43S IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



On a farm of this kind we have no hesitation in saying that a large 

 place should be given to dairying. We would not buy cows half-fat and 

 finish out on grass, for the reason that the price of this kind of stock 

 per pound is liable to be low at any season of the year; nor would we 

 buy cows and calves and aim to fatten both calves and cows. The farm 

 is not large enough for that kind of business, and while there might 

 be some money made by it, we do not think it is the best way of making 

 money on that kind of a farm. Much of course depends upon the 

 tenant himself, and something on the kind of buildings. 



A farmer on this kind of farm can keep twenty cows either dual 

 purpose or special purpose dairy cows, according to his fancy. He can 

 afford to keep a hand separator. These cows, if worth keeping, will fur- 

 nish enough milk for twenty calves and fifty pigs. The calves can be 

 sold in the fall of the year at from $12 to $20, depending on the market. 

 The butter sales per cow would range from $30 to $50 per year, depending 

 mainly on the cows and skill with which they are handled. 

 The cattle and horses necessary to manage the farm will consume the 

 major portion, if not all of the roughness. By using a silo and converting 

 part of the corn crop into ensilage and some of it kept during the sum- 

 mer if necessary, there will be an insurance against either a dry or a 

 wet season. By using fodder corn or peas and oats, there will be" further 

 insurance against a summer's drouth, which tells so seriously upon the 

 production of milk during that season of the year. 



The number of cattle can be increased or diminished according 

 to the requirements of the farm and after three or four years, when 

 the farm is brought into good condition, it will be possible to keep the 

 calves, selling them as yearlings or two-year-olds. In southern Iowa 

 winter wheat can form a part of the rotation and thus furnish an ad- 

 ditional cash crop. Farming in this way, the nearness to a creamery 

 is not an important matter. Any bright young fellow can acquire the 

 art of making butter, for which he can have permanent customers in any 

 of the large towns or cities. 



On the majority of farms of this size, we believe this method will 

 give better returns than any other that can be devised, except, perhaps 

 where they are very close to large cities. There is absolutely no waste. 

 The cow is made the center around which everything revolves. Swine 

 growing under these conditions can be conducted with the greatest 

 profit because half of the skim-milk is sufficient for the support of the 

 calves, and the other half will insure thrifty, profitable pigs with the 

 least risk of cholera, small litters and unthrift which is usually found 

 on .farms where hogs are kept in large numbers, and fed almost ex- 

 clusively on corn. 



This system involves work and close confinement, especially morn- 

 ing and evening; but if there is any system of farming that does not 

 involve work and careful thought as a condition of success, we have 

 never yet found it, nor have we ever head of it. Farms of this size are 

 not adapted to beef growers. They do not permit the raising of a very 

 large amount of corn. If the land is in corn every year, it invariably 

 runs down. If a rotation of crops is adopted, there is not room enough 



