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About The gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 1914)
HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION Pasture and Grain Crops for Hogs in Pacific Northwest Contributed by Byron Hunter of the Board of Plant Industry, United States Department of Agriculture. S This ia the third of a series of 3 articles dealing with, crops and systems of cropping for pork $ Q production, prepared by Mr. $ 3 Byron Hunter, who is now state $ 3 leader in charge of farm-man- 0 agementfield studies and dem- onstrations in the Stato of $ Washington, and employed o- ' operatively by the United $ States Department of Agricul- $ 3 ture and the State College of $ Washington. P GROWN" in rows and kept well cultivated, rape furnishes excellent green forage during the dry Bea Bon when clover pasture is cut short oy tne summer drought, in growing rape in rows the land is prepared early and kept in good condition until plant ing time. The best results are secured by making three plantings on approxi mately April 1, 15 and 30. These three areas are then pastured alternately, the logs being changed from one to the other. By thorough cultivation rape ean be kept growing all summer. It is usually large enough to pasture with light hogs in 8 to 8 weeks after plant ing. Before brood sows and other grown hogs are turned on the rape, it should be large enoueh so that the? will feed upon the leaves instead of biting off the stem or pulling up the plants. When the fall rains come, rape makes a vigorous growth and can be used until the ground is so wet that the oil is injured by the tramping of the toga. , Summer pasture is also provided by wring 1 bushel of oats and 4 pounds of rape seed per acre during the latter part of April or early in May. If the rape allowed to grow until late in! the fall, the rape furnishes good pas ture from November 1 to April 1. Vetch sown alone or with wheat or oats in corn at the last cultivation or in the early fall on spring plowed stub ble land furnishes pasture for hogs dur ing the late fall, winter and early spring. One bnshel of vetch and a bushel of oats or 40 pounds of wheat are used per acre. If sown alone, from 90 to 120 pounds of vetch seed are re quired per acre. The seed is either planted with a one-horse grain drill which runs between the rows of corn or it' is sown broadcast from the back of a horse. A one-horse disk grain drill, which can be used for this pur pose, is shown elsewhere! If the lat ter method is used, a hood is placed over the head of the horse to keep the grain from falling into the animal's ears. If sown broadcast, the last culti vation of the corn covers the seed. If vetch and wheat or oats are sown in corn when "laid by" in July, the pasture is ready for use by October 1; if sown on spring-plowed stubble land in the early fall, it is ready about No vember 1. The pasture may be used during the winter and early spring. If other pasture is not available, these crops will also furnish excellent forage for hogs until late in June. Vetch is also sown alone in the fall and used during April, May and Jnne. Owing to the excessive winter pre cipitation west of the Cascade moun tains, the ground is frequently so wet that the tramping of stock is very in jurious to most soils. For this reason a grass pasture with a eloso, tough sod is very desirable for winter use. Eng lish rye-grass meets this need admir ably. This grass forms a close sod that stands tramping well. It is one of the first grasses to begin growth in the A One-Hone Grain Drill Used for Planting Grain Between the Rows of Standing Corn. town too early in the spring the rains pack the soil so bard that the rape does poorly. Oats and rape pasture is used from the time the growth is 5 or 6 inches high until winter begins. When i bogs are pastured on rape and oats they do not work on the latter very much unless the pasture is grazed closely) until the oats are nearly ripe. In strip ping the ripe grain from the straw oon iderable is dropped on the ground and eovered by the tramping of the hogs. The grain that is covered in this way germinates when the fall rain- begin. Both the oats and rape then grow rigorously and make excellent fall and Winter pasture. Winter pasture ia also provided by towing rape with oats intended for lay or grain. When sown in this way the rapo grows but little until after the eats are harvested and the autumn rains have begun. One of the most satisfactory ways - of providing summer pasture ia to sow xape and clover together late in May or early in June. For the details of this method, see Farmers' Bulletin 271 Of this department. From 3 to 1 pounds' of rape seed por aero are sometimes sown in corn dur 'ing July, just before the last cultiva tion. If the corn is planted on a well prepared seed bed and kept thoroughly cultivated, so that the soil will remain moist, the rape usually germinates in about five days. It then furnishes ex cellent green succulent forage during the autumn while the corn is being hogged off. If the corn crop is husked or cut and removed from the field and, spring and one of the last to cease growing in the fall. A rye-grass pas ture of grass, vetch and grain is used autumn until the following July. Dur ing the summer drought, growth prac tically ceases. If kept grazed rather elosely, the pasture will last for years. A permanent English rye-grass pas ture may be started by sowing from 10 to 15 pounds of seed per acre with oats or wheat in the early spring or fall. The grain crop is either tUrished or cut for hay. The grass is then ready for grazing tho following autumn after be ing sown. A permanent pasture may be started also by sowing tho grass seed with vetch, oats, or wheat " o stubble- land in the early fall. Yhe mix ture of grass, vetch and grai nis used for pasture the following winter and spring. The second year the pasture is a close grass sod that will stand graz ing when the ground is wet. Winter wheat sown in the early fall for a grain crop furnishes excellent pasture for hogs during Februar; March and April, Hogs make rapid and economical gains on wheat until the chaff beeomcs thoroughly dry. If they are then sup plied with 2reea fce&, they will do much better. If peas are not available for hogging off during August and September, wheat may be used until the autumn rains begin. Spring wheat may also be grown to take the place of tho peas. If no winter wheat is available to hog off, its place may be filled with beardless barloy. In fact this crop may take the place of corn and peas as well.J being used from the time it is in the stiff -dough' stage, about July 10, until winter rains come. Hogs do exception ally well on it after the rains have softened the kernels. To furnish autumn pasture, one-half peck of wheat or a peck of oats is fre quently sown with peas that are to be hogged off. In working upon the ma ture crop the hogs cause considerable of the oats or wheat to shatter out. Much of this is covered by the tramp ing of the hogs. When the first fall rains come it germinates and furnishes good pasture. Corn is hogged down to good advant age in much of the territory west of the Cascade Mountains for about six weeks that is, from the time the ker nels are pretty well glazed and dented until late in the fall. After the rainy season is well begun the hogs get many of the ears down on the wet ground. This causes the corn to mold and spoil. For this reason it is not best to under take to hoe off too late in the season. In the Willamcte Valley corn reaches the hogging-off stage about September 15. In the Eogue River Valley, it is earlier and in northwestern washing ton much later than in the Willamette Valley. Thousand-headed kale is an excellent succulent winter feed for hogs. The mild winters of Western Oregon and Western Washington permit kale to stand in the field all winter. It is cut and fed as needed. Unless fed in a rack or on a clean floor, pigs waste a great deal of the kale by tramping it in the mud. Full directions lor grow ing kale will be found in Farmers' Bulletin 271 of this department. In order to raise squashes success fully the land is manured heavily dur ing the fall or winter, plowed aoout March 1, allowed to lie for five or six weeks, and then, disked, harrowed and clod mashed until in good condition. From May 1 to 15 it is replowed. Just before the seed is planted, about May 25, the soil is again cultivated. The squashes are gathered about No vember 1, stored in a dark place in the barn, and covered with straw to keep them from freezing. They keep better if gathered before the surfao of the squash has been frozen. They are fed from approximately November 1 to January 15. Tho mangel wurzels, half-sugar beet, sugar beet and white French sugar beet are all used for hog feed. Beets may be stored either in pits or in bins in the barn, or fed from the field. Occasion ally there is some loss from freezing if left in the field all winter. Usually, on