The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1907-09-21
HOW HENRY VAN DRESSER MADE MONEY
WITH HIS HKRD.

WITH his HERD.
Henry Van Dresser, of Cobleskill,
N. Y, in his institute lectures this
year tells how he paid for farm with
cows.
This question of the dairy COW, he
says, is of interest to every farmer in
any State, and what he wants to
know is, when the yeats accounts
are footed up, does the book show a
profit? If not, it is time to change
your methods.
The dairy cow is living machine,
made for the purpose Of Transforming
food into milk and butter, and In
order to run this machine successfully
we must be familiar with its rnechan-
ism. 1t should be the aim of every
dairyman to so study the machinery
of the COW that he can feed her so she
will transform her food into milk with
as little waste as possible. If you
are to make dairying a success, it is
necessary to secure cows of the dairy
type. There is no such thing as a
dual purpose cow, and those who
breed with that in view will meet
only with disappointment.
What are the characteristics of
good dairy cow? She should be of
the wedge shape, low on the ground
and of slightly nervous temperament.
Her head should be symmetrical and,
slightly dished, broad between the
eyes, the eyes full and expressive, the
ears should be of medium size, the
hair plentiful and inside the ear fill
ed with oily secretion, indicating the
butter-fat contained in the animals
body. The bridge of the nose should
be fiat, with facial veins prominent,
which is an indication of high breed
ing and good circulation. The nos
trils should be large, and mouth and
lips broad and heavy. These indi-
cate good digestive powers and con-
stitutional vigor. The neck should
be thin and the ribs we'll sprung,
which gives ample room for storage
capacity, the hips broad. The joint
of the vetebra should be loose and
wide apart, an indication of the open
organization so important in the Sc
lection of the dairy COW. The thigh
pit should be very pronounced, the
udder cord large, with capacious we'll
balanced udder, showing great elas-
ITCHY, the teats of medium size and
we'll set. Always avoid feshy I'D
der, as such cows are liable to garget.
Never breed from a gargety COW, as
the disease is largely hereditary. The
longer, more crooked and pronounced
the milk veins and the greater the
number of holes at the end of these
veins the better the COW and the
larger the milk production. The Sc
cretions of the skin should be oily
and abundant. In order to detect
quality, place your hand on her side
and shove toward the head, holding
it there a few minutes. If moisture
forms under the hand it is an indica-
tion of quality. The skin should be
1ife-like and elastic, soft and mellow
to the touch. Always avoid paper
hide, it indicates weak condition.
The sire is more than half the herd,
and should be selected, not because
he is a thoroughbred, for there are
many thoroughbred scrubs, but where
his ancestry shows animals of large
flow of milk, rich in butter-fat, where
the type is fixed and you can breed
to certainty. His head must be
symmetrical, slightly dishing and
little shorter than that of the dam.
He should be full of nervous energy,
low on the ground, deep through the
heart, the ribs we'll sprung and secre-
tions of the skin oily and abundant.
He should be well crested, clean il
the throttle with double extension
milk veins and four well-placed rudi-
ruentives.
am not here to state that you can
not succeed in the dairy business with
out thoroughbred cattle, but one thing
you can do, and it will pay, that Is to
weed out the scrubs and breed from
your best grades, using thorough
bred sire. Scrub cattle, whether thor
oughbred or not, will ruin any man
financially, and the quicker you get
rid of such company the better it will
be for you. / have been through the
mill, and know whereof I speak. In
the old way with a large herd of scrub
cattle we could not pay the interest
on the mortgage that covered our
home; in the new way, with good
grade COWS and a frst-class sire, we
were able in nine years to pay off the
indebtedness and the home was ours.
1 have learned by experience that the
man who makes success of the dairy
business today must have love for
the business he must give careful
consideration to type in breeding and
to this add comfortable quarters, kind
f