1536 
December  16,  1C1G. 
prices  obtained  through  the  year,  and  these  prices 
varied  from  24c  a  dozen  from  March  to  July,  up  to 
5(ic  a  dozen  in  November.  Figured  in  this  way  the 
Wyandottes  gave  an  average  of  3.3  1  -.3c  a  dozen; 
tlie  Reds  came  next,  with  about  32  l-.3c.  and  the 
Kooks  were  third  with  31  %c.  As  for  weight  and 
size,  the  R.  I.  Reds  excelled,  a  dozen  of  their  eggs 
weighing  l.C  lb.  The  Plymouth  Rocks  were  next 
with  1.56  lb.;  and  the  Leghorns  third  with  1.52. 
Records  were  kept  with  regard  to  broodiness;  that 
Is  each  hen  was  watched,  and  when  she  became 
broody  tier  record  was  taken  until  she  began  laying 
once  more.  The  object  of  this  was  to  see  which 
breed  if  any  is  worst  in  this  respect.  The  R.  I. 
Reds  have  the  reputation  of  being  most  addicted  to 
this  habit,  and  the  year  before  they  proved  their 
right  to  the  title.  In  this  contest,  however,  the 
higher  percentage  of  broody  birds  was  found  among 
the  Wyandottes,  and  the  lowest  among  the  Leg¬ 
horns.  The  average  number  of  days  lost  during 
the  year  on  account  of  being  broody  on  the  av¬ 
erage  were  28 %  days  for  the  Rocks,  and  only  two 
for  the  Leghorns. 
COST  OF  FEED. — As  regards  the  cost  of  feed, 
of  the  regular  breeds  the  Leghorns  were  most  eco¬ 
nomical.  The  average  cost  of  a  pen  during  the 
year  for  each  breed  was  as  follows: 
Oie  RURAL  NEW-VORKER 
porkers  and  this  working  over  of  the  soil  and  the 
mixing  of  the  hogs’  droppings  help  to  conserve  and 
build  up  the  fertility  of  the  soil. 
SOY  BEANS  IN  CORN. — At  different  times  we 
have  sown  rye  and  clover  for  hog  pasture,  but  we 
never  felt  that  this  was  a  paying  proposition,  be¬ 
cause  the  swine  must  forage  too  much  for  what 
food  they  secure.  We  have  also  sown  Soy  beans 
between  the  bills  of  corn  with  a  corn  jobber  or  hand 
corn-planter,  but.  in  our  experience  and  observation 
we  are  not  sure  that  this  is  to  be  advised,  as  the 
hogs  will  eat  the  corn,  and  the  beans  nearly  al¬ 
ways  are  trampled  down  and  wasted.  Of  course 
the  beans  add  some  fertility  in  the  way  of  humus, 
and  perhaps  some  other  manorial  value  to  the  soil, 
but  we  doubt  if  there  is  enough  profit  derived  from 
this  to  pay  for  the  labor  and  seed. 
THE  FSE  OF  RAPE. — It  is  our  custom  to  select 
a  site  for  corn  near  the  buildings,  so  that  water 
will  be  close  at  hand  for  watering  the  hogs,  and 
then  the  field  is  well  manured  through  the  Winter 
and  plowed  in  early  Spring.  A  good  seed  bed  is 
made  and  commercial  fertilizer  applied  with  the 
disk  wheat  drill  just  ahead  of  the  corn  planter. 
The  corn  is  planted  10  to  12  inches  apart  in  the 
row,  and  the  rows  are  three  feet  eight  inches.  Then 
at  the  last  cultivation  of  the  corn,  rape  is  sown 
Ration  No.  IV. 
Feed 
Protein 
C.H.Equiv. 
Cost 
15 
lbs. 
corn  stover . . . . 
...  .315 
6.36 
.0750 
10 
lbs. 
Timothy  hay... 
. .  .300 
4.55 
.125 
.615 
10.010 
.2000 
5 
lbs. 
cottonseed  meal . 
..  1.S5 
2.055 
.10 
5 
lbs. 
grain. 
