The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1902-1905, 1904-11-18

Minnesota being the largest shipper.
We are as near the flour mills of
Minneapolis as are the New York
daIrymen. We therefore pay practi-
cally the same for our wheat feed,
that the great dairy state of the east
pays. The other feed in this class is
cOttOn-seed meal, produced in our
own section, and costing us on the
average $500 per ton less than it
costs in the north. 1t is apparent,
therefore that in raw material for
the production of butter we have
very material advantage.
Our chief disadvantage is in the
scarsity of skilled labor. This,
however, is not a necessary lack,
and may be overcome, with no seri-
Gus difficulty. Even dependence on
negro labor for the dairy itself is no
necessary drawback. One of the
best dairy heards in the south is in
full care of a negro, and the butter
he produces, using all the modern
methods and appliances, is fully
equal to the best New York cream
cry product.
With all these facts before us, and
with these many great advantages,
it should be plain that Florida ought
to produce more butter How to go
about this object is the important
consideration.
Better animals is of course the
chief necessity. | can illustrate
this condition by the case of neigh
Dor who~is milking seven COWS. !
have one COW in the same pasture,
which is, by actual test, making
more butter, and giving more milk,
than the other seven, My COW cost
$4,000 the others $1,000 each. They
all eat about the same. There is no
question as to where the profit is.
New animals are somewhat eXpen-
sive, and their possession may re-
quire time. Meanwhile better feed
very largely solves the problem.
In this connection the results of a
long series of feeding tests made at
the Cornell Experiment station, re-
Gently published, are important.
Though the character and quanti-
ty of cream which an animal will
make under different conditions
varies, it has been believed that the
actual amount, proportion of fat in
the milk of a given animal was not
influenced by feed. The quantity of
milk could be increased, but the
proportion of fat remained constant.
These New York tests included
herd of 20 cows. and extended over a
period of three years. The result
was to show that the former &C
cepted opinion was not correct By
improved feeding the average
amount of milk produced was increas-
ed 90 per cent, and the actual pro-
portion of fat in this milk was iii
creased 6 per cent. Moreover, the
milk and butter made with the bet
ter feeding actually cost less than
with the inferior feeding which
made the smaller yield.
These are very important facts.
They mean that the common Flori-
da COW, ranging for her self. or so
poorly fed as to be incapable of real
butter production, may be taken and
put on a rational ration and be made
to more than double her product
Some of the rations which may be
depended on to accomplish similar
results under our surroundings are
as follows: Corn-meal pounds, cot
ton-seed meal 2 pounds, cassava u
pounds crab-grass hay 10 pound
Peavine hay 20, wheat bran l. cot
ton-seed meal 2, corn fodder -,
crab. grass hay 20, corn meal 8, cot
ton-seed meal 3, rye pasture,
wheat bran 1, cottOn-se,d meal
3, beggar-weed hay u, cassava 30
These rations would feed a COW
weighing 900 pounds, and should be
proportionately dim inis h d for
animals. Half rations
would meet the requirements of
most Florida cows.
QUESTIONS ANSWERED
@. What is the best hog for mid
die Florida and what are the special