64 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



DAIRYING. 



By I. C. Pike ot Marshfield, at a meeting of the Board of Agri- 

 culture held at Marshfield March 3, 1899. 



The subject of Dairying is one that interests a large pro- 

 portion of the inhabitants of this state ; for by this business we 

 get our living and something for a rainy day if we make it pay. 

 But the question that we are constantly trying to solve is, how 

 can we make it pay the largest amount? Certainly not by let- 

 ting everything go haphazard, with no care or thought about 

 the many little things connected with the business, such as 

 feeding, breeding, caring for the stock, and the making and 

 marketing of the product. There must be a great deal of care 

 and good judgment exercised from first to last in order to be 

 successful in this dairy business. It is sometimes said that 

 anybody can run a farm, but we find that the ones that are the 

 most successful in farming and especially in dairying are those 

 that study the business. It takes brains to run a dairy and make 

 it pay in these times of low prices for dairy products. A man 

 must study to produce milk or butter at its lowest possible cost. 

 He must raise on the farm everything he can to feed the cows, 

 then he must purchase those feeds that will balance the feed he 

 raises and produce the most pounds of butter fat for each dollar 

 paid out. To do this intelligently, he must be able to com- 

 pound rations that have certain amounts of each of the different 

 kinds of nutrients, such as carbohydrates, protein, fat, etc., in 

 the right proportions to produce the best results. The feeds 

 that can be raised on the farm to the best advantage and the 

 most profit, are clover, corn, oats, peas and grass. Early cut 

 hay is the best for cows. Cut the last of June and the first of 

 July, later will do for horses. The best way to harvest the corn 

 crop is to put it into the silo ears and all if it is to be fed to 

 cows. If one wants some for the pigs they can snap off part of 

 the ears and husk and put into cribs. Corn ensilage is the best 

 feed for cows that are giving milk I ever fed. Putting corn 

 into the silo secures the crop with the least waste and in the 

 best condition to feed. All kinds of stock like ensilage and 

 thrive upon it, and it lengthens out the hay crop wonderfully. 

 Oats and peas cut green and made into hay are good. Feed 

 liberally, for the cow is our machine for converting rough feeds 

 into milk. It takes a certain amount to sustain the life and 



