The Question Box. 353 



100 each, while H. O. dairy feed is figured at 103, gluten feeds 

 120, gluten meals 152, old process linseed meal 135, cotton seed 

 meal 152, Buffalo gluten 125. These figures are on the basis of 

 wheat bran at 85 cents per hundred pounds for the protein value. 

 The starch foods on a basis of corn meal at say |1 per hundred 

 are valued as follows: Corn meal |1, "Quaker Oat" feed 85 

 cents, oat hulls 75 cents, " H. 0." horse feed 95 cents. I think 

 we lose sight of one great point, that is, we are feeding the cow 

 for the special purpose of getting milk and overlooking the most 

 important ones of her health and that of her posterity. 



Will Mr. Gould tell us what breed of dairy cows would be the best for 

 a general-purpose cow, in his opinion? 



Answer. — Why not ask what machine will do all the work on 

 the farm. We cannot have a cow that will give a lot of milk 

 one day, a heifer calf one year and a bull the next, and, lastly, 

 beef, and have her a success. The farmer must use the best he 

 has; then breed up. One man wants a Jersey, another a Guern- 

 sey and so on. Take the best you have got. Breed up and stick 

 to them. 



Will young cows do as well when standing beside old cows through 

 the winter as they would if in separate stables? 



Mr. Cook. — I do not know why they will not. We have both 

 old and young cows standing side by side, and have had every 

 year^ but I never have detected any difference between them and 

 those which were standing alone. 



How long should a cow go dry? 



Dr. Smead. — Just as long as she wants to. Don't strive to 

 dry her off. Nature made her as she is. If she wants to give 

 milk till she drops her calf, let her do it. I have a cow that has 

 been milked every day during seventeen years, and her oldest 

 daughter is owned by my hired man. That old cow has never 

 been milked without eating a grain ration. The daughter is as 

 persistent a milker as is her mother. The old cow gave 6,800 

 pounds of milk last year, testing from 4.8 to 5.2 per cent, of fat; 

 and there has been no falling off in her milk flow during the last 

 ten years. The old cow is a cross between the Jersey and Ayr- 

 shire. 



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