One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered Part 62

How can I make a rat-proof granary for alfalfa meal and barley?

Omit all boarding of the sides below the floor level and place a heavy inverted pan, milk pan, between the top of each of the supporting posts and the floor beams. Care should be taken that the diagonal bracing of the underpinning or posts does not allow a rat to secure a foot hold near enough the floor to permit of gnawing through.

Concrete Stable Floor.

Is a concrete floor good for a horse stable?

Concrete floors are satisfactorily used for horse stables, provided the floor is ribbed or otherwise roughened in a way to reduce the danger of slipping. Some stablemen have stall floors made that way. Some use a wooden grating over the concrete in places where the horses have to stand for any length of time. Others soften the standing by free use of bedding.

Silo-Heating Not Dangerous.

Is there any danger of a barn burning from spontaneous combustion due to a silo being built in the barn?

There is no danger of the silo overheating and setting fire to a barn.

When the ensilage is curing, it often gets warm, but never anywhere near the point of combustion.

To Make s.h.i.+ngles Durable.

What is the best material with which to coat the s.h.i.+ngles on my barn roof?

The best coating is a wood preservative, the princ.i.p.al ingredient of which is creosote. There are several reliable brands of preservatives and stains that may be had at a cost of about half that of paint. We must remark also the natural durability of redwood s.h.i.+ngles in this climate if the roof has a good pitch. We res.h.i.+ngled our house roof after 20 years of use and found the s.h.i.+ngles so sound that we turned them and s.h.i.+ngled the sides and roof of a shed with them where they promise to be good for another score of years.

Best Breed of Hogs.

What is the best breed of hogs for pen feeding, shutting them up in small pens from the time they are little pigs and feeding them mostly on skim milk and slops?

There is no best breed. It is a matter of personal preference. Any of the breeds are all right to pen up and feed. The princ.i.p.al thing is to see that the hogs are all pure bred and have not been crossed too often to cause deterioration. Choose one breed of hogs and keep them as pure as possible and you will have no trouble in raising them. All the breeds are good; but some are fancied more than others. Dark-colored hogs are preferred in California because less liable to sunburn.

Part VI. Feeding Farm Animals

Feed for Plow-Horses.

While doing heavy plowing, how many pounds of rolled barley per day should I feed to keep 1300-pound horses in good condition? If I feed part oat hay and part alfalfa hay, together with rolled barley, what ration would be ample?

A ration used by the California Experiment Station was 12 pounds of alfalfa hay, 11 pounds of wheat hay and 7 pounds of crushed barley for 1000 pounds of horse at hard work. The larger the horse the less food for the amount of work he does in proportion to his size, so multiplying these figures by 1.2 would bring a person somewhere near the ration for a 1300-pound horse, and an approximation is as close as one can come to any general ration. Probably more alfalfa and less of the other feeds could well be given, since many farmers are succeeding in feeding alfalfa exclusively.

Vetch for Horses.

Does vetch make good feed for horses? Will vetch produce a heavier crop than grain? When is the best time to sow vetch for hay, and what is the best variety?

Vetch makes excellent stock feed whether used as hay or as pasturage.

Vetch falls to the ground so badly that it is very difficult to cut hay from it unless some grain is planted to hold it up. Oats make an excellent hold-up crop and is more generally used. A half a bushel of vetch seed is mixed with a bushel of oats and this is enough to plant an acre. Some growers, however, prefer a bushel of vetch as that makes the stand much heavier.

Sorghum Feeding.

Can I allow milk cows to pasture on growing Kaffir and Egyptian corn during the summer? Which one is the best for pasture and milk?

There is no difference between Kaffir corn and Egyptian corn so far as feeding goes. They are both sorghums. There is a danger in pasturing on young sorghums, because stock is often killed from overeating it, and they are quite apt to do this when they come upon it from dry feed. If you cut and wilt the young sorghum, or if it is fed sparingly with hay, etc., it becomes innocent of injury. After the sorghum has obtained considerable growth, it also loses its dangerous character.

Salting Hay.

What kind of salt is used for salting hay, how much to use and how to apply it?

Any good commercial salt such as is used for pork or beef packing is satisfactory for salting hay. A good handful to the ton, scattering it as the hay is stocked is as good a formula as can be had.

Stover.

What is stover? How is it cut and handled?

Stover is corn fodder after the ears are taken off. The best time to cut the corn for stover is immediately after the kernel becomes dented and the leaves or blades commence to dry. Immediately after the ears are taken off, the stalks should be cut and stacked. The size of the shock depends upon the climate. If it is a foggly climate and stalks are green, it is better to make a smaller shock, but in the interior valley where the weather is warm it is best to make large shocks, so that the stacks will not dry up very rapidly.