Vol. XXXII No. 45
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1917
$1 a Year, 5c. a Copy
Timely Farm Suggestions
By TAIT, BUTLER
Which Is the Easier?
A READER in a letter says : "Mar
. keting is much more important
than all rich lands and improved
methods of farming."
We do not think it worth while
to discuss this question but submit
the following question to, our good
friend, and when he answers it we
believe there will be no further need
for continuing the discussion :
Which is easier and more likely to
be attained. To increase the yield of
cotton from 200 pounds of lint per
acre to 300 pounds by increasing soil
fertility and better methods of farm
ing, or to raise the price through at
tention to marketing from 25 cents a
pound to 37H cents a pound?
have, numerous -inquiries this fall
about even velvet beans, notwith
standing it is generally known that
they are not usually pastured until
after frost and that frequently they
are more or less green when the first
killing frost comes.
As we have stated before, the kill
ing of forage plants by frost is not
likely to make them injurious to live
stock
The large corn crop of 1917 may be
expected to reduce the price of corn,
but with other grains scarce and
high-priced just the amount of reduc
tion in corn prices is uncertain. Most
people do not expect corn to go be
low a dollar a bushel and many think
it will sell for from $1.25 to $1.50 a
bushel next summer. Moreover, the
hog feeder is feeling what he regards
as a heavy loss from feeding his corn
to hogs during the past months in
stead of selling it for the high prices
which he could have obtained. This
is fresh in his mind and he is not
likely to take chances on . repeating
J 1 1 T
uic loss again next summer, tie is,
therefore, disposed to run his spring
corn. If the northern hog raiser de
creases his crop of hogs, prices will
go high and the Southern farmer, if
he produces hogs economically, using
a minimum of corn, can count on
large profits. In fact, when large num
bers are decreasing their production
of a staple product in large demand is
the time when the wise individual in- ,
creases his production. Will the
Southern farmer be wise as well as
patriotic?
Feeding Sugar Cane to Hogs
A READER' asks : "Which will pay
better, to make" . a fairly good
thiee-quarters acre of Louisiana cane
into syrup or to chop up into short
. pieces nd feed to hogs, with syrup at
50 cents per gallon and hogs at $16
per hundred pounds, considering dif
ference in cost?"
We cannot give a definite answer
to this question, because so much de-
pends on the facilities or equipment
available for doing the work and the
efficiency of the methods. For in
stance, the per cent of the juice ex
tracted varies -from 50 to 75, according-
to the efficiency of the machinery.
The quality of the syrup and conse
quently its selling .price also varies
greatly according to the efficiency of
. the syrup making and the marketing.,
But a$ a general rule, with fair ef
ficiency in manufacturing, we believe
it will pay better to make the cane
juice into syrup than to feed the cut
up cane to hog$ at the prices stated.
Cane is not a very satisfactory feed
for hogs. They cannot handle such a
feed to advantage and the portions
not eaten, or the waste, are large. Of
course, something also depends on the
manner of feeding. Jf the cane forms
only a spall part of the hog ration
, and there is no other-succulent feed a
higher value will be obtained from it
than when the cane is fed "more large
ly and the . ration consequently "is no
so suitable or so well balanced. A
high value might be obtained from
this cane if fed as only a fourth to a
third of the ration with peanuts, soy
beans or velvet beans. Cattle handle
a feed like green cane much better
than hogs, for the hog, having a small
stomach and poor facilities for hand
ling coarse, bulky feeds, requires
more concentrates or grains. In oth
er words, he can use to advantage a
little of such abulky, succulent feed,
but if it forms a large part of his ra
tion he does not utilize it so well.
Iniurv to Some kinr1s nf an.-
mals, particularly horses and rmile ilts off to market during the winter,
may occur if they are, fed forage instead of breeding them for spring
which is decaying or moldy. If the Iitters iust as he has marketed hi
legumes are very green and watery omer Drooa sows auring tne summer
.1 J .. . J o rtA -foil
uiu uecay or rotting occurs alter the
killing by frost, as may take place in
damp or rainy weather, there is dan
ger in feeding this decaying material
to horses and mules. But if the frost
bitten forage dries out and cures
without decay and mold there is not
likely to be any injury to any live
stock from eating it.
