The herald., 1897-04-02
Valuable Dairy Figures

Miss NJ D. Eshleman. who owns raj
sin vineyard few miles east OF Fresno
several years ago established dairy ana
pursued the business so studiously and
scientifically that she is now an ac-
knowledged authority on all matters
pertaining to profitable dairying. The
Following excerpt of an address recent
ly delivered before farmers conveh-
tion at Fresno we consider very valua-
BILE:
Our COWS have always been well fed,
having an abundance of bran, mlddlings
and good hay in the winter and shelter
from storms and during the frosty
nights UP to this time no attention or
thought had been given to balanced ra-
tions. In 1894 we began to practice the
feeding of balanced rations, and the IN
crease of milk was STEADY until the cows
reached their full milk capacity. The
decrease in cost of feed for each pound
of butter produced was well marked in
the years reckoning. In 1895 we added
corn ensilage to prevent the heavy Win
ter shrinkage of the milk noW. new
barn was built and the cows given the
added comfort of Bidwell stalls. In 1896
we added cocoanut cake to the other
feeds. AS an illustration of the results
of these changes, we take three common
cows that were mature animals in 1894:
The yellow and white COW No. in 1894
made 234 pounds of butter In 1895 she
made 321 pounds. In 1896, 402 pounds.
Cow No. &c. common long-horn red
animal. in 1894 made 230 pounds of but
ter. In 1895, 351 pounds; in 1896, 4S029
pounds. No. 81 in 1894 made 1S4 pounds
of butter; in 1896 $50 pounds; in 1896,
3s2 pounds. This COW was considered as
a beef animal. Her appearance was so
greatly against her when she first came
into the herd that the mixers named
her the "Tulare steer
In 1895 we placed our standard at 300
pounds of butter for mature COWS that
went through the year without any mis-
fortune to cause shrinkage in their milk
flow. We culled out seven and the rest
gave us an average of 1926 pounds of but
ter per COW.
The most profitable cows in our herd
are those producing a good average
quantity of milk containing 31a to per
cent butter fat. The persistent mixer is
often not accorded due credit. We have
two cows illustrative of this; The first
largest weekly record was 121a pounds
of butter; the second made 1512 pounds
in a week When al the close of thu
year the ledger was balanced, their ac-
counts were as follows: The first COW
made 4SS.25 pounds of butter: the seq
ond cow 4SS.05 pounds-a fifth Of pound
difference, and that in favor of the SEEM
ingly poorer COW.
In placing a herd on a 800 pounds a
year basis one must be ruthless in send
1ng to the butcher COWS that produce 250
to 275 pounds of butter yearly, for it is
these cows that are nearly good enough
that are the little foxes in the vineyard
to eat up the profits
Our greatest loss, or. rather, lack OF
gain, has been that we did not recog-
hize the Importance Of more full
blooded COWS. In 1890 we bought two
registered Holstein hefers and a bull.
These heifers are our two most profita-
BILE COWS. Receiving the same care and
feed as the rest Of the herd, one produced
10,350 pounds of milk, making 5O7 Is
pounds of butter The other gave 13, sos
pounds of milk, making 573.5l pounds of
butter in 1886,
The Holstein COW on alfalfa is in her
natural environment. Our grade Hol-
stein herd reached In 1896 an average
Butter production of 339. % pounds COW.
or these thirty-seven COWS none arc
over years old and nine are heifers, The
feeding, milking. care of the cows and
the making of the butter cost us s5l 0G
= COW during the past year, so all the
butter each COW produced over 904
pounds was profit; and in addition. the
calves and the skim milk for the pigs
should be added, though we cannot sen
arate the proportions correctly due to
these last two items. We believe the
grade herd cleared us a little over S5a
each. Our best cow a registered Hol-
stein, made 573.51 pounds, that sold
for 2b cents pound making $l43.37m
gross receipts; net product, $92. .3711 This
animal cost $3.50 as a yearling, so we
naturally regard the Holstein breed to he
good investment