The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1916-07-21
A Dairy in the
Southwest
ny 8. PAUL cowolLL

tho whole plan Of which, including
the lots surrounding the buildings.
Ia n large part OF circle. divided
into many sectors and covering
80 acres. This dairy caters 10 the
milk trade OF the thriving border
city OF III Psso. Texas.
Tho farm IL located just eight
miles from the city on smooth
road that borders tho irrigated por.
ton OF the Rio Grande valley.
Three huodred and seyenty-fivc
cows. on the average. arc MIXED
the year round The corporation Ia
operated In three distinct units
the alfalfa farm. the dairy. and tho
distributing system in the city each
under separate management \
large part of uiiddlemans profits Is
eliminated
Tho MANAGEMENT Of a large dairy
herd OF hlgh production. in an arid
section where irrigation IN prac.
ticcd. requires methods that are
somewhat different from those fol.
lowed IN the more humid regions
Here there are no natural pastures
Tho Irrigated lands are not adapt.
ed for paaturing and. even II they
were. this land n too high IN value
10 b, used for such a purpose
II green forage 10 to be fed nj
all 10 dairy stock II must be soiled
or cut and hauled daily to racks In
tho feeding lots Tho Texas eli
mate Il particularly adapted 20 this
practice. for green alfalfa can be
cut during about eight months OF
tho year
The dairy buildings and feed lots
are concentrated on an arid knoll
OF land covering about so acres Of
otherwise worthless land. Jus,
across tho road from the highly
productive alfalfa farm Tho lay.
scrlbcd by comparing II 20 iadys
fan. full spread Al the base Of
the handle OF the fan IL the cream.
cry. where the bottllng and nepar.
sting work ~ done. From this cen.
trail building four long. tworow
milking barns. with capacity OF
40 cows each. rRdiate in such
way as 10 form four large rihH for
tho fan. Woven. wire fences diyid.
ing the B0.acrs semi-circie into sec.
tors. with four sectors or feeding
general plan. This divides tho herd
into units OF 30 cows for each lot
Efficiency OF management 10 tho
essential purpose Of this arrange
mcnt OF buildings and feeding lots.
A large amount OF work In involved
In tho daily hauling OF fresh.cut
alfalfa for 400 high. producing cows
The fan-shaped arrangement places
tho lots close together and the
hauling 10 confined 20 n Compare.
lively small area. Seven Mcxicans.
II ono dollar day each. and two
wagons. are required for this work.
Tho road passes thru and con.
meets all the feed lots. and touches
tho rear ends OF four large hay
barns. which are merely extensions
OF tho milking barns Hero are
stored concentrates and baled
alfalfa, for usc during the short
winter. A small amount OF dry
alfalfa Is fed during the rest OF the
year TO balance the suecuiant sllAEe
that IL fed and 10 prevent hloatInr.
Another distinct advantage OF tho
centralized arrangement Ia the eff.
cient and easy management Of such
large herd Of dairy animals. Sys-
tenn IL easily maintained by having
the large herd divided into units OF
30 animals each, and the least
amount OF labor IL required 10
carry on the daily routine. The
entire herd IL before the herdsman
Mt all times. and records are easily
kept. both OF production and OF
breeding
Tho dairy maintains eight bulls.
After a COW In dry she Is passed
thru three different lots where she
receives the attention and the
proper feed needed at different
periods before she IL due TO calve.
From one to three calves are born
almost every day tho year round
The helfer calves reared to re-
pienlsh the herd are managed on
plan much like that OF the milk.
Ing herd They are kept In n cir
cular system OF lots. which have a
row OF calf stanchions at the small
end. Ten calves form unit. and
they are passed from ono lot TO the
next and fed different rations nc.
cordlng 10 age.
There arc fourteen mixers for
tho herd and the average time re.
CURED for them to do their work
In between five and six hours
day The barns are OF the sim
plest construction. with no side
walls. and the COWS run In the
feeding lots except when they are
being cleaned and milked, 40 the
necessary labor is reduced to
minimum.
Cleanliness and promptness are
the two requirements that invar-
iably strike the attention OF the
visitor. The cows are groomed for
an hour each day: white suits are
worn by all who handle the milk
and every prtcaution Is taken TO
keep the milk clean. TO meet tho
strict requirements OF tho city
board OF health, Each operation is
started al the sound OF n whistle
from the boiler room and the big
motor truck starts TO the city with
it's two-ton load of milk at fixed
time twice each day.
The average production OF the
herd is about 5000 pounds OF milk
a day. or n daily average OF
twenty-three TO twenty-five pounds
per animal. All cows In the herd.
except for one string OF thirty
pure-breds. are grades. Among the
pure-bred cows are three individu-
ais that have yearly records OF
moro than 10000 pounds OF milk
The average yearly production OF
the string OF pure-bred Holsteins
ls more than $4,000 pounds ~ milk
per COW Country Gentleman