The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-11-21

pastures.
Co rs, with fair surroundings. can be
made more comfortable in winter than
in summer, and with fall calving will
be dry when heat, flies and drouth r
severest and when butter prices are
the lowest.
Winter dairying furnishes profitable
employment for the farmer and his
men at a season Of the year when, with.
out it, fern forces are either idle or
work for low wages.
Another advantage of fall calving is
that the calves eau be raised at a season
when there is time to give them that
careful attention which is 8 great a
factor in calf raising by hand, when
losses by heat, flies, diarrl @3 and sour
milk can be avoided and when, at
weaving time, the calves can go from
milk to green pasture without a check
in growth.
In winter the calving cow will do
best in warm, comfortable quarters,
free from draft. It is we'll to blanket
her as soon as the calf is dropped, and
ID keep her bIanketed until she has re-
gained her normal condition. We have
sswed bran bags together for a blanket
when nothing better was at hand. Her
bowels must De kept loose. Give her
light, loosening feeds and all the water
she will drink, removing the Chill by
heat.
After the COW has recovered from
calving, the feed should be gradually
Increased until the full limit Of profit
able feeding is reached, and the COW
should be pushed to her utmost possible
limits for the first three months.
When other work is pressing, the
dairyman is sometimes tempted to let
the fresh COW go with the ordinary
care and feed until the rush is over, ex
pecting to make up for this neglect by
good treatment when he is less hurried.
He cannot aford to do this, for if a
COW starts with a low or moderate
milk yield, no amount Of n or feed
afterward will succeed in securing her
best yield.
Or course COWS will give milk, and
do give milk, without these attentions;
but the increased product and de-
creased losses by disease, death and &C
cidents, will pay several times over for
the care hero advised.
The weakest point in most dairy
ing is the composition Of the ration
given, the average ration being greatly
deficient in protein and having too
much carbohydrates and fat. As no
other substance can take the place of
protein, the insufficient quantity given
IN the feed limits the milk yield and re
duces it to that which the protein can
form. investigation has shown that a
air milk ration for an average 1000
pound COW should contain about d
pounds digestible protein, 12B pounds
digestioIe carbohydrates and ! pounds
dIgsstible fat. Last winter many Kan
sas farmers FED p 4iC dairy cows prairie
hay and corn, both poor in pro'ein
Such a ration should be balanced up
by mixing wheat bran, oil meal, gluten
meal, pea meal, or clover Or peavine
hay with it.
A variety in the ration brought bat
ter yields becAuse it made the food
more appetizing, inducing the GOV to
eat more and to yield more for what
she ate. Whatever makes the feed
taste better or makes it more er joyable
to the COW increases its value for milk
production. Early cut hay is best for
the dairy COW, not only because il con
teins more protein than hat cut late,
but because its aroma and favor make
it mor p~alsteble 80 the COW. The ap-
petizing effect from the early cutting |
and careful curing of all forage crops
increases their feed value for milk pro
duction. Freshly harvestf d and fresh
~ ground grain are the most palatable
to the dairy o and will give best re-
suits. Dajrymen who grind feed should
grind o ten, as grain that has lost It's
freshness il not the besh relished by the
COW.
In mixing r~ations, al ways remember
that alfalfa, sorghum, ensilsge, roots,
bran, soy bean meal, lineeed meal and
gluten meal, loosen the bowels, while
corn fodder, Kahr corn fodder. prairie
hay, timothy hay, corr, K7hr CORD,
and cotton seed meal, END to consti-
pate the DO wells. Also bear it in mind
that corn, K4fir, fodder, common bay,
straw, sorghum, roots, and ensilage,
are rich in carbohydrates au1 poor in
protein, while alfalfa, clover, pea vines,
vetch, pea meal. gluten meal, linseed