Kansas City daily journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, 1896-10-12
DAIRYING in KANSAS.
A VALUABLE REPORT, DESIGNED TO
PROMOTE 1T.
VAST FUND OF INFORMATION.
EVERY BRANCH OF THE DAIRY BUS
MESS COVERED.
Secretary Coburn's Latest Handbook
Treats of y Subject of Prime Inn
p0rtance In Kansas Agri-
culture-Full of Help
full Facts.

Topeka, Kas.. Oct. 11.-(Special) The re-
port issued yesterday by Secretary CO.
burn, Of the state board of agriculture, on
dairying, under the novel title of Sow
Culture" will no doubt give impetus to an
important interest that has been sadly
neglected by the farmers of Kansas. This
is the only report that has ever been issu-
ed upon the subject. and is far removed
from the usual line of agricultural reports.
The report Is made up. after an intro
ductory by the secretary. of systematically
selected articles by eminent authorities. on
every branch of the dairy business, from
the breeding Of the cows to the sale of
the finished product. and OF explicit an
swers by more than a score of practical
Western dairymen and creamerymen, to
fcrty-two questions propounded by lie sec-
rotary. with view to covering the entire
range OF dairy matters. and secure the
best information available in every line;
the whole Is copiously illustrated with fine
engravinss. and makes a volume that is
worth a morocco binding. and the most
careful study of every Western farmer.
There are articles on Choosing a Dairy
Cow" Improvement of the Dairy Herd,'
Raising Calves for the Dairy yields by
Breeds and Cost of Production" "Ensilage
for Buttermaking." ''Silo-Building," "Co-
operative Creameries. "a Warming
Against Creamery Sharks" observations
on Creameries in Kansas" Creamery
Buildings and Icehouses,'' Use and Care
of Cream Separator" Hints for the
noi
Farm" Methods Of Creaming Compared"
Decreasing the Cost OF Butter" Cheese
making on the Farm" ''The Butter and
Cheese Factories of Iowa." and dozens Of
others along the same lines, making un-
questionably the most valuable work for
the Western farmer snd dairyman that
has ever been compiled.
In his Introductory Secretary Coburn ex-
pressly disclaims that the object of pub
fishing the information presented in the
report Is the Inauguration of any cream
cry or cheese factory boom, and continues:
1t Is not to lead any one, even for a
moment. into the belief that dairying in
any line, presents an easy or short road to
wealth. however high the prices that may
prevail at given time.
"On the other hand IL Is insisted that
most of the work connected with dairying
Is hard and disagreeable; that 1t must be
performed every day, Sundays as well as
week days, and can never be put of until
tomorrow; that 1t requires the strength
of man with the patience Of a woman,
along with skill. cleanliness and brains"
Under existing circumstances" says the
secretary, farmers wives, with insuffi-
efent, unsuitable equipment and unfavor-
able surroundings, expend wearying and
wearing labor to make butter that, from
being in small, uneven lots, and most I'm
properly and unfortunately cared for. is q
drug In nearly every market. often handled
only under protest, generally graded low,
and eventually sold for shortening or to
srumbiing consumers at prices which mean
no adequate compensation to anyone
such . condition Of affairs suggests
room for great and much needed improve
ment. If accomplished, 1t will mean mil
lions OF dollars added to the states assets
through the production Of high class sta
pies. for which our capacity is practically
Unreasonable. If the counsel and sugges-
tions here brought together from the high
est obtainable sources lead to better re-
suits through improved methods, and are
helpful In permanently advancing the
standard Of the Kansas COW and COW own
er. until they produce two pounds of de-
licious, best-priced cash butter or cheese
In lieu Of the one pound of or 8 cent
grease extensively and perennially mas
querading In rancid jars, discarded under
wear and pine shoe-boxes as fresh coun-
try butter" good purpose will have been
served, as well as . burden lifted from
many housewives. farm husbands, willing
and unwilling middlemen. and a multitude
OF eaters not content to live by bread alone
"The many well-to-do communities in this
and other lands where dairying Is lead
ing industry indisputably prove that, wisely
conducted. 1t has yielded a higher prosper
ity than general farming. 1t not only gives
better and more frequent returns In cash,
but 1t enables the farmer to maintain and
fC he oP
II it is conceded as a fact that dairying
under proper conditions is remunerative,
the next question Is. do such conditions
prevail in Kansas? To this it may be
safely answered, that in most essentials
there Is no state better adapted to the
business. Our soils are productive; We can
raise unlimited supplies of feed at incom-
parably low cost: our winters are shorter
and milder than in Wisconsin. Iowa and
Minnesota, where they have made such a
conspicuous success in dairying; our cat
tie will require less expensive shelter, they
can be at pasture longer, and the cost of
labor must therefore be proportionately
less. The corn, Kafir corn and other scr-
ghums. alfalfa, clover and grasses we pro-
duce SO abundatly. with the brans from our
wheat. are in large measure the ideal cheap
raw material for manufacturing on our
farms. by means Of the COW, commodities
that afford a ready money income every
month";"
Secretary Coburn urges the need of .
dairy school for systematic and up-to-date
instruction in dairy and creamery methods.
ard recommends that Kansas follow the
lead of her sister dairy states by estab-
fishing such q school at the state agricult-
ural college at Manhattan.
I'm no other way" says the secretary,
"can the latest improvements in dairy ma
chinery, methods and cattle be SO clearly
presented to the enterprising people of the
state. nor a certain and definite basis for
experiments under our climatic and other
special conditions be so well established.
At all events, the Kansas standard of pro-
duction Is so low that there is unmistaka-
bly, something lacking in our present dairy y
methods (or absence of methods). as ma;
be discovered from the figures here given
''The following table shows the value or
butter and cheese manufactured and milk
sold yearly in Kansas in the ten yeara he
ginning with 1884, as returned by asseesors.
Year. Cheese. Butter Milk, VsIn.
1ss7........s 5e.592 $4.3e3.4B $l7,3si N
1888. ....... 5S,16 4.+5S. $50 5S26N 509H 81
1850. $3.50 3s40.324 555.sii Si @
lS9O........ H.3ss 3,5l5.55: 510.9n j'iSn ~
90 -l-