Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / Feb. 4, 1922, edition 1 / Page 1
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LX-I. No. 5 SATURraBRY $1 a Yeja2 ' " . Livestock and Dairy Problems TAIT BUTLER, Editor LIVESTOCK SUGGESTIONS FOR FEBRUARY I Increase1 Production on Safe and Sound Basis TO THE positive knowledge of the 1 writer, "for the last 30 years at least, large numbers of cotton farmers have, to use their own language, been "going into the livestock business," while oth ers have been "going out of the live stock business." There have been steady streams of considerable numbers con stantly going in both directions. Those 'going in" have only slightly outnum bered those "going out " for it must be confessed that among "cotton planters" increased livestock production has made rather .slow progress. Little good is likely to come from a discussion of the . question as to whether cotton farmers should produce livestock. Many of them resent the presence of any livestock on the farm, except the work animals needed to cul tivate the cotton. Some "of them, un der a subdued protest, may keep a cow to supply a little milk, a pig or two around the mule lot and a few hens, but the real cotton farmer quite gener ally regards all these as an unmiti gated nuisance. We believe livestock production un der proper management and suitable conditions is an important factor in successful farming, here as elsewhere; but the conditions vary so greatly and the "will" of the farmer is such an im portant factor in determining success or failure that ve are quite willing to let each farmer work out his own farming system. Our business is mere ly to give him such information or sup ply him with such facts as he may de sire, and we may be able to collect for him. But what we are,very much more interested in, than the question as to who should or should not produce live stock, is that those who do try to in crease their production should do so on a safe and sound basis, and with a fair chance of success. II. Go Into Hog Raising Cautiously UOGS are produced (1) to supply the 1 needs of the home or farm for pork, (-) to sell or ship to market for pork, as a source of injcome for the farm or (j) purebred hogs are bred to sell for breeding purposes. There is. probably sound reason for the first kind of hog raising on prac j.ica Uy every farm and no mistakes are likely to be made by any farmer en gaging in the hog business to the ex tent of supplying the needs of the jarni, or at least the needs of his home tor Pork. If the second kind of hog Jsing is undertaken, that is, the pro auction of market hogs, it should prob ably be started only after the produc 'on of hogs for the first purpose has Hcn proved, satisfactory. And if the 'reeding 0f purebred hogs, to sell for " ,jng PurPoses is engaged in, it uid only be after the production of . "urket hogs for pork has been made 'ccessful on a scale- of considerable oportions. No man should start the Reding of purebred- hogs to, behold bt,eeding purposes, who has not ' ajned hog production on a pork basis dMJmade it a success; The mistakes of the South in the past have been ; numerous th both the' tin?nd a?d ird kinds of hog produc- nufcc yiot tnese, mjisiaces .SHnnC - n ClA. 1 5 ltd-:. , ..j.:"' i1 hoi -u ?UF naming i-gone. inTOiine V. J ft : .A-.tj:,1---jii-.lUiti ' gone out of it again, usually with heavy losses. t It is a mistake to go into the produc tion of pork hogs for market on any thing like a large scale until one has had experience in producing pork hogs on a small scale and" demonstrated, not by guess work, but by careful cal culations, that he can produce pork hogs economically. It is a mistake to go into the production of pork hogs on a large scale until one has made ample arrangements in the way of houses, fencing and feed crops for handling the larger numbers, because handling 100 or 200 hogs and providing feed for them are quite different propositions from the handling of a half dozen or a dozen hogs around the barn lot. It is a mistake to go into the produc tion of pork hogs on a large scale un til one has proved that he can produce the feed for them economically. One must be a successful producer of feed crops for hogs before he is likely to be a successful producer of market hogs. Unless the feed, nearly all of it at least, is certainly to be produced on the farm, it will be better to stay out of commercial hog raising. The production of livestock cannot take the place of crop production. In faCt, crop production must be success ful before hog production can be suc cessful. Livestock production is more difficult than crop growing because it not only involves crop growing, but also the breeding, feeding and care of livestock. It is an addition to the farm ing rather than a substitute for any system of crop production now prac ticed. If one has made a success of com mercial pork production then he has a part of the necessary foundation ex perience for the breeding of purebred hogs to be sold for breeding purposes, but in addition he must also learn or become proficient in the selling of purebred hogs, which is just as diffi cult and just as necessary as the suc cessful growing of the breeding stock. In short, one should go into the pro duction of hogs slowly and learn the business. First' produce a few hogs economically, then gradually increase the numbers as long as the operations are successful or until the desired num ber is reached. The average Southern hog producer , who has failed has failed chiefly be cause he under-rated the difficulties of the business and because he went in too rapidly and before he liad studied and learned the business, and was prepared to handle and feed the num bers kep,t. It is expensive to go into hog rais ing on a high market and go out on a low one. Therefore, unless one is going to stay in it and knows enough about it before he goes in extensively, to know he is going to stay in it, he had better not go in at all. HI. Producing Beef Cattle in the South WHO has been the successful pro ducer of beef cattle in the South and who has failecj? , The man who has bought high priced cattle before he has-provided good pastures and before he has crown .the feeds for these cattle has. generally failed. The man who has tried to substitute the growing of beet cattle for throwing of cotton or any other money crop has generally failed. m Un hoc nntlp in to the ine man wuu -yy T breeding of purebred beef ; cattle, on any considerable scale before- he knew the, business of breeding, - feeding, and . '. '.!.' i. ' .v i .