Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1912-02-23
(By A. GALLAGHER, Ohio.)

A great many people have trouble
with their cream and butter during
the winter months; others have more
or less trouble all the time.
Why? Simply because there is
something wrong with their method Of
caring for the cream or churning but
ter. Sometimes the butter will not
come" with a reasonable amount of
churning. One complains of white
specks in the butter; another says
the butter has peculiar bitter taste,
and so it goes.
Some of the people use cream sepa-
rators, while others do not However,
1t Is safe to say that in either case
the cream is not in the proper condi-
tion to be churned.
Either the temperature is at fault
or else the cream has not been prop
erly "ripened"-probably both COM
bined. Some people contend that the
food which COW consumes has more
to do with the conditions of the cream
than the way in which 1t is ripened
and churned.
However this may be, there Is no
denying the fact that well-fed, we'll
cared-for COW will give richer milk
and more OF 1t than one that is half
starved and otherwise neglected.
The word abused might be substi-
tuted for neglected There should be
a law passed to punish thoughtless
people who drive their cows with dogs.
We never have any trouble with
our cream or butter at any season Of
the year.
We are not in the dairy business
and therefore have never tried any
improved methods so essential to sue
cess when the business Is conducted
upon a large scale.
One of our COWS is a family pct.
She is very old and not so very pro-
fitable, but she gets the same care
that the others do.
We have all the milk, cream and
butter that we can use the year
around and some butter to sell-quite
a little more in proportion to the num-
Der Of COWS kept than most of our
neighbors.
Last winter we MIXED two cows all
winter and kept an account Of the
butter we sold.
During the coolest part Of the win
ter, from December 20 to January 20,
we churned and sold &C pounds and 10
ounces.
or this amount 24h pounds was
the product Of ten days milk, minus
that which we kept for table use. This,
we think, Is a pretty good showing
for two cows such as ours; for, being
ordinary farmer folk, we keep ordi-
nary cows; but they are we'll cared
for and in consequence they give good
returns.
During the fall and winter months
they are kept in the stable every
night; In the summer they have an
open shed for shelter
They always have pasture in sea-
son and little ground grain twice a
Gay. When pasture begins to get
scarce late In the summer, we feed
green fodder or some other green
roughage to take its place.
In the winter they have plenty OF
good hay and fodder besides grain
three times day; about two quarts
Of feed for each COW.
Corn and oat chop or equal parts
corn mean bran with a little oil meal
added Is the usual grain ration in the
winter. Two quarts of ground grain
added to about two gallons of cut
clover makes a satisfying meal for a
COW. The clover is always scalded
before the grain Is added.
Now, for our method Of caring for
the milk: The cows are MIXED regu-
larly morning and night, always be-
ing fed before the milking is begun.
The stripping, or last part of each
milking, is kept separate and strained
into the cream jar Two Jars are used
and whenever one 10 full the next
churning Is started.
That is, all fresh cream Is put into
the other jar. About the time the
second jar is full. the first is ready to
10 churned; sometimes little before
II It is too slow about ripening. a