In this case, if. the nods drv out
PASTURE PROBLEMS
Lack of Pasturage in the Late Fall
and the Proper Use of Fall
sowed Cereals or Grains in Fill
ing This Shortage
and fall.
Unless the hog raiser of the Corn
Belt can be made to feel that he will
get as much for his 1917 corn fed to
hogs as he can if sold on the corn
market he is not going to breed the
usual number of sows this fall. The
breeding season is now' on, and there
seems to be no time for any action
that will give the hog producer this
hard and $ound, they may be isoaked 'assurance of safe and just prices for
or ground and fed without injury to
the stock. If, however, they do not
dry out hard and sound, or decay, it
would not be well to fee"d them to
horses and mules ; but there is little
or no danger in grazing them by cat
tle and hogs.
When : ground in the, pods velvet
hogs during the coming year. The
hogs of this country are now esti
mated abo'ut 5,000,000 below the nor
mal supply of 65,000,000, and there
seems little hope of inducing the hog
raisers of the country to stop the de
creasing supply, notwithstanding the
certainty that the demand will be
beans are apt to mold or-become stale larSe by our own army and the na-
and, therefore, they should be fed "ons amea witn us in war
pretty soon after grinding, or they
may be soaked for a short time and
fed in that way. In soaking any feed
it should not be allowed to ferment
or sour, but should befed after soak
ing a short time, fresh lots being
soaked from day to day as the feed is
required.
What Is the Cost of Hog Produc
tion in Terms of Corn?
IN THE mind of the American farm-
er there is a direct relationship be
tween hogs and corn. We have be
come the greatest hog-producing na
tion of the world because we are the
greatest corn-producing natiop.
Corn being the basis of hog pro
. duction, it is but natural that the hog
producer measures the cost of hog
production, or the selling price of
hogs, in terms of corn. When corn is
high-priced hogs must also bring
high prices or the hog producer re
duces his hog crop. The fact that
corn would not bring a high price if
Consumers are complaining of the.
high price of pork products, but 'they
are actually so low, compared with
the price of corn, that the producer
of hogs will not produce them in the
usual quantities. If the consumer
does not change his attitude or if he
is not induced in some way to pay
higher prices production will go so
low that the natural law of supply
and demand will within a short time
send prices of hog products sky-high.
That hogs are now selling for much
less than they should, on a basis of
corn prices, or in other words for
much less than ' the corn, they have
eaten wouldhave sola for, is shown
by the following easily proved facts:
For the last ten years, or for that
matter for the last 36 years, the farm
ers of the United States have receiv
ed on an average the price of about
ll. 65 bushels of corn for 100 pounds
of live hogs. This may or may not
have gien them a profit. Probably
abom9 bushels represented the cost
of "teed and the other 2.65 bushels all
other costs, including overhead ex
penses, looses, and profits if such
it were not largely fed to livestock, is
given .little consideration by the av- were actually made
erage tarmer. It he cannot- get as
much for his corn when fed to hogs
as, he can when sold as corn he
promptly ceases to feed the corn to
hogs, but sells it as long as -it brings a ,
higher price disposed of in that way.
Since April, 1917, although hogs
have sold as high as $20 a hundred
pounds and are now selling around
1r In i r .4 1 a 4 . Vt Irrti 6f nnVoc frio
Starting with May, 1917, the hog
producer has received for 100 pounds
of live hogs the equivalent values
in corn, as follows :
May 1917 9.7 bushels
June 1917 9.2 bushels
July 1917 7.6 bushels
August 1917 8.6 bushels
September 1917 8.8 bushels
October 1917, .....8.7 bushels
That is, instead of getting the value
of 11.65 hushels of corn for 100
Very Little Danger in Feeding
Frnitllfn VJWnf Ra,n, hog producer of today has ever
. . known, corn has been, still higher, pounds of live hogs, or the average
A READER has Osceola and 'Early and if sold on the open market would for the past' 10 years, he has only re
Speckled velvet beans that ( were have brought more than when fed ceived the value of from 7.6 bushels
killed by frost before they were ma- and marketed in the form of live to 9.7 bushels of corn for 100 pounds
tured. The beans in the pods have hogs. The result is-that the hog pro- of live bogs.
