Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1900-11-22
Modern Methods of Dairy Practice.


The dairy business is in a sense
manufacturing business. The COW is
the machine which converts the raw
material represented by grain and for.
age into milk. All lines of business,
including agriculture, have been com.
PEELED to adopt modern methods. The
dairy business, however, requires a
large degree of intelligence in that it
is governed by natural laws which are
not as constant as those governing
the manufacture of iron and steel prod
ucts. Success in dairying today de-
pends upon two conditions: First up
on the reduction of the cost of pro-
duction and second the improvement
of the quality of the products. In tue
first instance the dairyman must thor
oughly understand the feeding of cows,
the milk and its care, the marketing of
butter and cheese. the COW herself, and
must have thorough knowledge OF
the various feeds needed.
The difference in cows is nicely IL
lustrated by two cows at the New
Jersey experiment station. During
the past year these cows ate practi-
cally the same amount of feed-$40
worth. They received precisely the
same care, and We're looked after by
the same attendant. One COW pro-
duced $4,000 pounds of milk. which
sold for $120, thus giving a profit of
$50 above the cost of the feed The
other COW produced $500 pounds of
milk, which sold for $40 and returned
profit above the cost of the feed Of
only So, difference of SO in favor of
the first COW. The amount of milk,
however, is not the only consideration.
The 1900 pounds of milk produced
by the first COW contained only per
cent. of butter fat. which if made into
butter would have been worth $40, the
profit being S100. The other cows
milk contained 6 IL per cent of but
ter fat, which. if made into butter
would have been worth $S5 and left a
profit of S45. This illustrates the neces-
sity Of choosing n COW of maximum
capacity for milk or butter.
The matter of feeding cows Is
very complicated one. AS n general
thing balanced ration is best, but it
is best only when it Is cheapest. A
wider ration will answer when it will
produce butter cheaper than narrow
ration. 1t has been found that ra-
ton consisting of silage. corn stalks
and brewers grains with a nutritive
ratio of 1-5.4. The basis If this ration
was the food value only. In tests at
the New Jersey experiment station, ii
was found that good corn silage. being
more palatable. was from 10 to IS
per cent more valuable than the same
amount of corn fodder.
The second consideration, that of
making high-grade product, Is of
very great Importance. Uniformity of
milk and butter is absolutely neces-
sary TO a business success. A few
years ago the New Jersey experiment
station began dairying In a small way
with grade cows under conditions as
found on the ordinary farm. The milk
sold reasonably well. but ut the end
of the first year there was an increase
of not more than ) per cent In the
amount consumed.
The second year. modern dairy
house was erected where II was pos
sible to handle the milk properly. The
cows We're also well cared for and well
fed and bedded. At the end of the
first six months of the second year.
the sale of milk had increased 30 per
cent. aud 20 per cent. more during the
second six months. At the end
of the fourth year further
Increase OF IL per cent. was noted.
Not only this. but a cash
business was done aud the milk IL
now selling for eight cent? per quart.
while ordinary milk brings only four
cents. Not only did the saler Increase.
but the families who irat bought in
creased their consumption n per cent.
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