2.465 
12.965 
$0.30 
Lrghorim  . $16.68  in  the  corn  with  an  ordinary  crank  clover-seed 
Plymouth  ^ Rocks'  V.7.7.7.7.7 77777777!  19.70  80W0r*  Tllls.  raPe  furnishes  green  food  to  supple- 
R.  I.  Reds  - 1 . . .  19.89  ment  the  corn.  This  is  followed  the  next  year  with 
It  may  interest  some  of  those  who  are  figurine  tobacco,  and  this  year,  after  such  a  procedure,  we 
It  may  interest  some  of  those  who  are  figuring 
on  the  cost  of  producing  eggs  to  know  that  the 
average  pen  of  10  birds  consumed  during  the  year 
402  lbs.  of  mash,  4.30  lbs.  of  grain,  7  lbs.  of  grit,  20 
lbs.  of  shells,  and  a  little  over  a  pound  of  char¬ 
coal.  It  used  to  he  said  some  years  ago  before  any 
definite  experiments  were  made,  that  the  average 
hen  would  consume  during  the  year  one  bushel  of 
wheat,  in  addition  to  what  she  could  pick  up  on 
the  range.  It  will  be  seen  that  these  birds  confined 
in  small  yards  averaged  something  over  83  lbs.  of 
grain  and  meat. 
PROFITS  RETURNED.— While  of  course  hens 
kept  in  this  way  could  hardly  be  expected  to  re¬ 
turn  the  greatest  income  from  commercial  eggs,  all 
breeds  gave  a  profit  according  to  the  figures  of  this 
contest.  Tire  Wyandottes  gave  the  greatest  value  in 
returns  from  eggs,  with  the  Rods  second.  Tjie  Leg¬ 
horns  consumed  less  grain  than  the  Reds,  and  there¬ 
fore  gave  a  larger  return  over  the  cost  of  feed. 
The  figures  of  the  four  breeds  follow,  these  figures 
representing  tlie  difference  between  the  value  of  the 
eggs  and  tlie  cost  of  the  food. 
Wyandottes  . $26.10 
Leghorns  .  24.53 
Reds  .  22.12 
Rocks  .  19.00 
Of  course  no  one  would  think  of  attempting  to 
produce  commercial  eggs  on  the  plan  followed  at 
this  contest,  as  the  cost  of  buildings  and  of  at¬ 
tendants  would  be  4 oo  heavy.  On  the  other  hand  it 
must  be  remembered  that  the  thousand  birds  in  this 
contest  are  supposed  to  be  the  pic’:,  or  the  cream, 
of  the  best  flocks  in  the  country.  The  entire  bulle¬ 
tin  is  very  interesting,  and  will  well  repay  a  thor¬ 
ough  study  by  anyone  who  is  interested  in  hens  and 
eggs. 
Harvesting  the  Com  Crop 
SILO  ADVANTAGES.' — The  harvesting  of  the 
corn  crop  in  the  corn-growing  sections  quite 
often  becomes  a  long-drawn-out  and  sometimes  ex¬ 
pensive  operation;  especially  is  this  true  if  there  is 
a  very  large  crop  to  gather.  However,  the  silo  is 
one  of  the  quick,  satisfactory  and  economical  ways 
of  caring  for  the  corn,  but  tlie  silo  alone  cannot 
care  for  the  entire  crop  on  many  of  the  larger 
farms.  The  corn  fodder  serves  as  roughage  for 
the  livestock  and  perhaps  to  balance  and  supple¬ 
ment  the  silage  to  a  small  degree,  and  in  the  case 
of  a  shortage  of  hay  the  fodder  will  carry  the 
stock  through  the  Winter  and  bridge  them  over 
until  a  hay  crop  is  harvested.  The  silo  is  almost 
indispensable  for  the  stockman,  and  we  have  had  a 
silo  for  nine  years,  hut  yet  we  do  not  put  all  of  our 
corn  into  it  and  believe  there  are  other  methods 
of  earing .  for  the  crop  whereby  it  is  possible  to 
secure  all  tile  corn,  work  the  stalks  down  that  they 
may  be  put  into  condition  to  He  easily  disked  or 
plowed  under,  and  the  benefits  derived  thereby  are 
manifold. 