the other hand, there is mueh to be gained by feeding from the field, be cause (1) beets make considerable growth during the late fall and win ter, much of which is lost if they are stored; (2) when fed from the field the tops are utilized the same as the roots; and (3) it is much cheaper to feed from the field than to store them first and feed them later. Beets are fed whole. Artichokes are planted in rows an! cultivated in preeisely the same manner that potatoes are grown. lie tuDeri are cut into rather small pieces and. planted a little thicker and a littta earlier than potatoes. Artichokes are utilized by turning th hogs into the field in the fall after the tubers have made their growth, it the hogs have been ringed, the grounl is loosened up with a plow, enough tubers being plowed out at a time M last a week. Tho anil boat ndfint.ed to the trrowtl of artichokes for hogs is the sandy land along the watercourses, iney can ue hofrced off on such land without sen ously injuring the soil during the e tire winter. The heavier soils are iro quently badly puddled by the tramping of the hogs during wet weather. Thi can be counteracted by liberally apply ing coarse fresh manure or straw jnst before the hogs are turned into th field in the falL By manuring heavily and working the ground early in tho spring, artichokes may be grown on the same land for several years. They are sometimes allowed to volunteer, tho land being plowed, worked down, anl thn cron permitted to come from tho tubers left in the soil. This is not good practice, however, it being muck more profitable to plant them in row so that they can be cultivated. Objection is sometimes made to arti chokes on account of the difficulty of getting rid bf them when it is desir mIi1 to crow some other crop on tho land. They may be eradicated by sow ing the land to clover, clover and rape, or clover and oats, and pasturing with sheep or cattle during the summer. If no stems and leaves are allowed w grow, no tubers will form. Close pas turing for one season will eliminato artichokes. Crops for the Wheat Belt The wheat belt of Eastern Oregon, Eastern Washington and Northers Idaho presents a ereat variety of agri cultural conditions. The elevation above sea level varies from 1,000 to as muea as 3,000 feet. The annual precipuauoa also varies from approximately 10 inches to 25 inches. In some of tho more arid districts, where the altitude is low, the soil is frequently so light that it is subject to blowing and drift ing. In the districts where the precipi tation is heaviest, on the other hand, the soil is a dark, fertile, silt loam. Owing to these variations crop produc tion varies widely in the wheat belt For convenience in discussing the crop ping and feeding systems which may be used for hogs, the wheat belt ia divided into (1) the subhumid or moister districts and (2) the arid and semiarid districts. There is no distinct line of demarcation between them, for they gradually blend into one another. Store pumpkins and squashes in a room where the temperature never falls below 50 deirees. The storing plae must be dry. $60.00 A WEEK AND EXPENSES . ... . .1.1 T - It T n.l That's the money yon snooia gei uuo n.. . . County Salea Managera quiek, men or womenwhotaltera to the. square de.l. who will go ,nfc PP "J; by .torn. 8o1t tli bathing problem. No plumbing; no r-noired. Full length bath m any room. Folds m water worn requireu. u" , ,, " T?. Vrl7ii OEffliM mll roll, handy a. an nxbreJl.. I I. 1 you its gre. I GREATI Rivala 3 100 aattt room, ww ' . - . t i yon? county. I'll furnish demonstrating tub on liberal plan. I'm .oartiT-abaolutely certain-yon can get b.gger money in . with me too you er Bad. ia a mouth betora- I KNOW IT I TWO SALES A DAY-J30O A MOHTH m. x. ht vou should get CT,r? month.. Needed hi T?7 That a what you ht Modern bathmf twill- "'nf the P'pir Tike order, right and .Qi ' ,0. ",. profits. Look at these men. Smith, Ohio, pi talaa, aanam proms, w w $25 ft, drat month: Newton, California, 80 in threj da,,. Yon almsld do i well. 8 SALES A DAT MEANS $30 A MONTH. The work vary easy, ileasant, permanent, fassinatiag. U means a business of your own. SyV" STRATKO. Llllla eanltal needed. I grant ara dit H1d Ton na i Back you an Don't dosht Don't hesitate Don't hold back - Too cannot lose. My other men an bnildiof bonsea, bank accounts, so eaa yo oi t.m.. tiij, Wnitn n ,u li""1. jum name on 913 Factories Blag, Toledo, a paj, po wrt toT tnt tub Huatiei a s. EOBmsoif President
