Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (March 16, 1917)
THE SEMI-WEEKLY TRIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA. ITh me iMffliffflr CULTURED DR. RITTER s m I lw jm roun ft B I LI M II Farmers in semi-arid regions of west and Southwest make inex pensive silos by digging pits and lining them with cement : : Method may be used profitably in any part of country N THE pit silo (ho farmers of tlio scnil arid regions of tlio Southwest hnvo found a vnlunlile aid In their efforts to wrest n living from tlio soil. In tlio winter of 1013-14, following tlio un precedented drought of 1018, It proved Its value to such an extent that hun dreds of thetn Imvo been constructed by tho farm ers of western Kansas, Oklahoma, eastern Colo rado, northern Texas, and New Mexico. In one Colorado county nlono 131 I'aso tho exlstcnco of a few pt silos last fall saved $00,000 worth of llvo stock which would Imvo perished in tho sovcro winter following tho dry summer. There were moro tlinu 200 pit silos In this county tho past summer. Tho silo Is getting to bo an old story on tho prosperous farms of tho mlddlo West. Tho valuo of tho great tank to pro servo tho feed values of forago crops and utlllzo them through tho wlntor and spring when tho pas tures nro resting, has been tested so often Hint nearly overy successful farmer has constructed ono or more of them. Tho pit slip Is only about three years old, and has been In extensive uso for only two years. It Is not n now thing, but It Is now In tho Southwest, where It Is moro valuabjo than In any other farming re gion In tho United Stntes. A fow silos havo been In uso In Iown, In Illinois, and even In Mississippi, for a number of years, but their uso In these re gions has not spread. A silo Is a water-tight structure Into which corn and other fodder are packed whllo green so tightly that no spaco Is loft for air, and with enough mots turo to Insuro fermentation. Tho materia! Is gen erally cut Into strips not more than an Inch or two In length. In tho winter, after the fermentation and curing process hnvo been completed, the silo Is opened and the "mash" Is fed to llvo stock. It Is us palatable and nourishing as green fodder, mid exhaustive and long-continued experiments havo proved Mint beef cattle, milch cows, hogs, horses, mules, nnd sheep thrive on It. Tho process preserves about 00 per cent of the food values of tho green fodder, If tho fodder Is loft In stneks or shocks It loses fully one-half of tho food valuo through tlio drying-out process. In the Southwest last wlntor nnd spring tho own ers of pit silos leurncd that tho Immature nnd hot wind dried-out fodder crops, which would havo been practically worthless as dry food, mado n very good food when converted Into ensllago In tho pit silos. Ono Illustration will prove Its valuo In Mils regard. . J. O. Michael Is a farmer In tho Lincoln district of El I'uho county, In eastern Colorado. In August, 1013, when It was nppnrent that tho drought and hot winds had already mado It Impossible to securo a crop, Michael, assisted by two men working nt odd times, built a R5-ton pit silo. Tho cash outlny 'wna only $M5. Into this hole In the ground Mlchnel ipnckcd tho corn from ton acros, tho best of which would not yield moro than ten busholH per acre. 'Tho com was Immnturo, nnd there was no chnnco tfor It to Improvo. If harvested and stacked for uso os fodder In dry form It would havo been worth enly ft few dollars per ncro. iProm lato fall until spring Mr. Michael fed tho MisllnKO to 10 milch cowfc and 12 heifers, 20 pounds n lnv ner bead for tho cows nnd llvo pounds for tho heifers. No grain wns fed, but tho cnttlo wore clvcn n Uttlo millet nnd ont strnw for roughnge. ri'hn cntlro herd kept In good condition, nnd tho ten cowa provided Mr. Mlclmcl with ten dollars worth of cream overy week. Tho pit slloa In tho Southwest nro generally noth lni: moro