-. .. i i' fin r r -i ( . " i 'V . selling purebred beef cattle has usually failed. The man who has depended on buying most of the feed for his cat tle has failed. The man who has de pended on "cane" for winter feed, or that has depended on the "range," ex cept in the southwest where a large range was available has failed. The man who has gradually increas ed and improved his pastures and added to his her' slowly, as the pas tures would keep them; the man who has selected good milking common cows and used a purebred, bull; who has provided silage, legume, or other hays and roughage ; who has added beef cattle grazing or breeding and feeding to his other farming or crop production and has used his cattle as a means of utilizing his waste pasture lands and as a means of marketing his rough feeds, has quite generally suc ceeded. On small farms or on high-priced lands, beef production has generally failed when made the one or the chief source of revenue, or when substituted for crop production; but when added to the regular farming operations as a means of marketing soil-improving crops and the by-products of the farm, the growing and feeding of beef cattle has generally proved profitable, if gone into slowly and persisted in so that the business was learned and the peri ods of high prices enjoyed to offset the periods of low prices which are certain to occur. In the raising of beef cattle more than a year is required to raise and market a crop. From the time of breed ing the cows to the marketing of the produce takes from two to three years, therefore it is important that any one who goes into the breeding of beef cat tle should stay in for a long term of years. The prices fluctuate and peri ods of high prices are followed by peri ods of low prices If one is tempted into the business by high prices the market is almost certain to be low by the time he has anything to sell and unless he stays in the business long enough to get the benefit of the next swing back to high prices he is al most certain to find the business unprofitable. IV. Starting in Dairying A LARGE part of the colored tenant farms are cowless. Few colored tenants in the all-cotton sections of the South have an ample supply of milk for farpily use. On the large cotton farms you will most generally be told that it is absolutely, impracticable for each tenant to have a cow, a sow and hens for hisjown use. Almost certainly this is a case where the "impracticable" will have to be made "practicable' but that is a problem on which the farmer needs no help or'advice. ' He under stands the problem and, will solve it when he has the "will" to do so. We are now interested in the man who is "going into the dairy business." In the past he has too often gone out of crop, production in order to go into dairying, whereas a man should go into crop production in orderjto be pre pared to go into dairying? If his money crop has been cotton it is' dan gerous and generally very unwise for him to greatly reduce his cotton crop to go into dairying. If his dairying is successful, he may reduce his cotton acreage gradually and to a large ex tent, but to stop cotton production or to greatly reduce his acreage in one year in order to gfve his time to dairy ing, as a new business for him, is un safe and unwise farming. The acreage to feed crops should be increased the year before dairying is started. As a rule the number of cows should be small the first year, and, therefore the increased acreage to feed crops and, t.he decrease, of, acreage to cotton; oi'km other $tptt6 4 sh6uld business is to add a few cows and a few acres of feed crops to the money crops previously grown. The dairy business to be successful also means that a new product must be marketed efficiently. The breeding, feeding and care of dairy cows, if effi ciently done, is no small task alone; but when you add to this the selling or the manufacture and selling of the products, you have a business requiring constant attention, skillful labor and a degree of knowledge and intelligence quite beyond what is required in ordi nary farming, for the need for the effi cient production of crops, or ordinary farming, is not lessened but increased when dairying is added to the farming operations. Most failures of those who start in the dairy business are due to the fact that they under-rate the need for knowledge and experience in dairy ing, and fail to produce the feeds by the time they are required by the cows. Of course, poor cows, poor feeding, poor marketing and many other fac tors have played their part, but the greatest obstacle to the success of dairying in the South has been a lack of dairy knowledge poor dairymen due to a failure to appreciate the need for dairy knowledge and experience when going into the business. Hence, it is safer and usually cheaper for one to get dairy experience work ing for someone .else, or if not that way then with only a few cows of his own. Cooperation among neighbors to ar range a milk or cream route, by which the milk can be marketed economic ally, the production of ample feed, and just a few cows of the best quality ob tainable at reasonable cost, furnish the best setting for starting the dairy busi ness as another source of regular rev enue to the farm. There is no objec tion to reducing the cotton acreage some, at least to the extent necessary to produce the feed for the few cows started with, but don't substitute dairy ing right at the start for cotton, rather add it to cotton production. Warbles or Wolves in the Backs of Cattle AS USUAL at this season of the year, many inquiries are being re ceived about "warbles" or "wolves" or "grubs" which infest the baches of cat tle. " There are two kinds of bot flies which occur in America, the larval forms of which .infest cattle. The ma ture flies appear in warm weather, May to September, and lay eggs on the cattle. It is now generally accepted that these flies, do not puncture the skjn of the' back when they lay their eggs, nor do the young grubs which hatch from these eggs penetrate the skin of the back. The eggs are laid on the cattle and the small grubs hatch out. there, then the cattle in licking themselves, take the grubs into their mouths. These grubs are found infest ing the gullet or the esophagus, and sometimes in other parts of the body, and by January make .their appear ance under the skin, hi the back by migrating through thetissues of the cow. Some advise the introduction of any material into the backs or the cavity occupied by the grub, that will kill.it. When tlje hole is small, ajiy substance like kerosene can be introduced by means of a small oil can, but we do not advise this mode of treatment. When the grubs are killed and left in the back we believe the results are worse than when the livfi grubs are allowed to remain there. - A better plan is to slightly enlarge the small opening in the skin, with a sharp knife, squeeze out the grub or pull it out v with tweezers and destroy it. It is also a good pjari to fill the cav ity occupied f. by the grufcwijji pow?, dered bbracicacidL!rhere!&it wrick ticat waytofe preventing Ah4 in4ckspf .'rut " i 1 'S H Ir- 1 -
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 4, 1922, edition 1
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