Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1912-12-31
Keeping Cows and Making . Profit.
Daniel Lextherman, In Hoard's Dairy

man:
It 10 assumed that farmers keep cow
for tho purpose of making profit from
them, and that the consideration o
pleasure, health land sometimes moral
tity) are In great degree subordinate z
that Of profit. But do all succeed Il
making profit out of their COWS? II
not, what Is the reason?
Insofar as my observation goes, there
are iu this section great many cow
that ought to be sent to the shambles
It 10 also observed that some OF th'
farmers most persistent In advocating
the dairy business are making but little
profit In the business themselves
Every one of the eleven farm and dairy
Journals read by the writer Of this arti
Gle holds that at least not over one-hal1
Of the COWS kept are paying their owners
for their keeping. II this Is true. ther
1t would follow that to be successful
with COWS We must have good ones
How shall We manage to get themi
There are those who advocate that the
matter OF profit lies In the breed. They
claim that If one can get certain breed
there is not very much more that can or
need be done. They believe that thor
all 10 smooth sailing and that success Il
certain. In fact, the matter of breed II
a hobby with them to which they cling
with tho greatest tenacity.
OF course, for dairy purposes 1t has
been we'll established that there 10 supe
riority In some breeds over others. But
In this connection will say that know
dairymen who have been compelled to
confess that one cannot always be Ger.
tain OF . profitable COW from the fact
that she has been registered IS Q pure
bred, or Is eligible to such registration.
Some persons seem to believe that the
simple fact OF registry carries with 1t the
fact that the COW has large butterfat or
milk producing abilities.
Last spring at sale 10 this locality. q
registered cow was offered for which Its
owner bad paid about 500. Buyers
were very slow In bidding. The
truth was, she was very low testing
COW, and as the buyers know 1t, she
brought only the price Of tho scrub COW,
at quite loss to It's owner. In another
instance, q dairyman went to sale at
some distance, and bought at q good
price q registered heifer, but Its milk
tested soon after freshening was so low
in butter fat that the dairyman doubted
whether it would ever become profit
able COW. The writer has grade COW
that has test of six percent, and, be-
sides this, she gives quite large quan.
tity OF milk throughout the twelve
months of the year. However, l want
to say that these instances are not quot
ed as arguments against scientific
breeding or pure-bred COWS.
We have iu this section, as in others,
the feeding enthusiastic, but the COW be-
ing the product of both breeding and
feeding, it is impossible to decide which
of the two factors is the moro impor-
tant. Both certainly play . very impor-
tant part, although there are many who
believe the latter has been discussed all
out of proportion to its Importance.
Just because one falls to feed desired
kind of milk into his COWS, is not good
argument against careful feeding, as
there surely 10 some relation Of food to
the production of both quality and quan.
tity of milk.
Perhaps 1t will eventually be learned
that the profitable COW is, after all, more
the creature of heredity than anything
else. 1t is unfortunate that the laws OF
heredity are as yet but imperfectly un-
derstood, and so the matter OF success
full breeding is to great extent handi-
capped. 1t is, comparatively speaking,
yet in Its infancy. Like does not always
seem to produce like, and careful breed
ers are we'll aware that 1t is not every
hsifer calf from registered stock that 1t
will pay to rear for the dairy herd.
Both sires and dams may be registered
for hundreds of succeeding generations,
and vet the offspring will sometimes be
inferior. Breeders will sometimes get
calves with heavy, coarse heads, and the
thick, bull.like neck, which shows the
principle Of breeding back to
some primitive type, which f1ourished
before the excellences Of dairy cattle
we're studied or known.
Perhaps those who have never had
much experience In dairying might
think from the foregoing that the bust
ness 10 q very uncertain one. But
want to hasten to say that even II rear.
ing pEOuG6Ol6 COWo WOto oo ooooiot0 wv
tery, and even II We fall to get desirable
results from carefully prepared balanced
the business need not necessa-
rily be Improbable on these accounts.
n these obstacles cannot be overcome
thew can at least be counteraoted by the
intelligent application and use OF the
weighing scales and fat tester. This as
pect of the matter has not yet had the
attention it deserves-although the
farm and dairy journals are becoming
more and more alive to it of late years.
By knowing for certainty the abil-
ties of each individual COW In the herd,
the improbable ones can be sent to the
block, but farmers and dairymen are ex-
tremely slow on the average 10 awaken
ing to this, and until they do awaken,
there is not much chance for profit tor
them. When approached on the sub
ject, some will say it 10 too much work
10 weigh and test the milk of each cow
separately. Others seem to think the
OF the fat tester Is diff
cult matter. These are but excuses,
and indicate the lack of appreciation OF
new ideas. Until these conservatives
really long for something better and be-
come willing to come mp higher, they
must stay where they are.