than holes in tho ground lined with ce dent of varying thickness. Some of them aro con Btructcd with a heavy concrete collnr to prevent tho ground caving In nnd to keep out tho moisture. Borne of them havo concrete extension abovo tho Hiirfnco of the ground. There nro nil sorts nnd sires nnd nil shnpes and kinds of construction, for tho nit silo Is still such n now farm dovlco that It has not been atnndnrdlxcd. Tho cost rangcB from $1 45 cash outlay of Mr. Michael, to $150 for tlio lnrcer oues, Vltn nn Inch ccmeut lining nnd heavy nncroto collurs extending deep Into tho ground nit nbove-ground extensions. Tho nvcrngo cost of the hundreds Mint havo boon built rnngvH between fl5 nnd $20. A number of interesting methods havo boon brovKht Into uso to mnko tho most of this new form at B'lo Two brothers, Uny and Fny Harner, who illvo'nonr Colby, In western Kansns, havo discov ered n method by which they can dig n 30-foot holo for a tilt silo In about two days. Tboy contract to dig pi hIos 10 foot In diameter sad 80 foet deep for about $35, nnd their m o t h o d Is practical throughout western Kansas and eastern Colorado, since thero Is very little rock above n depth of -10 to 150 feet. Tho Harner brothers uso tho blower of a threshing machine with which to remove tho dirt from the pit, blow ing It through tho air and so scattering it about that Micro is no unsightly pile of enrth left. A llvc-horso-power engine furnishes tho motive power. Tho blower nnd funnel nro lowered Into tho hole, nnd the men throw tho dirt Into tho receiver. In sandy, looso sbll they havo sunk n 20-foot holo in eight hours, a tnsk which would rcqulro two laborers, working In tho iiHiinl way, from two to three days to accom plish. Tho Ilarners dug ono pit 30 feet deep and 12 feet across in 18 hours, tho dirt being carried 12 feet above tho ground through nn opening mndo In the roof of tho barn nnd blown to tho winds. One man in Oklahoma's Panhandle last year, after ho had built or dug a pit sllo at a total cost of $10, proved that Itusslnn thistles can be con verted Into fair stock feed. This man wns Albert Stone, who lives near Giiymon. When his 15 by 17 sllo was finished, with n $2 sh'.-l over It, ho found ho was short of feed, and filled It with thistles, broomcorn, knflr and mllo. The thistles were cut too lato to make good, feed, but In tho fermenting process tho thorns were softened and the cattlo ate them readily. There was not enough from his 30 acres to fill the small sllo, but Mr. Stone found that the results were sufficient to repay him. All winter he fed 7 milch cows, 12 horses, 0 calves, nnd several hogs, feeding them nothing but the silage. It lasted for three months. As dry feed It would hnvo been gone in threo weeks. That pit sllo was the only source of rovc nuo on the farm for tho year, and tho milk kept tho family In groceries and other necessities. Experiments covering a period of three yenrs, mado at the Kansas Agricultural college, havo proved that silage from corn, from knflr nnd from sorghum hnve equal feeding vnlue, ton for ton, for both beef cuttle nnd dairy cows, when encli va riety Is nlnccd In tho sllo at tho nroner time. This proper time for corn Is when tho kernels aro be ginning to dent, for knflr nnd sorghum when tho seeds hnvo grown so hnrd they ennnot bo crushed between thumb anil forefinger, und while tho stalks and lenves nro still green. Theso tests hnvo nroved that tho nrnctlco in the pnst has been to cut knflr and sorghum too green to get tho full feed value in tho sllnge. Theso tests will hnvo a very important bearing upon farming In tho scmlnrld districts. The best sllago crop will be corn where tho rainfall Is ample, knflr where tho rainfall Is moderate, and sorghum where It Is light. Sorghum Is practically a euro crop, where It Is well cultivated, In tho driest years In western Knnsas nnd Oklnhomn, tho Panhandle of Texas, and In