Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1903-03-24
Winter VS.. Summer Dairying.

There are two or more sides 10 most
questions. l hope readers who saw
Mr.. Maxim's letter in your issue of Feb.
25 will not think the question of winter
dairying is settled beyond controversy
or discussion. 1t is not unlikely that
some farmers can do better to depend
chiefly upon summer dairying. Fresh
made butter is in demand the year round
and there should be supply to meet
that demand. There are Inconvenience
connected with dairying at all times of
the year but | have found more OF them
in hot weather than in winter. Prices
for all dairy products are usually some
what higher in winter than in summer
because the majority of farmers have
been in the habit of drying off their cows
late in the fall and thus diminishing the
supply think the difference in price
is less than formerly because so many
good farmers are now running winter
dairies. But the difference is still worth
noting. Milk in my town sells for seven
cents in winter and for six in summer.
That is quite an item in dairy of doz-
en- cows. | have found it easier to con-
troll the temperature of a milk room and
it's contents in winter by the use of fire.
heat than in summer by the use of ice.
A butter maker who knows his business
will have no more difficulty in making
good, sweet butter in winter than in
summer. June and September are about
the only months of.the twelve in which
an inexperienced person can make good
butter with little effort. July and Au-
gust are more trying to many than are
the midwinter months. If winter milk
from well-fed and well-cared-for cows is
heated to near the scalding point before
setting for the cream to rise the work
of churning should not bother as much
as il usuallydoes in hot, summer weather.
With very many farmers the time is gone
by when they can depend solely upon
the pastures for feeding their cows in
summer. Stall-feeding costs no more in
winter or but little more than in sum-
mer. Some farmers are feeding from
the silo the year round or nearly so, and
they see no difference between the cost
at different times of the year. Most farm
ers have more time to devote to the
dairy in winter than during the season
of raising and storing the crops. Winter
dairying calls for cows to be fresh in late
summer or early winter months. This is
the best time to raise calves as there is
no temptation to turn them out to grass
and the annoyance of flies. Fall calves
treated as they should be are in good
condition to 90 to pasture in the spring
and should thrive well. 1t is the expert
ence of many farmers who have tried it
that cows coming fresh in the fall do
give more milk in year than do those
that come in in the spring. They give
more in winter because they are fresh and
they hold out better in early summer
because the feed and weather are favor
able, while the late fall and winter wealth
or inclines cows to dry off, especially
so when the owner or hired man hates
to milk. The present-day COW is some
what of an artificial creation, suited to
mans wants and desires, and if the COW
is well cared for as she should be she has
little cause to complain. But after all
the most successful dairymen are those
who have learned to handle their herds
profitably the year round. Milk and it's
products are in constant demand, and
the fresher and better they are the better
the public will be suited and the larger
will be the returns of the owners of the
dairies. Dairying is one of the most
profitable branches of farming, especially
If the milk is made into butter, which
takes practically no fertility from the
land. The same statement is nearly as
true where the cream is sold direct from
the farm without being first made into
butter. 1t is the skim milk sold off that
runs the farm out unless food is pur-
chased to replace it. Milk making pays
well when the price is high enough to
offset the loss of plant food from the
soil. This is not always the case.-A.
W. CHEEvER, Dedham, Mass, in Mirror
and Farmer.