The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1874-12-02


/ az. after a long silence, happy to
report that / am by the mercy Of God
still able and ever willing 10 commit
~nicate, through your stable and rel.s-
bic old journal my experience and
observation ia any and all the prac-
teal matters pertaining to tbst great
national interest 10 which my we'll
heightened life has been devoted. /
deem it opportune atthis tiToto drop
. few suggestions relative to the
management OF COWS, which are TOW
generally about 10 go into their win
tor-quarters. | have observed in my
travels among farmers that it Is a
very common practice, when tie sea-
son comes for drying up the mich
cews, which have not only
returned to their owncrs the
substance Of the food on which they
have subsisted in u condensed, r4lla-
Die, edible and merchantable form,
tut have also exhausted their Gesh
aud physical strength in their milk
secretions until many Of them. pee
tally the most valuable ones, 20 in-
to the winter emaciated and weak.
The transition from ~succnlent to ery
and u~npalatable food is often SC sud-
den and so severe on them that they
suffer much from cold, and fall of 10
that degree that under ordinary man-
agement they remain thin and weak
all winter, aud commence the follow
ing season so reduced that frequently
the best of the season is lost ere they
recuperate on the pastures to a con-
dition that enables them to yield a
profitable return il milk. That this
is bad economy mist be apparent to
all observers, yet it is a condition Of
things that may be seen On many
farms in the best dairy districts of
the country, and it has been 50 for
the past fifty years to my knowledge
and probably will lie 50 for hundreds
Of years mere.
1t is not only bad economy bat il
is shamefully cruel, and deserves to be
noticed by all who possess a desire
to exert an influence 10 prevent cruel
ty to animals; and it is o be hoped
that those who practice it viii be
made to feel that they are q dis
grace to a community possessing civ
ilization, much more Christianiza-
ton.
Cows require special care, pTotec-
ton aad food at this season Of the
year. A sudden change Of food
should not be made, but as the pas
lures are readered iasipid, sour and
innutritious by the effects Of frost,
they should be daily supplied with
palatable, nutritious food, such as
pumpkins, apples, root-foliage and
chopped stalks and blades Of corn,
or fine second-growth hay, and they
should be sheltered at night aud III
stormy weather as carefully rs they
should be in the most se7ere weather
of winter. Rain-storms Of autumn
occasion more suffering in domestic
animals exposed to them than the
dry SHOWS Of mid-wiuter. Thin
coats have not become fully grown,
nor have they become Injured to the
cold, hence they require the special
care and protection that l have
claimed for them. The stage Of
pregnancy With the COW at the time
she is dried in her milk, is so far ad-
vanced that it requires about all the
food nutritious that she is capable of
consuming to maintain her physical
condition and nourish properly the
fetus; hence she requires as much
q and food during the latter p0r-
ton Of the period OF pregnancy as
she does when in profit.