The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1908-02-12
Mr.. BYRD ONE OF THE SPEAKERS
"Some Results of the Work" Discussed
by Laurens Man.

| 1hS 1ouAC C1 dihludt IlCSIlbR VI tuc
South Carolina Live Stock Association
was held in Columbia last Friday, being
attended by large number of farmers
throughout the State.
Among the speakers was Mr.. w. D.
Byrd, one of the very successful farm
ers of Laurens, who is also interested
in cattle raising and dairying.
Mr.. Byrd's capital address, as pub
lished in The State, is reproduced, his
subject being "Some Results of the
Work."
ct affords me great pleasure to have
this opportunity of telling the results /
have received from the dairy division of
the government. When | have been
benefited as l have in this case / am
only too glad to give the ones credit to
whom credit is due. Six years ago
when cotton was selling at z cents per
pound and our lands were decreasing in
fertility, caused from one-crop sys-
tenn, l realized to make farming pay /
had to make change. So decided on
three-year rotation of crops along
with small dairy. Having no expert
encein the dairy business at once sub
scribed for Hoards Dairyman, devoting
as much of my time as could to read
ing that and other literature on the sub
Ject. l knocked along in way until
last winter | became very much dis
couraged. Picking up The State one
day saw where the government would
assist man in my condition--signed
John Michles, Clemson College, S. C.
| at once wrote to Prof. Michles, he
forwarded my letter to the proper au-
thorities, and in reply was assured that
Mr.. Dorman of the dairy division would
be at my place as early as possible.
He came on March and found herd
of Id cows which were giving very un-
satisfactory results for the reason that
the owner knew nothing of the work of
the individual cow. During the month
of March | shipped 16O pounds Of but
ter from 10 cows. On March 8 they
produced 90 pounds of milk-9.2 pounds
per cow. was allowing the calves to
suck until they were 6 to weeks old.
was not feeding properly and churn-
ing whole milk. He showed me clearly
where / was losing, and having seen
unquestionable results Of the manure
on my farm was anxious to continue
the dairy, so was glad to get his help
and take his advice. l have always
found his advice profitable to me. He
gave me daily milk record sheet to
enable me to keep record of each
cow Placed me on balanced ration
as near as he could with the feed avail
able; testing the milk from each COW,
also testing the buttermilh and found /
was losing one pound of butter per day,
requiring 20 pounds of milk to make
one pound of butter.
Through his advice and convincing
evidence made the suggested changes
and my cows at once began to improve.
Those that were giving on March Is
pounds of milk increased to % pounds
by the end of the month and the others
in proportion; or, instead of getting 90
pounds per day, by March 80 was get
ting l60 pounds daily. This showed
very satisfactory increase in the milk
production, but by testing the butter
milk found that there was still a great
loss of butter fat, so l decided to buy a
separator. BY it's use and by more
careful attention to the churning tenn
perature still further increased the
amount of butter produced, On Jan
uary % last out of 279 pounds of milk
made 173 pounds of butter, requiring
only 16 pounds of milk for one pound of
butter.
"By stopping these leaks and by bet
ter methods we have increased the but
ter from 100 pounds from 10 COWS in
March to 342 pounds from 13 cows in
January, or from an average of 16
pounds of butter per cow per month to
70 pounds per cow per month. These
figures do not include the milk, cream
and butter used in my family. We are
also raising the calves from birth on
the skim milk, which find is less trou-
BILE and more profitable. Mr.. Dorman,
testing my COWS from time to time as
to the butter fat, along with the milk
record, | now know the work of each
individual cow, which enables me to
weed out all Improbable ones. / also
hope to see my way clear to build silo
at an early day. 1t is very gratifying
to state that Mr.. Dorman has brought
my herd from losing to paying bust
ness.
Nov, gentlemen of the association,
only wish l could express myself
more foreibly on the advantage Mr..
Dorman's visits may be to you. First,
he can see your exact condition and
prescribe to suit your individual case.
Second, you see the actual work done,
which is the best way to learn how it is
done. Third, you are anxious to show
good results on his return, therefore
you will exert every effort to make a
better record and numerous other rea
sons might mention.
Reading dairy literature is a good
thing and / would advise every one in
the business to take several good dairy
papers, but personal visits by a dairy
expert can advise you more accurately
than one who has never seen your place
can do by writing. Now, l would like