Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1911-01-13

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mind will find that the Dutch cows
compare favorable with the other
breeds of dairy cattle.
The Dutch cattle are not used to
taking any exercise. In the pasture
they are laying down the greater
part of the day, and they remain in
that pasture all through the summer
and until late in the fall. Then the
| ground becomes too soft and the ami
mails would damage the turf. In
dry seasons COWS may be seen outside
in the month of December but in
! this month there is often snow and
night frosts. The cows are always
MIXED in a corner of the pasture.
| Once put in the stable, the cows have
not the least exercise until the end
of March or April, Such a stable is
often very clean-but that is all we
can say in favor of it, for there is no
ventilation, and it is so poorly light
|
darkness SO that they pass tho
gloomy, dreary winter months in a
more or less dormant condition. This
| Is the reason that Dutch cattle reared
in their native country have such
sleepy expression in their eyes, and
that they make the impression of be-
| n OF
highly surprised, when we saw the
! lively, alert dairy animals in this
country.
Writers like to mention that the
Dutch cattle are the product Of care
full selection by their owners. We
are afraid, however, that the Dutch
cattle farmers can not accept such
compliment. Their cattle are thor
oughbred as they did not come In
contact with other breeds, but this
was because the Dutch farmers were
too much engrossed in their own lit
tie circle to think Of such an under
taking. The cattle farmer has lived
for centuries with and for his cattle
only, and his intellectual develop
ment has been sorely neglected
Thus, generally speaking, his men
tai development resembles somewhat
that of the animals he cares for, and
that is not sufficient to make a person
a successful cattle breeder. Such a
farmer rises to 2 a. M, milks his
COWS and takes his milk at o'clock
to a factory and is back in time to
work little in his field. He takes
dinner at l o'clock and goes to bed
until 3, when it is again milking
time. He returns from the facotry
about 6, takes his supper or tea, and
is in bed by 7. This is his life year
after year, and his only spare time Is
! on Sunday, when he makes only the
morning trip to the factory. He has
learned to write, and read the Bible
before he was twelve years old, but
that book constitutes his whole lib
rary. The accounts which he sends
to the factory are written by the
schoolmaster, who does all the adj
ministration for his neighbors, and
who receives in return liberal sup
plies of dairy products.
One example may be given here to
demonstrate the poor intellect of
these so-called grass farmers. A fac
tory used to buy milk according to
the percentage of fat following a
sliding scale, so that a patron who
delivered very rich milk received
more for milk fat than when he de-
liVered very thin milk. Some shreWd
old heads among the patrons wanted
to fool the factory and added consid-
| cradle quantities of water to their
milk. AS a matter of fact, the
amount of fat did not increase, and,
as their milk was much thinner, they
received lower price for their pro-
duct than if they had sent the pure
milk. The farmers were very in
dignant, and went so far as to send
a complaint to court.
Such people can not be expected to
improve the native breed, and this Is
probably the reason that the Hol-
stein-Friesians bred in the United
States are better than those bred In
i Holland.
During the last forty years the
government has been trying hard to
improve the native stock. They
have arranged yearly competitions
all over the country, and the prize
bulls receive a premium for every
cow they serve during the following
year. To earn this premium the
owners of such prize bulls lead them
4 from farm to farm, and in this way
the breed must soon attain higher