The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1915-09-23
A Cow in Pocket Edition.

duu bCluS OioooCu Will q SCuIlo Qlo-
position is always assured a welcome
wherever she goes. About forty
inches in height and weighing be-
tween six and seven hundred pounds,
she possesses excellent milking quail
tiles, being capable of averaging
eight quarts daily for ten months III
the year. Indeed, it is generally ad-
mitted that for the food consumed
she gives a larger return than any
other breed.
THAT sounds very encouraging, -
remarks the reader, but it would
be interesting to see in dollars and
cents whether it really pays to keep
such a beast" So let us look into
the facts of the case. The average
family, consisting of two adults and
two children, besides a maid, would
easily require two quarts of milk,
costing ten cents per quart, and a
pint of. cream, costing thirty cents,
making the milk and cream bill av-
erage fifty cents per day for fifty
weeks. The table butter bill would
average about four pounds per week,
or 200 pounds per fifty weeks, and
with butter costing forty cents the
yearly total amounts to $50. After
the little Kerry had supplied this
amount of milk and cream she could
only give half this amount of the table
butter, so in adding up the account
we will say that the milk and cream
and half~the table butter amounts
yearly to $215. A cow, then, to
prove her actual worth must return
more than $215 per annum.
A Kerry, or Dexter-Kerry COW Ia
cross of the Dexter and Kerry pro-
duces an animal about the size Of
the Kerry costs about $3.50; inter-
est on. this su m and depreciation
Figured at s15) is $24. The cow
will consume the following amount
of feed, exclusive of green feed rails
ed on the place; mixed hay, 1900
pounds, $22; wheat bran, 900
pounds, 1880; corn meal, 800
pounds, s5,25; cotton seed meal, 800
pounds, 1925; ground oats, 800
pounds, $5.25. These figures are
based on hay $40 per ton; bran, $50
per ton; corn meal, $1.75 per hun
dred weight; ground oats, s1.75 per
hundred weight. Add to this feed
bill $40 for bedding and $40 for
veterinary medicine, brushes, pals,
rock salt, and the total amounts to
s71.25. The question of bull SER
vice depends how far the COW is
sent. It is safe to charge off SIS
against it, possibly a bit more or
less; and as to labor, an hoy pr day
is ample-that is, on the basis OF
s$45 "a month for man-about-the-
place, the actual time given over to
the COW would average $50 year.
Thus the expense account finally
foots up to s146.25. To the credit
side must go $40 for seven tons of
manure, SO for calf butchers
price when five days old) and s24O
for milk, a total of $253. Balancing
debit against credit shows that our
little Irish COW is s1O6.75 to the
good.
Now as to the actual. care of such
a COW. About an acre Will supply
all green food during the growing
season, and some beets for winter.
70 give daily grain ration would
be impracticable, but it is wise for
the beginner to invest in a copy of
a book containing full informa-
ton as to balanced rations and how
to mix them, also to write to his
State agricultural college, asking for
bulletins on the feeding of cows.
The stable should be thoroughly
cleaned about Z a.. m, the manure
gutter emptied and dry earth spread
over the bottom of it as an absorb
ent; never provide for drainage in
a manure gutter, but use dry earth
as an absorbent. The COW may eat
her breakfast, consisting of half the
grain ration, while this is going on.
The stable in order, clean the COW
with brush, wiping her hind quar-
ters and bag with a damp sponge and
drying it with a towel. Milking
comes next, the pail should never
stand in the stable while the clean
ing goes on. 1t is also we'll to add
that under no circumstances should
a COW be spoken to harshly or treat
ed roughly. After milking throw in
a heaping bushel of lawn clippings,
or an armful of green corn stalks,
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