The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1877-11-22
AGRICULTURAL.

AGRICULTURAL.
FEED AND BREED OF DAIRY Cows
DR.. K. l.. ~Sturtevant, of South Framing
ham, Mass, makes the following sum
mary of conclusions at which he had
arrived on this subject, after many
years of study and practical expert
ment:
l. The production of butter is largely
dependent on breed.
2. There is a structural limit to the
production of butter to each COW.
3. That when a COW is fed to this
limit, increased food cannot increase
the product.
A. That the superior cow has this
structural limit at a greater distance
from ordinary feed, and more ready
to respond to stimuli than the inferior
cow.
5. That consequently the superior COW
is seldom fed to her limit, and as a prac-
tical conclusion, increased feed with a
superior lot of cows will increase the
butter product, but If fed to an inferior
lot of cows, waste can be but the result.
6. That the character of the food has
some influence on the character of the
butter but even here breed influences
nor than food.
7. That there is no constant relation
between the butter product and the
cheese product.
s. That the caseine retains a constant
percentage, and that the percentage
does not appear to respond to increase
of food.
8. That the caseine appears to remain
constant without regard to the season.
10. That increase in the quantity of
milk is followed by an increase in the
total amount of caseine.
IL. That insufficient food acts directly
TO check the proportion of butter, and
has a tendency to decrease the caseine
of the milk and substitute albumen.
IL. The best practice of feeding is to
regulate the character of the food by
the character of the animal fed feeding
superior COWS nearer to the limit of
their production than inferior cows;
feeding, If for butter, more concentrated
and nutritious foods than for cheese;
feeding for cheese product succulent
material which will increase the guam
tity of the milk yield.
MANAGEMENT OF NEW BORN LAMBS
If a lamb IA help itself from the out
set it is better not to interfere in any
way to assist it. If the weather is mild,
il the eve has apparently an abundance
of milk, and stands kindly for her
lamb, and if the latter is strong and dis
posed to help itself, there is usually lit
tie danger. But If the lamb is weak
and makes no successful efforts to suck,
and particularly when this occurs in
cold or raw weather, the attendant
the Chamber" as he is called in Eng
land-shOuld at once render his aid.
The eve should not be thrown down if
1t can be avoided, but the lamb assisted,
If necessary, to stand in the natural pc.
sition of sucking, a teat placed in its
mouth, and its back, particularly the
rump about the root of its tail, lightly
and rapidly rubbed with the finger,
which 1t mistakes for the licking Of its
dam. This last generally produces an
immediate effort to suck. If it does
not, a little milk should be MIXED from
the teaL into its mouth, and the licking
motion of the finger continued. These
efforts will generally succeed, but Occa-
sionally a lamb is very stupid or obsti-
nate. In that case gentleness and per-
severance are the only remedies, and
they always triumph in the end. Too
speedy resort to the spoon or sucking
bottle frequently causes n lamb to rely
on this kind of aid, and a number of
days must pass before it can be taught
to help itself properly, even from a full
udder of milk.
Potato DIGGERs.-It would seem that
the successful potato digger is yet a
thing of the future; not that this branch
of the agricultural implement trade has
been by any means neglected, but be-
cause of the difficulties with which the
inventor has to contend. Probably the
best and most practical result that will
ever be attained will be IN implement
which will uncover the tubers and
leave them on the surface; any attempt
to pick them by machinery involves the
construction of an implement which
cal distinguish between the tuber and
a stone of the same size. This can
hardly be attained, and hence the idea
that any attempt to do more than simply
dig or Uncover the crop will lead to
loss Of money and time. We doubt
whether anything really better than
the common pillow has yet been found.
Not having tried more than two or three
of the many implements, we base our
theory upon the fact that those who
have for many years grown this crop
on an extensive scale would not be slow
a. 49, -.
%provement on the implement now in
common use; we find these men using
the pillow, and hence the inference.
Some Of u potato-growing neighbors
still insist that a good careful hand
with a shovel is the most economical,
and that the tubers left in the ground
when the pillow is used will pay for more
care,