Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1906-03-01
Skim Milk for Dairy Cows.


1t is always a pleasure to know OF
practical, successful farmers, and to
that class most emphatically belonged
the late Memo Wilcox ' of Milford, N.
Y. Dairying was his speciality and, in
stead of taking the milk to a cream
cry, cheese factory or shipping sta
ton be distracted the butter fat from
it as best he could and then fed it
not swine. calves or the like, but back
to the very cows from which It had
been obtained. They received it, in
fact, every time they were milked, says
man. Managing to have them come
fresh in March and April, he gave
them the best of pasture in summer
and early cut timothy in winter, but
no roots or other green feed whatso
ever. During October he put them in
an excellent, well-ventilated stable
that never froze, and here with the
exception of letting them out daily to
drink, kept them in stanchions until
writer in the Massachusetts Plough
spring before turning out and least in
flush of grass, the grain ration con-
sisting of equal parts, by weight, OF
bran or middlings, corn meal and cot
tonseed mel.
Varied as circumstances or hel
needs required, each COW received
from 1000 to 1900 pounds during the
year. Thus, from March l, 1892, to
March l, 1898. he made 1858 pounds OF
butter from nine cows, or an average
of 373 pounds apiece. 1t was butter,
too, that readily sold TO regular Gus
toners for the highest market prices.
Keeping at no time more than 10 or
II cows, Mr.. Wilcox assisted by his
wife, was able to do the work largely
himself, so that he did not have to
pay out to hired help all his profits
And how did he keep his dairy good /!
Simply by picking up the necessary
acquisitions here and there which, as
a rule, were across between the Devon
and native red COW. Once he got
these gave him better satisfaction than
any of the thoroughbreds, Jerseys not
even excepted They were rather
small, but smooth and extremely
hardy. If thin when bought. as they
sometimes were, his first work was
to put them in good condition, coupled
with which he always treated them as
kindly as kittens; indeed, ever his
pets, they could have no gentler more
thoughtful keeper, and that this was
appreciated is indicated by the fact
that they frequently averaged as high
as 3S4 and 1874 pounds of butter apiece
yearly, without reckoning milk and
cream consumed by the family.
Beginning at the time of their
freshening Mr.. Wilcox's method was
to feed his cows the skim milk and
grain ration for about II months. then
stop both and cease milking them for
the remaining month of the year.
whether they would give milk or not.
The cream, previously kept cool, he
oughly to 76 degrees; ripening thence
till morning. ne churned it at the
proper temperature. which depended
somewhat on the cows, and also on the
amount of cottonseed meal and the
like that he fed them. Throughout
the winter, however, it seldom took
more than five minutes to bring the
butter The buttermilk was added to
the skimmik. which he gave fresh to
the cows as skinned
In this way the two were worth TO
MN much more than for growing and
fattening nogs with, unless he could
nave sold the pork for 20 cents a
pound. A byproduce of the dairy. it
must be remembered that he was out
no extra money or labor at all to oh
tain the skimmilk He found it more
over, perfectly healthy food for his
COWS. Fed with regularity. If NOT
only kept them in fine condition but
augmented their years of usefulness.
SO much so. in fact that when II or
10 years old they would often do as
good work as ever in their lives.
Can dairymen today profit by Mr.
Wiicox's experience? That depends
largely upon themselves. If thought.
fui, thorough AMI painstaking enough.
everything would be in their favor.
Tor by adding meal to replace the
cream taken off skim milk constitutes
ration that requires less energy to
make good, rich milk than anv other
1000 known. Best of all. cows are
ceedingly fond of it, and once they
nave been taught drink it, by stirring
NIUE meal into it. will rarely fail
when pastured to be near the gate or
bars at milking time.