Yerington times. [volume] (Yerington, Nev.) 1907-1932, 1913-10-11
HOW DAIRY HERDS CAN BE
BUILT UP.
Some Advice as to How to go About
This in Mason Valley.

If a man wants to find out just what
he can depend upon, let him study
each individual COW and keep record
in book of what she does This will
cost a nttie time and effort but il will
pay.
There are several ways of accom-
plshing the work If the herd is very
large it will pay to invest i'll a Bah
cock tester and reliable pair of
scales and do the work involved on
the farm. Any person of ordinary
intelligence can do it if given the nee
essary instructions by an expert, and
exercising care and accuracy
But if the herd is of moderate
'sizt So an -cxscft should be employed to
visit the farm at regular intervals
This is done by forming an associa-
ton consisting of some fifteen to
twenty-five members and having the
tester visit their farm once a month.
or as often as the number of mem
bers permit. for he would have TO visit
each member in turn.
But If there are not herds enough
available within reasonable distance
to form an association the farmer de
sirous of having his cows tested
should avail himself of the local
creamery operators assistance. pro
viding. his time permits. and he has
the necessary qualifications along
those lines
Keeping a record is no doubt trou
blcsome. but no results worth while
can be had otherwise. The book
keeping may be as simple or as elab
crate as the purpose concerned re
quires II record OF the production
OF each individual animal is required,
the simplest manner of doing this Is
to provide record sheet for the daily
weight OF milk taken at regular in
tervals in the month. and to enter
under each cows name i'll book pre-
pared for the purpose the weight OF
milk, the per cent OF fat and pounds
OF tat at regular monthly intervals.
Some dairymen go TO the trouble ol
hceping record OF the food consuin-
cd by each individual animal. Ihis re
cures great deal more labor and
attention and the writer would hardly
consider it worth while III this place
as very little ii any concentrate TODD
is used and the iced and attention
given each COW Is very much the
same; bur keeping record OF the
food consumed naturally becomes OF
importance i'll the more entcrprising
dairy establishments, where the con
sumption and production OF COW
assumes proportions unknown III Ma
son Valley at present just to men
ton one OF those cases. | will name
holstein COW owned by Morris q
Sons, Woodland. Cal: "Avrolia dc
kol' produced in one year 2S.OSO
pounds of milk and i'll the same year
l.242.R pounds OF commercial butter.
A complete record such as outlined.
will decide pretty definitely within
short time which cows are worthy OF
holding their places in the herd. OBJ
tanning accurate knowledge of each
COW work is the beginning OF rev
olution in most dairieS. There Is
soon change i'll the position OF the
cows from the standpoint OF proht.
Some poor ones are discovered that
were before unrecognized as money
losers. Some others. looked upon as
medium COWS. are recognized as more
valuable than suspected and they are
given better care and iced
There are a number of other types
OF dairy cows which cannot prohtably
be kept The COW that has abnormal
teats. or the one that is difficult to
milk. would better be disposed OF,
when other cows equally as prohtable.
with good sized. easily MIXED teats.
can be secured Easy mixers seldom
cost any more but they are really
worth more to the busy dairyman
than the ones which demand so much
OF the mixers time in order to secure
the milk The vicious cow and the
hreachy animal are in the same class:
while such animals may be good
mixers they are source of loss IN
other ways As soon as the unprot-
table cows have been weeded out
of the herd. the next step is to begin
to sell off those animals which are
returning only a small profit, buying
better animals to take their places.
Ia other words. build mp the herd to
the highest point of production pos
s;bie. Even the animal that is known
to be a good profit maker should not
be retained il better COW can be pri
in her place.
II the space of the Times permits
| would be glad to give some facts
about the history and doings of COW
testing in other countries.
M. DAHL.
You can have all the space you