Imperial Valley press., 1934-03-01

1t has long been recognized and
backed up by plenty of evidence
that the ability to produce at high
rate is the most sought after thing
in dairy cow This ability to pro-
dlce at high rate means economy
in the use of feed if the owner pre-
fers not to push such COW to the
limit.
Dairymen for generations have
recognized that the ability to pro-
duce large amounts of milk is an in
herited characteristic, and they
have tried to build up the produc-
ton of their herds by using sons of
nigh producing cows as herd sires.
In many cases they have been sue
cessful but it has been somewhat
of gamble. Study of the laws of
inheritance have explained many of
these failures and accounted for the
successes. Now, as the result of
these studies, emphasis is being
placed on the proven sire. The sire
proves to us what kind of inheri-
Jance he can pass on to his Off
spring by a comparison of num-
ber of his daughters with their
mothers. If the sire is capable of
passing on uniform high production
10 his daughters he will give his
sons the same power and they can
be used to head many herds. If
the sire cannot pass on to the next
generation uniform high production
he can be discarded and none of his
sons used. Just think how many
Gull COWS and the resulting finan-
cial loss can be prevented from ever
being born if this use of proven
sides becomes universal. Dairymen
may in time take means to prolong
the usefulness of good COWS that
cannot be made to breed. Spaying
of such COWS may some day become
q universal practice in such areas
This operation is said to prolong
the milk flow for several years. An
other development that may take
place could be the use of injections
of glandular extracts to start or pro-
long milk secretion in COWS that fail
to breed, thereby cutting down on
replacement costs.
Along this same line it may be
possible through feeding of high
quality feeds to prevent some of the
breeding troubles that are encount-
cred. At the government farm at
Bettsville, Maryland, they h We
found by careful experimental work
that on rations containing liberal
proportion of alfalfa hay of high
quality, that COWS have maintained
their health, milk yield and repro
ductive capacity for periods ranging
up to more than seven years. When
the hay fed was low quality timo-
thy hay the milk yield was reduc-
ed, the health and staying power of
the cows unsatisfactory, and the
reproductive capacity was seriously
interfered with. They found diff
Guilty in producing pregnancy in
COWS on low timothy hay, even
when balanced with the proper
grain ration. There was a marked
tendency for these COWS to throw
mature calves which were eth
er dead or weak, when low grade
timothy hay was used in the eXper-
jment as contraSted to high quality
alfalfa hay. There is a possibility
that the same thing might have
happened in somewhat less degree
if low grade alfalfa hay had been
used, because, one COW kept on high
grade timothy hay for four years
behaved normally. Low grade hay
is generally low in vitamins, which
may account for some of the diff
cultieS.
1t has been found in extensive eX-
periments with chickens that alfal-
ia hay will vary greatly in its vii
amin A content and as a rule the
more leaves and green color in the
alfalfa hay, the higher will be the
vitamin A content.
Experiments are being conducted
at Michigan to determine the proper
amount of lime and PHOSPHORUS in
the ration of dairy COWS and heif-
erS. They found that alfalfa hay
has more lime than PHOSPHORUS in