CHAPTER XI 



WHEN TO HAVE COWS COME FRESH 



Cows coming fresh in October, November, and De- 

 cember will, if properly fed and cared for, produce 

 25 per cent, more milk in the year than they would 

 on the same care and feed coming fresh in March, 

 April, and May. There is but slight difference in the 

 cost of feed. The reason is this: a cow naturally 

 begins to fall off in flow when from six to seven 

 months in lactation. A cow coming in in fall or 

 early winter reaches this condition when pasture is 

 fresh and feed good. This counteracts the natural 

 tendency, and through June and July she will hold 

 her own with the cow fresh in the spring. The fall 

 fresh cow is ready to begin to dry off as she reaches 

 the dry weather, short pasture, and flies of August 

 and September. The cow fresh in the spring reaches 

 this period at the same time that nature tends to 

 diminish the flow. This tendency is aggravated by 

 the surroundings. It is difficult if not impossible to 

 keep up her flow. The flow of milk, materially di- 

 minished for three or four weeks, cannot be fully 

 restored until she is again fresh. 



Silage and soiling crops, such as peas and oats, 

 alfalfa, millet, hay, etc., are of great assistance, but 

 they cannot entirely counteract the effect of heat, 

 short pasture, and flies. The male should be kept 

 from the cows except when turned with them daily 

 in the winter to secure cows fresh in the fall and 



87 



