STOCK RAISING AND SOIL FERTILITY 



187 



All manure was carefully saved, the 

 gutter behind the cows was made water- 

 tight and not a pound of solid or liquid 

 manure went to waste on the farm. 

 Every day the gutters were thoroughly 

 cleaned. Rotten sod, leaf mold, etc, 

 were then placed in them as absorbents. 

 When cleaned out the manure was 

 drawn immediately to the field and 

 spread on the land from which soiling 

 crops had been removed, or in winter 

 on rye and grass fields. 



All the cows kept were registered Jer- 

 seys and good niilk producers. The 

 male calves, if promising, were raised, 

 otherwise they were killed at birth. It 

 did not pay, Mr. Detrich held, to feed 

 $18 worth of milk to a calf that would 

 sell for $7. The 17 cows kept produced 

 about 26 gallons of milk daily, which 

 was sold for 25 cents a gallon, giving a 



silage was fed. All the roughage fed on 

 the farm, including hay, soiling crops 

 and bedding was cut in quarter inch 

 lengths. No system of rotation was fol- 

 lowed in cropping the farm. It was not 

 necessary as a means of soil improve- 

 ment, since the manure returned to the 

 land kept it fully supplied in organic 

 matter and food constituents. Each 

 acre in cultivation produced the equiva- 

 lent of 6.7 tons of hay during the sea- 

 son. On this farm one man and a boy 

 did practically all the work except at 

 haying time. This example of intensive 

 dairying shows what can be accomplished 

 on a small place, where system is fol- 

 lowed and every pound of fertilizer pro- 

 duced is returned to the soil. 



Pasture system — At a distance from 

 the city, where farms are larger and 



135 — FILLING SILO WITH BLOWER 



gross income of about $2400 a year from 

 this source. About five head of young 

 cattle were sold off the place each year 

 at an average price of $100 apiece. 

 About $625 a year was spent for con- 

 centrated feeding stuffs. 



The cows were fed a balanced ration 

 and each ration consisted of three parts : 

 (1) Succulent material, as silage in 

 winter, and rye, timothy and clover, 

 corn, peas and oats, or some other green 

 crop in summer; (2) dry hay or fodder 

 to give the manure proper consistency 

 which made it easier to keep the 

 cows clean and to handle the milk, 

 and (3) mill products, consisting of 

 bran, oil meal and gluten. The amount 

 of mill products fed daily was regulated 

 by the consistency of the manure and 

 by the milk flow. 



During the growing season green 

 crops were fed until the corn was put 

 into the silo in the fall, after which 



land cheaper, it is more common, and 

 usually more profitable, to pasture dur- 

 ing the growing season than to feed 

 soiling crops. The pasture system has 

 the advantage of great convenience, 

 since the cattle do their own harvesting 

 and no attention is required of the 

 farmer after they are turned into the 

 pasture in the morning until time to 

 milk at night. It is the natural system. 

 By it there is no danger of loss of 

 vigor or stamina in the animals. 



This is the system usually followed 

 where milk is sold to the creamery for 

 butter and cheese production. During 

 the dry season of summer, some green 

 fodder may be fed in addition, but 

 this, while very desirable, is rather 

 the exception than the rule. Silage is 

 quite generally put up for winter use. 

 This method is much less demanding on 

 the time of the farmer than the soil- 

 ing system, the greater part of the 



