610 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



the case may require. You can with good results at this time increase 

 the corn and alfalfa and cut down some on the oats. The alfalfa will 

 balance the corn. Try alfalfa meal mixed with 40 per cent molasses. It 

 is the best appetizer, conditioner, laxative and bone and muscle builder 

 with other grains there is. It is cheaper than bran and of far more value 

 as a horse feed. There is no fixed rule as to the numbei* of pounds of 

 grain or hay that will apply to every horse or colt. The feeder must use 

 judgment as not every horse feeds alike and does not require the same 

 mixed ration. For instance if I had a big rough raw boned colt I would 

 feed a heavy ration of corn and get a top on as soon as possible. It is 

 wonderful how the digestive organs of the horse can be developed by 

 proper and gradual feeding, and there is no animal that will make more 

 gain for the grain consumed than the horse. It is common for a good 

 feeder to put on from six to twelve pounds a day. Good horse flesh is 

 selling from twelve to twenty-four cents per pound on the open market 

 and a few extra individuals much higher. 



Should we not then pay more attention to the proper feeding of our 

 horses and send them to market as a finished product. We can raise here 

 in Iowa all the necessary feed and can develop as good a horse as any 

 country in the world can produce, and there is no one can finish them for 

 market cheaper than the farmer. Then why continue sending our big 

 colts and our feed all raised on our own farms down to the eastern feeders 

 and finished by them at a good profit and go on the eastern market to be 

 as a product of their state. We have all the raw materials so let us send 

 it to market in a finished form and have it stamped "Made in Iowa." 



CO-OPERATION AMONG FRUIT GROWERS. 



(Farmers' Bulletin 522, United States Department of Agriculture.) 

 Developing methods of production and distribution of agricultural prod- 

 ucts along purely economic lines is of comparatively recent origin, most 

 attention having been given possibly to the side of production. However 

 important it may be to be able to grow crops in large quantities or of 

 particular qualities at a minimum cost, it is equally important to be able 

 to dispose of them in the most economical way and to the best possible 

 advantage, for frequently the easiest and largest profits in any business 

 are those made through methods oil handling, marketing, and distribution; 

 and it is here that judgment based upon economic principles must be 

 exercised and careful dealing resorted to if the highest returns are to be 

 realized. 



A common method of disposing of the crop is by selling directly to re- 

 tailers, which has proved successful in some instances by choosing only 

 one dealer in a place and putting nothing but first class material on the 

 market. The most usual method of disposing of fruit crops, as contrasted 

 with selling other farm products, is through commission merchants. This 

 arrangement, however, has not proved entirely satisfactory, the reasons 

 for which are attributed partly to the system, partly to the middleman, 

 ancl partly to the producer, the middleman always looking out for his in- 

 dividual interest, taking advantage frequently of the producer's ignorance 

 of marketing and market conditions, while the producer in many in- 



