Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1906-10-26
ByanlebOrO Local
CITIES WANT MICH COWS,
Reasons for the Scarcity Of the Local
Milk Supply.


In connection with the action OF the
Rrnttlcboro milk dealers in advancing
the price of milk from ave Genus 10 s's
cents. saws the local correspondent Oh
the Springfield Republican, II Is inter,
estinp 10 note some changed conditions
which have come about in recent years
which have brought about scarcity
in the milk supply. BY reason OF a
scarcity of help and the high price OF
| feed il costs more now than formerly
10 maintain n dairy, but the short mix
snpply forms the basis of the main ar
plment of the milk dealers IN Justliy'
| ing the increased price. The scarcity
of milk here in Brattleboro, and what Is
true of Brattleboro is true OF otnef
towns. is due to the increase IN the elty
demand. Enough cows are raised here
TO supply the local trade many times
over, but as soon as COW becomes new
miIch she is sent to the Boston market
10 be MIXED during the season. rms
is perhaps not literally true OF every
cow. but il is true of every COW that
the cattle buyers can induce the farmers
70 part with for cash. And the demand
for cows for this purpose has pushed
nm the price of milch cows very mate
rally in the past few years. 1t was
only n comparativcIy short time ago
that s3j was considered good price
for an ordinary new mileh cow. At the
nresent time il is n poor COW that does
not bring $50 and 500 is not an unus-
ual price The natural result OF TINS
demand Of the city trade has been 10
cut down the milk supply in the coun-
try
The watchfulness which the buyers
exercise over the herds Of cattle within
"A radius of 10 miles from Brattleboro
is surprising Within n day or TWO AZ
ter a cow becomes new milch buyer
calls on the owner and makes him an
offer for the cow and calf, and his Of
fer usually is accepted. The cow goes
To Boston as a mixer and the calf goes
10 the slaughterhouse. From TWO 10
three carloads of cows and calves, or
vealers. are shipped out of Brartleboro1
every Monday. 4 herd of cows changed
hands in Brattleboro one day the past
week. While the prospective purchaser,
who wanted the herd for dairy use, was
irving to trade with the owner the lat
ter received no less than three calls by
telrphone from market buyers who SAID
TO him in substances: "Don t sell until
YOU see me- - In this particular ease
the herd was sold to the man who want
ed il for his dairy. but the incident
demonstrated the fact that the field Is
closely watched. The disposition which
is made of cows that have been sent to
market and MIXED through the winter
depends somewhat upon whether or not
thev take on flesh readily at the end
of the season. If they do, very likely
they will be slaughtered for beef. 9th
erwise they may be shipped back into
the country and sold to the farmers for
prices around S25 each. The farmers
are able to summer them at small cost
and may he able TO dispose of them
again in the fall for another 90 or $50. /
Thus it is not unusual for a cow to find
herself in Boston two or three times be-
fore her career is ended
The demand for veal is another cause /
for the short milk supply. 4 number
of Brattleboro farmers are feeding
their milk to calves rather than peddle /
it out. as they say there is more money |
i'm IT, 1t takes but n short time TO get
II
one COW will furnish nourishment for /
several vealers in a season. Business
thus conducted has a tendency TO cut /
down not only the present, but the flu
ture. milk supply, The high price of .
butter which is from 80 TO 30 cents a .
pound, also operates 10 reduce the sup /
plv of milk for home consumption. /
Manv farmers find il more profitable to
send their milk to the creamery than tn
dispose of it in any other way, Local
meat men find it no easy task to OBJ
tain enough veal to supply their local
trade. largely on account of shipments
lut of town. The farmer who delivers
one or more cows or calves TO the deal
ers at the railroad station on Monday
morning goes home with either check
or cash in his pocket. He gets square
deal with spot cash as an inducement
to sell to the buyers for outsof town
markets rather than to the local butch
FRS.