'■— 4 



better than clover. Just now we are 

 feeding half cottonseed meal and half 

 soybean oilmeal for the concentrate." 

 Most of the work with the herd is 

 done by two young men, Clyde Ragel 

 and Joe Brewbaker. Neither worked 

 on a dairy farm nor fed cows before 

 coming to Wilsons. They do all the 

 work of feeding and milking 31 cows, 

 using one double unit machine, in 

 about two hours night and morning. 

 The cows are put in the "milking par- 

 lor," eight at a time, where they re- 

 main long enough to be milked and eat 

 their grain. At other times they are 

 out in the yard or in the old barn where 

 they get hay and silage. This arrange- 

 ment is a labor saver. The cows are 

 fed all the red clover or alfalfa hay 

 they can clean up, also 7 lbs. of red 

 clover silage twice daily. The cows in 

 heavy milk receive 10 to 12 lbs. of the 

 14 per cent protein grain mixture to a 

 feed or 20 to 24 lbs. a day. 



Grain Makes Butterfat 



"Without the grain ration and with 

 just ordinary care our cows would 

 average about 300 pounds of butter- 

 fat a year," said Sumner. 'I figure that 

 a good mixed grain ration with silage 

 and bright clover or alfalfa hay and 

 proper care will put 200 pounds of fat 

 on the yearly record of a good cow. 

 Of course you must have good dairy 

 cows. This business is a little like the 

 race horse business. You need a com- 

 bination of good breeding and proper 

 feeding and care to get results. 



"Three milkings a day also will 

 boost production. A cow capable of 

 doing 33 to 60 lbs. of milk a day on 

 two milkings will go to 75 lbs. on three 

 milkings. And one capable of doing 

 80 lbs. a day on two milkings will 

 step up to 100 lbs. on three milkings." 



The Wilson herd was producing ap- 

 proximately 14 ten gallon cans of milk 

 daily in December. It seldom drops 

 below 10 cans. Milk is marketed 

 through the Sanitary Milk Producers 

 and goes to Pevely Dairy Co. at St. 

 Louis. Milk was netting about $1.80 

 per cwt. at the farm after paying 23 

 cents per cwt. for hauling. The big- 

 gest monthly milk check last year was 

 1682 and the smallest |408. The aver- 

 age was better than $500 per month. 



Early Market Hogs 

 The Hampshire sows are bred to far- 

 row in January and July so that the 

 shoats will be ready for market at bet- 

 ter than normal weights in August and 

 February when prices for heavier hogs 

 invariably are near the yearly peak. Pro- 

 duction costs are kept low when from 

 six to seven pigs per litter are saved 

 and marketed as was true last year. 

 The pigs are vaccinated with Farm Bu- 

 reau serum. 



"I got more than a $10 serum divi- 

 dend this year,"' said Wilson, "and 

 while I appreciate all these money-sav- 

 ing services, the biggest thing the Farm 

 Bureau has done, in my opinion, is to 

 get the AAA program going. That 

 has been a great help in getting fair 

 prices for our grain and livestock. 

 There's no doubt about its value. The 

 Sanitary Milk Producers and market 

 adminstrator at St. Louis too, have been 

 a tremendous value to the dairymen of 

 this section." 



Wilson has a modern ice machine 

 and tank that cools the milk down 



3uickly to low temperatures. He pro- 

 uces Grade A milk which for a time 

 brought a premium of 60 cents per 

 cwt. This premium was later reduced. 

 The cooling equipment and new tank 

 house required a substantial investment. 

 Sumner Wilson grew up in the dairy 

 business on his father's farm in Coles 

 county. After graduating from Charles- 

 ton Normal he married a classmate, 

 taught school for one year and then 

 moved to Montgomery county to start 

 farming. In 1919-'20 he decided to 

 try feeding cattle. The experiment 

 ended disastrously. After losing $3,000 

 he decided that dairying is a safer busi- 

 ness for one who knows something 

 about it. 



The Wilsons have three daughters. 

 The two older girls, 18 and 20 years, 

 are employed in Springfield in stenog- 

 raphy and secretarial work. They come 

 home frequently week-ends. The 

 youngest girl lives at home and is in 

 the eighth grade. Mrs. Wilson is a 

 superb housekeeper and takes an active 

 interest in the herd and farming opera- 

 tions. 



This Wasn't Ferdinand 

 A recent experience Sumner is per- 

 haps least proud of is the encounter 

 he had last winter with a cross bull. 

 He had opened the gate to let a cow 

 out of the bull pen when the animal 

 suddenly charged. Wilson was knocked 

 down but quickly sprang to his feet 

 and made for the fence. The bull 

 caught him again at the gate and threw 

 him clear over. He escaped with a 

 broken wrist bone and bruises about the 

 arm and leg which healed within a 

 short time. 



"I'm taking no more chances," Sum- 

 ner said. "I expect to build a paddock 

 with the gates arranged so I'll always 

 be one one side and the bull on the 

 other. I hated to lose that bull. He 

 was well bred but my wife insisted on 

 shipping him." 



Born to Mr. and Mrs. Paul E. 



Mathias, lAA secretary, a second son, 

 Richard Lee, in the Presbyterian Hospi- 

 tal, Chicago. 



MR. AND MRS. WILSON 

 "She made Sumner ship his well-bred 

 bull." 



1 Mi.^ dL^iti 



ANOTHER HERD IN THE MAKING 

 'It's a little like the race horse busisM 



- . \ 



I 



'-U.- 



WEU. HERE'S THE PROOF 

 "Count 'em. 14 cans a day for Pevely .' 



The Highland National Bank, Madi- 

 son county began operations recently 

 after a long shut-down. O. M. Streiff 

 is cashier. 



Tariff reductions on 1080 products 

 have been made by our government un- 

 der trade agreements with foreign 

 countries, reports L. J. Norton, profes- 

 sor of agricultural economics at the 

 University of Illinois. Only 150 of 

 these are on agricultural products most 

 of which are limited to off-seasons on 

 American products and many of no 

 great importance to this country. 



MAY. 1939 



27 