turned hlack,-but. his cattle eat them ducers of the Corn Belt bred fewer Is there any wonder that he re-
leadily. He cannot pasture the land sows for fall litters than usual, some fuses to feed his corn to hogs under
anfl k.j i... i . . -i-: .it. - . rii j:j . n t : . : "
uau lnienaea to DICK tne. Deans cianii.nK uiai mc truy ui un wiks uiu uiuc wiiuuiuim
ad grind them in the pod for feeding not amount to more than 50 per cent
cattle, but is told that "frost-bitten of the normal number. The fall lit-
keans will kill cattle." ters however, do not materially af-
It is trulv remnrknMf. hnw hard it feet the hocr orodiiction of the Corn
s to correct an error once given gen- Belt, because comparatively few sows army and those of our allies are to
P r 1 1 ? - . nxi . . 1 f t 1 !i 1 . a n TtiA 1. ... t A ttia linnr matt n n A (ta
- puuiicity, mere is. a very gen- aie ureu iur iwuuiuco ta. xhm immsntu mvi owx
cral belief that any plant, but particu- important question is, how is this "they so much need,
larly legumes and sorghum, if killed, disparity between the prices of corn Another lesson is that the Southern
by frost before maturity will injure and hogs going to affect the spring farmer should greatly., increase , his
' livestock if it is fed to them. "We' pig crop? ' hdg production on .other feeds than
The first lesson is, that something
must be done to assure the hog
raiser of a fair ratio between the
i
price ot corn ana nogs n our own
ON MANY farms the fall-sowed
grains are sowed for the grain they
yield without any thought as to their
pasturage value. Under certain, cpn-
ditions such a crop can be pastured
very profitably and without material
ly decreasing the yield of grain. In "
fact, for oats sowed early in the fall,
pasturage m3y be distinct advan
tage in preventing too large growth
and the formation of. stems. When
the oat plant begins to form stems,
it has reached a stage of growth aft
which it is seriously injured by freez
ing weather. These stems, when
killed by a severe freeze, are not re
placed and the stand and subsequent
yield of either .grain or pasturage is
seriously curtailed.
On the other hand, too early pas
turagej before the plants have be
come well established, is very unwise.
In fact, if the crop is hot sowed early
in the fall, grazing during the late
fall and winter is a very bad practice,
not only on fields that are to be iTar
vested for grain but also from the
standpoint of subsequent, winter and
spring grazing on those fields to be
, used solely for pasturage.
New lands (those recently clear
ed) that are soft - and on which
the plants are easily pulled out by
the grazing' animals should not be
. pastured. It has also been the ex-.
perience ofa number of oat growers
that pasturing oats planted on very
heavy land has a decreasing effect on
the bushels of oats harvested the fol
lowing spring.
Where conditions are suitable for
grazing, there are still two precau
tions to be observed in pasturing
small grains.
1. 1Ceep the stock off the land while
wet If the land is soft the tramping
of the livestock in grazing will not
only injure the oats, but the puddling
and cutting up 6f the field will ren
der future cultivation inorc trouble
some. 2. Avoid pasturing too closely.
Plants, that have been grazed bff
closejy to the ground are given little
protection against freezing and the
crop is either killed or the vitality of
the roots so weakened that vigorous
tillering does not occur in the spring,
and a good crop of grass or grain is
not produced. ,
The foregoing suggestions as to
fall grazing are applicable to either
a crop to be harvested for grain or
one to be grazed' during the entire
period of the plant's growth. How-
ever, where grain is to be harvested,
the additional precaution of discon
tinuing pasturing early enough to
afford abundant time for the plants
to tiller and head should be stressed.
There is no doubt but that early fall
sowed grains can be wisely grazed
during the late fall and winter with
out injury to the" yield of grain, but
it has been proved conclusively that
stock should be removed as soon as
the spring growth starts or the yield
may be seriously curtailed. .. .
EUGENE BUTLER.
I'
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