eastern New Mexico and In Colorado. Every farmer In tho Southwest, It Is said, needs a sllo as badly as he needs anything; it Is further said that not two men in ten aro able to build an above-ground sllo because of tho expense. Tho pit sllo, easting only one-tenth ns much, nnd capablo of? being built by tho farmer himself, Is expected to solve this problem until farmers aro able to piuchaso the moro expensive and better above-ground silos of woods, tile, concreto or metnl. When Dr. Pnul Itlttcr, tho minis ter of Switzerland nt Washington, wns thrust Into sudden prominence by be ing selected to look after Germany's Interests in this country, people began to ask "What about this Doctor Itlttcr, what manner of man Is ho?" In Wash ington where he Is best known the re ply usually Is, "Why, surely you know the Swiss minister. He Is qulto de lightful, so cultivated, and his wlfo Is one of tho handsomest and most ac complished women o the diplomatic corps" but nctual facts ns to his past career nnd present Interests aro hard to come by. Ho Is n doctor of laws nnd not of medicine (LL. D. of Leipzig university) ; n knowledge of law In general and international law In par ticular being a necessary qualification for entrance into the dlplomutlc scrv Ico of Switzerlnnd. Doctor Itlttcr, who wis born nt Bnsel In 1805. studied nt the University of Pnrls, nt Basel, Goettlngen, nnd Jenn before taking his degree nt Leipzig, and practiced law In his homo town for n short time. Ills first diplomatic experience wns gained In tho foreign office nt Berne. Then he was sent to Japan, first ns consul, Inter as consul general, when all Switzerland's diplo matic relntions with the Flowery kingdom were In tho Hands of ner consular officers, and later still as envoy cxtraordlnnry nnd minister plenipotentiary, a service of 17 years, during which time he developed a deep affection for und extraordinary comprehension of the Japanese people, of their politics, and literature. Doctor Bitter camo to Washington in 1000. Since, then he has managed tho diplomatic business of his country with great tact and maintained the plcasantest social relations with his colleagues of tho diplomatic corps and with several successive ndministrntlons. Ho Is a man or wide culture anu u notable linguist, speaking Japanese fluently ns well as several European languages. OF SENATORIAL STOCK SOME STRANGE FARMS People Surely Have Unuoual Means of Money Making In United States. Frederick Hale, the new senator from Maine, Is of senutorlnl stock. Ills father is ex-Senator Eugeno Hnlo nnd his mother, Mrs. Mary D. (Chandler) Halo, Is the daughter of Senator Chan dler, lato of Detroit, Mich. Senator Hale's brother, Chandler Hale, mar ried a daughter of Senator Cumcron, Into of Pennsylvania. Frederick Hulo goes into the United Stntes sennto nt ubout the snme age ns his fnthcr, who wns re plnced five nnd n half years ago by Charles F. Johnson, Democrat, who now In turn Is displaced by tho son, after one term. Frederick Ilnle wns born In De troit, October 7, 1874, nnd his earliest dnys were pnssed In that city. When he was about twelve years old ho was sent abroad nnd tutored In a French family In Versailles. He gained nn in timate knowledge of Mic French lan guage, which was an asset In the re cent cnmpnlgn. Ho delivered several speeches In French. Ho wns educated nt Groton, where he fitted for Hnrvnrd, graduating In 1890. Ho attended the Columbln Law school and was admitted to tho bar In 1899. He was a Roose- velt leader In 1012. Hale Is. unmarried, malntnlns n handsomely appointed house on State street In tho exclusive section of Portland, entertains delightfully and Is a host whose guests are brought to realize what royal hospitality renlly Is. Ho is n member of clubs nlraost without number. GERMANY'S BOSS Turkey hns Its mosques; Ilussla has Its Cos sacks; Germany has Its U-boats, nnd Mexico hns Its ftciis; but