Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-12-25
Treat the Cow as Mother, Even if She is &
Brute.

Brute.
The cows should have warm and COM
Portable stables, writes contri butter to the
Country Gentleman, and be stabbed nights
by October 10, or as soon as cool, chilly
nights are noticeable, and it also pays on
cold, blustery, rainy days-and we have
had plenty of them in which it paid to
keep the cows in the greater part of the
| day, feed them small load of fodder, and
not let them roam the rain-soaked fields
for hours. 1t may be asserted that such
care of the cows makes them tender, and
sensitive to cold. The function of milk
giving is maternity, and the mother the
world over needs shelter, warmth and COM
fort, and suitable food in abundance.
| Making mich cow hardy and tough al
ways results is lessened flow of milk and
increased consumption OF food, without
corresponding returns. The result is that
cow that is compelled to use a varying
quantity of food each day to fight cold,
rain, chills and ike things, soon has a
habit formed of not rightly appropriating
| food when these comforts are afterward
artifcially furnished, and food that might
nave otherwise gone to the productive side
Of profit, does not appear at any point,
and the cow is forthwith charged with being
| II, IL
could talk, she would bring the same
charge against her owner about his abili-
ty as dairyman!
It is not, after all, so much question as
to whether our cows are as hardy as cows
were 40 years ago, less liable to stand ex-
posure and all that, but as to a rational
the most milk fir IN them at least cost.
Thu ol,,,or+ ,,,.rorcol diamond Co. H.
milk has made the all-winter milking of a
large number of cows imperative. The
question is not how much would the COW
in 1850 give in the winter, fed on hay at
the stack and stabbed in the woods. as
thousands and ten thousands were. While
they may have made profit as summer
mixers, what would the result have been
of attempting winter milking? 1t is now
the making summer conditions possible
all winter, with warm, well-lighted and
ventilated barns. The COW that has this
sort of comfort has no demands made on
her to be tough. hardy and rustler The
best cow in 1850 was the biggest thief
in the drove, ready tC eat her own hay and
steal the kalf-eaten lock from her weaker
associate. The one TOUCHED it through
and the other was skinned in April and
her hide sold to buy groceries with
, Now. the stable, the -proportioned ra-
ton, the generous basket of ensilage, and
the water distributed to each IN the man.
ger, make the underling COW the pride
and the profitable cow; while by the other
plan the bully of the drove was the best
COW, because she lived and the other died
Now. by better and more human treat.
ment, which is the better and more profit,
able plan-making cows hardy and tough
by exposure, or making them profitable
and that by clan which begins the win.
tering of cow by October l, and leaves
the idea of making cows tough and hardy
to the western ranchmen, who expect to
lose Is per cent. each winter while under
goin g the hardening process? Treat th
cow as a mother, even if is she is brute
that she is one does not call for bruta
treatment, although thoughtlessly Civ en-
perhaps. Protect this cow from storm
and cold, chilly winds, give her generou
food and comforts of stable, not dungeon
with foul smells and favors of filth, and
she will repay you four-fold for this
thought and attention.
The employment of machinery and the
, great Improvement in all kinds Of
machinery for doing general farm work
J and the amount of money needed for in