Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1897-11-05
Winter DaIrying.


principal line of work. At the present
time there are so many that produce
butter in the summer that the price is
always depressed in the summer
months, and depressed, to, to such a
point that the profits are entirely
wiped out, except where butter is pro-
duced under exceptional conditions.
Winter dairying would decrease the
amount of butter that is thrown on the
market in the summer time. 1t would
help the dairymen in a number OF
ways. The amount being lessened,
there would be in summer no time
when the butter would be exceptional
ly low. This would prevent spectators
from buying up cheap butter and put
ting it in cold storage to be brought
out and sold in winter in competition
with winter-made butter. Thus the
prices would be kept at about an aver
age the year round. This condition OF
affairs would yield the greatest profit to
butter makers. Fluctuaung prices are
detriment to any business. except that
of speculation. Stable prices eliminate
the speculator. Stable prices have the
effect of stimulating the consumption
of any article. A sudden rise of prices
generally curtails sales till the people
get used to paying the advance. TIE
efforts of the dairymen should be to
bring about uniformity so far as pos
sible.
The men that must begin the win
ter dairying are our most progressive
men, the men that have silos, or at
least that know how to provide their
cows with succulent food in winter and
feed in a way that will keep up con-
slant flow of milk. We cannot expect
the men that never read and seldom
think to make success of winter
dairying. 1t requires more skill than
1t does to do summer dairying, or, we
should say, reckless dairying, letting
things take their course.
One objection to winter dairying has
been that it requires too constant
work, the sowing of special succulent
crops in the spring and summer, the
gathering of them in the fall, and the
care of the milk and butter and their
sale in the winter, making twelve
months of work. 1t is much easier to
work seven or eight months in the
summer method of dairying and have
few months of good, solid rest. But
who can fairly expect to thrive on
working part of the time during the
year? Because winter dairying makes
it possible to put in twelve months OF
solid paying work instead of eight is
one of the reasons why it should pay
greater profit. Few can hope to get |
as much profit out of eight months
work as out of twelve. 1t has been
figured out that milk and butter in the |
winter are worth on the average about |
so per cent more than in the summer |
Added to that is the asserted fact that |
the total milk production for the year
Is often 30 per cent more, and you
have a considerable advance. The rea-
son for this increased flow of milk is
found in the fact that during every
summer there is a dry period when
the pastures get very short and the
grass very dry. During this time the
cows are not generally fed on succu-
lent fodder to keep up the flow of milk.
The supply falls off, and, as all dairy
men know, never gets back to its for
mer abundant flow. The loss from this
cause is very great, when we take into
consideration the millions of cows in
the country. By a proper course of
feed the winter dairyman avoids this
pitfall. If he feeds silage the proven
ton of any such falling off is easy.
Even if he feeds other succulent feed
with abundance of grain food the sue
cess is generally assured. He there
fore avoids anything corresponding to
the summer drouth, and keeps up the
flow of milk from the time of the cow
coming in fresh to the time of drying
up previous to calving again.
Some use the argument that if all
rush into winter dairying there will be
no profit in it for any one. That is a
that need not be guarded
against. Winter dairying is too much
like work for everyone to run into it,
Most men care so much for ease that
they will take the easiest route, wheth-
pr it pays or not. Then there are
great many men that are beyond the
reach of this propaganda, and they
will never think of changing. Alto
yether, there is no danger that the
lumber in this particular line will be-
,ome so great that profits will drop to
Ill.
Varying Components of Milk-Dur-
ng the first five months of milking the :
alts in the milk are in excess, and then
progressively decrease to the eighth /
month, when they increase slightly; the {
asein and extractives diminish up to 5
he second month, and then remain s
learly constant, but from the tenth to Z
he tuentv-fnnrth month the ca sein de- :