The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1909-12-16
(Hugh J Hughes }

done in the laudab.e effort to evict
her from the barnyard, she today
>lazily chews her cud and switches her
tail in apparent unconcern respecting
the agitation for highe.' per cent of
butter fat and greater economy in
production.
The reason of which is not far to
seek. 1t has been borne in upon a
large mass of farmers that the hand
that holds the p ow is losing it's grip
on the wealth producing elements of
the world, and that one road back to
the days of rich fields and permanent
income leads through the daily barn
to the worlds steadily increasing mar
kets for milk, butter and cheese.
You and I, who know good COWS,
know that there are lot Of ia nlers
who cannot tell good mixer from
a fence rail, and when one stops to
think a moment it is all natural
enough. Knowing good COWS is q
matter of seeing, handling and hav-
ing good cows. Without some guide
to go by, ones ideas and estimates
are faulty and a wrong valuation is
placed on matters of little moment.
It seems Almost criminally foolish,
but there are men whose ideas OF a
good mich COW in this day of the
world-in this day. mind you-is one,
that carries good coating Of flesh.
The same about beef qualities, size
and conformation. You have met
men within the last week who believe
that it is possible to have dairy COW
that will raise good beef steers, and
so catch the dollars coming and go
ing. The two lines of farming have
been distinct TO good while.
"A suspicien, of profit is about al
that Old Brindle can show to her
credit on the average farm. She
works cowfully all day, wearing down
the pasture or millet stack, and re-
turns part Of pail Of milk, Of
guessed-at value Sometimes her
owne. brags her up, gets more cows
like her, and becomes quite a COW
man in the estimation of his grain
;ripting neighbors-I forgot! Usually
it's, Mrs. Man and the girls who do
the wo K for the sake Of the spending
money II At any rate, somebody does
the work, and the cow-hearted Old
Brinde rejoices. On other farms she
Is dogged into the open shed back Of
the ba n and dubbed into momentary
paralysis with the butt end Of the
milk stool while the hired man yanks
the milk into paid that is scared
and dentsd nv her silent and iaef-
:fsctuat ;pfosest against c uelty to m,
'ip1als.'s & 49,
now ne probability t. that neither
;fasmsr 5haows whether or net Old
3 indie IA .paying proposition. Both:
4.,ok upon her an an adjunct to more
important business. Between Old
Brindle and her kind, and the highly
specialized dai y COW that is making
money for he owner, there is a large
gap, to be crossed only by intelligence
on the part Of the owner and respon-
siveness on the part of the COW.
Lor Old Brinde must remain. Out
of her and her issue must come the
dairy stock of the future, in so far as
the dam is concerned. We haven't
got-we can't get the foundation stock
TO supply the daily market today, or
tomorrow, or in.the next decade. One
man can buy small herd and build it
up, but all the men who are entering
the dairy line of ia ming at the pres
ent time cannot do this, even were
they to bid unhear of prices for the
stuff, simply because the demand ov-
er-tops the supply tremendously.
She's he to stay. You've simply
got.'to put up with her, deficiencies
until such time as you may be able to
breed into her offspring desirable
qualities which she does not today
possess. This latter is a comparative
ly easy p OPPOSITION, after the farmer
once gets in mind just what he wants
in dairy animal.
But getting that far along the road
toward successful dairying is going to
take some time and cost bit here
and a bit there. 1t takes lot of
gumption to send Old Brindle to the
butchers, and after she has demon
strated time and again that she has
not paid her board, will not, and
never can, Even tho she does not
stand up under the Babcock test "a
COW is a COW 70 a. that" to many Of
us, and in many cases only, the bet
terment of general conditions will
bring about the change that should
come thru intelligent self interest.
This, insistence in holding onto a
cowhide inN the supposition that one
has COW is gong to cost some newly
launched creameries ,ather dear. It's
an old saying, that it takes COWS
to support creamery, and there
zhould be an appendix to that state
mant VIII CHI would read: ut takes
butte fat cows to be reckoned as