Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1876-01-19
agricultural.
The Leaks in Farming.


One Of the chief obstacles to success in
farming i, the numerous leaks that are to
be found ON most farms. some Of which
might easily be stopped. while other, are
more difficult to reach. We have pointed
ont. from TIM to time such ts occur from
r,rr'e,-nc,, in the m1na0cmrnt of man
ure.. Irttiur many Substances. oo tn waste
viii IN mi~fit easily be saved. N. hut
many leaks mioht lie mentioned, TINT are
not 50 lpnarrrt at ti,.t ,irlr
Il i, far from economical. for cx,mnlc.
to keep poor stock of any kind. poor COWS
.,prci;lIv. In Il dairy herd. some COWS
will far more than nay for their east eff
krcuinr. while other, not ONLY fall far
short of ,hi-. but entail an actual los from
wear 10 wear, and this viii often 90 on in
definitely Lcca,l,e no accurate measure
and WEIGHT of product i, kept. and their
relative value j. not a,certaincJ. In =
chrr,c d,iry. for instance. some of the hes,
COW, Will not Weld over two hundred
pounds. Bui in how many CASES will thi,
deficiency be found out and rcmedied? In
Il butter dairy the loss from poor stock
will often be even more marked. Some
COWS give milk which. is rich in butter
while tliut eff Others * very poor. Both
mlb~ ur pat togcthrr and the p ,or ,Iulli.
" OF one i, not found out perhaps, for
nranl months. The same food i "ivrn t.
one COW that j. given To tie other. and tn,
cosy j. about the same. but If the real facts
were known it Woud al.pcar that all the
profit clu.e from the one coy, while lhc
other was tntailng Il constant los. W,
OUGHT tu be more careful in this rc-prcI
and select oar stock with greater refer.
pncr to quality. \ careful examination
in thi~ direction. would discover some O.
the worst Kind of leaks.
Again. cows are often kept beyond THEN
prmr, when they are NO LONGER very scr
vircailr. and should have been cullrd ont
Of the hcrd and lent to the butcher or 90
r uf in some other way We npprrh,u,
TINT taking New England flrru~ ~ they
are now carried ON. the lo>st, from
year To- year from this cause are very
great Cows are not turned out of o,ll
herds when they ought to be- Yuun.
stock j. not bred mp REGULARLY and system
atiraIly 10 take the place of the Older an,
poorer animals. and The latter are keep
alunr lust to keep the number rood with
out buvnr in better ones.
We might 90 ON to specify the lo-Sc
which occur in other Glasses of stock in :
similar way. and show that if it is not ;
positive loss. it Is not rs profitable IL i
ought to be. But leaving out the stool
for the present. there are leaks of Il thou
sand kinds on the farm. which would b,
sufficient in almost any other business. t.
lead to failure and bankruptcy, if the,
were of the same compal.ltivp nlrni
tudc
Letting grass yet over ripe before cut
ting, is another leak of scriou, character.
about rs serious H. feeding a hor with :
hole in the trough. Instead of cutting tn,
clover or the timothy in lis prime, thcy ar,
allowed to get too ripe and their fine mn
tritiye qualities are wasted and lost. Far
mcr~ often put off having too late. and :,
when the cows come in there i, no early
cut hay to feed out and they suffer tor IN,
want of il. There i. often = loss from
want Of careful attention TO fin. comfort NJ
stock especially in winter. One Of III,
most important implements on a dair,
firm is the curry comb. Most farmer.
lcayc the animals to DO their own scratch
ing. 1t is Us important to curry as it is t,
feed. Tn" cows like it. They yet impa-
tlcnt for their turn. We knew u farmer
who had a quarrel with his hired man be-
cause he would not curry the COWS It j.
Il great mistake also not to provide album
dance of green fodder for extra feeding il
summer. The COW is Il machine for con
verting food into milk, and the more sh,
will eat the better. 1t is great folly t,
give abundance of food when it happen.
To be plenty and to starvr the animal,
when food Is scarce. Comfortable quar-
tiers, shelter and good yard save half The