The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-02-11
THE DAIRY
HOME No I

Correspondence Of the Progressive Farmer.
All successful dairying must begin
at home. By this 1 mean that even as
ISOLATED dairying cannot be a success
unless the patrons do their part as it
should be done done, and their part is
to furnish milk or cream, as the case
may be, in thoroughly good condition.
But the trouble is to get them all to do
it; hence the maker at a butter or cheese
factory finds his efforts to produce a
thoroughly good article many times
fruitless because of the incompetency
or Indifference of a certain per cent. OF
his patrons. 1t is because OF this that
the home dairy, where the control of
all conditions from the breeding and
rearing or the selection of the herd, to
gether with the care of it, to the mar
keting of the product is directly under
the control of the dairy farmer n IN
most cases actually conducted by him
self and his family.
STARTING A DAIRY.
It would be hard to find one among
the farmers of an average community
who had not already made a start IN
dairying, at least to the extent OF haV
ing on his farm a few COWS. 1t is true
that in many localities IN the West that
only a small per cent of the COWS kept
are MIXED, but this condition is lot as
frequently found as it was ten years
ago. and another ten years will greatly
reduce the number Of COW that are
used only to raise their calves.
TEST H HER
Havirg a few COWS to start with, the
first thing is to ascertain their value as
judged by their ability to produce but
ter fat. Right here will say this paper
is intended to be devoted to the butter
side of the home dairy No one should
be retained IN the herd whose milk will
not yield at least $50 pounds of butter
per year. Toe COW that produces only
200 pounds of butter per annum does
little or no more than to pay her W
expenses. The Babcock Teet can be
used to good advantage to determine
the butter value Of each individual
COW, or the milk of each member Of
the herd can be set by itself, and the
cream from it churned separately. But
it takes the entire year to determine
the holding ability Of each individual
COW. This, like the ability to produce
butter fat, is a matter of determining
and selecting.
BREED.
While there are several breeds of
dairy COWS, the two leading breeds for
butter dairying are the Jersey and
Guernsey, but the former has longer
been bred in this country and is the
more Either breed is good
enough. Grades Of either breed are
for all practical purposes good enough,
if good individuals.
PROVE H HER
Starting with such COWS as one has,
which many times may be Of no par
ticular breed, the aim should be to
make the herd better by the use of a
thoroughbred male Of such butter
breed as you may prefer, or be most
easily obtained. Ia this connection
will mention another breed Of dairy
cattle-the Swiss This breed leans to-
wards the butter side Of dairying,
hence a male from it improves ones
herd for butter making.
But it must not be understood that
the three breeds of cattle thus far men
toned are the only ones that can be
kept, either pure, or grades, for butter
making. The Holstein breeders make,
and with a good showing of evidence
on which to base them, claims for that
breed as producers of butter that are
worthy of consideration. The fact is
that many times circumstances can be
allowed to determine the breed to be
selected to improve Or replace ones
herd. F. w. MOSELEY.
Clinton, Iowa.
The interest on money is so high in
o., RLoA -LC- n MAN Onoo oats into