tho United Stntes hns the queerest fnrms In the world. At Pasadena, Cal., Edwin Cawston operates what Is porhnps tho lurgest ostrich fnrni in tho world. Of course, it isn't everyone who would enro to keep ostriches. Hut Mr. Cnwston doesn't mind It u bit, for he controls a great pnrt of tho OHtrlclt-plumo supply of tho world. If you hnvo ever purchased tin ostrich plume of the first grade you niny have u faint Inkling ns to how much money can bo mndo from un ostrich fnrm, If you know how. Onco Pennsylvnnlnns got the fover nnd started nn ostrich farm up near Sunbury, but tho poor, unoffending birds refused to become ac climated; said they were not snowbirds, or some thing to that effect. Bo that ns it may, Cuwston's ostrich farm remains today the greatest In tho world. At Victoria, In Mexico, there Is a parrot ranch. And some distance beyond Loh Angeles, Cal., there Is an Immense pigeon farm. Thero one will find nearly 15,000 pigeons. And almost everybody knows that thero is money iu plfjeona; Indeed, where Is tho schoolboy who hasn't kept a few at ono time or another? Also, lu Colorado Micro la j bear farm. And somewhoro up In Canada Is n man who Is making money by rearing wolves; tho skins bring huudsomo prices. At Hot Sprlugs, Ark., II. J. Campbell hns un alligator farm, which Is but unother of tho Amer ican queerest farms in tlio world. But down in Florida, whore tho alllgutor grows, tho farmers used to ahoot tho whole blooming family. It 13 said that botweon 1890 and 1000 moro Minn 3,000, 000 saurlans were killed. Of course, perhaps thero wns nmplo renson for this wholesnlo butch ery. The nlllgntbrs seemed to tako great delight lu deplotlng tho farmers' herds of cattle. Even tho docile cow was not Immune. Naturally, mak ing nwny with tho nlllgntors in wholesnlo lots cnuaed u shortngo In alligator akin, und tho leath er manufacturers felt tho pinch. Alllgntor furms were the result. And Mr. Campbell goes Dnmo Nuturo ono bet terho hatches 'oin out In Incubators. After they get beyond tho stago whero they look llko woolly worma with iron-clad backs, the alligators aro allowed to shoot tho chutes, play tag and otherwise mnko tho most of life. But eventually eventually tho Bword of not Dnmocies but Camp bell fullB. Later, the prtdo of tho family receives ns u graduation gift n lovely nlllgntorskln grip or Hultcnse, und ho nnd tho biigBuge-smushers, nil unmindful of tho ahnttcred romnnco nnd tho piti ful tragedy back of tho advent of tho grip or Bultcnse. treat It shamefully. That's" life for you. In Texas tho fanner Is breeding buffaloes and crossing thoin with cattlo. In Oregon they nro raising Chinese pheasants, but the story of how tho ostrich was first Introduced to America Is ono that must bo told. In 1882 nn unknown soldier of fortune filled tho hold of a steamer bound for New York with moro than 100 ostriches. Now, these glgnntlc birds weigh ns much as 200 and 800 pounds, even more. They are accustomed to sunlight, tho open rnngo nnu, nuovo an, iresn air. nut hero they were, packed In bndly ventilated pens In tho smelly hold of n tramp steamer. The pitching and tossing of tho steamer also was responsible for the death of many of tlio birds. At any rate, but n mero handful of tho original shipment arrived in Now York. Lnter they wero shipped to San Francisco, und still later to Anaheim, lu Lower California, Terrapin fanning Is ono of tho newer Indus tries. Down on tho Islo of IIopo, Georgia, Is ono of the greatest of nil terrapin farms. And tlio United Stntes bureau of fisheries hns been study- Ing tho dlnmond-bnck terrapin for the last eight years down nt Benufort, N. O. There terrapin hnvo been In the pounds for moro than six years, and tno young nuve long ngo reached tho ngo where they can take enro of themselves. William Hagan has an Immense fur plant down along the shores of tho Delaware ho raises musk rats, nnd makes money at it. During