Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-12-22
APPEARANCE OF THE
DAIRY COW VERY
OFTEN DECEPTIVE

That the appearance OF a dairy cow
can not be depended on to indicate her
production Of milk Is illustrated by q
demonstration conducted under the
auspices OF the dairy division of the
department with q herd of nine cows
at the National Dairy Show held re-
Gently at Springfield. Mass.
A years record Of milk and butter
fat already had been made for all the
cows Of the herd. During the show
complete records Of production and
feed consumption were kept and in ev-
cry case the previous records were du-
plicated. Some Of the COWS We're OF
poor dairy type, yet were good pro-
ducers: others were OF good dairy type.
yet were poor producers; still others OF
similar appearance had greatly differ
ent records. OF the s named class
were Nos. s and 9. Many experienced
stockmen selected No. 9 as the better
Of the two. but the records showed
that for the last year No. s gave S.445
pounds OF milk and 346 Of fat compar-
ed with 4.27s pounds of milk and 1913 OF
fat for No. 9. This served as an object
lesson C the hundreds Of people who
daily viewed the demonstration that
good dairy type Is not always assocaf-
ed with large production and that poor
dairy type does not indicate lack OF
large yield. n
What does it cost to keep rec
ords?" was a common question of the
dairymen. In cow-testing associations,
where the above-quoted records were
made the charge is $50 a month for
each COW, and in addition the board of
the tester for one day each month.
With feed labor, and live stock SO high,
1t certainly is imperative to eliminate
every unnecessary expense like the
'%boarder'' or, "robber" COW that falls to
pay for even her feed.
In the big room, at the dairy show
where the cows were Sanctioned were
several hundred comfortable seats.
Here several times each day we'll
known dairymen from various parts 81
the country talked to the large audi
ences on dairy problems, illustrating
their remarks with the cows OF the
demonstration herd. = Especial empha-
sis was laid upon the value OF records
in economical management.
Cooperative bull associations were
carefully described and their many adj
vantages explained. That it was pos
sible to have high-class bulls OF the
finest breeding for the use of a dairy
with, only a few cows seemed 20
many farmers as too. good to be true,
especially when The cost was even less
than in the case of scrub bulls. In This
connection the charts that illustrated
the conditions at Roland, Iowa, before
and after the organization Of a bullas-
ISOLATION, elected much interest. At
that place. for a yearly investment Of
$3.50 each..the members have The use
OF Ave $40 bulls for ten years.
On the waal9 sof the demonstration
room were pictures OF famous larry
animals, charts Showing results OF rec
crd keeping. etc. Adjoining were skel-
eton milk or dairy holIseS. with the
sides only partially finished, to show
the construction: also a model OF a
dairy barn and of a silo. In h milk
houses was dairy equipment. and 4
In charge answered questions on
,dairytng and explained the constFuc-
ton Of these and all other kinds OF
Dairy buildings.
AT regular periods demonstrations in
the sterilization of milk utensils were
given with the inexpensive farm ster-
iiizer described in Farmers Bulletin
74s; these demonstrations were well
attended.
There was also keen interest in ev-
cry part of the demonstrations. as may
be judged from the fact that about D
600 people listened to lectures and fully