8 
COLORADO EXPERIMENT STATION 
DAIRY WORK FOR PLAINS SETTLERS. 
H. M. COTTRELL. 
Thousands of families are coming to Colorado this spring to 
locate on farms. Many of them are locating in the dry land sections 
of the state, often on land on which a furrow has never been turned. 
The methods of handling the soil, the varieties of seeds used and 
the handling of the crops after seeding are entirely different from those 
found profitable in Eastern States. Experienced men who have farmed 
in two or more states and under widely different conditions do not 
expect to meet expenses for crop raising the first year while they are 
learning what methods and varieties are most profitable in a new loca¬ 
tion. 
Many of our new settlers have a limited amount of capital, and 
a failure of crops this year would bring suffering to a large number 
and financial hardship to others. 
To those settlers whose means are not sufficient to carry them 
through a year of crop failure and have sufficient left to grow* a crop 
the second year, we would advise the breaking up of a small, area only, 
not over 40 acres on a quarter section, and if money is quite limited, 
not over 20 acres . 
Write to the Experiment Station, Fort Collins, Colorado, for 
advice as to the best methods of preparing the soil, the best crops 
to plant varieties to use and the best method of treating the crops after 
seeding. This advice will be given gladly and freely. 
The new settler should consult the successful farmers who are his 
neighbors, asking them the same questions that he asks the Experiment 
'Station. Then utlizing the advice from his neighbors and the Station, 
Handle his 20 or 40 acres in such a way as to get the largest yield 
from them. He will learn more from cultivating this small area well 
than he will if he puts all the land he can into crops and is obliged 
to do the work poorly. 
While learning how to raise profitable crops under his new con¬ 
ditions, the farfner will need an income to support'his family. One 
of the best ways of securing this is by milkng cOws and selling the 
cream to a factory. 
Range cows selected for milking qualities and fed on the native 
prairie pastures of Colorado alone will produce through the summer 
from $2 to $5 worth of milk per head'a month. All the creameries pay 
cash at least once a month, and some of them pay daily. The farmer, 
if he cultivates a small area only, will have the help to milk from 
10 to 15 cows, and these will give him a cash income of from $20 to 
$75 a month, depending on the number and quality of the cows milked. 
Selling the cream to the creamery will require much less outlay 
for building and equipment than will be needed if butter is made on 
the farm, and will make the work much lighter for the housewife. 
