Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1911-03-03
simply a waste of time and energy.
The temperature ranges from So de-
grees in summer to GA degrees in
winter

WINTER.
(By Ira p. whitney, former Instructor in
Dairying. w. S. c., Pullman, wash.)
The following factors are of great
Importance in developing a dairy
herd: Selection, or breeding from
only the best producers; feeding, that
is, supplying the right kind of feed
in sufficient quantities for the needs
Of the COW; care and handling, in.
cluding milking regularly and thor
oughly, providing comfortable and
sanitary quarters for stabling, and
treating the cows with greatest con.
sideration at all times.
Important as these factors have
been in the past, they will continue
to be fully as important in the future
development of the dairy COW.
The first thing to be considered in
selecting a dairy COW is her ability
to produce butterfat. Twenty years
ago the average cow produced one
hundred and twenty-five pounds OF
butterfat per year, while at the pres.
ent time it is safe to say that the
average of the cows Of the United
States is close to one hundred and
seventy-five pounds. The Babcock
test has been responsible to a great
extent for this increase in production,
inasmuch as it has exposed the non.
producer, whereupon she has been
sold to the butcher. Every dairyman
should have pair of scales and a
Babcock test, and keep accurate rec
ords of the milk and Dutterfat pro-
duction of each and every COW of
his herd. This is the only guide that
can always be depended upon in the
selection of profitable dairy COWS.
Type is another point to be con-
sidered All dairymen recognize a
definite type as indicative of dairy
performance. The judge in the show
ring bases his judgment entirely upon
type. While it is true that practically
all economic producers conform to
what is known as the dairy type,
all cows that conform to the dairy
type are not economic producers,
and, consequently, selecting by type
alone is uncertain business.
The health of the animal must be
considered. Cows that are diseased
in any way should never be kept for
milk production. The prevalence OF
contagious diseases, such as tuber.
culosis and contagious abortion makes
extreme caution necessary in the Sc.
lection Of dairy cows. 1t is to the
interests of everyone that these dis
eases should be stamped out as rap.
idly as possible.
The breeding Of the dairy COW is
also important She need not be q
pure bred in order to be an economic
producer. In fact many high grade
cows are just as economic producers
as are the majority of purebreds. AS
rule, however, the purer the breed.
ing the more likely is the offspring
to resemble its parents, and If there
are economic producers in a cows
ancestry, the more likely is she to
be an economic producer, providing
she is bred along the right lines.
In order to succeed with the dairy
cows they must be treated as indi
viduals, not as herds. Many dairy.
men make this mistake, and wonder
why their herds do not pay. They
make the good COW help support the
poor one, and consequently get nc
profit from either one. If they would
deal with the cows as individuals
making each one pay her own way
together with interest on the money
invested in her, a great deal would
be accomplished toward bettering the
quality Of the dairy cows of the
country.