Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1890-09-06
September Care of Cows.
ny e. L. GAnniLsoN

BY G.. L. GABi.iLsoS.
The prevailing drouth and appear
ance Of cool nights iniensilles the
need of renewed and continued atten-
ton to the comfort and welfare OF
stock generally, and cows giving milk,
or soon to calve, especially.
This is the season when good Dame
nature prepares and supplies her
brute dependents with food especially
adapted to promote fat and flesh, the
better to Withstand the vicissitudcs OF
all unfriendly winter. This we hnd
true among all classes Of beasts ana
birds, but too often, the animals when
we have under our care are deprived
of the means TO carry out the lhsli'lc-
tive habit of making provision ior
times of need. This comes from keep,
ing more cattle than the land devoted
to their subsistence will furnish 1000
in sufficient quantities for. we are
very apt to overestimale the capacit!
of a pasture field, and trust to the
hope of a model season, when ram
will fall In such a manner as 10 pro-
ducc continuous growth OF num-
tious grass, so that nothing remains
for us TO do except gather iii the har-
vest-be it milk or flesh.
Owing to past disappointing experl;,
ences we are learning to grow 1000
to supplement the pasture when 1t Is
desirable to keep more stock than the
growing grass will sustain. Ii no
special crop of corn has been planted
TO supply this want, then the main
field must be invaded to fill the cattles'
wants. If the cows are MIXED III the
sta bic, then green corn may be put III
the managers before they are put in, or
| if the milking is done in the barnyard
then corn may be scattered in the pas
ture, when it will be eaten with little
or no waste. If the pasture adJoins
the corn field there is danger OF teach
ing the cows bad habits If the corn Is
thrown over the fence while they are
around. We find that when feeding
| in the pasture, by taking advantage Of
the time when they are i'll the barn
yard to be MIXED, if the corn is CARR
ed and scattered outside of the fence,
the cows do not realize where 1t comes
from. But let them see the cutting
and carrying process, or have one Of
their number get in to eat the forbid
den fruit, then good-by to security &c
that crop unless the fence is "horss
high and bull strong" An acre o.
corn fed in this manner to COWS Will
produce better results at less expense
than if handled in any other way.
If COWS are allowed to shrink II
flesh, by reason of insufficient food, a
this time it not only means loss o
milk, but a decline in their capacity u
produce milk until the system has re
covered that which was lost, and by
this time many of the cows are prooa
bly, far along in pregnancy, so that an!
appreciable Increase in milk produc
ton is impossible. The fear OF en-
croacbing on the next winters store o
fodder sometimes impels owners II
observe their stock growing poorer
day by day without any attempt Il
check it. Such notions lead to the mos
wasteful extravaganza. A pound 0
flesh lost means more than the expendi
ture of sufficient food to produce anoth
er pound, for, like the momentum OF
locomotive moving in one direction
which cannot be overcome by simply
shifting the throttle bar, so COW, !
allowed to lose flesh, cannot at ono!
begin to thrive, even il abundant fooc
; is provided. A word TO the wise j
, sufficient.