The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1897-08-06

The Dairy, and How to Feed for Profit.
What every owner of a cow is in
terested in-or should be interested
in-is how to feed her and what to
feed her; what to give her for her
own good, and how much of it with
profit to her owner. Recently the
HERALD has b. Ell ask ed for some adj
vice on that subject. and to comply
with that request we soughtan inter-
view with Mr.. Harry Martin, dairy
man for Morgan & Brown, the best
dairyman for the finest herd in the
best county in Tennessee.
Mr.. Martin with two assistants is
milking 30 cows now, and he thinks
they average him about 21a gallons
of milk per day. At this season he
feeds them very little. They run on
fine blue grass pasture, and that is
really all they need. But in order
to Keep them in good humOr, and to
induce them to let down their milk
free and easy, he gives each of them
a mere handful of dry bran at a
feed. That is all they need if they
have plenty of good grass; but he
watches them and their pasture,
and if a continued dry spell of
weather comes, as the pastures fail
| he increases the bran little, but
never does he go over one gallon per
day, or half gallon at a feed. He
feeds no hay at all in the summer.
After the killing frost in the Fall,
he begins gradually to increase their
bran and to begin to give them lit
tie hay. His feeding in the Fall de-
ponds largely upon the weather and
the condition of the pastures. If it is
an open Fall with good grazing, he
lets that take the place of other food
as long as it Will, watching his herd
and noting their conditions all the
while. AS the Winter approaches
he gradually increases their food
supply until he reaches gallons of
bran per day-Or IL gallons per
feed-and all the hay they will eat.
If an individual COW is not doing
as well as she should, Mr.. Martin
sometimes substitutes oats and corn
meal mixed, instead of bran; and
sometimes he will feed the entire
herd on this for few weeks, Just
for change. When he feeds on
this the mixture is q of oats to p of
meal. With this he also gives them
all the hay they will eat, but none
to play with or toss about or trample
on.
All of the cows in this dairy are
thoroughbred Jerseys. In size and
capacity therefore, they are all
about equal. They are, therefore,
all fed alike. But, said Mr.. Martin,
if | had charge of a herd where
there was mixed the little Jersey
and the big HOlsteen, the smooth,
medium sized grade and the rough,
beefy, Improbable old scrub,
think would sell the scrubs to the
butcher for what they would bring,
and the others l would study close
ly and, in the winter time, feed
them in quantities according to what
seemed to produce the best results
and in order to do this, would in
crease and decrease the portion fol
certain cows until l thought | had
them all sized up about right.
mean this for winter; IN the sum-
mer ] would treat them all alike
turn them on a good pasture and
give them mere handful of brar
Just to get them to take to theil
stalls kindly and let down theil
milk.
AS we said in the beginning, Mr.
, Martin, with two assistants, is milk
ing now 30 cows. A good mixer, he
saws, ought to milk 7 or 8 COWS t
the hour, and to be a good paying
investment the cows should average
2la gallons per day the year round
There ought not to be any dry COWS
in the dairy; a cow that can't bt
MIXED IL months out of II, ought tC
be disposed of; she may be all right
, for breeding purposes, but not fol
the dairy.
The above comes from a practical
experienced and successful dairy
man and it would be we'll for thOs,
particularly interested in the sub
) iect to cut it out and file it away fOI
, future reference.