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The Commoner
28
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VOE 13, NO.
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In the Field of Agriculture
THE MARKETING OF MEAT
All important reason why farmers
produce less moat than formerly is to
be found in the system of distribu-
, uon irom producer to consumer that
iuih grown up in tins country, says
W. J. Spillman of tlio United States
department of agriculture. In most
of the countries of Europe public
abattoirs havo boon constructed to
which farmers may consign their fat
stock, the moat from which is then
sold to the consumer without passihg
through the hands of an intorrnin-
rMJ nhln linn rvf mlrlHnnm., ..i.
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Whom takes his toll. In tha mini.
try the fanner receives only a small
fraction of the price paid by the
customer. Enormous packing estab
lishments have monopolized the busi
ness and there is little or no compe
tition in buying the f armor's stock.
The enormous fortunes that have
grown up in this business in recent
years show that the farmer has not
been getting his share of the profits,
Again, the retail meat business as
at present conducted in cities renders
. enormous profits necessary. Numer
ous small groceries, each with its in
dependent delivery system, clerks.
nxiures, etc., serve a few patrons
scattered over considerable overlap
ping areas. Bettor organization of
the retail business, whereby it shall
be conducted in larger units, with
well-systematized methods of de
livery, are seriously needed. Such
organization thould greatly lessen
the retail price of meats and at the
same time permit the farmer to re
ceive better prices. This would en
courage greater production.
Private organizations for the sys
tematizing of the retailing of meats,
imhout public supervision, will not
. meet the situation. Such organiza
tUrns have already grown up in the
niilk business, but instead of cheap-
' nine the nroduct t.n onnRnmora
fecreasing the price of producers
they have converted the saving thus
effected into exhorbitant profits.
- Public abattoirs with public sal of
"" the meat of animals slaughtered at
them, havo become a crying need in
this country.
duced the cost $1.83 for each 100
pounds of gain, and increased the
total profit $8.15 per steer.
2. The addition of corn silage
twice daily to a ration of shelled
corn, cotton-seed meal, and clovor
hay, reduced the cost $1.83 for each
hundred pounds of gain and in
creased total profits $11.19 per steer.
3. The substitution of corn silage
for clover hay in a ration of shelled
corn, cotton-seed meal and clover
hay reduced the cost $4.35 for each
hundred pounds of gain, and in
creased the profits $17.97 per steer.
4. The more nearly corn silage re
placed the clover hay in the ration,
the cheaper was the train nnil t.hp
greater the profit.
5. Corn silage produced a rapid
finish on tho cattle.
G. The silage used ill this trial
contained an unusually high per cent
of dry matter, and was, judging from
previous experience, more efficient
for fattening cattle than silage con
taining a high per cent of moisture.
GREEN WINTER FEED FOR
POULTRY
SILAGE AND BEEF PROFITS
The Indiana experiment station
parried on a steer-feeding test last
winter, in which the value of corn
silage as a fattening ration was tried
put. Tho following conclusions are
interesting and valuable:
' 1. The addition of corn silage
once daily to a ration of shelled corn,
cotton-seed meal, and clover hay, re-
One of the essentials of winter egg
production is green feed of some
sore, rue chief function of such food
is to act as a digestive stimulant
rather than as an addition to the
actual food constituents of the ration.
In recent years sprouted oats have
been widely used by experienced
poultrymen as a green food for poul
try. Experience at tho Maine station
indicates that in order to make a
satisfactory product the oats must be
grown very quickly, and this requires
plenty of warmth, moisture and sun
light. Where the right combination
of these can be secured, oats may be
satisfactorily sprouted for poultry
feeding purposes.
At the Maine station use was made
of a small room in cnrniPP.Hnn wiHi
the station. poultry plant. This room
was provided with a three-inch pipe
connected with the water-heating
system. The back part of the room
was partitioned off as a closet, in
closing tho three-inch water pipe, in
which shelves were built to accommo
date three tiers of flats in which the
sprouted oats were nlnntpd Wh
partition wall which formed the front
part of the closet consists of glass
doors, mado from the regular storm
window sash, hinged to swing open
as an ordinary door does. These
glass doors face towards the south
side of the building which has a
window directly in front of the doors.
The dimensions of the sprouting
closet are: Length, 9 feet, 3 inches;
depth, 2 feet, 6 inches; height, C feet.
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Instructions,
The place of shelves in this closet is
taken by large, squaro greenhouse
flats made of 7-8 inch stuff. There
can be accommodated four rows of
flats, three in a row, in the closet at
one time. A number of holes are
bored in the bottom of each of the
flats in order to drain off tho sur
face moisture which comes with the
wetting of tho oats. In this closet
it is easily possible to maintain a
temperature that does not fall below
70 degrees at any time. With this
arrangement one is able to grow oats
from 4 to G inches high in ono week's
time. Tho actual method of sprout
ing oats is as follows! Clean and
sourd oats are soaked in water over
night in water in 11 pail. Tho next
morning the flats are filled to a depth
of about two inches and put into the
sprouting closet. During' tho first
few days, until the sprouts have be
come a half to three-quarters of an
inch long, the oats are thoroughly
stirred and raked over at least two
or three times during the day. This
stirring gives an even distribution of
moisture throughout the oats in the
flat. When the sprouts are sufficient
ly long to form a matted mass it is
not desirable to stir them longer, or
to disturb them n any way to break
off and injure the sprouts. The mat
ter of prime importance in sprouting
oats is to provide sufficient moisture.
