The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1925-11-05
GETTING READY FOR WINTER
~ DE-. G. HI. Eckles, University OF
minnesota, University Farm, ST.
Paul, Minnesota

One of Roosevelt's pointed sayings
was Nine tenths of wisdom is being
wise in time" This statement applies
lines of human activity. Many
today have already been reminded
very, strongly that winter is close
good deal of their cream check and
want to be wise In time that the
check may not become smaller or APP
pear less frequently.
The man who finds his cream check
4dwindling week by week during the
winter was not wise in time" He is
not maintaining summer conditions
The dairy cow does her est on a
mer. The skillful dairy cow owner
however, has little trouble in getting
practically as good production in the
winter as in the summer. The big
cream and milk check of early. sum-
mer is partly the result of feed con-
ditions and partly because the cow is
comfortable. Keep summer conditions
for your cow during the winter and
get summer production.
~
In preparing for the winter the first
thing to do is to go over your feed
situation. If you have silage on hand
and Legume hay in the barn, it will
be easy to fix up a suitable grain mix
ture. If you have corn and oats or
barley on hand f you will not nesd
have some heavy milking cows to
feed. If your cows are heavy mixers
some concentrate high in protein is
and the amount needed for the winter
should be purchased. 1t never pays to
half feed livestock of any kind and if
you do not have suitable feeds on hand
One reason why the dairy COW does
well in summer is because she is
comfortable. Right now you will find
many cows that are far from enjoying
Too
many are standing outside when they
should be in the barn. L believe cows
suffer more from cold on the average
in November than during any other
month. This time of the year the
owner likes to keep them out as long
as possible to save labor and possibly
ing feed. A cow compelled to stand
out doors in a cold raw wind or
cold rain is in no condition to make
profit. They will not hold up In milk
comfortable. My plea is do not wait
too long in the fall before beginning to
house the cows at night and even
during the day time whenever the
1 had a letter from a man a few
days ago in which he said he was
through with the dairy business be-
cause SaaS ne pufc the@ ten COCO cows
count Of their udders all freezing dur
ing the winter. My sympathy was
with the cows rather than the owner.
This incident shows there is still
much chance for improvement in hous-
ing dairy cattle.
B.
Housing fattening animals and dairy
cows is quite different proposition.
The fat animal is well protected from
the cold and does not mind it. The
cow in milk is not protected by lay
er of fat. She is giving off fat in
place of putting it ON. A barbed wire
fence is a mighty poor shelter for a
dairy cow either day or night during
the winter.
If your barn is not one in which
your cows will be comfortable when
winter comes the thing to do is to
get busy and do what you can to make
it so. 1t is not necessary that the tenn
perature Of the barn be kept anything
like that of human dwelling but on
the other hanad a barn so cold that
the manure freezes every night is los
ing money for the COW owner. By no
means are all the losses from cold
barns in the states having the cold .r
climates. In the northern and colder
states barns are built warmer as
rule than farther south. In some To-
~calities it is only too common to find
barns with cracks through which the
winter wind whistles. Ventilation is