Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1878-05-15
farm AND FIRESIDE.
IF Feeding.
PROFESSOR (. W. STEWART.

A very important adjunct to dairying
Is the raising OF calves, both for food
and to replace the cows disposed of.
Dairymen have not, however, given
this legitimate branch of their business
proper attention. 1t is very common.
at meetings sfdairymen, to hear them
say they cannot afford to raise heiters
for the dairy, and much less to raise
calves for beef. 1 do not propose, at
present, to take up the latter branch Of
the subject, but it has always seemed
to me a strange conclusion that general
dairymen could not afford to raise the
cows to supply their own herds. The
natural question to ask would be; Can
dairymen afford TO allow anybody else
to raise the cows to replenish their
herds? The treatment Of the young
animal has everything to do with the
capacity Of the matured cow for yielding
milk. A COW cannot give large guam
thy Of milk without large digestive
capacity, and young animal, grown in
pinching and unthrifty way, has never
had its digestive organs fully developed,
and the digestive and assimlating
capacity ofsuch an animal can seldom
be fully developed at later period by
the best feeding. This consideration.
alone, is ample ground to show the pro-
fit OF dalrymen raising their own cows,
But there are many other consdera
tons, such as the attachment an animal
forms to place, and the unfavorable
effect ole change. The latter is often
observed in feeding for beef animals
that have been removed to strange
quarters, and the effectls still worse
upon cows in milk. 1 have often said
that a good dairyman could better afford
to raise his own cows than to have those
raised for the market given TO him.
RATION FOR THE YOUNG CALF.
Many dairy men are deferred from
feeding calves because they think whole
milk necessary to raise good calf
Such persons have not studied the
natuIe of food. 1t is true that milk. as
it comes from the COW is exactly adap- |
ted to the growth of the young calf, and
that when any essential element of the
milk has been separated from it, it has
so far lost its perfect character Of food. !
In butter.making the cream is taken
from the milk, and the residue consists |
Of casein, whey or milk sugar and the
mineral elements. But these remain
ing elements are the most valuable in
milk. 1t, now, we can supply the oil
which has been skinned off, with some
thing of less value than the cream, but
having the same iced value to the calf,
we are practicing true economy. The
cream from the milk to supply vigorous
calf is worth 81 cents per day, at least,
and sometimes 80 cents. Now this can
be supplied for four cents in the oil from
boiled Aax-seed, aud the flax-seed also
contains large proportion of albumin
ODDS and the mineral constituents neces-
sary to grow the muscles and bones of
the calf. have tested this so many
times, and with such uniform success.
that l can recommend boiled hax.seed
rs full complement for the cream
taken off.
A calf then may be fed skinned
milk when one week old, with the adj
dition Of one gill of boiled hax-seed, in-
creasing this ration gradually to a pint
per day when four weeks old, and then
adding fine middlings or corn and oats
unground. Flax-seed Cruel with plenty
Of skinned milk will produce a very fine
growth, leaving the calf as mellow to
the touch as if sucking the COW. have
produced a growth OF over three pounds
per day, upon calves two months old
upon this ration. The oil taken off in
the cream can be replaced for one-fifth
Of the money value OF the cream. Butter
dairymen may raise calf, TO each cow,
upon the skim milk ana a little additional
food. such as indicated, and get one
fourth TO one-third as much profit out
of the refuse milk asout OF the butter.
Selling butter robs the land of nothing
valuable only carbon which has no
manurial value.