The oats should be kept quite wet.
In order to do this it is found neces
sary to wet the oats threo time3 a
day with the ordinary green house
sprinkling can. The oats are fad
when they are from 4 to G inches in
height. They are fed at the rate of
a piece of the matter oats und at
tached green stalks about G to 8
inches square for each 100 birds per'
day. Break the squares into smaller
pieces and scatter over the per. Fed
at this rate, the oats will never ca se
any bowel trouble among tho birds.
It should be borne in mind that
sprouted oats are not fed for their
food value, but as a tonic and stimu
lative influence on the digestive
ui-suuB. xl ums are to De used as
food they can be fed most economic
ally not sprouted, but as a fresh, suc
culent green food duing the winter
months the sprouted oats have a de
finite value in the poultry ration.
'as we understand it hntiTZZlTZ
vutue partaking of a larc-A vni ujr
dry food such as husks Jo me 0
stalks and then whe "& "fc
given free accesB to tho wn5 e
Ply. Bloating follows and dlth8?;
curs in a short time. The proventhf;
is to water the cattle before t.Pit
them into the field land permit
to remain in the field onl v i J?enJ
time until they become iLnZ
to the new ration. The sam J
ment will prevent alfalfalS d?P
bloat. Dry murrain often cauZ
death and is produced from an excel
of dry material without Buffit
mo sture. The feeding of cured co?u
stalks is expensive and impractic-
NO OATS IN THE HORSES' RATION
The Kansas exnerimpmf ntHnn i,..
recently completed a three-year ex
periment for the purpose of deter
mining the most economic yet satis
factory feed for horses in which oafs
played an impoitaut part. Twentv
colts were purchased ten grade's
and ten pure breds. These were di
vided into two lots, with five pure
breds and five grades in each lot. For
nearly a year the two lots have been
fed the same sort of roughage
alfalfa, corn fodder and pasture. One
lot has been fed oats every day and
the other has had a combination of
70 per cent corn, 25 per cent bran,
and 5 i-ei cent oil meal. Each lot of
oolts ha received the same number
of poi.ndf. of grain. After more than
n:no ncnths, the colts that had 110
outs -vc-re in better condition than
ilu ctheis and mude a little belter
gain. The combination feed cost 20
per cent less than the oats. Those hi
charge of the experiment believe
that the test proves that there is a
great chance for saving in feeding
over the old methods.
DANGER IN FEEDING LATE-CUT
ALFALFA
FEEDING STANDING CORN
STALKS
The United States department of
agriculture recently sent out a bulle
tin warning farmers against permit
ting their cattle to eat tho standing
corn stalks in the fields. This bulle
tin also recommended that the cattle
be kept out of the fields and that the
corn stalks be fed only in the form
of cured fodder. The claim is made
that these uncured stalks contain
elements that are poisonous to cattle,
and it is pointed out that cows fre
quently die after being turned in the
corn fields after the corn is gath
ered. TheIowa Farmer takes excep
tions to some of the conclusions of
this bulletin, and says tha the mat
ter of turning cattle into the fields
after the corn is. gathered is as old
as animal husbandry and that the
farmers of this country will refuse
to take the government warning
"8ly- Admitting that it was
doubtless true that cows do frequent!
Jnrieiiaifer.?elnB turnod to corn
stalk fields, it says that "deaths are
usually attributed to what is known
as murrain. This is not a result of
the poisonous condition of the stalks
A number of deaths of both cattle
and horses, due to feeding late cut
alfalfa, are reported from a great
many sections of the southwest, says
the Farmer and Stockman. About
the time the last cutting of alfalfa
was made a rainy spell of weather
set in, and the late-cut stuff has not
cured as it should. Some have been
feeding this partly cured stuff direct
ly from the field, with considerable
trouble as a result. The hay is very
heavy with sap and moisture, and
animals seem to like it, but it is not
good for them in its present partly
cured state. A still greater death
agency is alfalfa which has been
frozen before being cut. This has
been giving more than the usual
trouble this fall, and yet some folks
do not seem to remember that feed
ing it to anything except hogs is
dangerous. If you have any of this,
feed it only to the hogs. It will not
hurt them, but it often will kill a
horse or a cow in double quick time.
ECONOMY OF THE SEPARATOR
For a person keeping five or more
cows, it is economy to own a banc1
separator. According to the Perdue
experiment station, by using a cream
separator there is a saving of $3.50
to $7 per cow per ear, over tbe
gravity system. Besides' a more
thorough skimming, tho centrifugal
separator produces a better quality
ot cream and. a more satisfactory
thickness, removes many bacteria
and other impurities and produces a
skimmilk in good condition for feed
ing If the separator is used, tho
milk should be separated while still
warm, as the separator has its great
est efficiency if the milk has a tem
perature of 90 to 95 degrees F. A
point to be remembered in the use of
!
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