The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1893-03-21
CARE AND TREATMENT OF JER-
SEY CATTLE.
Prize Essay, by Mrs. Ella lockwood.

Jersey. The peculiar nervous tempera
ment SO essential in a perfect dairy COW
is one Of her strongest characterised S
Look at the bright, intelligent face Of
q true specimen Of this breed. and note
the large fawn like eyes, bright and
gli5tening Look at the thin, dilating
nostrils, with their orange lining, which
seem to scent danger like deer, and
seeing, know that this queen among
COWS demands and we'll deserves the
most careful handling and kindest
treatment to bring out her good quail
ties and keep them at their best.
No COW, from the scrub to the thor
oughbred, can do her best unless I'M
der circumstances conducive to quiet
and content; and although COWS of
moro sluggish temperament may bear
ill-usage with little apparent regard, it
is not so with the sensitive Jersey, and
she soon depreciates in value.
From calfhood she should have rea-
son to regard her master as her friend.
No blows or harsh words should teach
her to fear him; but she should expect
and receive only caresses and kind
words. Ugder such treatment she will
develop 3 gentle, kind disposition.
She should be taught to lead by a
halter, to stand quietly as for milking,
and bear handling of the udder long
before she reaches maturity so that
she may be quiet and easily handled
instead Of being wild and unmanage-
able, as heifers often are at that time
No breaking in will be necessary, and
if it is desirable to dispose of her she
will bring a better price than one that
has never been trained.
Do 0Ot make the mistake of thinking
that when she drops her first calf is
time enough to begin feeding her; she
should have been fed from her birth
with this in view.
No supplemental food is better than
ground oats as a help in developing the
heifer calf. AS soon as she begins to
eat hay she should have little, night
and morning, fed dry. Begin with
half pint Of feed, or even less, and
gradually increase the quantity until
bessie will take a pint at a feeding
Keep her thrifty and growing. A calf
once stunted by insufficient or i'm
proper food will never make so good a
COW as she would otherwise have been.
The grain ration should be increased
as the heifer grows, and at the arrival
of the milking period she should, after
the first few days, be given a generous
quantity of such food as is best suited
to assist her in producing milk.
While there are various grain foods
recommended by dairymen as excel
lent for milch COWS, for the general
feeder and the average COW nothing is
better than one part corn meal, one
part oatmeal and two of wheat bran.
Of this, feed as much as after expert
menting with your COW you find gives
best results in milk and butter.
Each cow is g law unto herself as to
the amount of food she can proftably
consume. It takes more to produce
like result with one than another. Up
to the extent of her capacity the greater
the amount consumed the greater the
returns at the pail and churn; but
when a COW is fed beyond her capacity
to convert the food into milk and but
ter, she is fed at loss; the extra food
goes to make fat.
A liberal allowance of coarse fodder
should also be fed. Clover hay, co n
fodder, ensilago-all are good. Roots
are valuable as @ food for miIch COWS.
Carrots are perhaps best, with sugar
beets next. Turuips and ruta bagas
will flavor the butter.
Pure water should always be within
reach of the COW. No other domestic
animal requires so large a quantity,
and a shrinkage Of the milk will follow
if she is deprived of it in abundance,
While Jerseys as a breed are unsur-
passed as butter makers, there is a
wide range in their value in this re-
gpect. Each cow should be tested and
the best only kept. In regard to test
ing, it is not always that the COW show
ing the highest test Of butt6r-fat is
really the best COW. Other things
should be taken into consideration
quantity Of milk and length of milk
period during the year. These should
be considered before deciding, as a COW
showing a medium amount Of butter
fat may make up in quantity of milk
during the year what single test Of
her milk may lack.
Not all Of us can have COWS making
thousand pounds of butter in a year;
but any one owning a single Jersey