American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1908-02-29
MCPHERSON TALKS
ABOUT DAIRYINC
Greatest Factor in Americas S
Development, He Says.
Mainstay Of the Farmers Hone Is The
Dairy Cow--Sone Of the Points a
Cow viii Have--Type More
Important Than Breed.

| Inc HdiiisIdy OF lne farmer nome Is
the dairy cow. In pioneer Iowa, and in
most other states during their early
struggles, nearly all the supplies for the
home were purchased with the products
of the COW. Dairying has been the
largest factor in the development of
America. No country ever has or will
reach its highest development without
dairying. The cow has no equal as
family proyider.
| Although ! recommend no breed for
dasiy purposes, the Jersey represents
the highest type of dairy animal. The
Jerseys have been breed for more than
1000 years and the type has become fixed.
But any COW, with the proper con-
formation, will be good dairy COW. 1t
is not SO much the breed as the type
that should be considered.
A good dairy animal will have large.
bright eyes, large mouth, large nostrils,
and be wide between the eyes. She
will be wedge shaped. This shape is
one of the best indications, and no dairy
animal is without it. She should have
a large stomach, 70 enable her TO eat
large quantities Of food She should be
wide between the front legs, in order to
have large lung capacity; wide between
the hind legs, to support large udder,
extending well forward and high behind;
a COW must have large lung capacity to
supply oxygen to the blood in order to
enable the COW to make milk. She must
have large udder in which to elaborate
the milk
She should have a large, prominent
back bone. large fat ribs wide apart.
and long tail. Her head and neck
will have fine lines, indicating nervous
temperament. The hoofs and horns
should be fine grained and smooth. They
indicate the texture of the bone, and
coarse grained, porous boned animal is
not good for dairy purposes.
She should have rabbit-shaped hams
and crooked hind legs, and be as rough
and angular as hat rack. A good
] Wall WV IL tti AHiIlk vi ptAuNt-
She is never fat, because the food she
eats, except enough for bodily mainten-
ance, goes to milk instead of to fat.
The neck should be thin. and abdominal
muscles strong. A COW with beefy
neck will not be a permanent mixer,
but will take on the beef type as she
becomes older. The milk veins should
be large. If they are crooked and
divided, so much the better. They con-
vey blood to the udder and enable the
COW to elaborate milk. The orifce
through which they enter the body
should be large, to enable the blood to
flow freely back into the lungs.
A dairy COW must have gentle treat
ment. She is of highly nervous type,
and is the hardest working animal on
the farm. II she is abused she will not
give milk because she can't Milk is
not carried in the udder to be drawn off
as one would take water from faucet,
but is elaborated during the process of
milking. And if she is mad, excited or
alarmed this process is interfered with.
A man who is not kind ard gentle. no
matter what kind of stock he has. will
not make success of the dairy bust
ness. This in more essentially true of
Jerseys than of other breeds. AJersey
is of an extreme nervous temperament
and requires the gentlest treatment.
1t should be remembered that COW is
a machine which requires the best of
care and feed in order to give the best
results. Careless handling and impro-
per feeding will bring little. if any
thing, above cost.
Calves should be taken from the COW,
after they are few days old. and fed
on SKINNED milk, at temperature of
80 degrees, with little oat or oil meal
added. Get them to eating roughage
as soon as possible, because it develops
the stomach, which is so essential in a
dairy animal.