HOGGING  DOWN. — This  method  is  the  hogging 
down  of  a  portion  of  the  corn  crop.  For  several 
years  we  have  followed  the  practice  of  hogging  off 
a  plot  of  corn.  We  like  the  method  very  much, 
as  it  has  proven  quite  practical.  By  this  method 
all  of  the  corn  is  secured  and  fed  to  the  hogs,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  ground  is  worked  over  by  the 
grew  a  wonderful  heavy  crop  of  tobacco,  which 
promises  to  make  1500  to  1S00  pounds  per  acre, 
Sines  Kieffer  Seedling.  Fig.  596.  See  page  1543 
and  the  bulk  of  this  tobacco  was  sold  at  15  cents 
per  pound.  In  September  the  liogs  are  given  lim¬ 
ited  amounts  of  new  corn,  and  in  a  short  time  they 
are  on  full  feed,  when  they  are  turned  into  the 
cornfield. 
METHODS  OF  FEEDING.— The  hogs  are  not 
given  access  to  the  whole  field  at  once,  but  a  fence 
is  run  through  a  small  portion  of  the  plot;  as  this 
is  worked  down  and  eaten  another  portion  is  fenced 
off.  and  so  on,  until  they  are  given  access  to  the 
whole  field,  and  in  this  way  none  of  the  corn  is 
wasted.  Of  course  in  hogging  off  corn  the  swine 
to  do  their  best  must  be  fed  some  material  that  will 
balance  the  corn,  and  there  is  nothing  better  for 
this  than  tankage,  with  middlings  and  other  mill 
feed  stuff  as  a  second  choice.  Water  too  must  be 
supplied  in  abundance.  ika  g.  shellabarger. 
Miami  Co.,  O. 
Ration  No.  V. 
.35  lbs, 
.30  lbs. 
15  lbs. 
Balanced  Ration  from  Alfalfa  and  Silage 
Alfalfa  Substituted  for  Grain 
Part  II. 
TWO  rations  with  comparisons  were  printed  on 
page  1514.  Others  are  given  below : 
Ration  No.  III. 
Feed 
Protein 
C.H.Equiv. 
Cost 
corn  silage . 
.385 
5.81 
.0805 
Alfalfa  hay . 
1.908 
7.38 
.18 
2.293 
1.3.19 
$0.2675 
Ration 
No.  VI. 
Feed 
Protein 
C.H.Equiv. 
Cost 
corn  silage . 
99 
.»>*> 
4.98 
.075 
Alfalfa  hav . . 
1.50 
6.15 
.15 
corn  and  cob  meal.. 
.061 
.72 
.0125 
standard  middlings 
.26S 
1.118 
.03 
2.249 
12.968 
$0.2675 
Feed 
Protein 
C.H.Equiv. 
Cost 
30  lbs.  corn  silage . 
.3.30 
4.98 
.075 
10  lbs.  Alfalfa  hay . 
1.06 
4.10 
.10 
1.390 
9.08 
.175 
2  lbs.  distillers’  grains. 
.448 
1.33 
.033 
1 14  lb.  corn  and  eob  meal 
.064 
1.08 
.0187 
2  lbs.  gluten  feed . 
.4.32 
1.182 
.031 
514  lbs.  grain. 
2.324 
12.672 
$0.2577 
COST  OF  RATIONS. — All  of  these  rations  ex¬ 
cept  No.  5  are  representative  of  those  being  fed  on 
our  dairy  farms  and.  therefore,  emphasize  the  need 
of  each  dairyman  studying  his  own  individual  con¬ 
ditions  in  the  matter  of  feeding.  In  all  these  ra¬ 
tions  the  feed  prices  have  been  constant.  They  have 
been  as  follows:  Silage  $5  per  ton,  mixed  hay,  $18, 
corn  stover  $10.  Timothy  $25,  Alfalfa  $20,  gluten 
feed  $.31,  distillers’  grains  $.3.3,  cottonseed  meal  $40, 
linseed  meal  $40.  bran  $26,  corn  and  cob  meal  $25, 
middlings  $.30. 
