Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1901-12-05
! !. Htt,e. y would be better all around.

occupations mdu Cdu cABuSO III 70 ~
the same time a business that demands
close attention, and unless a farmer can
see a good profit ahead he will not fol-
low this line of work. To show what
some dairymen are doing. ! will
mention the names of a few whom /
have met. Last year when in conver-
sation with John Armstrong, Of De-
Smet, South Dakota on the cow ques-
ton he informed me that he had a herd
Of % cows that he had selected by the
aid of the Babcock test, that brought
him an average of $67 per cow. Now,
saw we take off $25 for feed, this would
leave him a clear profit Of $42 per cow.
If it is possible for Mr.. Armstrong to do
this, may it not be possible for others to
do the same? / have afriend in Grundy
county, Iowa, who is n of the most
successful stock men | know, Mr.. Geo.
Swan. He made a fortune in Is or II
years in dairying and. stock raising. l
saw his average run as high as % per
month for each COW. These cow were
selected with the aid of the Babcock
test. He usually did most Of his milk
ing during the winter months, having
his cows fresh in the fall. The calves
were all raised during the winter months
and were old enough to feed nicely on
the fresh grass in the spring.
Not long ago / had the honor of being
one of the speakers at a meeting OF the
Western Dairymen's Association of
Ontario, Canada. At the close Of that
meeting when a banquet was given by
the citizens, a typical old farmer, E. d.
Tilson, of Tilsonburg, got mp and res
pended to the toast of the diarymen. l
was surprised at his remarks and at the
same time pleased, SO much 30 that /
went 100 miles out Of my way to visit
his farm and herd. He said he had a
GOV that had given 10, 700 lbs. of milk
in nine and one half months, making
ITO pounds of butter. He further said
that he had u herd of 30 cows that gave
an average of l2,0O0 pounds of milk
each during the year. He told me that
the cow that had made the big record
for nine and one-half months had given
over 10000 pounds during the year.
This COW was sired by a full blooded
Holstein. The dam was a full blooded
Shorthorn. In fact his best mixers
were crosses between Holsteins and
Shorthorns. This he found to bel little
detriment when selling his full blooded
Holsteins.
Mr.. Tilson's barn is possibly one of
the best barns in America. 1t is a
massive brick building, perfectly VENT
lated. 1t is ventilated by what is
termed a sub-earth duct. This consists
of an underground drain about eight
feet below the surface, extending about
100 yards beyond the barn. In this
drain he has a Is to Is inch sewer tile.
Connecting with this at the rear end is
a stand pipe extending up about twenty
feet high. On the top of this is a hood
which adjusts itself with the wind, SO
that the opening always faces the wind,
thus permitting a current Of air to pass
down through the pipe under the ground
and up into the stable. He also has top
elevators extending out through the
roof, thus the air is cool during the sum
mer and warm during the winter
months. The cows are kept in the
stable the year around, except a little
time during the heat of the summer,
when they are turned ont nights. Fresh
water flows through each stall. Mr..
Tilson looks upon every COW as a
machine and feeds what we term a bal
anced ration. He feeds about forty
pounds Of ensilage per cow. He has a
big silo in the center Of his barn. He
also feeds six pounds Of bran, two pounds
of oil meal and two pounds of pea meal
per day giving them six or eight pounds
of cut straw and chaff as a roughage.
With his ensilage food he keeps up the
flow of milk the same the year around.
l find that a number of Canadian
farmers are managing the same way,
keeping their cows in most of the time,
and using ensilage to keep up the flow
of milk.
AS a general thing, a western diary.
man feeds his cows too much the same
as he feeds his steers, and hogs, mostly
on corn. A COW is not allowed by
nature to give milk containing fat alone
as this would not be suited for calf, FOL
every 100 pounds Of milk must contain
about three and a half pounds Of curd o.
muscle producing food. Now thil
muscle producing food known as potein
must come from the cows food. I
there is not enough in the food. the COW
reduces the amount Of her milk to cor
respond. Corn is a splendid food to fat
ten animals and an equally good To-