VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 47 



THE DAIRY COW, HER CARE AND FEED 



By Geo. H. Tkrrill, Morristown, at a Meeting of the Board 

 of Agriculture at Albany, February 22. 



Here is the foundation of the whole dairy business, for upon 

 the cow more than any other one thing, depends our success or 

 failure in the dairy work upon our farms, and upon our success as 

 dairymen depends, to a great degree, (for many of us at least) our 

 success as business men and home makers. 



Much depends upon the care and feed bestowed, but with 

 the best of care and feed we cannot make a cow with a capacity of 

 125 pounds per year a source of profit. And without profit we 

 have nothing to improve our farms, beautify our homes and edu- 

 cate and encourage those who come after us. 



How are we to get this profitable dairy cow ? Not always by 

 going out and buying a registered herd for I realize that many of 

 us cannot do this for want of means. But improve the herds we 

 now have first by selection. Use a Babcock tester and scales and 

 you will be as much surprised as I was by this method, to find 

 the cow you supposed to be one of your poorest one of your best 

 and vise versa. 



If you cannot buy a tester take the milk to the creamery for 

 a few months once a month and have it tested. But be careful in 

 taking your sample to pour the milk back and forth in the pails 

 several times and then at once take out a pint jar full for sample 

 before it has time to settle. 



Multiply the test by the number of pounds and add 15 per 

 cent for churn gain and you will easily know what your cows are 

 doing. Sell to the butchers any you may chance to have that are 

 unprofitable, for you are better off to milk and care for less, and 

 have only those that pay a profit, for the work and feed bestowed 

 upon them. 



When you have thus disposed of the unprofitable ones, get a 

 thoroughbred sire of the dairy breed that suits you best, which 

 in these times can be bought within the means of any man who is 

 able to keep ten cows. 



Buy an old bull if you can that has proven himself to be a 

 good sure sire and able to transmit his likeness to his progeny, 

 and the better he will do this, the more valuable he is as a dairy 

 sire. Many times breeders have used a superior animal until, to 



