Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1904-07-19
Cows and Their Keepers.
THERE Is A GOOD DEAL OF VARIETY IN
EACH, AND THE RESULTS ARE DIFFER
ENT.

1t has long been the lament of dairy
critics and farm economists that our
cows are fed too much corn: that by
such feeding the cows are inclined to
grow fat, instead of making milk; that
corn is not milk-making feed and cows
can't make milk out of it. 1t depends
on the COW. The COW that has been bred
to turn feed into flesh, and all about her
physical makeup has places to put flesh
and fat, will make flesh. The COW that
has been bred for turning all her feed
into milk and is combination Of belly
and bag aud nerves, will make great
effort toward creating milk out OF what
ever she eats. So il depends upon the
COW. Many man sees great produc-
ing COW that is thin and angular and
pointed, and concludes that she does her
great work because she is thin; then he
goes home and starves his own flesh
making COW into thinness with the ex-
pectation of making her by the same
sign a great producer also.
After this sliding scale in cow evolu-
ton is followed down for while one OF
two things happens to the dairyman-he
either gives up the business of dairying
as bad lot and a hard one, or concludes
there is difference in cows.
There is difference also in men. l
don't intend that for philosophy. but
for good dairying, and in that work
there is a world of difference in men.
Some men drop right into the affection
and good graces of the cows. These
are quick and handy men, and they fit
up nicely and snugly to the important
tender places of the work; they have a
way of pleasing and humoring the COWS
and of carrying Oh diplomatic intercourse
of the most friendly nature with them.
This man recognizes the usefulness, the
wonder, the femininity, the motherhood
of the good COW, and on such man it is
IN everlasting sin and shame to impose
a poor COW. The opposite of this man
is the uncouth one, whose projecting
bumps are all sharp and antagonistlc to
all other bumps; who regards COW as
a hay and grain grinding machine, TO be
wound up with manure fork and un-
wound with a milking stool.
Between these two there is great
herd of mediocre dairymen, who are
making the fearful dairy averages we
read and lament about in the statistics.
For these men their cows give fairly
good flow of milk at time of freshening
and when they are put on full, sensible
feeding for month or two in the year,
while pasture is fresh and flush; for the
balance of the year the ration is under
sized and badly propOrtioned. Among
these men we find those dairymen who
never feed COWS heavily for fear of wear
ing them out. On these underfed COWS
they cross bull of doubtful or unknown
lineage and secure calves to make cows
of. and never feed the calves enough be-
cause they do not want them to get fat.
Dairying with these men is not real
earnest business, as going to public
sales is, but is run as kind of side line
and is managed principally by the boys
out of school hours. The pals and cans
may be well washed, but they are gen.
orally not. They do not know how
much milk their cows give in year, for
they never have ''kept COUNT but they
do know that those men who claim to
have cows milking six, eight or ten
thousand pounds of milk, that tests
per cent, are not men of reliable veracity.
Tribune Farmer.