Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1898-12-01

MONEY IN DA1RY1He.
T. A. Borman Shows How BE Makes
S01 q Cow.

I. A. B0rman OF Navarro read an
excellent paper before the State Dairy
meeting. From, it we take the follow
ing:
In March Of 1892, my father sold
his first milk to q creamery. His
herd was composed Of such cows as
be could buy through the country,
and | think were below the average
mixers Of that day. The best cows
Of the lot we're an old red COW, old
but bearing the marks Of most ex-
cellent producer, and three'fourths
Holstein cow, also an excellent mixer.
Later two Holstein heifers, one three.
fourths and the other tive.eighths,
came into the herd and were fresh a
wear later. A few months at patron
izing the creamery. milk then sold at
one dollar to one dollar and fifteen
cents per hundred pounds in winter,
iavorably Impressed him with the idea
Of selling milk. So he sought to i'm.
prove bis herd by the purchase Of a
pure bred Holstein bull. The animal
was not high priced and his pedigree
was not one that would place him in
the list Of rarely bred milk or butter
bulls. From him all the heifer calves
were kept.
At about this time creameries be.
gan buying milk by the test, and
while fathers test was an average one.
public opinion had it that Holstein
milk was extremely thin, and that
the steer calves would not sell, so his
attempt at breeding Holsteins was
ridiculed to such an extent that the
bull was replaced by Shorthorn OF
so.called "milking strain Those
were days when every breeder had
'milking" Shorthorns. After a sea-
son the animal became crippled and
was killed; and was succeeded by a
Polled Durham, whose sire and dam
came from the celebrated Elgin dis
trict Of Illinois, be also Of milking
strain" At the end Of year, his
calves gave so little promise that he
too, was disposed Of.
At this point, the firm became G.
W. Borman & Son, and being con.
WINGED that we could produce butter
at a greater profit than beef, we gave
it first place on the farm. We set
about to rear a dairy herd, and
brought Violante's Gold-uust, another
pure bred Holstein bull, and with
him pure bred COW and heiier.
The heifers from the first Holstein
heifers are the COWS aside from four
pure bred ones purchased which con-
stitute the present herd. The herd
is composed Of two seven.eighths
COWS one five.eighths, one three
quarters and the remaining half
breeds. With one exception, the
five-eighths COW, all are good types Of
the dairy animal. The average
weight Of these cows is probably
1900 pounds and Of the entire lot only
one is inclined to put on fat and that
not during the milking season. But,
she carries too much flesh TO be an
economical producer. They are good
feeders, always hungry and the enor'
nous consumption Of each is recog-
nized by the capacious stomach dis
tended almost to deformity when fill
ed. All are extremely quiet, and in
several cases bordering on stupidity,
yet sensible to all changes in sur
roundings or unusual occurrences
about the barn or lot. In other
words, they act and look like cows
built for business, whose only occu-
patton is the production Of butter.fat
every minute of the twenty-four
hours of almost every day in the
year and anything which tends to de-
tract attention from the work is sure
to decrease the yield.
As producers these cows are not
wonders, yet each is profitable and
above the average. They are persis'
tent mixers and in several instances
refuse tn he dried. Last wear the