state Dairy Association. 249 



boiler in the dairy room to my water trough. After the cows fmisli 

 their breakfast they are turned into the yard and the live steam 

 turned on. The water would be positively warm, and with all the 

 cracking noise of the steam the cows would drink right up against 

 the discharge of the steam pipe, their heads being enveloped ia 

 the vapor. I prefer this plan of watering to any stable plan. At 

 this time the cows were being fed corn silage, corn meal, gluten 

 feed, oil meal, cottonseed meal and alfalfa hay run through the 

 cutter. The cut alfalfa would be placed in the mixing bin and 

 thoroughly wet with boiling water, and allowed to stand a few 

 moments, the other feeds then added and well mixed. In less than 

 two weeks the milk flow increased nearly twenty per cent for the 

 herd, the cows that freshened late showing the best gain. This 

 plan was not new to me, and I mention it only by way of illustra- 

 tion. 



You may think it about time to connect some cows with this 

 dairy problem, but I have found that cows are only incidental to 

 lirofitable dairying, unless accompanied by controlling factors. One 

 of the small ones that has proven of value to me in working cows 

 is the keeping open of the pores of the skin by gentle grooming. It 

 assists in promoting the health of the cows, but accomplishes an- 

 other purpose. It establishes a very friendly relation between the 

 cow and her attendant, a very valuable asset. If you are trying 

 for a record which every dairy cow owner should be doing, this 

 little feature should not be ignored. You can add still a little and 

 ofttimes much to the work of a cow by the manner in which she 

 is milked. It is not necessary that a cow be milked with lightning 

 speed, but rather steadily and gently. Avoid too much teat pull- 

 ing, but instead get the hand well up against the base of the teat 

 going further up on the udder as the udder is being relieved. It 

 encourages exhaustive milking and gets the last of it containing 

 the most fat. After all that can be said, our hope is mostly in 

 the beginner, and not in the "old timer" *'sot in his ways." Why 

 do we continue in this slip-shod way fooling with cows, deluding 

 ourselves into the belief that we are dairying. Let us awaken to 

 the fact that within our own ranks we have the most uncompromis- 

 ing foes to profitable dairying — our own indifference and cows 

 lacking in dairy tendencies. Why continue to milk and market 

 the product at a positive loss, unprofitable cows that should go 

 to the packer and cease to figure in competition? A well organized 

 plan of cow farming will afford interesting and remunerative em- 

 ployment for the sons growing up and will enable one to double 



