The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1908-02-15

COWS are producing, J0oy never weigh
the milk from individual cows, neither
do they test it for fat. That means
poor management. The careful man.
ager will get rid of his poor cows as
soon as possible and fill their places
with others that are able to pay for
the food they consume and leave a
balance on the right side of the ledger.
The COW that will produce from $50 to
300 pounds of butter fat per year is
a valuable one, and it is important
that the dairyman should know which
of his COWS are capable of producing
that amount. Such COWS, if bred to
good dairy sires, are likely to produce
calves which in turn will become val
liable producers.
While it is imperative to know
which COWS are producing the most
milk and to know which are best able
to transmit their mill1-producing quail
ties, it is also important to feed them
we'll. Cows that are capable of pro-
ducing a large quantity Of milk may
be ruined by improper feeding. They
must be we'll fed and they must have
the right kind of feed, or they cannot
produce large quantity Of milk.
Milk is a substance that is rich in
protein, and protein cannot be manu-
featured by the cow from anything
that does not contain protein. In 9TH
er words, the COW cannot produce milk
from carbohydrates and fats. She
must be fed a comparatively narrow
ration. She ought to receive succu-
lent feed during winter or she cannot
produce a large quantity of milk, re-
CARELESS of any predisposition for milk
production she may have.
To recapitulate. then, there are
three important things concerned in
the proper management of dairy:
First, the selection of the COWS. Sec
ond, the breeding of the best produc-
ers to highly developed dairy sires,
and from the progeny raising heifer
calves to take the place Of the poorer
producers in the herd, and of the old
COWS as they become unfit for eco
nomical production. The third impor-
tant consideration is feeding, and this
is Just as important as the other two.
My system of keeping the milk and
butter-fat record is to weigh each milk
ing during every fourth week and keep
a composite sample of the same. At
the end of the week it is tested and
credit given to each cow The prod
uct of the whole milk period is cal
culated from these four-week tests.
After a man has gone over the ground
with a cow for IL months in this man.
ner, he is in good shape to form
Judgment as to whether he wants to
keep her or not. The COWS that do
not come up to $50 pounds of butter
when three or four years old | would
advise getting rid of. By saving the
best of the heifers and selling the
poorest, one can gradually bring a
herd up to a top-notch point of pro-
duction.-J P. Fletcher, in Michigan
Farmer.
The patrons of Lynden Creamery
Co. are taking steps to improve the
quality of their COWS by grading up
and wedding out.
The New Zealand Department OF
Agriculture has appointed women in
spectors to visit diaries and cheese
factories, and to give instruction and
advice to the wives and daughters OF
dairymen. New Zealand has $4,000
dairy COWS.
Dairy products are especially sus-
ceptible to taints and bad odors and
absolute cleanliness in and about the
dairy is necessary for the production
of a high class product.
A carload of grain is worth $3.50 A
carload of butter is worth $4,000.
Convert your grain into butter and
save the freight on 10 cars.
When you sell butter fat you are
selling sunshine. When you sell grain
you are selling the fertility of your