The Twin Falls times. [volume] (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1905-1916, 1912-01-12
IDAHO AND THE COW.
BY ID. X. Hubbard. President of the
Idaho State Dairy Association.

has engaged the most thoughtful con-
sideration by few devoted friends
OF both for a plumber OF years. These
have given expression to their inter-
ests by organizing the Idaho State
Dairy Association, promoting extern
sion work by the University among
the practical farmers of the state, by
giving publicity to dairymen in other
states of the excellent opportunities in
Idaho for dairying, by interesting men
both at home and in other states in
raising pure bred dairy cattle until
CLEAN OF splendid hope has o'erspread
our intermountain prairies, and the
COW is coming into her own
To begin at the beginning The
man, the COW, the feed, and the mar
ket are the essentials of successful
dairying. These are the four links,
none of which may be weak or dairy
ing will fail.
The man may be a woman or wo-
man the better half of man. The dairy
instinct must be there, big hearted
broad minded, yet with love of detail
that almost amounts to crankiness,
devotion to the COW that prompts the
most thoughtful care for her comfort
He will watch the buildings and stalls
| tween temperature and ventilation
He will know the nutritive value of
the feeds, which will include a know
ledge of the nutrients, their available
ity and palatability. He will know the
moods and habits of each COW, and
treat her accordingly. He will keep
and milk the 800 cow only. He will
know the difference between the $50
COW and the 500 COW.
The COW. The dairy COW is an arti-
| fetal creature, wholly man made. Hol-
land, the Channel Islands, Switzerland
and Denmark are entitled to great Gre
dit for the study and initiation of
dairy breeds. The agricultural uni
versities of the American states are
utilizing the work of these older COM
munities for the benefit of our people
The data being developed by our
scientific men and given to the Amer
lean dairymen has a value far and
away beyond the popular estimate of
it's worth. The American breeder is
| keeping in close touch with our scen-
| tific men, and feeding along lines of
the best light obtainable Indeed the
best thought of our land is engaged in
developing the dairy COW and with
this thought is abundant financial re-
sources. We need not send away to
| get the best there is in either of the
dairy breeds.
For several years the writer has
been advocating method whereby a
state registry may be established and
our best cows receive recognition. The
purpose is to base registration of fe-
males solely in performance at the
pail. The minimum to be one pound
of butter per day, or 800 pounds a
year. No COW to be registered until
she can demonstrate at the pail that
she is entitled to the papers. Males to
be registered only after the dam and
both grand dams show the minimum
of one pound of butter per day, or 800
pounds of butter within year. This
requirement as to males should be es-
tablished for all dairy breeds The
performance of the dam and the grand
dam should be part of the certifi-
Gates of registration.
This work could be supervised and
authenticated by the faculty of the
State University through it's extension
| department, expense to be borne in
part by the owners of COWS, in part by
the state
The Feed. One of the most emil
nent authorities on feeds in the Unit
ed States places the relative value of
bran and alfalfa hav at 10 and II
otherwise 1900 pounds or long ton
of alfalfa hay is equal to 1000 lbs, or
a short ton of bran. In conversation
with practical dairyman in Portland
not long since he said ne was feeding
alfalfa meal in preference to bran at
the same cost price. The writer be-
lieves that clover hay raised and cured
| in the arid west equal to or superior
to alfalfa as a single ration With corn
silage and alfalfa meal and suitable
concentrate we have very superior
ration for dairy COW and a very
cheap one for southern Idaho Blue
grass pasture or pastures of mixed
grasses and either alsike or white clio
yer properly irrigated are good eight
to ten months in the year However
great loss comes to our dairymen from
overDasturing. One should not at
tempt to carry over two cows to the
acre and in MANY instances three to
two acres should be the limit
The market in Idaho for dairy pro-
ducts is first class in a general way
The prices to the consumer are invar-
iably adequate. The agency through
which the producer is reached is of.
ten deplorably inefficient. When il
costs &c to 10c to get a pound of but.
ter brought to the consumer there is
something wrong. There should be ar
intelligent investigation and a positive
remedy devised whereby our dairy
men may be protected against the ex.
cessive charge and irresponsible out.
fits who run awhile and then fail with
milk checks unpaid. There should be
a law requiring any company or firm
to give bond for the payment of all
milk checks before a company or firm
can start in the business of buying
milk or cream from the farmers.
The demand for dairy products in
southern Idaho is far beyond our
home production and the medium
through which the producer reaches
the consumer is one of our greatest
drawbacks. Let us all pull together
to remedy these things sanely and
wisely. 1t is our duty and our need