The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1880-08-12
Farm, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
COWS as MIX Producers.

good care of the COWS, and such advice
is excellent. No class of animals re-
quire more care, and if it were possible
for every farmer to attend to his own
cows, no doubt they would receive bet
ter care than they do now. And yet it is
no Uncommon thing to find n man who
keeps but one COW neglecting to milk
her till after eight o'clock at night. In
fact in such cases the hours for milking
are any time from five in the morning
till nine at night, Cows do not have
good care unless they are MIXED rcgu-
larly and at least twice q day. They
would give more milk if MIXED three
times, but if milking is confined to
twice day it should be performed a.
regular hours. When the cows bag
becomes full it is painful to her and she
becomes uneasy, on which account there
is a loss of milk, and Inflammation lis
induced by the pressure of the milk
against the veins and arteries. Circu
ation is also impeded, and the healthy
| functions of the bag are seriously inter-
| fered with. The manner in which the
| cows are MIXED is of great Importance
The advice to milk clean is universal,
and all say that they follow this rule.
but every COW will not give down her
milk to any mixer, and while there are
few who admit that they are Indifferent
mixers there are really very few good
ones. One great reason why there are
so few good mixers is, that there are
very few who like to milk, and it is
matter of doubt whether persons can
excel in any occupation for which they
have no taste. Their endeavors to excel
will, TO say the least, be very feeble.
No doubt one great reason why we
have so many Indifferent cows is be.
! cause we have such a number of in
different mixers. We fear that the
number of good mixers will not be in
creased till we can obtain more men
who have a natural love for animals.
| No man will make an animal his patient
study who has no love for it; but many
owners OF cattle have no particular lik-
ing Tor them Except SO far as they have
money invested in them. Their hobby
is not cattle. it is money. The hired
man does not engage himself to take
care of the cattle because he has any
particular liking for them, but simply
for the money he obtains for his
services, and in this case master and
man would be upon par, and the care
given to the animals be dependent upon
these conditions. The proper feeding of
domestic animals is quite important,
and to feed cattle judiciously requires
care and thoughtfulness. A COW should
never be over fed. She should never be
allowed to fail off in her milk, either in
quantity or quality. Her feeding
should be as regular as her milking. In
summer strict watch should be kept of
other feed should be supplemented,
either fodder corn or some of the green
cereals. An extra good cow ought on
no account to be force to give milk
beyond her formal quantity. If this is
done it will be at the expense of he
constitution as well as that of her pro 2
eny. 1t is matter of doubt whether
there is immediate profit in the produc-
ton of the extra quart or two Of milk.
Ii takes certain amount of feed to sus-
tain life, and the next consideration as
to feed is profit. Beyond rational
amount of food, even if the animal can
digest it, there can be no profit.
Again, no two cows will eat the same
amount of food while perhaps one COW
prefers little different feed from an
other; and to these noints the feeder
should pay good deal of attention. See
too much; then if one COW prefers a
finer, and another will eat II coarser
grown hay, see that they are fed accord
ing to their preferences, and do not have
the coarse hay fed to one which prefers
fine ard the fine to one which would eat
the coarse. If the cows have to drink
from any place other than brook or
| river, do not turn out more than two ut
a time Many of our hired men expect
n COW to drink like horse, which they
certainly do not. Lead horse to the
trough, and he will drink immediately
or not at all; but q cow will usually
stand and look, wet her lips and sip a
mouthful half a dozen tines before she
begins to drink in good earnest. Some
COWS, however, will drink Immediately
But in case of either cows or horses
proper care cannot be taken OF them till
their peculiarities are well understood
and whoever undertakes to make the
most of his stock must make every in
dividual one a special study. If. cows s
are watered out of pail, it may be
found that one animal will drink only
from a certain pail, and if change is
made it will be instantly detected. Few
COWS will eat hay that another COW has
breathed upon. 1t is we'll to humor the
animal in such cases, while studying to
supply. the proper quantity and quality
of food.
Some COWS are much more nervous
than others. Excitement not only
| reduces the quantity but also the quail
ity of the milk. Again, some COWS are
quite sensitive. When being driven To
or fr ON the pasture the mistress of the
herd will usually lead while the Others
qui tly follow; but if one usurps the
place of the leader it is not unusual
for such displacing to affect both the
quantity and quality of her milk.
Wounded ambition SO prtys upon heI
that in many cases her usefulness will
be found to be serious y impaired. The
mistress of a herd has been turned out
dry into a pasture separate from the
| herd with two young heifers, and over
these she tyrannized till they combine q
against her and mastered her. Ever
after that either would drive her, al
though the rest of the herd recognized d
her as mistress.-Amcrican CUttlU uOr.
Fertilizers on Potatoes.
Professor Lazenby, of the Cornell ex
periment station, Ithaca, N. Y, gives
the result of number OF experiment.
he tried with fertilizers on potatoes, tbs
seed consisting of medium sized tuber
cut into halves, dropped foot and {
half apart in the row and covered tivt
inches deep The fertilizers wer'
strewed along the burrows and wei
mixed with the soil before planting
With no manure, the product was a
the rate of l39 bushels per acre; anC
with Stockbride fertilizer only 1856 bush
els, probably natural variation from
no manure, and showing it of no valu,
A