Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1900-11-28
The Cow and Her Management


Some ten years ago fine looking
and nice smooth talking gentleman
canvassed this vicinity in the interest
of creamery. He made us believe,
or almost so, that creamery at Val
ley Falls would be the one thing
needful and in few years the farm
ers hereabouts would be reeking in
wealth accumulated from milking
cows and sending the milk of said
cows to said creamery.
Well, took stock one share ($10O
in the money maker and hegan opera
tions, First by corraling all the
COWS and separating them from the
calves which separation was not
agreeable to the calves and naturally
they set up a bawl that would mske
tender heart shed tears, This was
kept up until next day when return
was made from the money m :ker
with some calf feed called whey.
Now the calves were dosed on this
whey until they looked like the boys
stuffed toad.
But to make long story short and
more interesting when fall came /
had calves to sell but no buyers yet
ordinary calves Wore in good demand
but mine were extraordinary. Still 1
was not willing to give up the goal
and kept right on in the even tenor
of my ways milking cows and whey
ing bawling calves until something
claimed to be better calf food, steril
lied milk, so 1 took to that believing
in the old adage "a change of pas
ture makes fat calves"
This season [ raised five of these
sterilized calves and ten others that
followed their mothers The steril-
lied calves would sell for perhaps
five dollars per head while those that
followed their mother would sell for
fifteen dollars per head. Ten dol
lars thus lost on each calf. So much
for the calf now for the kicking COW
with her many vexations of spirits.
Its upin the morning early and off
to the dirty corral with bucket in
hand to milk the COWS. Down by
the side of cow milking away until
you have the bucket part full when
the COW suddenly takes caw notion
to kick the milk all over you into
whiskers and face besides her filthy
foot print just above the knee on
those clean overalls. Thus it goes
until ten or a dozen cows are run
down and MIXED and you ind out Of
the fuss, flies and dirt you have
saved fifty or sixty pounds of milk
that will test probably three per cent
equal to fifteen or eighteen ounces of
butter fat worth fifteen cents. Night
comes and its the same racket over
again.
Years have gone by and l have
bought calves from good milking
strains of COWS. They have come to
maturity and proved themselves no
better than a six dollar scrub calf
that had no record for milk or beef.
/ have read all of Secret iry Co
burns works on the COW and her use
fulness, all the Agricultural college
bulletins on the dairy business, 1
have sowed Kafir corn, sorghum and
alfalfa but as yet have not tried soy
beans or the silo and yet that fortune
in the creamery business is in the
dim future. I do not become dis
couraged very easily; don't feel in
clined to give up the business en-
tirely until l make or break and now
if some patient lover of the COW will
enlighten me as to how the creamery
business can be managed So as to
make it pay for the time snd labor
expended they will confer ,sting
favor on Yours Truly,
M. M MAXWELL.
Hopeful Farm, Nov. 20, 1900