Walter Splinter gazes fondty at one of hit fine Holstein cows. Thi« cow was in lierd 

 when Splinter broice the national record In 1939 for twice a day milking. 



not advertise and never has showed an 

 animal in a judging ring. This has 

 meant that Splinter has had for the most 

 part only a local market for his surplus 

 stock. 



Surplus Sells Cheaply 



His bull calves sell for $150-200. The 

 most money he has ever received for 

 cattle was the $1000 he got for three 

 cows he sold at a Waukesha, Wis., sale 

 in 1940. "It was right after I'd made 

 the national record. It isn't so much 

 money now but it made me feel good 

 then." The three days at the sale is the 

 longest he has spent away from his farm. 



"About this time I had big breeders 

 coming here from all over and my sur- 

 plus sold pretty well," he related. One 

 day a southern gentleman from Missis- 

 sippi drove in his yard in a big car driven 

 by a colored chauffeur. He wanted a 

 look at Splinter's herd. 



When war broke out he had to quit 

 testing since his local association was un- 



M 



WALTER Splinter, 48, a soft- 

 spoken dairyman who farms near 

 Winslow in Stephenson county, 

 has a way with dairy cows that 

 borders on genius. In 1939 his 

 herd est.:b!ished a national record for 

 twice-a-day milking. At that time Splint- 

 er was almost unknown as a dairy breed- 

 er. 



This spring his herd again proved 

 their ability. In April his 23 Holsteins 

 placed first among the 1,589 herds on 

 test in Illinois. In March they had been 

 in fourth place. 



A modest man, Splinter says he is sur- 

 prised himself at the records his cows 

 have made. He claims no special formula 

 for success. 



When his herd established the twice- 

 a-day record in 1939 they produced 615 

 pounds of butterfat and 16,366 pounds 

 of milk, more than three times the Illi- 

 nois average. At that time he was on 

 a 78-acre farm, milking eight cows. Two 

 of these cows are still in his herd. 



Splinter's farm is located only a few 

 miles from the Wisconsin state line. He 

 lives comfortably in a neat white frame 

 hou.se with his wife and 11 -year old 

 daughter, Viola. The window in their 

 modern kitchen overlooks a well-kept 

 lawn which slopes down to a small creek 

 and a wooded pasture beyond, where 

 Viola's sheep and lambs graze. 



Started on 42 Acres 



Walter Splinter started farming a mile 

 up the road on his grandfather's 42-acre 

 farm when he was 16 years old. This 

 was in 1916. 



"I must have joined Farm Bureau 

 shortly after this when I was 18 or 19 



Champion Dairyman 



I 



Walter Splinter has a knack with 

 dairy cows. Unaided, he broke national 

 record in 7939 for , twice-a-day milking. 



years old," Splinter recalls. "They sent 

 me a 2 5 -year membership pin several 

 years ago." He also has one of the first 

 life insurance policies sold by Country 

 Life. It was for $1000. He wishes it 

 were for more. 



Herd Cost Little 



In 1922 Splinter bought a 78-acre farm 

 and lived there for 22 years. Then in 

 1944 he bought the farm across the road 

 where he now lives. He farms 1 74 acres 

 at present and has increased his herd to 

 23 cows. 



In 1923 Splinter bought his first pure- 

 bred Holsteins, two aged cows and two 

 yearling heifers. They came from a herd 

 not far from Splinter's farm and cost the 

 young farmer a total of $500. "I was 

 lucky with these foundation cows," 

 Splinter said. "They produced good 

 calves." 



It has cost him very little to build his 

 herd. The most he ever paid for a herd 

 sire was $450. He has relied on his own 

 breeding program to build his cow herd, 

 raising his own heifer calves. He does 



By LEW REiSNER 



Field Editor, lAA RECORD 



able to hire a cow tester. He is just 

 getting back to testing again. 



To be successful as a dairyman Splinter 

 suggests starting with good cows. "You 

 can't do much with a cow that doesn't 

 have it in her to milk well." 



A good cow must be fed well and 

 handled quietly. "A dairy cow responds 

 more to gentle handling than any other 

 farm animal," Splinter has found. 



Grains Year Around 



He feeds them by the old rule of 

 thumb, one pound of grain for every four 

 pounds of milk. His ration: corn, 400 

 pounds; oats, 200; bran, 100; linseed 

 meal, 50; soybean meal, 50. In the 

 summer he substitutes soybean for the 

 linseed meal. .>. -i 



Splinter's herd is milked regularly, 

 the time never varying more than 15 

 minutes. They are also fed grain every 

 day even on the best of pasture. 



Morning and evening his cows are 

 waiting at the gate to be milked. "I 

 had to get my cows from the pasture only 

 once last summer," Splinter said. They 

 are almost pets, 



L A. A. RECORD 



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