VARIATIONS  IN  RATIONS.— Ration  No.  1  re¬ 
quires  6  lbs.  of  grain,  all  of  rather  high  protein 
nature.  3’lils  is  at  the  rate  of  1  lb.  of  grain  to 
about  4  lbs.  of  milk.  A  ration  of  this  nature  is  fed 
very  commonly  because  so  many  have  mixed  bay  on 
hand.  Ration  No.  2  requires  a  half  pound  more 
grain  and  costs  3e  more.  This  is  because  of  the 
extra  grain  and  the  fact  that  Timothy  hay  was 
used  in  place  of  mixed  hay.  Timothy,  while  hav¬ 
ing  a  market  value  higher  than  mixed  hay.  does  not 
furnish  the  nutrients  that  mixed  hay  does;  hence, 
extra  grain  is  required. 
CLOSE  FIGURING. — Ration  No.  .3  is  started  on 
same  basis  as  1  and  2,  but  Alfalfa  hay  is  used. 
Here  is  a  ration  requiring  blit  514  lbs.  of  grain, 
a  ration  slightly  cheaper  than  No.  1  and  4c  cheaper 
than  No.  2.  Note  also  that  the  grain  mixture  is 
a  different  nature,  permitting  the  use  of  a  car¬ 
bohydrate  feed,  corn  and  cob  meal,  which  is  often 
grown  on  the  farm.  If  one  had  a  rather  limited 
supply  of  siluge,  it  would  pay  him  to  dispose  of  his 
Timothy  and  buy  Alfalfa,  hut  feed  some  grain 
about  as  prescribed  in  Ration  No.  3.  Four  cents 
per  cow  per  a.,  for  365  days  means  $14.60,  very 
often  the  difference  between  profit  and  loss  on  a 
cow.  A  comparison  of  rations  2  and  .3  emphasizes 
the  slogan  “swap  your  Timothy  for  Alfalfa”  in 
feeding  dairy  cows. 
A  POOR  COMBINATION.— Ration  No.  4  is  an 
example  of  poor  and  uneconomical  cow  feeding. 
Yet  on  many  farms,  corn  stover  and  Timothy,  or 
even  Timothy  alone,  is  the  sole  roughage  fed.  This 
ration  shows  that  it.  is  impossible  to  feed  the  cow 
in  question  much  more  than  15  lbs.  of  stover  and 
10  lbs.  of  Timothy  bay  and  have  it  balance.  The 
roughage  is  of  a  carbohydrate  nature,  and  cotton¬ 
seed  meal,  the  highest  protein  in  feed  available,  has 
been  used  to  the  extent  of  5  lbs.  to  balance  the  ra¬ 
tion.  To  some  the  feeding  of  so  much  cottonseed 
would  seem  impossible,  and  yet  it  is  being  done  in 
many  cases.  Of  course,  by  using  loss  of  the  rough- 
age,  a  small  variety  in  grains  could  be  used,  but 
they  would  lmve  to  lie  high  in  protein  and  cotton¬ 
seed  would  he  tlie  chief  one. 
A  HOME-GROWN  RATION.— Ration  No.  5  is 
balanced  and  made  up  of  corn  silage  and  Alfalfa 
hay  only.  The  cost  is  about  the  same  as  Nos.  1 
and  2.  However,  with  sufficient  corn  silage  grown 
on  the  farm  at  hand  and  a  sufficient  supply  of  Al¬ 
falfa  hay,  also  grown  on  the  farm,  the  ration  would 
have  advantages  over  the  others  in  matters  of  econ¬ 
omy.  While  a  price  of  $5  per  ton  is  put  on  the  sil¬ 
age  and  $20  a  ton  on  the  Alfalfa  hay,  if  these  feeds 
are  grown  on  the  farm,  it  is  really  a  different  pro¬ 
position  from  stepping  out  and  buying  them  at  the 
prices  mentioned.  The  price  of  the  ration,  then, 
would  he  whatever  price  the  farmer  would  have  to 
put  on  the  two  home-grown  feeds.  If  a  farmer  can 
economically  grow  a  balanced  ration  on  his  farm, 
he  has  practically  solved  the  feeding  problem.  A 
ration  such  as  No.  5,  should  give  good  results  and 
warrant  a  trial  where  the  conditions  are  right.  Ra¬ 
tion  No.  6  is  thoroughly  practical  and  would  doubt¬ 
less  give  better  results  than  Ration  No.  5.  The 
cost  of  the  two  rations  figures  the  same  and  still 
the  amount  of  grain  is  cut  in  two  by  the  use  of 
Alfalfa  hay.  h.  f.  j. 
