SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 901 



soli to cause the proper nodule to grow on the root of alfalfa. The ro 

 suit was good. We cut 3 tons from that 2 acres last year. The first of 

 the year we fed a good deal of bran and oil meal, our cow hay was about 

 half clover and the alfalfa was fed at the latter part of the season. All 

 this was good material for milk production. I also built a silo, filled it, and 

 from early fall up to the first of January — that being the end of my cow 

 year — we fed each cow about 30 pounds a day. 



"The cows we milked in 1905 were eleven grade shorthorns, one 10- 

 year-old Guernsey, two 3-year Guernseys with second calf, and for three 

 months three 2-year-old Guernseys with first calves, making the value of 

 fifteen cows for the year. I am forced to conclude that the greater part 

 of the increase has been caused by feed and care, because practically 

 elevon of these cows are the same as milked in previous years, and the 

 price of butter has not changed to any degree. I think it will pay the 

 painstaking dairy farmer to keep only the dairy bred cow, feeding and 

 caring for her for the milk she will produce. In 1904 I bought in Wis- 

 consin sixteen head of Guernsey heifers one year old, and of W. D. Hoard, 

 of the Dairyman, a bull. He said in correspondence that he had fifty 

 Guernsey cows and that their milk had netted him $7.5 each. Of course 

 his feed and care are of the best. He had 25 acres of alfalfa, which is 

 nearly equal to bran for feed. The expense of commercial feeds is greatly 

 diminished when we can have alfalfa or even clover. We purpose to test 

 eanh cow. weighing her milk and using a Babcock tester, and turn out 

 any cow that does not come up to our standard, which we have fixed for 

 1906 at 300 pounds per cow. We will have in our herd eleven heifers 

 with their first calves and it will not surprise me if we do not reach it. 



"I am aware that few farmers care to keep the regular dairy cow. 

 They prefer the big calves and steers, but there is one thing they can do, 

 and that is — learn to feed the big cow for better results. The common 

 cow usually gives a large flow of milk when she freshens, and holds it for 

 a while, then she shrinks until at eight or nine months she is dry. Now 

 when a cow freshens she should not be allowed to shrink, but at any 

 indication of it increase her feed. The cow, when she once looses her 

 flow, cannot be brouehL to the same quantity again. That means a loss 

 at each time during her milking period. My tenant and I agree that the 

 great difference of $17 gain to each cow during the last year is mainly 

 due to a close observance of this rule. Care should be taken that the 

 cows do not stand out in the cold either day or night, or in a cold rain. 

 Anything that excites a cow, such as being chased by boys, or an un- 

 usual commotion in the stable, causes a decrease of the flow of m'.lk. 



The disease of tuberculosis is causing a good deal of uneasiness in 

 some parts of the country. The packers are condemning large members 

 of hogs to the rendering tank. There has been talk of discriminating 

 against' hogs for the dairy districts because of the feeding of milk from 

 diseased cows. We have thought best to have our cows tested with 

 tuberculine, so called by the veterinarian. Dr. Kippen, and he has tested 

 our Guernseys, eighteen in number. We think that with a clean record 

 and our new sanitary cow barn, we can keep free from the dread disease. 



