The Somerset reporter., 1899-02-09
Growing Cows for Sale.

There is always good sale at good price
TOR cow that is fresh in milk. The price
may run up very high if the cow be of the
best milking breeds. But whatever she
be, the cow that has fresh flow of milk
can generally be sold, for some one will
take the risk of making her pay a profit
before she goes dry again. In the case
of the scrub COW she will almost always
sell at such time for good deal more
than she is worth to keep. And yet quite
likely the farmer who grew the scrub cow
has lost money on her, for however eco.
nomically he has managed, the cost OF
keeping two or three years while she was
merely growing and not producing any
thing has more than eaten up all he gets
for her.
This is really only another and possibly
more forcible way OF saying that scrub
cows do not pay. They cannot be made
to pay even when the animal is in such
good condition for selling that her pur-
chaser is tempted to cheat himself by pay
ing more than she is worth. 1t might be
supposed that such Improbable business
as growing scrub cows for market would
20 out of fashion. If the farmers who
keep scrub stock would figure closely and
see how much it costs them above what
they get for it, they would turn a sharp
corner, and the price of cows would 60 up.
But usually such farmers do not figure
closely. If they find they are losing
money they figure each year to practice
little closer economy for themselves and
their families, and continue their losing
policy until no further economies can be
devised to offset it. In the keeping Of the
average scrub stock there is hardly any
thing given, except the first few weeks,
that has cost the farmer money or that he
could sell for money. 1t is probably turn
ed out to pasture the first summer, and
when winter comes is put in the barnyard
and given corn stalks that are too mouldy
to sell, with all the grain straw it will eat.
OF course, the calf on such diet will not
be thrifty. Its coat will be rough and
staring. If. towards spring, the calf be-
comes too poor and is likely to die, it may
get few nubbins of corn, so as to keep it
through till grass comes again. In this
way herd of calves is wintered and the
farmer will proudly boast that its winter
keep has not cost anything.
On pasture the second summer will prob
ably thrive, not so well wintered. About
July or August most of the heifer cows
will come in heat, and will mate with some
bull that is in the neighborhood. and the
heifer will thus drop her first calf when
about two years old The second winters
keep will probably be little better than
the first, Tor even the scrub farmer has
learned the lesson that hefer coming in
milk when spring poor will give little milk.
and that not very rich. Keeping even the
besi.bre milking stock in this way will
lessen and ultimately entirely destroy its
milking capacities Yet it is the way that
thousands of farmers are managing the
heifer calves their scrub cows produce,
and thus keeping up the supply of cheap
scrub cows indefinitely We can well re
member an old farmer Boosting IS years
ago that he hao wntered IS heifer calves
most of them from his own cows. and he
added proudly, "those calves haven't had
the past winter $40 worth Of feed that |
could have turned into money in any
other way" He expected TO winter them
another winter nearly as cheaply, and
then sell them as two year Odds or keep
them still another year and make cows Of
them, meanwhile making their milk and
butter pay for all they got.
We thought, then. that greater care in
Bleeding from the best stock, and more
liberality in feeding it while growing,
would have paid this man better If he
had put up silos his calves and yearlings
could have had the cornstalks in succulent
form and make better use OF them. Corn
stalks grow poorer towards spring, Well
kept ensilage is as good until grass comes
again as it ever is. Then if he would
cross his native breeds OF cows with the
best thoroughbred. whether Holstein Erie
sian, Jersey. Guernsey. AYRSHIRE. or
whatever milking breed he may prefer, his
heifer calves would, at birth, have great
err potential value and pay more than
double for the extra care and feed he
would give them. In saying this, we do
not mean that young stock intended for
mothers should be kept fat. 1t should
however, always be kept thrifty and grow
ing by giving plenty of feed of the kind
that makes growth rather than fat. By
thus feeding, the heifers can be bred again
to throughbreds of the same breed at first
tried, produce grades that will be three
quarters pure blood and much larger pro-
ducers than any cows the farmer ever had
on his farm before -.fMerlcaH CnAfiVafor.
What makes the noise In the heater?" ask
ed the visitor.
IL don't know" answered the RAN who is
constil utionally chilly; but | guess it's the
temperature dropping"
She said she was speechless with indigna-
ton. they said
Wrong adjective" tereely answered the
man who had be en- present