tho season of 1014-15 Mr. Hagan realized moro than $2,000 clear profit on his Immense farm, which extends over nn acre of 014 ncres. But muskrut farming is n very strenuous business. In tho first plnce, tho farmer must wnlt until fall before tho real "farm tug" takes place. It is then Mint tho skins nre nt their beat. Tho animals nro caught tho greator part of them by means of stnko traps; that Is, traps attached to stakes. The stakes also serve ns u guide. Then, too, the trappers take with them n needle-pointed rapier, used to spear auy stray rat which may attempt to fleet nt tho first warning of danger to him or his. And those hip- booted trappers can spenr a rat with nil the deft ness of n William Tell shooting an apple. If you hnvo never seen u muskrnt fnrm, drop down to Mr. llagau's place you'll bo surprised to seo how un "underwater" farm la managed, and you'll hardly be able to bellove Micro aro so many muskrats In the world. Somo days ho averages moro than 150, and ho has come' very near to the 200 mark. Yes, there's lota of money In musknit farming; but unless you'vo got the constitution of nn Alplno cluisseur, don't attempt It. Joseph Mutlnck or Moorestown, N. J., owns what ta perhaps tho largest gulnea-plg farm in tho world. This much 18 uncontradlctablo. Ho raises more of thcui Mum any grower In America, nnd makes money where others fall. Now, that's sonn- thing to be proud of. Any man can bo a farmer; but to bo u successful farmer well, that's some thing dlffereut. Of course, thero nro other gulnea- plg farms which enrich their owners lota and lots of them. But In the gulnea-plg world Mr, Mat- luck Is king. Philadelphia North American. General von Ludcndorff, officially chief of staff to Field Marshal von Hlndenburg, Is virtually dictator of all Germany. Ludendorff Is supremo. All tho threads, not only of military control, but also of civil ndralnlstra tlon, food distribution, Industry, agri culture, nnd even foreign relntions, nil of which are subordlnnto to military requirements, now run to the country seat of the prince of Pless, whero Gen eral von Ludcndorff sits with Von Hln denburg nt lmperlnl headquarters. Nothing is done unless "Ludendorff" Is for it. It wns Ludendorff's lint that or ganized tho universal nuxlllnry lnbor service, converted German Industry to nn unmodified wnr bnsls, deported Bel glnn, Roumanian nnd Serbian work men to Germnny and tightened tho regulations for food distribution. In the final consideration it was Luden dorff's Influence Mint committed Ger mnny to the unrestricted submnrlne warfare. All theso decisions nnd detcr mlnntions, of course, nro covered by Field Marshal von Hindenburg's name nnd nuthority, but ho lenves such nonmlllfary mntters almost exclusively In tho hnnds of Von Ludendorff. "UNCLE JIMMY'S" FAME "Uncle Jimmy," otherwise nnd more formnlly known ns Col. J. F. Ed wnrds, Into "of tho nrmy of tho Con federate States of America, Is famed In Washington for two reasons. One is that he has been n doorkeeper In the United States senate for 40 years, nnd still holds tho Job. The other nnd moro picturesque renson for his fnmo Is that he Is tho only living mrtn who hod tho nerve to "cuss out" tho Into Scnntor Vest. Vest wns a senator from Missouri In the Confederate congress nfter tho wnr stnrted, und then Joined the South ern army us a private. Ho wus as signed to tho troops coramnnded by Col. J. F. Edwards. In Inter years when Vest became n United Statea senator his former commander ob tained tho place of doorkeeper, but wiib still Colonel Edwards to tho sena tor. "Uncle Jimmy," ns ho camo to bo known, Is of n volcanic temperament, and not forgetting that Vest was onco his subordinate, used to swear nt tho senator whenever he felt like It, nnd he nlwnys got by with it, much to tho astonishment of his fellow employees. Edwards Is a much-llkcd and priv ileged character nbout the sennto. y
