698 ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



to feed dry or as mixed feed. By this you double your feed over 

 feeding stover whole. You may think this a pretty broad statement 

 and is stronger than I have ever heard anybody claim, but I have 

 demonstrated it to my own satisfaction. Say it doubles the feeding 

 value if properly handled. It has long been termed a shame to feed 

 whole corn stocks, but of late it is considered a gross if not an un- 

 pardonable sin by our friend Bob Seeds, and thinks it cannot be 

 done in safety only before a protracted meeting. I heartily coincide 

 with him in the assertion. 



In conclusion, in making the most of the corn plant, I will say let 

 every one consider their location and environment and decide for 

 himself. Dairying and being able to get 5 or 6 cents per quart for 

 milk is the most remunerative, selling butter at a contract price 

 the year around. Second. Dairying and selling milk to the cream- 

 eries for less than $1.00 per hundred pounds is a slow but sure way 

 to the poorhouse, as they are slowly but surely selling their farms 

 for less than their real value, not including their labor. 



Last, but not least, is the man who follows mixed farming, keep- 

 ing 6 or 8 cows, raises his calves, takes 3 years to grow them before 

 they are ready or large enough to get a buyer to look at them, and 

 finally sell all at once in the fall for beef, glut the market and get 

 a low price per pound, and then claim feeding cattle does not pay; 

 but start in the following spring and graze from 16 to 32 head 

 all summer and have every spear of grass and as well as weeds 

 pastured off, and then complain that their soil is lacking in humous, 

 and nine out of ten will say, "I guess I must apply lime as I cannot 

 get clover to catch." 



To this class of people I would say, the Lord is certainly good and 

 kind to you; he is giving you a living on the farm, and in my judg- 

 ment they are not entitled to it for the amount of energy and labor 

 applied. They have more than they are entitled to, and truly hope 

 the time is not far distant when the average farmer will make better 

 application of his time than he does at present or go out of business. 

 Our Western brothers, who farm corn as a business, do not hesitate 

 to say, good corn land is worth flOO.OO per acre. I am willing to 

 make the assertion that we have as good corn land in Pennsylvania 

 as they have anywhere if we will put it in proper condition to pro- 

 duce it and give it thorough cultivation. Do not understand that 

 we can raise the bumj)er crops they can in a year that 

 is favorable to their environment. But in a series of ten vears, 

 we can beat them. Much of our best corn land can be bought for 

 little more than the half of flOO.OO per acre. You may say our 

 taxes and expenses are more than theirs. Well, yes they are, but 

 we are responsible for the existing circumstances and should not 

 complain. 



