The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-01-24
When Should Cows Calve?

More than four-fifths, and probably nine
tenths of the cows of this country drop thei
calves in late winter or early spring months
March, April and May being usually PREFER
ed. This is near the beginning of the past
ure season, and the maximum flow OF milk
is then most easily secured. As winter ap
proaches the cows gradually diminish theil
secretion of milk and are usually dry two OF
three months during the coolest weather.
Undoubtedly this is the most convenient
policy for large majority of farmers the
fact that 1t is the one generally practiced 60
ing long ways to prove it so.
AS stock have usually been kept, summer
is the season of thrift and easy keeping, and
winter the time for discomfort, starvation
and greater cost. In open barnyards, or
comfortless, open sheds, cattle need all tbeil
vital enegies to keep themselves warm. and i
the poor cow does something beyond this in
milk production, it often costs to get it, about
as much as it is worth. If a farmer has his
hired help. with failing cow in winter, it is
wonderful how soon she will go dry. At the
best, the season while the COW is dry will be
prolonged several weeks, and often two OF
three months, longer than is profitable.
The change In modes of farming have led
many to revise their notions as to when cows
should calve, and conclude that fall or early
winter is really the best time for the great
majority of farmers who keep only three OF
four cows, and make only butter. OF course
where there are large diaries or cheese factor.
les, cows should be timed so as to have the
greatest TOW of milk when it is in the greatest
demand. But with ordinary farmers this is
different. Using milk only at home, it is as
valuable one season as another, or rather,
generally worth most In winter, because
scarcest then. Basement barns with warm
stables make the winter as comfortable
as summer, with the advantage that at this
season the farmer has more time to give cows
the care and attention they need. Good clo-
yer hay, cut corn stalks, with roots and warm
slops, will keep the flow of milk quite as well
as the average, where COWS are left to run to
pasture in summer.
It is common to speak of June grass as the
best possible feed for cows. So it is, but there
are only thirty days in June, and when we
come to July, August and September, to say
nothing of late pasture, feed depends alto
gether on the season, with strong probability
that it will be insufficient. Very few farmers
feed their COWS anything additional at pasture
mainly because it is the busy season and they
have not time. When they have cows in full
flow Of milk in winter, they will give the ami
NAL better care.
For butter production there Is scarce any
food better than corn meal, and it has the
a0fahtat,C Va DOAu6 SAoNeiJ oN"PeSo w WAhtCA
feeding. In summer it is too heating, and
COWS at grass will eat very little without cloy-
ing, but in winter two quarts twice day,
mixed with warm water, potato pealings and
other roots, will not only keep COW to her
milk but make rich and yellow butter. The
churning job is much shorter when corn
stalks and corn meal have been fed to cows
than when their diet has been hay.
1t should not be forgotten that there Is al
ways demand for new mich COWS in early
winter, not only from milkmen who supply
cities, but from private families where regu-
lar supply OF pure milk is necessary. As COW
with calf by her side will sell for more in
December than in any other month of the
year, and if any one has cows which he in
tends to dispose of soon, it is better to have
them calve early in winter. Milkmen make
more on high priced milk in winter than they
do on low priced milk in summer, and hence
are willing to pay more for cows in the fall
than at any other time of year. When cows
calve in the fall, the flow of milk may be
kept up in large quantity and for a longer
season than according to the old practice of
having them drop their calves in the spring.
Country Gentleman.