81 



so large, as there are always leaks at windows and doors and 

 it is better to have several small intakes to prevent draught. 

 This principle air circulation without draught on the cows 

 can be applied to a straw stable as well as to the most ex- 

 pensive one. 



Comfort is an important element in cheap milk produc- 

 tion, and while fixed stanchion may make it easier to keep 

 the cows clean, we need only observe them when lying in the 

 pasture to know how cruel and unnatural their position must 

 be in those "animal stocks." 



Tying them, or if it can be afforded one of the mod- 

 ern stalls like the "Bidwell" or the "Drown" are the only 

 right systems and a liberal supply of bedding will not only 

 help to keep them clean and make them comfortable, but in- 

 crease the manure heap, which the Danish farmers call their 

 "gold mine." 



To keep a cow tied up all winter is in no way a natural 

 treatment, and though it is done by many good dairymen 

 (thus universally in Holland and Denmark), the trend is now 

 to do as Mr. H. B. Gurler recommends in his "American 

 Dairying" give them lukewarm water outside, and if the 

 weather is fairly mild let them remain there an hour or two 

 at their option, but this advice should not be misunderstood 

 as a defense for those farmers who turn their cows out to 

 drink through a hole in the ice on the watering trough. 



The more the cow is deprived of exercise, the greater the 

 need of keeping the pores of the skin open by daily carding 

 and brushing. Indeed, this is not only a question of health 

 (cheap milk production), but also of cleanliness (pure milk). 

 It is a wonder to me that the farmer who will give his time 

 willingly to keep his horse clean, begrudges it to his cows. 

 It is a question of health in both cases, but in the latter it is 

 also a question of health to his own family and those who 

 may drink the milk. 



To illustrate this, Prof. Backhaus (Germany) tried with 

 two cows, grooming them seven days, then leaving them four- 

 teen days without grooming, and then grooming again for 

 seven days. The result was in the fourteen days of each 

 period: 



Grooming. No Grooming. 



Yield 575.4 Ibs. 536.4 Ibs. 



Total fat 23.06 Ibs. 21.33 Ibs. 



6 



