Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1917-10-05
DAIRY PRACTICES
AT BRADLEY FARM
How Herd is Handled Told in
Hoard's Dalryman
Lessons Learned By Experience
Continually Bred UP for over 80
Years.


A well.known Brattleboro dairy herd
and the way it is handled furnish the
subject matter for an article in the last
issue of Hoard's Dairyman, under the
title, Practices of Dairyman in Yer
mont The article is illustrated by four
halftone pictures of cattle on the Brad
ley farm are reads as follows:
It's an easy matter around Brattle
boro, Vermont to find out who is con-
sidered to be the best dairy farmer in
the community. Those who keep cows
seem to be generally agreed in the mat
ter. Anyone of them is ready with the
statement, "Why, H. NJ. Barrett is
about the best we have around here.
When it comes to cows, there isn't
man who can beat him.
The proof of this judgement can be
found at the farm owned by J. d. Brad
ley and managed by Mr.. Barrett. Two
hours spent there ,-one, in going over
the herd, and the other in talking with
the manager brings man up against
facts in New England dairying The ac-
companying pictures of several indi-
viduals led out from the herd give an
idea of the kind of COWS selected for
profit making; the following paragraphs
give a few of the truths gathered in
twenty-five years in the school of hard
practice. An hour s talk with this Yer
mont farmer who has made good with
cows further proves that scientific in
vestigations and actual experience agree
very closely in the facts discovered.
The herd is made up Of grade Guern-
seys which have been continually "bred-
up" for over thirty years On farm
on which one hundred acres are titled,
eighty head of cattle besides other stock
are maintained. Though considerable
quantities of concentrates are purchased,
all the rOughage, including silage, hay,
and soiling crops, are raised ON the farm
Every dairy animal except one was
raised on the farm The milking herd
consists of about thirty-fve head. These
cows are large and rugged and uniform.
They show no signs of pampering or of
overwork. There isn't anything fancy
about them, but they "have the goods
to produce 1000 to 10000 pounds of
five per cent milk year after year, an
occasional individual producing over
500 pounds Of fat, and to drop calves
every twelve months. If all New Eng
land dairymen had cows of equal quality
in any of the breeds, the profit and loss
sheet on many farm would show up bet
ter. Last year the entire milking herd of
36 cows produced an average of 6,SS6
lbs. of milk at q feed cost per 100 lbs
of $l.l3 and n cost of $.23 per pound of
fat.
Mr.. Barrett begins feeding for milk
production when the calf is dropped.
1t is left with the dam but one day
and, if the milk is especially high in |
test, never receives its dam s milk I'M
diluted after that. Warm water rather
than skimmilk is used in diluting Two
quarts of milk twice per dav is CON
sidered a good feed. Skimmilk is entire
ly substituted for whole milk as early |
as the calf begins to eat grain. If pos
sible some skimmilk is supplied from
September or October, when the calves
are dropped, until-about March. Batch
fOrd's calf meal has been used as
substitute with success, though Mr.. Bar
rett says 1t can't entirely replace skim
milk with calves under five months. If |
it were available skimmilk would be fed |
calves until they are a full year old. |
No calf is over fed more than eight |
quarts in day.
Calves are started on concentrated |
mixture of bran and middings as early
as they will eat, at three weeks to two |
months of age, and later changed to one
of bran, oil meal, corn mean, and mid |
dlings mixed in equal parts. Hay is |
kept before calves after they are three
to four weeks old. Pastures are not
choice on the farm and calves pampered
through the winter do not Craze we'll.
TO avoid the loss in growth rate when
they are put on pasture, an effort is
made to feed calves sparingly enough in
the winter months that they will come
to pasture, not fat, but vigorous and
greedy of appetite.
Professor Eckles of the University of
Missouri made a valuable contribution
to dairy science by securing data, de-
finitely establishing the fact that heif-
ers making considerable part of their
growth before first calving produce more
milk in their life time and reach great
er mature growth than individuals
fresf ening early. Practical experience
taught this truth to this Vermont farm
cr. Heifcrs are not bred to freshen un-
der thirty months for, according to Mr..
Barrett, Gin the long run, they pro-
duce more than those which freshen
early. There is very little difference
between the production of the first and
second lactation periods
Heifers are fed literally on roughage
previous to freshening and if necessary
are given light feeds of bran to bring
them to calving in good condition
Heifers in good flesh are sometimes Civ
en- no grain for the first week and only
two. or three quarts of bran per day
during the second. Then middlings or
distillers grains are added. Each heifer
is fed as an individual. Mr. Barrett
early discovered that even animals of
identical breeding vary widely in their
feeding capacity. 1t commonly takes
him five to six weeks to get heifers on
to full feed; older cows are brought to
their full ration in two to four weeks
after freshening
The value of legumes in the ration
has been so clear that when clover hay
is fed the protein allowance from con-