198 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



COST OF SILO. 



The two silos above described, if built ou the stave pattern, will 

 require not far from G,UUU feet of lumber and nine thousand shingles, 

 and from sixteen to twenty hoops of five-eighths-inch round iron. 



It is not advisable to have too protracted rotation of crops. Clo- 

 ver should be turned down after one mowing. The soil has the ad- 

 vantage of the clover roots and its nodules of nitrates, and where 

 timothy is desirable it would better be a separate crop. Timothy 

 exhausts soil quickly and does not produce a good ration for cattle. 

 When clover is properly cured by fermentation in cock, it is not dusty 

 and makes an admirable ration for horses and cows. Sheep are 

 more profitable and would be an excellent addition to the farm 

 revenue, were it not for dogs, who raid them and demoralize in a 

 night the work of years. The goat will make a valuable substitute 

 for sheep. They do well on wild lands and are antagonistic to the 

 dog crop. You can have them browse on slashings for eight to nine 

 months annually. They are more prolific than sheep, and can safely 

 be turned in the wheat fields. They will eat the briars and sprouts 

 in preference to the tender grain or grass. In five years they will 

 clear wild lands, so that they can be used for cattle ranges. They 

 furnish a superior food. ^ Germans tell me they prefer a kid to a 

 lamb, and I see no reason why they should not be the coming venison. 

 We import from Europe and Asia ■|20,0()(),000 of skins annually. 

 The goat I would prefer is the Angora, large, long-haired, hardy, 

 and a dog fighter. The hair is used for mohair cloth, worth 30 cents 

 a pound. A buck will clip ten x>ounds and a doe from four to six 

 and some say six to eight pounds. The market for the meat would 

 be in the coal regions among the Huns and Slavs, who have been 

 educated to appreciate this valuable animal. 



Another special culture should be the hog. They are a good sub- 

 stitute for the wheat as a cash producer. They are omniferous 

 eaters, do well on a clover field, turning the skim milk with brewers 

 grains (10 cents a bushel), shorts and cake meal, into hard cash. 

 They are more profitably disposed of when ranging from 150 to 175 

 pounds. 



Poultry is frequently a neglected factor in the farm economy, 

 living the best they can, raised without system, producing eggs when 

 they bring the least money. The large egg producers are the small 

 varieties, but are not a marketable fowl. As a general all around 

 fowl I prefer the Plymouth Kock or Dorking, large, strong, active, 

 good layers and bring good prices when marketed as broilers or full 

 developed fowls. 



At present a dozen eggs will buy a pound of butter. Fifty chick- 

 ens, hatched early in the spring will lay in November and catch this 



