The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-02-03
Winter Dairying.

OUTSIDE of the great dairy localities
of this country are thousands of dairies
whose chief revenue is the supply OF
butter, and as this butter has to be put
into the market in competition wit h the
celebrated creamery brands, it is to the
advantage of the small producer to de-
vote every energy to making prime.
uniform class of goods. and one that
will stand the scrutiny of inspection.
1t seems to be an excepted fact that
the great dairy districts will not, for
years, if ever, change their " season."
but will /" dairy it'' in the summer, and
in the winter the cows will be as in the
past, non-producers; and with this very
fact comes the small dairyman's golden
opportunity to make his butter in the
winter and early spring when there is
no surplus of dairy products, and cor
respondilgly high prices for these pro-
ductions; and at the time when the
markets are filled by the great dairies,
let mis- cows 60 dry, and recuperate for
the winters campaign, or feed the
small mess that they will gives to calves
let his cows calve in October, supply
himself with abundance of the best and
most easily assimilated foods, warm
stables and abundant bedding for the
cows and the sale of the winters but
ter will by far exceed the amount de-
rived from the summer income.
1t would be useless for any one to at
tempt this change without an almost
total abandonment of old-time ideas and
apparatus, even including a thorough
overhauling of the barn. for these new
renovations and inovations are impera-
tive to insure success,
Two radical reforms must be institu-
ted in this change, and in the manufact-
ure of butter, the process is one OF uni
versal application, and it has no features
peculiar to any location, for the same
rule will work equally we'll in Vermont
or Texas.
The barn must be put in clean pre-
sentable shape and kept SO warm that
there shall be no demands made upon
the food given to produce the flow of
milk to counteract the cold. and if the
stable is not so protected that tenn
perature above freezing can be main
tanned there will not be full success. A
freezing temperature in a stable is nev-
er profitable one in any respect, and
few hours extra work in banking up,
battening cracks, doubling floors, etc..
will maSe the stable more as it should
be, and the saving of feed alone will
more than compensate for the labor, and
the feed which would have otherwise
gone to keep the animal life from freezing
will go to the production of milk. There
is but little danger of making stable
SO tight as to prevent sufficient ventila-
ton; aud if the stable is kept thoroughly
clean and dry bedding and absorbents
used. there will be no foul odois to con-
taminate the milk or impair the health
of the stock.
For winter dairying the old time level
plank floors will have to be abandoned
and the platform adopted. The pres
ent floor, if sound and tight, may be re-
tanned. The most inexpensive way to
remedy this is to lay down 5x10 inch
stick of timber four feet eight inches
from the stanchions and fill this space
with pounded stone and wet sand.
The floor beyond should be made
water tight if possible. then long
straw from the horse stalls, litter OF any
kind, dry sand and anything handy
which will absorb liquids may be scat
tered behind the cows; and if the stables
are cleaned daily it will be impossible
for lurking odors to exist, and by so far
we have our first reform inaugurated
for the making of a prime article of
winter butter.-John Gould, IN Mary
land Farmer.