Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-05-12
FRIDAY, MAY IL, 1911.

thoroughbred bull on grade cows and
produced heifers that would with their
| first calves make more profit than
| their mature dams. It Is often said
that the bull is half the herd. He Is
much more than half the herd, II he Is
bull that will transmit his good
qualities. have seen herd Of almost
profitless cows change into a very
| profitable herd within four years by
the use OF a good bull In buying a
| registered bull, l would insist upon
| seeing the record of his dam, and
! would insist upon his having a strict
ly dairy conformation, and / would
not let the price stand in the way Of
the bull wanted.
We can have the best foundation
stock, but II we don't feed and care
for the calves properly, they will not
develop into the sort of cows they
should. The most important thing in
calf feeding Is to feed them so as not
| to get their digestion wrong while they
are young. A calf that is allowed to
become weak and scrawny and stunt
ed, will never develop into the cow she
would otherwise. / have seen them
stunted, but have also thought what
they could have been had they receiv-
ed proper care. With study and care
| full attention, all the trouble with
calves will vanish. For five years
| have not had a case Of scours in my
herd. My calves are fed regularly;
are fed warm milk, and each calf Is
carefully noticed to keep from over
| feeding and they are always fed from
scrupulously clean pals. They are
taught to eat whole oats and bran as
early as possible, with all the hay they
| will eat up clean: unground corn Is
added to their grain ration as soon as
the change from whole milk to skim
| med milk Is begun. Whole corn, bran
and hay Is an ideal ration for a skim
med milk fed calf. OF all feed, my
calves are given only what they will
| eat without waste, and they are taught
in this way to relish more roughage
than grain by gradually diminishing
the grain feed. There is no better feed
for a yearling heifer than corn silage
and pea hay with perhaps a pound or
two of cotton seed meal. The dairy
calf should be fed, not to keep her fat,
but In thrifty condition. And the OBJ
ject should be to develop bone and
muscle and the capacity to consume
large quantities of such cheap feed as
silage and stover and hay. There is
but one time would feed to fatten a
heifer and that Is just before she has
her first calf ! try always to have
them reasonably fat by this time. 1t
might be well to mention that for
awhile before and after calving, cotton
seed meal Is cut out entirely Of her
feed. All the skill a man has as a
feeder should be exercised in feeding
a heifer with her first calf. I believe
the more she is made to produce with
her first calf the more useful she will
always be. / don't mean that she
should be fed on highly concentrated
feeds. It Is possible for one to almost
completely ruin a heifer by feeding
on such feeds. believe in feeding al
ways to the very limit Of the cows
ability. To find out how to feed your
cows up to the limit Of their ability
is to first know exactly what your cow
Is doing. The only way to do this Is
to carefully WEIGH and test their milk.
Put in a record system. This record
system will help you in a great many
| ways. It will tell you Of your poor
cows and will cause you to take more
interest In your herd 1t will tell you
how to feed to get the most profit.
To get the most out Of your cows,
you must take advantage Of the op-
portunity offered you at the time she
| freshens. The care cow gets and
how she does a few weeks before and
after caiving determines her useful
ness during the whole lactation period.
II should take about three weeks to
get a cow in full feed after calving
and the increase in her feed should be
very gradual Her feed should be
| gradually increased until she will res
pond no longer to the increase, and
then diminished until she shows signs
of falling off. Did you ever try your
cows in this way to see what they
would do? You might have a record
breaking cow in your herd and don't
know it. Some of the thousand pound
class have been sold for very ordinary
prices, simply because the owner had
never taken interest enough In her to
find out her real value.
| In closing let me say that the great
thing to do, Is to stay intensely inter-
| ested In your COWS; do everything you
can to keep up interest and enthusi-
asm. Subscribe for farm papers that
| emphasize the dairy department, and
that publish pictures of good cows.
Hang pictures Of good cows and past
| ure scenes in your home. There Is a
great deal Of inspiration gotten from
| things like this. Encourage shows like
| this and do everything you can to
keep up the most interest in them.
| Mr.. Williams was interrupted In his
speech with a number of intelligent
and practical questions all of which he
| answered with a fullness and clear
L
audience listened with interested at
| tention throughout to the end, and at
| the conclusion Of the address gave the
speaker a rOusing manifestation Of Its,
approval.
| The next speaker introduced was
Prof. ]. M. Burgess of the dairy de-
partment of Clemson college. Prof.
Burgess had been invited along with
| the other speakers but because Of the
| oiono oy.yioo daloU nf q 1nffar fharQ
| was confusion that prevented his hav-
ing been given a place In the pro-
| gramme.
He delivered, however, a capital
| talk on the care of dairy cows and on
butter making. He compared the cow
to a machine in that where certain
| things were required there must be
available the things necessary. For
| instance to get a large flow OF milk
and a considerable yield OF butter;
| the machine must be large enough and
constitutionally strong enough to take
care of the food elements necessary
| for the manufacture of the product.
| He called attention to the expensive
foolishness of working capable cow
below her capacity and Of expecting
| the impossible from an incapable COW.
| He described a class of cows as rob-
bers, because they did not yield milk
| and Dutter Su1nclenI 10 pay lOI Ihch
feed and emphasized the absolute nec-
essity of keeping barn records and
making frequent butter tests. He told
Of cows at Clemson that failed to pay
for their feed and reduced the average
of the herd, and how when such cows
were detected they were done away
with. Taking up the question Of but
ter making, Prof. Burgess addressed
his remarks more especially to num-
Der Of ladies, who had gathered to
hear him and told Of the most COM
mon mistakes that were made in but
ter making. He said that although
| thermometers were not common among
! domestic butter makers, no one should
think of going in for a churning with
out knowing the exact temperature OF
the milk He said that to secure the
best results, butter should not come
in less than half an hour. Butter
churned in a less time is always OF
poor quality. He said also that the
butter should be collected and washed
as soon as it began to appear In the
size of granules as large as grains Of
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