Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1889-05-10
DAIRY COLUMN.
Special VS.. General Purpose Cows.

Inns has been ably discussed by
several writer's for the Dairy Col
umn. 1t might seem to be exhaust
ed, and to require no further argu-
ment from either point of view.
Yet wish to say few words in de-
Tense of the the general purpose
COWS, as | consider their use justif-
able under special circumstances.
In order not to be misunderstood,
let me say right here that in the
main, / agree with the Editor of the
Dairy Column, and under the usual
conditions governing this question
| am an absolute and uncompromis-
inc believer in the special purpose
COW. Either dairying or beef pro-
duction must be the primary object,
while the other can only be second
airy. No compromise can be made.
Ii YOU wish TO breed fast horses, you
do not choose Clydesdales or Perch
erons; and il your purpose is dairy
ing, you do not select your stock
from Shorthorns. Heresfordshires or
Galloways, but from Dutch--Fries-
ans, Aryshire,, Jerseys or good
native herds. Supposing you should
start with stock selected from some
beef producing breed with the vain
hope of a liberal flow of milk while
at the same time your stock would
grow fat and be worth something TO
the butcher when the COWS are
played out as dairy COWS. The re
suit would be, possibly tolerably
good yield of milk from fat COWS,
but the COW would eat sufficient food
not only to produce the milk, but
also to maintain the body, and an
unnecessarily heavy body at that.
Every animal requires to be main
tanned in status quo, a certain amount
Of food before any food goes to the
production of milk, flesh, labor,
or whatever the product may be.
To make your COW give rich flow
of milk it is necessary to feed liber-
ally. But with a COW belonging TO
a flesh breed you have no means 10
to make the surplus food lover and
above that needed for simply sus-
tanning the healthy condition of the
cow produce milk only. Some of
it will 90 to produce beef, and that
useless beef you have got to carry
and maintain by extra food as long
as you are milking the COW. In less
than two years the general purpose
COW will consume extra food, worth
more money than she will sell for
when fat. Keep her as a dairy cow
for eight years, and she will cost in
extra food several times more than
she will ever be worth to the butch
er. To produce milk at the lowest
cost, get a COW which with rich
flow of milk will need the least pos
sible amount of food TO sustain the
body, allowing as much food as pos
sible to be turned into milk. In
other words, select from some dairy
breeds, and do not care whether the
COW is worth anything to the butch
er at the end of 10 or II years, oil
not. On the other hand, if you wish
to prepare your cattle for the butch
er, do not select dairy stock with
narrow body and crooked legs-a
necessary development of animals
bred through generations for that
purpose-but choose Shorthorns OF
other beef breeds with perfect frames
which will put on flesh quickly and
in the proper places. And do not
lose any flesh once produced, but
finish the animal az quickly as by
any means you can, so that the food
necessary to support or maintain
the body from one day to another j,
reduced to a minimum. Do not stoI
to milk the COWS for perhaps severa
years, for the milk she may yield il
too dearly bought, but fatten her off
and sell her as soon as possible, un
less she is to be be kept for breed
NO purpOSoS