The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1889-01-17
TESTING DAIRY COWS.
A Simple and Effective Way " Keeping
Them Up to the Standard.

A Simple and Effective Way " Keeping
Them Up to tho Standard.
Now, have often met men who say
they can milk and feed at tho same
time, and have often seen milking
cows looking like fat beasts. But this,
to my mind, proves nothing. because
before the statement can be accurate it
is he eessary to know whether in milk
ing all the milk has been taken from
them, and this is the point that is
nearly always overlooked. A mixer
will say he has got all the milk from
the COW that he can get. but let him
be ever SO good mixer there is al
ways some left in the milk veins that
bag, and this little that is left will con-
tain fifty per cent. of fat. and on this
fat depends the quality Of your milk
and the condition Of your COW. Some
years ago could always keep my milk
ing cows in blooming condition while
they were milking; but one unlucky
day took into my confidence an ana
lyst, and from that day to this my cows
have deposited their fat in the bucket
instead OF on their backs. And with
this condition of having the analyst be-
hind me, | find it perfectly impossible
to feed and milk at the same time with
out such an expenditure in artificial
food rs to render the expense unjusti-
fable. So that the proper course to
adopt seems to resolve itself into this:
to feed for milking in the first place
that is. with foods that give the proper
proportion Of albuminous compounds to
carlo hydrates or non-albuminous,
and are essentially milk producers
and when the yield Of milk OF
any COW falls to the point fixed upon as
the cost Of feeding, then either sell her
as she is, or at once commence to feed
her; and to find out when the COWS
have arrived at this point. it is neces-
sary to have the milk Of each individ-
ual COW accurately weighed at least
once week. The expense and trouble
OF doing this is trifiing, as compared
with the information you gain from it.
A spring balance, weighing up to fifty
pounds, and an iron hook to hook into
staples driven in at different parts of
the shed is all the expense. and enables
the weigher to follow the mixers. The
number Of each COW, and the gross
weight OF the mornings and evenings
milk is entered in book, and a note
made of the weight of the bucket. The
net result is then marked out at any
spare moment, and is entered in u book
ruled for the purpose, SO that each
weighing follows one after the other
At the bottom Of the column is entered
the weight Of the strippings. always
arrange for one man to strip all the
cows, and be responsible for the cows
being MIXED clean. The information
given by this simple dairy record is
simply invaluable: you not only see at
glance when the COW ceases to be profit
able. but also if any COW is sick, from
the difference in the weight OF milk.
Then the amount of strippings tells you
whether either the cowman or mixers
are neglecting their duty. And more
over. II the farmers wife had this
record OF the wei ght Of milk sent into
her dairy to refer to, she would at once
see whether she got the properamount
OF butter from the milk. have dwelt,
perhaps, rather longer than | should
on the weighing Of milk. because am
convinced that it is one of the most nec-
es sary and most profitable require
ments connected with the dairy.
whether there is only one or one hun
dred cows kept. Farmers Adrocate.
k eeping cream too long Is very
common fault. Churn often. Churn
every twenty-four hours. That is good