SEVENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK-PART VII. 341 



milk flow, and is ready to go on feed. The feeder must now deter- 

 mine what character her ration shall be. If fat, as is usually the 

 case, the ration must be quite narrow in order to stimulate the milk 

 producing proclivities in order that she will transfer this fat from 

 her body to the milk pail. Upon the manner in which the cow is fed 

 and handled the first thirty days after freshening, greatly depends 

 the volume of her work for that period of lactation. During this 

 time the feeder, taking advantage of the maternal instincts of the 

 cow, can easily stimulate her to the limit of her ability This is a 

 very important point for the feeder to bear in mind for it is a difH 

 cult task to greatly increase the milk flow after this time until 

 another period of lactation begins. 



Close watchfulness is now necessary, so that if the heifer shows 

 signs of working too hard by becoming poor, the ration must be 

 widened, or she will become too weak and emaciated to do her best 

 work. By thus changing the width of the ration back and forth 

 always supplying a wide variety and abundance of feed, the heifer can 

 be kept in the best of working condition. If at the same time she 

 IS cared. for properly and milked regularly with persistence she will 

 most invariably produce profitably, even the first year, if her breeding 

 IS along dairy lines. She should be re-bred so she will milk per- 

 sistently for a year and then have time to rest for six weeks before 

 sne freshens again. Profiting by her first year's education, she should 

 and no doubt will, be a great and profitable producing cow the re- 

 mainder of her life, if good feed and care continue. 



Although the point of management has been left till last It is 

 perhaps the most important point in successful dairying. Good man- 

 agement makes proper care and feed ■ possible. Upon the manage- 

 ment depends the supplying of good feed, pastures, soiling crops etc 

 that go to make the conditions of the cows and their attendants 

 favorable. A good manager is one who knows how to do every item 

 of labor that is to be done about the herd, from cleaning the stable 

 to keeping the accounts, testing the milk, etc. He is one who is 

 willing to do any one of these bits of labor, for on most dairy farms 

 occasion often demands that the manager do his share of the work 

 In smaller herds, the manager should take upon his shoulders the 

 work of the feeder, dispose of the milk products, attend to the breed- 

 ing, keep the records, and attend to the hundred of details that would 

 be overlooked by a man in a less responsible position. In fact he is a 

 busy man from morning till night. 



Member: I would like to ask if you find many dairjinen 

 reeding this blood 'flour to calves ? 



Prof. Van Pelt: Yes, a great number, especially in the East. 



Member: I have been feeding blood meal to milk cows. Is 

 there any benefit derived from that? 



