Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 192, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 August 1913 — CATTLE FEEDING AND COUNTRY BEAUTIFUL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CATTLE FEEDING AND COUNTRY BEAUTIFUL

By J. 8. COFFEY, Department of Animat Husbandry, Purdue University u School of Agriculture, Purdue University Agricultural Extension.

In southwestern Illinois, in the county of Macoupin, near the village of Chesterfield, there is located a small community which is made up almost entirely of live stick farmers. This particular vicinity is of much interest to the Visitor chiefly because of the comparisons which may be made between it and the immediate surrounding localities. First let us inquire as to how this vicinity, so well adapted to grain farming, happens to be a live stock center. Early in the settlement of Illinois there came into this locality several families from Yorkshire, England. The statement of this fact alone should be sufficient to solve the mystery. The English farmer in general is a lover of live stock, and the Yorkshire farmer proves no exception to the rule. In fact, he dwells in that part of England where the breeding and Improvement of live stock, in the past, has been most active. Consequently it has been most natural for these Chesterfield farmers, who are descendants of the old Yorkshire farmers, to breed, grow and feed live stock. Regarding the comparisons which this community affords with the surrounding communities, one can hradly Imagine the vast differences that are displayed without having visited the localities.

. Extending east from Chesterfield for miles lies the broad prairie, adapted primarily to the growing of corn and oats. Here the farmers grow, reap, and haul their crops to msyket. The fences surrounding their farms and fields are either missing or in a dilapidated condition. Their barns are small, insignificant, and cheaply constructed. Even the residences show the result of the same neglect which prevails over the farm in general. Going back to the Chesterfield neighborhood one sees immense barns, numerous silos, modern residences, well-kept hedge fences, fields thickly set with clover, and the evidences of thrift and life prevailing at every corner. Two hundred and fifty acres is the average size of the farms in this community. Sixty bushels per acre is the average yield of corn. Five car-loads of cattle per year is the average number fed and 150 to 200 tons of manure are placed on these farms annually. Is it any wonder then, considering these activities, combined with the natural pride of these Yorkshire bred farmers, that this is a country beautiful? And again, is it impossible for any farmer in the corn-belt to accomplish the same thing if he is willing to expend his energy, exert his pride and develop his knowledge along lines of live stock production? We, who have seen it tried, think not.