Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1904-05-17
Profitable Cows.
.DAIRYING Is A GOOD BUsINEss-PooB
Cows-FEEDING MISTAKES.

Several farmers of my town recently
spent day at the home of we'll known
and well-to-do farmer who keeps from
six to eight good COWS and is interested
in dairying, which was under discussion
during the day. All the remarks made
relative to the industry were in it's favor.
The increased thriftiness of the farmers
in town, in consequence of the increase
of the dairy industry, was noted. One
man referred to a recent conversation
with one of the leading merchants in
town, who judged from his dealings
with farmers at the present time that
they had much more money now than
ten years ago.
This fact is significant when it is under
stood that this dealer is one of two in
town who sell the farmers practically
all the grain they purchase, and that he
sells, without doubt, ten times as much
as he did ten years ago. Still there are
those who say feed must be grown on
the farm in order to make any profit in
dairying. Of course the more the farmer
can grow to advantage, the better will
be his returns. But in my Judgment it
is better for the farmer to purchase the
nitrogenous portion of the ration than to
undertake to produce it. In regard to
profit, l believe a man not having any
farm can make a profit with COWS, and
buy all their feed.
One of the farmers, on the occasion
above alluded to, said that, "None but
the best cows pay a profit" To an
assertion of this kind | generally take
exceptions, and did so on this occasion.
OF course the better the cow, everything
else being equal, the larger the profit
secured But l believe that any COW
that is in good health and fairly well
cared for will pay profit upon her feed.
This statement may be questioned by
some and some may fear that it may
make farmers having inferior COWS in
different to improvement. l can see no
harm in this direction; rather, such a
fact shows the safety and desirability
of engaging in dairying, enlarglng and
improving it to ones full capacity. A
demonstration of the truth of the above
assertion will hardly be called for by
any one, when he has looked over his
ueighborhood and noted the number Of
farmers who for a long time have kept
from two to five ordinary COWS and made
butter which sells at the ''corner gro
Gerry" in payment for family supplies at
a price, to say the least, not fancy one.
The fact that these farmers keep such
cows year after year and do not come to
want, but, on the contrary, keep out OF
debt and pay their bills, affords abun-
dant proof that the cows pay profit
upon the cost of keeping.
Again the best cows may be cared for
in such a way that there will be no
D oft. A young man of my acquaint-
ance soon after he was married came in
possession of a good farm, without the
payment of money. Having ready cash
he stocked his farm with good cows.
After he had been feeding them about
SIX months | called to see them and
found that they were not performing as
he expected them to. l pointed out
some of his errors and left hoping he
might yet make a success, but in about
IL year he was obliged to sell out, losing
all the money he had put into the buSi-
ness. A result of injudicious feeding.
Another case was quite different in some
of it's details. The feeder was feeding
cows belonging to another party, who
was possessed of almost unlimited
means. The cows were good ones, the
feeding was carefully and scientifically
done and everything was accounted for
in proper shape. The daily ration OF
the best cows, found by figuring, cost
% cents. Butter was being made which
sold for % cents per ID. for the year
Cor. in New England Farmer.