New-York tribune., 1919-06-02
Saving Daylight Spoils
the Cosu
To the Editor of The Tribune.

Sir: | wish to say a word in referer..
to your article of this morning on uaye :.
Of The Tribune, entitled daylight Savc.
Imperilled." I have no objection as raS;'
dent of New York City to the dayligh, say.
ing plan, but I am the owner of a da;r,
farm in upper New York, and as dairv
farmer / am very much opposed to the dav.
light saving law and am absolutely in favor
of its being repealed.
In your article you make the one scnsib,.
suggestion that has ever been made con.
cerning dairy farmers in connection with
this law and that is that the train schedu,.
for milk should be run one hour later or
by sun time. This one thing would make tina
life of the dairy farmer livable, but when
you consider that the dairy farmer must
get up in the morning under the new law
at $3.50 by sun time, and that every dairv
barn has to be lighted by electric or sas
lights. as the case may be, in order that ths
farmer may have light enough to milk and
feed his cows, you will not be so nsistent
upon the saving of gas and electric light for
the ordinary housekeeper. AS a matter Of
fact, the housekeeper in the city does no.
save anything in the way of lights during
the summer by the clock being turned for
ward. Those residing in the city only gain .
by getting a better use of their late after.
Moons and evenings, but this is quite besds
what consider the greatest evlI of all, and
this evil is done to the COW herself, and asa
result the farmers lose millions of dollars
thereby. All animal life lives according to
time. You cannot change their habits
by turning the clock forward
Cows, in order to give the most efficient
service IN the dairy business, must be milked
at exact periods of twelve hours EACH If
you milk the in the morning at 4:SO
you must milk her in the afternoon at 4 80:
If you milk her in the morning at S, shs
must be milked in the afternoon at 5, etc,
To disturb cow in the morning before her
rest is completed means a loss of milk. and
to disturb her again in the afternoon means
greater loss. Cows Craze through the cool
of the forenoons and 60 and lie down in
the shade in the middle of the day and
until 4 o'clock or 4:30 in the afternoon, thu,
being able to masticate their food Of the
morning and TO rest in the coolest possible
places away from the worst ravages of their
arch enemy, the fly, after which they Of
their own accord get up and feed again.
Under the daylight saving law the COW
must be disturbed every morning and every
afternoon 1t makes no difference what YOU
DO with the clock, the cow goes to bed again
with the sun after the cool of the evening
has come on. She does not go to bed by the
clock and if she is disturbed an hour earlier
every morning, an hour is taken off Of her
ioh
day, because the COW does not get used 10
this sort of regime. No matter what time
she gets up i'll the morning she goes to bed
at night at the same hour. 1t is again 50
after the forenoons browse, she lies down
at an exact hour By the sun to chew her
cud' or masticate her food and thus accord
ing 10 the new law she is again disturb1
at $50 by the sun time in the Afternoon,
the very hottest time, and must be made to
get up, and she is driven in by the farmer
to the barns without having the opportunity
for her hours browsing III the afternoon.
Amy one with the slightest bit of scientific
thought can at once the effect Of thi,
daily disturbing Of the COW upon the flow
Of her milk. I caused to be made at my farm
last summer careful investigation and
trial upon my herd of cows, and by the new
regime the gave an average of two
quarts of milk less per day than if not dis
turbed and left to go By the old law This
] attribute absolutely 10 the disturbing Of
the COW twice day and the curtaing of
her rest If any one doubts this, just let
him go out into the country and hunt up the
cows at $3.50 n the afternoon by the sun
time He Will find the condition lust as l
said, and he Will pity the COW as he drives
her the half-mile TO mile across the burn.
ing sun-heated pastures to her barn
Now, supposing there are 100000 COWS in
the State OF New York, and each COW by
being thus disturbed gives an average Of
two quarts less of milk per day, what would
be the financial loss to the farmer thereby
1t would be the value of 100000 quarts Of
milk, would it not? So that in the summers
season more money is lost to the farmer than
any one could possibly imagine without sit
ting down and putting it IN figures
The effect produced upon the COW in rea-
ton TO her rest is produced upon all othey
animal life. All animals rise in the morn.
ing and go 10 bed at night by sun time, and
under the daylight saving law every horse
that works the farm must be disturbed
before his rest is over every solitary morn
ing. There is something more in life than
accommodating humanity; we must take into
consideration also the feelings of animal
life. We cannot govern the habits OF animal
life. They learned with the beginning Of
time TO lie down and sleep when darkness
came on and to arise with the dawn. To
change their habits is an impossibihty SO
that if we disturb an animal one hour before
his rest is completed in the morning we have
taken away one hour of that animals nights
rest every night.