Milford chronicle., 1938-12-16
OF Interest to Farmers

A cold snap in winter. as farmers
well know, almost always causes a
sharp drop In production Of dairy
cows. When warmer weather re-
turns the herd may make up prac-
tically all this temporary loss and
return to the previous level Of pro-
duction-or it may not.
In alalyzing herd records of Wis
consin dairymen, M. A. R. Kelley Of
the Federal Bureau of Agricultural
Engineering was able to trace a
rather definite relationship between
good stabling and good management
and the recovery of production after
cold snaps.
In herds that qualify as produc-
ers of grade A milk, the stabling
and management must be good. In
such herds production did not drop
seriously as the result of 3-day
cold snap and when the weather
moderated half of the COWS returned
to or exceeded their records for the
days just before the cold weather.
In the poorer harms IN the study
only a quarter of the COWS came
back to their former records, and In
cases where the cows were poorly
fed as well as poorly housed the
shrinkage in milk yield was sharp
est and there was not a satisfactory
recovery. Cows kept In poorly
lighted and poorly ventilated barns"
says Kelley, "did not respond so
readily when once their yield was
upset. as did the COWS in better
barns"
Carotene. a yellow pigment of
plants from which vitamin A is for
med in the animal body, occurs in
close association with green color |
ing matter of pasture plants and
other green forages. The green col
or of cured roughages usually is a
good Indicator of carotene content.
With silage. however, scientists OF
the Bureau of Dairy Industry have
found an exception to the rule. The
green color may be greatly reduced
in the fermentation process without
losing an appreciable amount of care
Otene so long as the fresh green
feed is packed tightly enough in the
silO to force out and keep air out.
Vitamin A is one of the "musts"
of a dairy ration, say the scientists,
because 1t is a factor in controlling
growth of young animals and infiu-
ences resistance to infection in ami
mails of all sizes. 1t is one element
Of the ration, however, that Is like
ly to be deficient, especially in dry
years when green feed is scarce.
o.
The Bureau Of Agricultural Eco
nomics makes the point that agricul-
ture is not composed entirely of
wheat, cotton, and corn; that agri-
culture has many other branches
each covering vast acreages, engag-
ing thousands of farmers and farm
laborers and yielding farm income
in eight figures.
According to information received
at the Delaware Extension Service I
headquarters, dry beans are cited as ,
one example Of $50.O00,000 indus /
try. Sugar beets are a S50,00O,0 |
industry; peanuts. $44.000.000: rice, ]
$35 100000 Strawberries, s25,0OO,- !
0O0; onions, $2S,O0O,0OO: cabbage.
$2O,00O,000.
Truck crops for canning or man '
ufacture cover more than 100000
acres and yield an average annual {
cash income of s50.000.000. Much of I
the acreage is in the North Central
and the Middle Atlantic Coast {
States. There is a considerable q
acreage on the Pacific Coast 4
Tree nuts-English wainuts, al Il
monds. pecans. and filberts--are a e
s2O,000,000 industry, which has y
doubled in production IN the last 20 r
years. The November issue OF the n
Agricultural Situation, monthly pub n
ication of the Bureau, says that in L
creased production-which has re- I
placed large volume of nuts for Il
nerly imported-is expected to con- n
inue in the next 5 years, as bearing u
lcreage increases. Il
Pecans, English walnuts and al C
nonds have long been the leading il
iomestically produced nuts In the Il
I920's filberts were found to be a II
profitable crop in Washington and al
oregon. In the last 10 years Albert
lcreage in these States has expand Il
ID rapidly. Black walnuts, like pc m
ans, are native to the United States. b
they enter into the channels of 81
rade but have never been grown as IN
commercial crop. p'
Trends in consumer purchases Of di