The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1912-12-27

Proceedings Of the Meeting Held December Is, the
Home Of Robt 7. Cameron, In Rising Sun

tural college gave an interesting
talk on dairying and advocated
COW testing associations. He said
q concrete silo had recently been
hnilt at the Experiment Station,
1884 H., with 6 inch wall. at d
total costof $199 O5 Where sew
eral farmers would club together
on the cost Of forms 1t could be
done for less. he fnrther said:
The present high price Of feed makes 1t
necessary that every farm animal use the feed
that Is consumed. economically. Especially is
| this true Of the dairy COW. There Is y very
| great difference in the efficiency of different
| COWS in the same herd. The COW which gives
the largest annual yield Of milk and fat IL not
necessarily the most profitable. nor is the one
| which returns small yield kept at loss. The
cow that makes one hundred bounds of milk
| or one pound Of butter fat with the lowest
| consumption Of feed is the most economical,
and the one that makes her yield with the lar
gest consumption Of feed Is the least profit
able. This fact is brought out most strikinRly
| in the case of two Holstein cows ct the wis
consin Agricultural College. Both COWS CON
sumed an equal quantity of feed; one made a
return Of 1900 lbs. Of milk and the othsr
1850. Thus one of these cows yielded 57O0 lbs.
Of milk more than the other but consumed no
more feed.
| This brings to our attention the fact that in
order to make the greatest profit from the
dairy herd, each cow should be studied, then
fed according to her ability to produce milk
and butterfat probably. The cow-testing
associations are designed to meet this require
Nut4r~ = 49, l-Ci- Il. IL.
a herd knows exactly how much each cow is
making for each dollars worth of feed she
consumes. At the end of the year her annual
profit is determined or 1t may be loss In
| case itis loss the animal should be discarded.
| The most practicable way to determine a
COWS ability to make profitable return for
the feed she consumes Is by placing her yield
OF milk and the ration she receives each month,
on small school slate which is placed over
her manager. On the other side of this slate 10
/ placed the yield Of milk and the per cent o
| rat for the month. On the feeding side of the
| slate the rations she receives daily for the
month is placed. By changing the amount of
| grain slightly,each month. and noting whether
| the animal responded to an increase of feed,
| her ability to consume feed economically can
| soon be determined When this Is found out
her real value as dairy COW is known and she
IL making her production most economically
These school states are cheap, only $3.50 per
hundred, and 1t is hoped they will soon be in
| use wherever there is cow-testing associa-
tion The tester is the one to suggest and
make the changes on the slate each month.
| Such plan would soon place each herd on it's
most economical producing ration and would
greatly increase the benefits to be derived from
cow-testing associations.
AS to feeds, there are few which are the
base Of every good dairy ration and they
should be grown on every farm Namely all
falfa, corn for silage and-eorn for grain
| There seems to be some trouble In starting al
falfa In this State, but think. tAat a. the
conditions Of soil and the requirements of this
! valuable legume are better understood. more
success viii be attended with efforts to get a
stand. Alfalfa Is far too valuable, both as
feed and as source Of nitrogen In the soil. to
be given up until repeated trials have been
made to secure stand While an effort is
being made to obtain alfalfa, other legumes
such as clover, cowpeas, ETC., may be grown.
The growing Of corn both for silage and for
grain need not be discussed as 1t is an estab-
lished fact that they are profitable crops in
| this tate.
i However. word about silage might not be
out OF place. It may not be generally known
that the first silo erected in America was built
by Francis Norris. Of Howard county. Nd, in
1875. The advantages of siage briefly AREA
large amount OF feed can be stored In a com
| paratively small space; It saves all the corn
crop. q part Of which would otherwise be
1 wasted. 1t fu ,nishesa succulent feed for the
COW which keeps her in good physical condi-
ton during the winter tbs practically pas
ture all the year and is more convenient to
feed than fodder.
Briefly summing up what have said: COWS
should be fed according totheir ability to con-
sumo feed economically that Is as individuals;
the legumes, silage and corn are the founda-
tion OF every dairy ration and with them very
little high priced feed need be brought.
Messrs McVey, Cameron and
Mendenhall were appointed inspec
tion committee and an adjourn
ment was taken for dinner.
! On reassembling. the committee
reported that as the host had not
farm connected with his fine new
home 10 Rising Sun all they had
to speak on was the grand dinner
served by the hostess and daugh ter.
They could not speak too highly of
this and furthermore they said
that the present surroundings and
past life of the host was fitting
example of the success Of farming
After a general discussion on
various topics connected with the
farm the club adjourned to meet
with J. Harry Maxwell, near Prin-
cipio, on January %.