66 Bureau of Farmers' Institutes. 



is, when the food is dry. She will not require as much when she 

 has green food. 



Question. — At what season would you have a cow freshen? 



Mr. Goodrich. — Have the cow freshen in the fall. She will 

 give 3,000 pounds more milk in a year than when she drops her 

 calf in the spring. Then, too, the winter is the best season of the 

 year in which to raise a calf. 



Question. — At what age should a heifer drop her first calf? 



Mr. Goodrich. — Have the heifer drop her first calf when she 

 is two years old. Do not allow that heifer to put on fat from calf- 

 hood to motherhood. If you do, when you ask her for milk she 

 will say, " I can't do it; you taught me to put on fat when I was 

 a calf. I cannot give you milk now." 



Question. — Do bunches or sores on milch cows in any way 

 affect their milk? 



Mr. Smith. — Do you want to eat milk from a cow that has a 

 running sore? 



Several answered No. 



Mr. Smith. — A cow that has such a sore is diseased. Her 

 milk ought not to be sent to a factory or creamery. No matter 

 where the sore is, such a sore is caused by some diseased condition 

 of the blood, therefore, the cow is not in a healthy condition, and 

 the milk is not in a healthy condition. The cow should be in good 

 health and free from all disease. When one portion of the inimal 

 is diseased the whole system is more or less affected. 



Question. — Why do cows chew bones and old leather? 



Dr. Smead. — As a rule, it is caused by a sour stomach, or what 

 we call acidity. Salt and some powdered charcoal will correct 

 the acidity. Sometimes it is caused by a lack of mineral element 

 in the food. 



Question. — Does it injure a cow to have the calf suckle her 

 four weeks after calving? 



Mr. Goodrich. — I have practiced allowing the calf to suckle the 

 cow for that period, but to my sorrow. I now take it away as soon 

 as I can after it is dropped; that for the good of the mother. 



Question. — Which is the most profitable cow for the farmer, 

 the grade or full-blood Holstein? 



Mr. Van Wagenen. — The most profitable cow is the one which 

 will produce the most butter fat for the cost of the food s*he con- 

 sumes; lint, to say that a grade or thoroughbred is the best, is 

 in- the question. The record for best butter production by 

 one cow is held by a Holstein, although, as between the breeds — 



