Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1896-05-21
A PROFITABLE DAIRY
an instructive Essay Full Of ynIu.
able suggestions

OF the herd. Never keep a poor COW.
sue Is a continual source Of loss. cost
ing In care and food as much as n
good mixer besides pe~rpetuating her
species. 1t is rarely possible in the
beginning to have every COW a choice
one, but it is possible 10 improve
nero. The sire should be of the best
breed and of individual merit. or
great Importance is testing the quality
OF the milk. Now that a simple, re-
liable, cheap machine has been given
to the world. there is no reason whv
every dairy farmer should not avail
himself of this effectuai means of
raising the productive standard of his
COWS. Therefore buy a tester. learn
how to use il and persist until every
COW i'll your herd has been proven
profitable or unprofitable. When this
knowledge is obtained il il easy to
select the best heifer calves, a few of
which, at least, should be raised each
year. not only to ill vacancies which
are liable TO occur, but because as the
value of the milk test becomes better
known, the owners of good cows will
not readily sell their best excepting
at greatly advanced prices.
The calves should have the best
OF care. Feed the mothers milk for
a few days. gradually substituting
sweet separator or skim milk warmed
10 9S degrees. Three or four quarts
of milk with a tablespoonful of oil
meal added, twice a day, is q gen
erous feed for the average sizeG calf.
AS the calf grows older. bran. oats
and good clover hay may be added to
its rations, always using great care
not to give too much milk. as an eX-
ccsSive amount causes scOurS. The
alf should be grown with the idea of
developing a healthy, robust animal.
but not a fat one. The pens where
they are kept should be clean. warm
and dry.
In these days of keen competition
and narrow margins, no dairyman can
afford TO shelter his cows Oh the south
side of a straw stack or ip the cor
ners Of a rail fence. Comfortable. well
lighted and ventilated stables are a
necessity; such need not be costly.
The old style rigid s%tanchion is fast
pNliS hlNi'ld''h lOl ldSA'LlhSS AlhAl
afford more freedom. | prefer the
Bidwell adjustable stall, which pre-
Gents many advantages. Cows should
have an abundance Of bedding. and
time devoted TO brushing and carding
is well spent. There is much diversity
Of opinion regarding the amount of
exercise a cow should take during the
Stabling months. For the climate of
Illinois most will agree. ! think. that
il is we'll to turn the COWS in protected
lots for a few hours every day, when
storms or damp, chilling winds do not
prevail. However, they should be
watched and not allowed To become
tired or restless. or to lie down on the
wet ground. the latter being an almost
unfailing cause of garget.
The dairyman must have good and
cheap food. hence il is al important
that he raise as much as possible on
the farm. with enough surplus 10 OK
change for things his farm does not
produce. such NJ cotton seed, oil meal,
etc. A COW fresh in the fall or winter,
giving 4 full flow of milk, requires
from eight 10 fourteen pounds per
day of grain. and all the clover hay.
corn fodder and straw that she Will
eat. A good average ration to every
1000 pounds live weight is o u pounds
bran. four pounds corr meal, two
pounds oat meal, two of oil meal. with
the roughage mentioned. The formu-
las given by our experiment stations
are useful and aid tC n better system
! OF feeding, but IN. careful. painstaIing
dairyman will never permit them TO
supplant his judgment. Cows cannot
MI be fed by the same rule. While
each cow should he given all she can
eat and digest. the individuals OF a
herd will be found TO vary consi'icr-
ably i'm the quantity and proportions
of the raiionS required. 1t is n mis-
erable mistake to underfeed a cow.
Rear in mind that the datrym&n's
prolit comes from the food taken i'll
excess Of that required for tho cows
support. II the pastures becomes dry
in the latter part of the season, reed
the green second crop of clover or
! fodder corn. In brief, see that the
! cow has tie right kind of food at all
! fines and does lot have to waste her
strength in getting il.
Pure wa,rt at the right temperature
is another important factor in proht-
HnIp uilENlDS. ~ WV VII W. ~ ~
n stream or pond, stick her nose
tbrargh a hole in the ice and drink
! %contcntcdly and sufficiently. 1T is
cheaper to pump water from a well,
or TO heat water with wood or coal,
than il is To heat ii with grain, which
The COW consumes and which should
be used in the production of milk.
There are several reasons for having
COWS fresh in the fall. A COW fresh
in Scptemher or October will give a
! greater annual flow of milk than
| fresh in the spring, for the grass stlIn-
ulotes the winter mixer, while the
| cold weather i'm the fall tends TO dry
| the cow that was fresh In spring.
Then. the demand for choice butter
| In winter is more active and prices are
usually higher. Again, by this sys-
! tom the farm work is more evenly
distributed. necessitating the least
milking during the busiest months
| FINALLY. the moral effect on the farm
! or IS good. as the duties OF milking
| time compel him to desert his perch
I'm the village grocery, discontinue ms
idle gossip and betake himself 10 MS
lone. ur
profits for the year depend largely
on tbe treatment of the COW just De-
- -.I.tv DrnVlnlIZ IN