The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-05-02
THE DAIRY.
HOW CAN WE IMPROVE OUR
METHODS

This is what every ambitious dairy
man wants to know; and it is what we
must all find out or make up our minds
to accept defeat and leave this line of
business.
In the first place, there is positively
no stopping along the road if we would
keep pace with the sharp competition
of the present time and win success.
We must be right up at the head OF the
procession end keep there. l say must
and that is the only word which de
scribes the situation ade quately.
Where shall we begin, then, to iE-
prove our methodist Some n will
say, we must make better butter. Yes;
but tell us how. 1t is said that the
character OF a man is made a hundred
years before he is born. With a COW
it is not much different. We cannot
pick up the first sire and dam which
come to hand and expect to procure
without failure the ideal COW. We
must begin our efforts at improvement,
then, with the ancestors if we would
hope to make any progress. 1t really
is disheartening to go through the
country and mark the absolute disre
gard of anything like right ideas OF
what constitutes the true dairy COW.
Anything with a head, four legs, and
capacity of storing milk, no matter
how much or how little, is called a
COW, A saw horse has four legs, but
you would hardly except to win a race
in the 2:12 class with it. We must
have q COW with parentage fully estab
lished. This I would call our starting
place in the search for better methods.
FEED AND PASTURE.
Given a good COW we must change
u ways of feeding her. An old man
said to me the other day: mo mi
can make as good butter as we used to
get. Why's Because the goodness of
u pastures is all gone. They are all
run out, grown up to weeds. You
can't make good butter out of such
stuff
was not in a position to deny the
fact that most Of our pastures are IN
just the condition he described. The
g Reet grasses we once had have disap
peared from the greater part Of our
pasture lands. But l did change his
assertion as to the inability Of anyone
to make as good butter as ever was
made in the past, and l told him if he
would step into my milk house, l
would show him as good butter as any
one, in any age of the world, could
produce. And before we were through
with the matter he admitted as much.
Now it ia true that we need to get Jul
pastures into better shape. This may
be done by moving the the weeds and
foul stuff year after year until it is
killed out, or by blowing the land and
aubduing the weeds in that way. Then,
in the matter of cutting, curing and
caring for hay there is a great chance
for improvement. Also in the way we
feed u COWS. We can no longer
throw a forkful Of hay, straw or corn
before our',cows and assert that we
have given them proper care. EIcn
COW has an individuality which must
be studied. This will lead us to under
stand that not all COWS r fed alike.
CARE OF THE MILK
These two points established, it fol
lows that we must be heater about our
methods of milking and caring for the
products of our dairy. No man should
be allowed to milk who will not take
every possible car to get the precious
fluid into the milk house clean and
free from anything which would affect
its good qualities. What a world of
room for improvement here! Go into
the stable of the vast majority of dairy.
men and note the utter disregard of all
principles of cleanliness and find one
great reason for the low average of the
butter put upon the American mark ct
at the present time. 1t is imperative
that there should be a decided change
in the points mentioned before we can
claim the palm as expert buttermakere.
Closely connected with cleanliness n
surrounding is accuracy and thorough
ness in separating cream from milk.
We have not yet reached perfection in
this direction. Many still cling to old.
Deafness Cannot be Cured
BY local applications, as they cannot reach the
diseased portion of the ear. There is only one
way to cure Deafness, and that is by constitu-
] Ainnnl ramadinS DEAFNESS is canSHa nv IN IN