The Nashville globe. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1906-193?, 1911-12-22

at a dead loss; so that there can be
no hore for satisfactory profit nntil
taey are disposed Of The keeping of
such animals year after year. is pure
ly matter of carelessness. 1t is a
simple matter to take account of what
each animal is producing, still we go
on guessing at our profits. An accu-
rate record of the milk produced and
food consumed by COW, is consider
eli of little Importance by the average
dairyman, but this neglect of the very
rst principles of business is due to
the lack of profit in a great majority
of instances.
The dairy department of the Uni
coula afford to pay a man $40 Il
month to keep a record of their herd
of 80 COWS, due to the more econonl1-
cal production made possible by feed
ing the cows individually, according
to the amount of milk produced.
Keeping an account with each COW Is
just as important as keeping an &C.
count with the hired man. If the
hired man is too inefficient to make
his employment profitable, he is let
go, or if retained, is paid in accord
ance with the labor he performs.
While no measure of the cows effici-
ency is taken and she is paid without
/ gard to her production.
In connection with the record of
production an account must be taken
of the food consumed. There is no
necessity for weighing roughage which
has been produced upon the farm, as
fed to each COW. The COWS should
have all the roughage they will eat
and the whole amount consumed be
apportioned approximately correct be-
tween them.
In feeding high priced concentrates
or grain of any kind, use measure
which may be filled with the grain
and weighed, so that the amount fed
each cow per month may be calculat-
cd The value of food consumed sub
tracted from the value of the milk
ETC., shows very readily whether or
not the COW is paying for her board
At the end of the year. those that
are in debt go to the butcher, and
heifer calves are saved from the best
COWS in the herd to take their places
Next in Importance to good COWS, is
proper feeding. Many COWS would
produce milk profitably if fed better.
To produce milk economically the COW
must be supplied with foods which
furnish the necessary nutrients in the
proper proportions. Furthermore,
this food must be sufficiently bulky
and of a mora or less succulent ma,
ture, for best results The ratio OF
the necessary nutrients has been
found to be about one part protein to
six parts carbohydrates. The carbo-
hydrates are supplied in hay made
from the common grasses, in corn and
corn silage. The protein in legumi-
nous plants, such as clover, alfalfa,
cow peas, soy beans and in concen-
tr9ted feeding stuffs, e. g. wheat bran
and cotton seed meal.
On the farm where all the roughage
needed is produced there will be no
lack of carbohydrate matter, but it
this roughage is low in protein, a
large amount of carbohydrate ma
ICl ldl VII UG WdSIGu III ocCuI Ing Juc
necessary amount of protein. For
this reason it is safe to say that In
buying a concentrate to supplement
the available roughage, it should be
selected on it's PROTEIN contents.
At present market prices, the pro-
tein in wheat bran costs ten cents per
pound, while in cotton seed meal it
costs only three cents per pound; so
that cotton seed meal is a much more
economical source of protein than
either of the others. A COW that is
producing two and one-half gallons OF
milk per day requires about two
pounds of protein. She should be
fed grain in proportion to the guam
tity of milk given. The rule common
ly followed is to allow one pound of
grain for every three pounds of milk
produced.
The other matter which effects
profit is the character of the product
Much of the butter made in the state