112 DAIRY FARMING 



animals. The best of these substances generally have for 

 their base common feedstuffs, such as linseed meal or wheat 

 middlings, while others contain low-grade mill refuse or even 

 ground bark or clay. To the base is added various other 

 substances, such as common salt, charcoal, sulphate of iron, 

 gentian, pepper, and Epsom salts, and often tumeric or iron 

 oxide for coloring. Some may have a small value as a tonic, 

 but if such treatment is desirable, the necessary drugs should 

 be purchased at a drug store, and may be had for a small part 

 of the sum asked for the same in the form of stock food. 



Many experiment stations have made feeding tests which 

 have shown that no value was derived from the use of the 

 several brands of commercial stock foods. Money expended 

 for this class of articles will give far greater returns if used 

 for the purchase of ordinary feed. 



FEEDING YOUNG STOCK AND DRY Cows 



108. Calf Raising. The careful dairyman sees in the 

 best heifers the possibility of cows that will not only replace 

 the discarded members of the herd but help to raise the aver- 

 age, production. The question is often asked as to whether 

 it pays to raise the calf. The answer is that only under 

 exceptional conditions can the farmer afford not to raise the 

 well-bred heifer calves. Some farmers near large cities where 

 feed is high in price find it more profitable to buy all their 

 cows, but as a general practice in most farming sections, the 

 best heifers should be raised. 



The dairy-bred calf is almost always raised by hand. A 

 discussion of the subject is naturally divided into two parts 

 on account of the two common conditions : 



1. Calf raising where skim-milk is on hand. 



2. Raising the calf where whole milk is sold. 



