Fergus County Democrat., 1913-07-08
OF INTEREST TO
FARMERS

lQl ----- ---lQl
A great DEAL and possibly not too
much, is being said in these days
about killing off the COW whose record
at the pail is not up to this, that or the
other standard, says the Dakota Farm
er bankers association has been
formed in Wisconsin the principal OBJ
ject of which is to ascertain and black
list the non-paying cows Of the neigh
borhood in which they may be doing |
business. The chairman of this as
sociation, J. r. Wheeler, asserts that
in many herds of Wisconsin more |
than half the cows return less milk |
per COW than will pay their board
BILL"
Now only few years ago the dairy
man of Minnesota, through the dairy
department of the agricultural college
or their state association, made In
yestigations which showed that the
average COW of the great Bread and
Butter State" brought in but little
more than $1,000 each, being carried
at dead loss of close to $1,000 a head,
as it was at the same time shown
that it cost considerably more than
$4,000 to feed the average cow a
year, some cows consuming as much
as $3.50 0or $4,000 worth of feed.
Now while few thinking farmers
questioned these figures, or now ques-
tiOn the statements of Mr.. Wheeler
openly, how many really believe
them They know, and we all know,
that the average cows of Minnesota
and Wisconsin are making money for
their owners, and lots Of 1t. They
know, too, without bankers or any
other association Of business men
showing them, that some cows are
poorer than others, and they usually
get rid Of the poor ones first, and as
soon as they think it will pay them
to do so.
The fact is that while few cows
really do not pay their way, and all
cows would pay better if they were
better, we have to take cows, as any
thing else Of which there is not
enough to go around, little as we
find them. Doubtless experts can
prove, to their own satisfaction at
least, that fully half the cows of the
country are not paying their way;
but were these cows to be sent to the
block today, the country would be the
worse for it, and SO would their own
ers. And where, we would ask these
: to take the places of the host of dis
carded ones?
The fact is that, while figures can.
not lie, they do not always tell the
whole truth. The writer has owned
! cows that did not pay as much as
others, in fact cows that If carefully
tested would have gone onto. the Wis
consin bankers black list, and still
as we did not have money with which
to buy better ones, and did not know
l. where they could be had If we had
had their price, we kept these cows
and by breeding them to as good bulls
as we could find, managed to gradually
and proftably improve the bunch
These cows paid too, better than nC
s cows Milk isn't all COW brings to
a farm. Calves, better than them
Il selves, is one thing every ordinary
" COW can bring as surely as she brings
II what little milk she may. One COW
brings about as much fertility to a
d d farm as another, and pigs and poultry
II are not particular as to what kind OF
! COW the milk they get comes from
- Some of these experts and business
men who would teach the farmer his
- business, talk as though we could kill
" One-half of the cows now on our farms
!. !, and the next morning replace then
II with animals that would produce
a double the amount of milk We wisf
Is this were true, but it isn't. We wish
3 too, that there were fewer farmers
I. who seem to pay no attention to The
n breeding and selecting of their COWS
but we know this class of farmers Il
III city men imagine.
III Rnttar hrop6inU will oud ic doip.
&c much for the cows of the country, bu
u better feeding would do more. Tha
le famous producer, Polander, of th'
. BOzeman Experiment Station, wa
le selected by Prof Clark from a mike,
~ herd of cows running in a Minnesota
~ pasture. The owner thought her
u good COW, but not, extra, and $3.50
got her. The cow was selected be
cause she had the marks of q goo
producer, marks which any intelligen
le farmer knows as well as any banker
r. and generally much better, but it wa
proper and abundant feeding tina
made it possible for this great GOV
ut to do her best. Prof. Clark himsel
'ff told us that just the right feed an
= feeding counted with this cow as muc
or more as with any animal he eve
- handled. We believe it possible TO
Polander to be "blacklisted" wit
: some feeders.
il No; tests are good, but they ar
II not everything by any means, an
poor and bad together we have nc
nearly enough cows in this country a
the present time. And again, tn
presence of COW on the farm, i
these times of beef shortage an
empty ranges, means something b'
side the milk she gives.
Automobiles Benefit Farmers.
Dakota Farmer: There is no que