324 MISSOURI AGRICULTURE REPORT. 



A. (By Mr. Gurler) — In regard to that I will say several years 

 ago I went to work to demonstrate whether or not it paid to keep cows 

 in the stable during fly time. I did just as careful work as I knew how. 

 I kept a stable with 64 cows, in four rows. We kept our stable dark 

 and had a system of ventilation going on and did all ^ye could to keep 

 flies out. One-half of our cows we turned out at night and kept them 

 in the stable in the dav time. The other half we let o-o out into the 

 grove both day and night. I fed them in the orchards in the grove. I 

 took the silage out there which we were feeding, as feed to help out pas- 

 ture. We weighed the milk, keeping the account of the daily milk flow 

 of each half of the herd. We took as a basis, I think, the two weeks 

 previous to commencing this work and reckoned from that the decrease 

 or increase of each half, the one confined in the stable and the other 

 running in the grove and taking their chances with the flies. When I 

 got through with this work, to my surprise I found the cows confined 

 in the stable gave tw^o ounces per day more milk than the half that was 

 outside. I made up my mind that it would not pay me. That is only 

 one experiment and I want you to take it at what it is worth. I have 

 never undertaken another. I am satisfied that it would not pay me to 

 do it. 



Another thing in regard to this fly business. A fly remedy will 

 only keep ofl; flies for a couple of hours. It has to be so you can apply 

 it so as to keep the cows unmolested while milking and after milking 

 time is over the flies will work that much more lively and the cow is in 

 so much more misery. I hear men say that these fly remedies will keep 

 flies off for twelve hours, some say 48 hours. They don't do that for me. 

 I do not find that kind of remedies. If anybody has them I would like 

 to have one myself. 



Mr. Graves — I find in putting cows in the barn, if you screen the 

 door and do it the right way, it makes more flies in the barn than out- 

 doors. It just keeps them inside. We found that our cows did a little 

 Jjetter on the outside, and we watched our record closely. 



I agree with Mr. Gurler so far as fly remedies are concerned. They 

 sent us all kinds and quantities free of charge, but we found tluni to 

 be a positive injury. If we used them strong enough to accomplish 

 the purpose, we blistered the cows, and aside from that we closed the 

 pores of the skin in the cows so that we could not keep them in condition, 

 and we abandoned all fly remedies whatsoever. Later on in St. Louis, 

 we put in electric fans. I think, Mr. Gurler, you are i^erfectly right 

 about fly remedies. 



Mr. Smith — I just want to say a word. My obscrvatimi has been 

 that a bunch of flics will cot hold of a cow and remain there — will follow 



