The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1893-03-28
THE JERSEY A BUSINESS cow.
Prizz Essay, BY A. l. Crosby.

FTIZ- Essay, by q. l.. crosby.
When we engage in the business CT
butter dairy ing we need COWS that will
make the most butter from a given
amount Of feed. We want these cows
80 be hearty feeders, to be easy mixers,
giving very rich milk, to be gentle, not
100 large in size, early and regular
breeders, and able to do good work in
the dairy for many years, In short,
we need a BUSINESS COW, and in the
Jersey we have just such q cow.
i Hcarty Fee3cr The Jersey cow
IS noted rs being hearty feeder. and
hearty feeder Is ono that aannot only
eat a large quantity Of feed. bat a large
quantity OF rich feed. Il is the feed
that makes the milk, and in order tc
make plenty Of rich milk the cowmu-t
cat plenty Of rich feed.
GeaiIeness The disposition Of tie
Jersey cow is about as near perfection
as We can expect COW nature 10 be.
Gentlenoss in a COW Is worth money;
it counts up III dollars every year; it
Saves milk; it keeps the richness Of tie
milk from being wasted, Tor irritable
COWS are apt 10 get irritation in these
whomill5 them, and this, in turn, breeds
treatment Of the cows, y Eich causes
a loss Of butter fat in the milk; it i'll
surc3 better care, for the gentle COW is
the petted COW; and il other ways the
gentle disposition Of the Jersey is one
Of her valuable characteristics.
An Easy, Rich JEker-The business
COW must be one that can be quickly
MIXED, and the milk must be rich
these two qualifications VIII commend
themselves to every business dairymaD.
Size in the Dairy Co,c-Thero has
been a good deal of controversy about
the proper size of a dairy COW. Some
contend that she should be big, 80 that
when she has done her work in the
dairy she can be fattened up for beef.
Those men object to the Jersey because
she IS too small, she won't make beef
enough. Ever since [ began to study
the matter, [ have been a strong advO-
cate Of the special purpose COW. We
want a certain kind Of cow for a GER
tain kind Of work, and she must DO
that work better than any other kind
Of COW; she should be q COW for one
kind Of dairy business in order to be a
good business COW. 1t appears to me
that the extra weight in q dairy cow,
over and above what is necessary for
her to do the best work must be fed at
q great loss, because it is fed for many
wears before it is sold. This proposition,
it would seem, cannot be successfully
c0ntrOverted. The business COW must
pay every year of her dairy life, and
We cannot afford to wait till We kill her
to get any part of our profit; each year
should show a good balance to credit.
And how much profit could we expect
from cow beef fed for from 10 to IS
years? 1t is absurd to expect any.
An Early and Regular Breeder
We don't want to wait till our business
cow is three years old before we get
any profit from her-wo can't afford to
waste a years time; and our Jersey
will not disappoint us in this respect,
for she begins to return a profit when
two years Of age, sometimes earlier.
This early breeding is so much time
gained; when we make a business ven
ture we endeavor to make it pay as
soon as possible, and, in the dairy bust
ness, we want a COW that will com
mence her work early in life and begin
to pay as soon as she begins her work.
A dairy COW must also be a regular
breeder. We want to arrange our
calving periods to suit our business;
and cow that is a regular and sure
breeder IS worth much more than one
that is unreliable in this respect
A COlV that Works for Many Years.