for tbln system of husbandry, hus-bandry, liy "soiling" we mean growing grow-ing a coiinlant suecennlnn of croiw. rutting (hem and (ceding to the animate ani-mate In an Inclosure. The advantages claimed (or till syntem over panlur-age panlur-age are numerous. It is claimed that Il seven land; 2nd, anven fences; .Inl, save food; 4Ui, resulla In better eqt joj ijojiiioj otu pile uopipuo.i farm animals; tlft. a greater production produc-tion of Tieef, milk, wool or mutlon; 6th, Inrreaesd quality and quantity of harnyard manure. The disadvantages are, that It requlrea Increased labor. On our small Irrigated farms, however, how-ever, there la no question but that the Increased profit more than com-penaatea com-penaatea for the extra labor. Mr. H. Htewart, who haa had many yenrs of experience In polling, says that $1.00 spent In extra labor by thin system, sys-tem, is replaced ten times over In the saving of land, saving of feed and aavlng of manure. There la no recalls, rec-alls, why the farmer should ol.Jert tn Ihe extra labor when there Is fount! tn be a profit In IL It is rarely Hint a man accumulates wealth from the tabor ta-bor of bis own hands. Some of our Western farmers have tried this sysiem and have fniintl Hint the soiling system glvea even belter renulia here than In the Kanlern sec lion. This In dus lo the fuel Unit In the Eaat lark of ninlnlurn may nt critical tlniea serlounly retard Ine growth of plants, wlillo hern uml.-r Irrigation Ir-rigation molnlure ran be applied at any time desired. Some years ago I matlo an experiment experi-ment wilh the lolling system In Suit Luke county. It may aeem somewhat surprising lo say that the product of two aorea of ground proved sufficient to malnlnln 13 dairy cows from the 15th of May until the Gth of October. II should be added, however, that (heap cows ate In addition to the feeds suggested here, some alfalfa, and each had a dally grain ration varying from four to eight pounds. The following soiling rropn were used and the time of sowing I ahown, aa well as the time of cutting, the dally feed per cow and tho average required for 13 cows: ' a s n 'u.rJ,Q6, s 3:af,s: 3 """" 5255M-M(23 'i7 ...... t-3 4 u iii site til " sssa sua- zt s -.,V5 ss S i'U Ifll ill B ;S 3 as 3 f S u 3 2 S 3 V I ilcs'SZssg'HKi i a via-i't"jJ5M33 i . sl 1 ! j u S?3 B'l S3 ia:s'ii.:: I It will be Been Hint some of the land I produced an much an two, and even i three crops. I'lut A, for Instance, sown to full rye on Sept. linh, hud the crop entirely removed by Juno 1. This pint wan lininedlulely ninnured, Irrigated, plowed and seeded tn pent and barley. I'lut II, produced three cropa of nlfalfa. I'lut C, needed lo peas and oats on April I, had the crop removed by June 2.1, nntl on ; Juno 3n. afler having been ninnured , and Irrigated, was again seeded to j peas and barley. These crops were J cut every oilier morning and a rin k In the corral filled, there being uf- j detent fcorl ti last fnr two dnyn Dry jj alfalfa was also alwayn left In the , ntangnr under the shed, and the rows t ate during the season between two I and three tons of hay. I We believe that we have In this 1 yatcra eolved the problem of the I nmnll farm. H bus been argued In I the pant that for surcesnfiil dairy I practice, a large Brreoge wan neees- I aury. We believe that we have dem- k onntrated with thin experiment thnt f Mils in not essentlnl. I There can ?e no possible objection I to using the same Imil over and ovel I again during the same season If car I he taken to replenish the elements which nre taken 011' by the crops. Then., rows Bre kept In cloe con flnetiient. the manure In carefully (unserved and relumed In the still. We do nnt Halm for this system that It la a new pinrtl.e. Ilcpoiiicd experiments have been mailt In other oth-er stales, nolably Wisconsin, on thl subject, and with excellent result". We wish nlso to refer you to the Chnnnel Islands, (iuernsey and J.T sey. The Inland of Jern. y Is S7 miles long and four to neven miles wide. It b a popiiuitlnn of r.."..nOO and has fnrty lo fitly thou and visitors an-tiuully. an-tiuully. The average sire of the farm Is eight acres, and there nre no 10.-inn) 10.-inn) acres farmed. On this amount of farming land they are keeping ap proximately 12,;.(n) head of Jarweya, ind 2.500 head "f horses. This makes approximately M.OuO head of live ntock supported from lO.OHO acres nt 'and, or 1 V head to eevry acre of farm. All the cattle are soiled the year round, except tho cows for milk which are tethered. Theso Jersey farmers are the most scientific farmers farm-ers In Ihe world: they make enormous enor-mous profits from their land and I believe this la due largely to tho soiling soil-ing system. In speaking In somewhat speclfle terms regarding these soiling crops, I dcalre lo make a plea particularly for a few of them: llye Is less eon-slllve eon-slllve lo cold than wheat and Ita veseuillon In morn rapid. It muk"a a vlgnrnun growth early in the spring and by May 1.1 on an average farm In the West, culling can be under way. I would recommend that the needing ho rather heavy, nt l""t l'j 10 1 bunheln per acre. Alfiilfu, of course, la the king nf all forage crnpn. There is 110 question as lo Its adaptability lo our w.slern soils. It Is nlmosl a perfectly balanced food In liself, and In an itlenl crop In thn soiling system. I have found, however, that when It comes to a question of the very best tolling rations ra-tions for producing the greatest amount of milk, there la no forage crop that excels peaa and onto sown together. Sow a early In the f spring as the ground will permit, and begin cutting Just as soon as the oala begin to head out and the peaa have well grown pods. I bavo had aucces-' fill experience In seeding these at the rate of l'i bushel to the acre each, drilling the oat one way and cross drilling with the pens. The pens, should be put In deeper than the oat.! Thor are. Bom.Q term' In Silt I.akel county who Teol mat peas unu oal are more profitable as a foragn crop th.an ojfalfa, anj since experimenting with this crop havn decided that tlm alfalfa weovll lias no terror for them. It will bo observed thnt when needing need-ing peas and oats the second seeding Is made ten days after the flrnl, simply sim-ply so thnt we may have the crop In right condition for feeding. If allowed allow-ed lo aland too long the crop la not palatable. Corn, of course, should bo 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 alHiut 18 Inches apart. Hurley In planted with pens In a later seeding, not beraune barley Is any better than outs, but simply bernuao It thrives so much better In the dry, hot purl of the season than does oats. There are a great many oilier crops that aro used for soiling purposes In other sertlons of the country, such nn winter vetch, cow peas, s"Ja beann, etc., but theso cropn do not seem to ilirlvo well under the climatic conditions condi-tions prevailing here. I tin not mean to infer that dairy entile are the only animals that ran be suorosnfully put uiitler the soiling a: .1. in. It In Junt an fcatlhli. lo soil limaea or sheep nn It la entile. I believe, be-lieve, too, that thla syntem winks as well on cheap land nn nn high priced lamls. Tho nynlem in nil excellent application nf the I. lea of "a small well Hlled, etc" Il la my firm con-tl. con-tl. i Ion thai nowhere In the world will a soiling syntem work to belter ad-lauiiiKe ad-lauiiiKe than rlKht hero In Ihe Irrigated Irrigat-ed Mtlleja of Ihe West. |