Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1875-02-25
Small and Large Mixers

a FEW poor COWS are quite apt, IN one
way or another, to work in dairy and
by their diminutive yield barely pay for
their keeping, and perhaps not even that,
but cause an actual loss. A dairyman of
my acquaintance, having forty COWS,
found by measuring his milk that he
had five in his flock which did not give
milk enough in the whole season to pay
for their keeping by five dollars apiece.
He had five others that paid their keep
ing and five dollars head more. The
profit and loss on these COWS just bal
anced each other; he kept the ten COWS
year for nothing, losing the whole of
his time and labor in caring for them
and their milk, besides the depreciation
of stock and the interest of the cost,
which were not taken into the reckoning.
When / was collecting COWS for the first
dairy / set up an aged and observing
dairyman said to me: Look out for
good COWS; there is a great deal of
money made in this country by dairying,
but it is all made from the good COWS"
The difference between a good COW and
poor one is not generally appreciated.
Oftener than otherwise the price at
which COWS are bought and sold is made
to accord with the amount of milk they
will give. But this is not sound way
of estimating their value. Beef cat
tie may be estimated by the pounds Of
beef they will make. A bullock that will
H. 81 J,o
half as much as one that will make 1000
pounds; but the COW that produces only
100 pounds of butter year is not worth
half as much as one that will make 200
pounds in the same time. AS it will take
the former COW two years to make as
much butter as the latter will in one, she
will cost the owner a years keeping
more than the other COW will, to get the
same amount. The butter from the poor
cow costs doubleswhat it does from the
good one and is produced at ruinOus
rate to the farmer. Such a cow will not
pay the cost of keeping, and is only fit
for the shambles. She ought certainly
never to occupy a place in the dairy.
But the loss sustained by a small yield is
not all occasioned by bad selection of
COWS. Many COWS which otherwise
might be classed as profitable mixers
are made Improbable by the treatment
they receive at the hands Of the dairy
man. Careless milking, harsh treat
ment, worrying and exposure to severe
storms and to extremes of heat and cold
abate the flow of milk and occasion
much needless loss. Twenty-Five per cent.
variation in the annual product is easily
made by kindness and severity. Comfort
and a satisfied Quietude are very efficient
in promoting liberal flow of milk. Full
feeding is equally important, and the
want of it is perhaps the most prolific
cause Of abatement in the returns of the
dairy. In a large percentage of diaries
the Weld of milk is annually made to
dwindle down to the limit of profitable
production, and sometimes below, from
deficiency and irregularity in the food
supply. Very few dairymen give their
COWS as much as they can eat, except for
short time in the season. In the spring
and early summer, when the ground is
moist and warm, vigorous growth of
grass is produced, and a flush of feed
supplies the COWS for time with all
| they can appropriate, and crowded bags
and flowing pals attest their full supply.
But presently, in the long hot and dry
days of July and August the ground be-
comes parched and the grass stops grow
ing and dries up. If the COWS can fill
themselves during the day they are COM
monty allowed to run without any adGi
tional food. AS grass fails in quantity
anG quality and more labor is required to
| get it less is consumed and the milk di
minishes. Farmers AdU0cnte.