592 IOWA DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE 



year has found a job in the city and although it is not as remunerative 

 as the position on the farm, yet it is more permanent and thus one more 

 man is turned from the farm to the city. 



The one important step which must be taken in order to solve the 

 labor problem is to so arrange the work that it will be distributed through- 

 out the year and employment made permanent. If the cows freshened 

 in the latter part of November or the first part of December the heavy 

 milking starts at the time of year when most of the farm work is out 

 of the way. The hired man can take charge of these cows during the 

 winter and when spring comes he is ready to begin field work. 



Cows freshening in the fall give their highest production during the 

 most favorable season for milking. By spring they have been in milk 

 five or six months and naturally begin to decrease. As the hot days of 

 July and August approach and the flies make it unpleasant for milking 

 the cows are giving a small quantity. At this time we generally find a 

 drouth in most sections, and if no soiling crops or silage is at hand the 

 cows drop off in their milk flow. All of these adverse conditions are 

 avoided if the cows are drying off at this period. 



Calves dropped in the fall always do better than those born in the 

 spring. One of the principal reasons for this is that there is more time 

 to devote to their care during the winter months. Calves born in the 

 fall are given a ration consisting of milk and dry feeds which are less 

 likely to cause scours and other diseases prevalent when they are on 

 grass and allowed to overfeed and become bloated. The fall calf is also 

 old enough to take care of itself by spring when the field work becomes 

 heavy and the flies troublesome. However, in order to get the best 

 results in winter dairying it is necessary to have the conditions as near 

 those existing in June as possible. This can be done on every farm with 

 very little expense if the correct methods are followed. The warm air of 

 June can be had by sealing and papering the barn with the extra boards 

 and material found lying idle around every farm. The sunshine can be 

 supplied by cutting holes in the side of the barn and supplying glass to 

 take the place of the equally expensive siding. Ventilating flues or hinged 

 windows with muslin over the openings will serve to furnish the pure 

 air which is so necessary to the health of the hard working dairy animal. 

 The tank heater will heat the cold water in the tank and take the chill 

 off so that the cow will drink all that she needs to produce a large flow 

 of milk. Lastly, the succulent, palatable, green grass of June may be 

 substituted with good corn ensilage and the ration balanced by supple- 

 menting clover hay, alfalfa hay, oats, bran, cottonseed meal, etc. 



If we allow one-third of the cows in Iowa to supply the cities, con- 

 denseries and cheese factories with milk, there still remains 1,000,000 

 cows producing butterfat for the creameries. Each one of these could 

 easily be made to increase their production twenty per cent if they were 

 bred to freshen in the fall. This wduld mean that instead of 90,000,000 

 pounds Iowa would produce 115,200,000 pounds of butter per year, which 

 at twenty-five cents per pound would makft a difference of 4,800,000 

 annually to the dairy Interests of the state. 



