Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1914-07-28
What I Have Learned From Testing
My Cows.

II
The following essay was submitted b!
K. johnson of Meeker County, Mime
sofa, in the Minnesota State Contest fol
the best article on the above subject
and it was awarded first prize. 1t 10
yery good recital of growth IN knowl
edge and practice and we take pleasure
in presenting il to our readers:
The farmer wh, takes up dairying In
an intelligent and thorough way canno,
fail to make rapid strides toward i'm
provement, and the bettering of his
bank account. Dairying is one OF the
most paving branches Of farming. Un-
der fair circumstances the dairy COW
will generally give two dollars worth OF
butterfat in return for every dollar
worth of feed given her. You will have
to admit that that is really good in
vestment.
But to accomplish this we must give
our dairy cows the right attention. Un-
der the way it is generally done on our
farms it is not possible, and If the farmer
would begin to figure up just how things
stand lie would find that his cows are
not netting him very much, and in many
cases nothing at all. Let us compare
two systems of dsirying briefly; one of
these as il is generally carried on, where
no special care is given, and the other,
where special efforts are made TO do
things as they should be done.
Now, am going to take you home to
our farm. We have history in our dairy
there which covers both sides. Years
ago we did not get much satisfaction out
of cows. As il went, We took about as
good care of them, We thought, as any
one else did around us. But the returns
were mighty poor. Our creamery re-
turns for the year beginning October 1st,
1907, and ending October 1st, 1905, indi-
cate that we hauled to the creamery
1916 pounds of butterfat, for which We
received 1868. This was before We COM
menced keeping records and feeding
balanced rations. We had IL cows which
came in fresh at different times OF the
year, mostly in the spring and summer
Our herd bull, always q nondescript, or
il of any type at all, more of beef type
than a dairy type, was allowed to run
with the cows the year around. Our
barn was good and warm, though not
convenient, but no special care was given
in feeding. Lowland, slough hay, and
cornstalks were the principal roughage;
aud when we did feed any concentrates,
L. was generally of whatever kind We
happened TO have, and We fed all cows
alike. No attempt at any system was
made or thought of. The cows were al
lowed TO remain outdoors most of the
days in winter time, were compelled to
drink ice cold water. and We had great
time fighting lice aud vermin on them IN
the winter time. They came out in the
spring shaggy, lean, and rundown. How
does this picture strike you? Isn't II the
way you find it on many farms? Irves-
tigate little and you will find that their
dairy accounts look just like their cows
run down.
At that time our cows averaged 125
pounds of butterfat per year, worth S33
Then / began to study and read little
on dsirying. Did you get thatP-"study
and read" That is the first thing one
has TO do. l saw that things could be
done better. | saw that We could get
more out of our cows. | began to wake
up. talked it over with my uncle, and
said that we ought to get a scale and
Babcock tester, and some bran, and feed
our cows better. He thought, like a
good many of US have thought, that it
would not pay to feed those old cows,
and the scale and tester seemed little
high priced. Finally We agreed to make
a trial. Fortunately, several of our cows
came in fresh that fall. got the bran,
and began TO weigh the milk from each
COW, made occasional tests, and figured
out carefully balanced rations according
to Professor Hackers feeding stand
ards. The results showed at once. Our
next creamery check following was $50,
while the highest that we ever had re-
ceived before was a little over $50.
There, iu one month, We paid for the
bran, the scale and tester, and then
some. 1t opened my eyes like nothing
else could. And that is generally the
way with us farmers, when something
touches the pocketbook we believe. |
kept on putting good things into practice
as fast as could. BY means of the scale
and tester found out which cows were
best and disposed of the rest. We began
to take better care of our cows. They
were not allowed to stand out doors and
freeze in the winter nor TO drink ice
water. We raised clover hay for them
and beets for succulent feeding in the
winter. They were all bred so as to
come fresh in the last part Of October
and the beginning of November. Three
wears later, from the same number OF
cows, many of them the very same cows
that we had before, with exactly the
same average creamery price for the
year, our returns for the year beginning
October lst, 1910, and ending October
lst, 1911, were 1926 40, or nearly $50 per
COW. The total butterfat was 2l99
pounds or just about 200 pounds per
COW. Now this was from the same cows
10 great extent, or at least from ordi-
nary scrub cows. The only difference
was that they were fed right and taken
better care of. Our last years herd rec
ord shows that out of nine cows having
a full years record, the average received
from each COW was PAT pounds Of butter
fat, worth SS7 43, the cost of keep being
$50 50 per COW, and the net returns
SAT "a. This winter they have been do
ing still better. Our creamery checks
have averaged close to 500 per month
from an average of II cows. We expect
some of our best cows to bring over 800
pou uds of bu,terfat this year. Now this
is nothing extraordinary By any means,
it is only beginning, but it shows what
can be done when little care and atten
ton is given. s.
We have now remodeled our barn aud
have 1t very handy, clean, and convenient
in every way, with plenty of light and
complete King system of ventilation.
We have good pure bred Holsten sire
and as soon as we can do so we are going
to have pure, bred stock entirely. Things
are now arranged so that our herd i'm
proves year after year. The milk il
weighed from each COW at each milking
and tests are made regularly. The cows
are fed before freshening as we'll as after
Chores are always done in regular way
BY having the cows come fresh in the
fall we do away with the milking IN th'
greater part of September and October
which is generally very busy time on
the farm, with blowing. threshing, corr
harvesting, and other fall work. II als'
gives more time 10 attend to agricultural
and state fairs. Then there are one Of
two months that no milk hauling Is nee
essary, thus saving that much time ant
giving tho full use of the horses for th'
fields. The calves also do much better
when born in the fall, and the cows viii
1 40 varv mucb better With iudiciou