The Mankato free press., 1923-06-08

/ THE cow VS.. THE BOOTLEGGER
II can pay my fine for bootIeggins
just as soon as sell my cow" said
young man recently to judge VII.
liams in the federal court for the
eastern district of Oklahoma.
you sell that cow and will send
you to jail for six months" replied
the Judge. Keep the COW and drink
| its milk instead of corn whisky. That
cow is worth more than all the whis
ky in Johnston county" ~
Perhaps no one thus far has given
thought 10 any connection between
the dry law and dairying, yet the fact
that during the first year of the oper--
alton Of the eighteenth amendment
our per capita consumption Of milk
in this country increased from forty
nine gallons rise Of fourteen per
cent, as revealed by government hg-
ures Just published-offers food for
such thought, and at the same time
provides really strong argument for
prohibition. For to replace class OF
beverages for which even their most
strenuous supporters never claimed
with the one drink which, above all
others, supplies the nearest approach
to complete food is matter OF
mendous meaning. And the figures
for 1922, now available, show con-
tinuod increase in the consumption
of milk and dairy products, saya The
Philadelphia North American.
With more than $4,000, 900 cows on
! the job last year, we produced In
this country 1850, 900, 900 gallons OF
milk. and the total value Of this
enormous output exceeded $4,000, 900
000-more than, 500. .000, 900 in ex-
cess of the value OF our corn crop
and $500, 900. 900 beyond that Of our
hay and forage crops. OF this Mag
ara of milk" as some one has
the homes of the nation, and ~ per
cheese and other milk products. Tue
calves Of the country took care Of
per cent and 8 per cent was wasted
this last figure representing loss
of some 350,00o,000 gallons.
In 1890, thirty three years ago, our
annual per capita consumption Of
milk was twenty 6wo gallons. BY 1890
il had almost doubled. Then came
the shortage of certain other bever.
ages-and in a single year the unpre.
cedented increase Of six gallons per
capita. ny. -.... -
Even today. according to leading
authorities, who are agreed In this
particular, our milk consumption in,
the home Is only half what 1t should
be. These experts base their calcula.
proved concerning milk as a food ia
scientific laboratories and through
actual present day experience, but
also on the showing of history, which
consistently reveals the milk drink
e-s AS the mightiest among men and
nations AS we have pointed out, the
recent war set a final seal upon this
assumption that dairying plays
major part in the destiny of peoples.
A million cows would have bean
worth more to Germany than q mil.
lion actual soldiers-indeed, the fail.
ure Of that nation to carry out its i'm
perialistic plan was due chiefly TO
lack of dairy food. ~
Il is entirely reasonable to believe
that the present place and power Of
the American people is due In no
small measure to our cultivation OF
the cow as an ally. 1t is equally reas-
enable to assume that If we will pay
la little more attention to the care OF
cows we cultivate we shall reap still
larger results. ~
Ten or twelve years ago an Illinois
banker, the late B. F. Harris, sensed
the need of a closer CO operation be-
tween the man who creates wealth
the, farmer-and those who handle
wealth-the bankers. AS a result or
his vision and ceaseless actvitica,
the American Bankers association
created an agricultural commission,
and subsequently the Pennsylvania
Bankers association did the same
thing, choosing as chairman OF THIS
important committee e. B. Harshaw
of Grove City. rt
"Fiye years ago we had no pure
bred animals in this nefghborhood,
said Mr.. Harshaw recently, while
today we have over 5000 pure breds.
Since 1915 there have been organized
two bull associations with a m emoer-
ship of about 112, three breeders as
sociations with a membership OF 252,
a creamery patrons association with
membership of about 700, and
boys and girls calf club with mem
bership of about rs and a cow test
ing association OF about nifty mem
bers." .| ~
It is obvious that very small in
dividual increase in the annual total
of milk yielded by the nations dairy
CuWS WOulo 81 " AhIhO OP 'oh ChOAE
nous increase In the sum total OF
milk production-and the cost OF
feeding a pure bred cow does not ex-
eeed that of feeding scrub. That
possibilities of milk production are
not merely a matter Of pure bred
stock, but also of feeding, is well IL
lustrated by an experiment recently
carried out by the federal department
of agriculture, which fed a mature
Holstein cow on good pasture In
summer and corn silage and alfalfa
hay in winter, but gave the animal no
grain.
That cow consumed an unknown
quantity of fresh grass during the
140 days she was on pasture, and ate
5000 pounds of alfalfa hay and 5000
pounds of silage during the remain
Ger of the year-a matter OF some
nine tons Toughage. The COW pro-
duced $4,000 pounds Of milk, which
contained 470 pounds OF butterfat. In
the succeeding year, when In addition
to about the same amount Of rougA-
age, the cow ate 1000 pounds OF
grain, the animal yielded more than
25, 900 pounds Of milk and S23 pounds
Of butteqfat
). What such facts mean to the farm
er in dollars and cents is shown by
another recent Investigation made by
the department of agriculture. This
investigation proved that cows which
produced an average OF 1850 pounds
of milk per annum showed an aver
- ;~o1,,.4 - 600 OK q hova fha rAaf