Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1870-08-11
AGRrcUEFUR
Frsm The sine Farmer
Mr.. wIllard's Lectures at

An Abstract Of Course Of Lectures on DAIRY |
FARMING. delivered BY Z. A. willard at the
Mine se~ss College Of Agriculture and the
Mechanic Arts, orooo. Reported exprs ssl,
for The MAINE FARMER BY MASTER VIM. B.
Oie<on.
Lecture ". Care of Stock
and General management.
Carniverous animals have one stomach
while animals which chew the cud have
four. The stomach Of cows should always
be distended as the contact Of the sides or
walls is liable to excite irritation and con-
sequently diseases, For the reason ais
tillery Stops often prove injurious as they
do not sufficiently distend the stomach.
The slops Of dist lleries Is also liable To
make poor milk. The four stomachs are
very capacious. especially the nrst one
The food Is rsade into balls in the mouth
and then n asses to the nrst after which IL Is
returned to the mouth. made into smaller
balls and passed into the second stomach.
From this it passes TO the third and fourth
stomachs receiving fluids by the way. Az
ter passing from the fourth stomach into
the duodenum IL Is separated into nutriti-
Gus and in-nutritiOus portions. The fourth
stomach is the one from which rennet Is
made. In spring when cattle are shedding
their hair. II they are not carded, they Of
tent mes lick the hair of with their tongues,
and unable after once getting it into their
mouths to get il out, they swallow it in the
same form that they do grass, making
what is called hair ball. These balls are
apt to excite disease. A great deal depends
upon the winter management OF stock
Cows should not be kept too closely In the
stable as it sacrifices to a certain extent.
health and vitality. The cows may look
well but what is temporary pront Is loss
In the end Cattle should be Deded " ell.
fed well, groomed well and given air aud
exercise once or twice per day. The cattle
should be brought to the barn in good con-
diuon. Ground grain is accounted good
food in the latter part of fall. Cattle h puid
be fed three times per day, morning noon
and night.
Grass is cut much earlier in dairy dis
tricts now than in former time, aud 1t l.
found that cattle thrive be. ter upon IT.
Late cut grass is largely composed OF
woody hbre. which at once shows it, inferi-
ority. Early cut grass Is equivalent in
the prDiu ,tion of milk, but er and Oh e>e,
to late cut grass with grain or Meal. a. has
been anJiV pr we'd. IL i well 10 cut a
portioa Of the grass in June, before Hover
in- and The rest >hDnld b. cut by the l0in.
of Jlly IL is not considers good plan
to winter cattle on one kind OF food. Be
sides hay, they should have roots in the
rrst pa and grain in the last part OF yin
ter. Cows should not be allowed TO lose
flesh As it causes poDr quality of milk
during the recuperations of their strength.
When cows are thus rec1perating there is
a reduction In the butter obtained from
their milk, often from per cent. down To
2 per cent. The milk OF such cows should
be excluded from the factories or taken at
less value than good milk. Meadows are
N ore enduring when the grass is cut early
than they are when it Is cut after the hay
has become voody. One half bushel OF
Timothy i not too much TO seed per acre.
The famous Oake> COW. besides sucking
a calf five weeks, produced from April 9Th
to Sept. 25th. 40 lbs. of butter. The Ter
mont cow produced from Dec. 4ih, 1864, to
April 4lh 1865, 504 lbs. of butter. which
sold for 1924 so. These cows were both
good sized and native breed.
1t has been proved tina; a. much butter
eau be obtained from hay in winter
from grass in summer. provided ii i cut
early aud properly cured Cows should be
fed with hay three times, wat"red twice
and kept in the barn in winter when not
exercising. Great care shou d be taken
that they ne fed aud watered regularly.
Since hay must be cut early in order To
retain the greatest amount OF nutritive
material. the best New York dairy farmers
cut first between June sth and 25th.
second cutting is made in Aug. and some
times third in September. Cows are
often injur red bv being fed upon concen-
trated food. Coarse fodder should be fed
with meal. bran. SC. so as to make il cQu-
iralont to carly cut hay There is gain
in cutting and cooking the feed, over com
mon hay, of about one third. An expert
ment was alluded to in which there was a
cost of twenty nine cents for cooked food,
for each COW per day, while with hay alone
the cost was thirty each per day, and
TO all appearances the former lot was in
much better condition every way. Steam
ing renders mouldy hav, peas, beans, tur-
nips, &C, sweet and nutritious. Instances
were referred to where eight do lars were
saved each year for every COW by cooking
the food.
cow should not drop her calf in the
stanchion but should b. let loose in an in
closure and left to quietness. Bran mash
mixed with tepid water acts very favora-
bly, for the expulsion Of the after birth.
Some prefer that the cows come in April
and May rather than in February or March
Should the cows come in as early as March
something besides ordinary hay is requir-
ed. Beans are used in England as feed for
cattle but are not much used in America
Grains rich in albuminous matter make ex-
cellent food for milch cows. Rye. oats
aud buckwheat contain IA per cent. albu-
minous material and are only excelled by
peas and beans.
A mixture of barley and oats or of peas
anu oats is a good feed. Corn meal is OBJ
iectionable from | s heating qualities
Bran with oat meal produces the best OF
results. Cows when first turned into
grass in the spring should be allowed TO
remain only few hours at a time. Salt
should be accessible to the animals Do
not supply at intervals as some would be
likely to overfeed while others would no,
get enough. Without salt the milk be.
comes SC MY and of poor quality. Salt
is most needed in the spring when the
grass is young. In a drouth there is a
falling of Of milk in quantity, indicating
that water is needed. Cows, IL need be
should be induced to drink. Milk con.
taii.s about 81 per cent. OF water. By in
ducne moderately q COW to drink freely
several more quarts OF milk may be OH
tanned without making any special change
In the quality.
The quantity Of water drank BY a cow Is
in general an index Of her milking quail.
ties. The method OF inducing cows Il
drink, however, should not be pushed st
a. u deteriorate the quality OF the milk
Frosts Affect the grass to su b Q degree
that II IL not good plan to keep cows ia
the pasture without additional food afler
the arst hard frost. 1t requires one-fourtl
more food to winter q COW n she comes to
the barn in poor condition. At no othe,
season of the year is so much care needed
as in late autumn, and so little care exer
cised. Barns should be warm and wei
ventilated ami by SO constructing them a,
to secure these two conditions a larg,
amount Of food will be economical.
The Neat Question.
Formerly our seaboard States produced
meat enough for their own use. best lie ex