The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1892-04-29
Dairy Department.

aIly presents itself-is dairying il
this county profitable? or is it more
profitable than any other occupation
that my surrounding circumstance!
call for? To answer that question
requires a further digest of the sub
iect as to the manner, means anC
modes of each particular person who
engages in it.
In the first place, it is safe to say
that dairving is profitable on a farm
that could not be used for any Other
purpose. Land that is rocky, hilly OF
run down, needs only rest to bring
blue grass upon the rocky or billy
portions and clover to bring VI
the poor or tired out fields. In {
few Years one will lie astonished al
the improvements; for, in addition tC
the clover, the drOppings of the cattle
or the hauling of the manure yearly
accommodating at the barns viii
greatly enrich the land. And this is
one of the strong things in dairying
while every crop you raise and hau
to town makes your land poorer, YOU
COWS are continually enriching it
Land that would not produce a corr
crop or a wheat crop will pay larger
per cent. from a well-managed dairy
than from any or both of these crops
Again; suppose your land is frs
class, dairying will pay handsomely
on your principal invested there. sup
pose you Craze it with mules or steers
our best mule dealers say if they
make clear 1917 per head on theil
mules after fattening and counting
interest on their money they are do.
ing well. And as for SteerS-it has
been proven that the same amount Of
feed that will put a pound Of meat Oh
a steer will get pound of butter
from a Jersey cow or grade. The
pound of flesh from the steer viii
sell for cents at the very best while
your butter will quadruple it at the
poorest, and if you try, it will bring
% cents the year round. Besides, the
COW will produce calf, which should
pay for the keep of the cow, leaving
your butter clear profit for your labor
and interest.
Again; the discovery of the mode
of preserving ensilage (On which we
shall talk more hereafter), has
made it possible to cut down the act
ual expense of the dairy to one-third
of what grain-fed cows have hereto
fore required, thus making the pro
cess of making butter cheaper, anC
giving the dairyman more COWS pei
acre.
But, you ask, can I always sell my
butter? On that point you may de
pend, it rests entirely with you. II
your butter is gilt-edge, free from col
Oring, water, excessive salt, and the
glObules a natural color, unwhitened
by too much hot water, you will always
find a good demand for it. And after
you once establish a reputation in
some neighbOring town or city, you
will find you cannot supply enough
We have vet to see or hear of Il good
dairyman who has ever complained
that he could not sell his product
On the contrary, the reverse.
Dairying is business that brings
in ready money for the farm all the
time; and this is what the farmer
most needs-ready money to buy the
small necessities of life and pay cash
for them and thus save enormous pei
centages and interest that would go to
other parties.
It has been abundantly proven that
cows will do better on mixed feed
than they will on any single ration
no matter how good ii may be in it
self. High feeding-that is, feeding for
the maximum prOduct-can also be
done more cheaply by having a good
variety of food, for with the single RAJ
ton there will always be some ele-
ments which will not contribute to-
ward the end for which you are feed
ing, and 50 will be Il loss. 1t is only
by testing different mixtures, count
ing their cost and observing the re-
suits carefully, that one can tell just
what is best adapted to his individual
use. One thing is certain, and that is
that cheap feeding is not often eco
Much cheap food may be
used to good advantage by combining
it wisely with more concentrated
food. Even straw may be used to
furnish Il good share of the rough
ness for the dairy, but straw-fed cat
tie alone could not be expected to
make much return. y good ration,
and one that has been proven to be
the best, is equal parts of corn and
oats ground together with quart of
wheat bran added, and, for winter, all
the good hay the COW will consume.
Some have used cottOn-seed meal with
good results, but as a rule it is unsafe
where gilt-edge butter is the object
SUill it is very nutriciOuS in its place.
and if not fed in too great quanti-
ties. For month before calving the
great COW Ethleel I'd had free access
ground together. After calving she
was feed corn-hearts and ground oats
and made her wonderful record of 80
pounds and ID ounces of butter in
seven days.
\ calf, like a colt, is made for good
or bad the first year of its life. Feed
it then; after that it will do pretty
well itself-if you will keep on feed
ing it.
There are more good dairy cows in
MaUry county tnan any other county
in Tennessee; six of the most prOmi-
nent Jersey herds in the state are sit
uated in this county.
Good butter will sell all the year
round. The great trouble with the
most of butter made and that COM
mands so low Il figure is that it is not
good. Establish II reputation for good
butter and like all other good reputa-
tions it will stay on top.
About the best and cheapest way to
raise calves up to four months of age
is with a good nurse COW. Any quiet
COW that will give 2l2 to gallons of
milk daily may be taught to adopt
two calves and may then be turned on
pasture with the calves. After four
months these may be weaned and an
other young one given her.
Almost excellent plan to ripen cream
during cold weather is to mix
with il some sour milk warmed up to
about 50 degrees. BY a little attention
to this the butter may be churned
daily in winter as well as in summer.
Do not wait till spring and summer
to make your yearly butter engage
ments The market will be dull then.
But make your engagements in the
fall or winter for the year. 1t is not,
however, so much a question of when
to make your engagements as it is to
have good butter ON hand at the right
time.
Ensilage is the greatest cheap food
for dairy cows that has yet been dis
covered. 1t may be grown, hauled,
cut and put in the field for 80 cents
per ton. Cows may eat a bushel each
per day without danger. 1t takes the
place of grass in winter, and like
grass it needs some grain to properly
balance it.
The most common cause for the
'of flavor in butter is the lack of
in the cOw-barn. \ waste
trough has never yet been invented
that eXacrlV fills the requirements.