

Walter Splinter gazes fondly at one of his fine Holstein cows, 

 when Splinter broke the notional record in 1939 for twice 



This cow was 

 a day milking. 



in herd 



not advertise and never has showed an 

 animal in a judtjin^ rin^. Tliis has 

 meant that Splinter has had for the most 

 part only a local market for his surplus 

 stoik. 



Surplus Sells Cheaply 



His hull calves sell for S 1 '<0-200. The 

 most money he has e\er received for 

 tattle was the SI 000 he ^ot for three 

 cows he sold at a >X'aukeslu, Wis., sale 

 in 1410. "It W.IS ri^'ht after I'd made 

 the national record. It isn't so much 

 money now but it made me feel good 

 tlicn. " The three days at the sale is the 

 lonijc-st he has spent away from his farm. 



"Ahout this time I had hit; 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 chautTeur. Me wanted a 

 look at Splinters herd. 



When war broke out he had to cjuit 

 testing since his local association was un- 



.M.TI'.K Spiiater. IS. 



soit- 



•-pokcn d.iirvman who i.irnis near 



WW'inslow in StcphenMin county 

 h.is a way with dair\ cows that 

 borders on genius. In 1M39 iiis 

 herd cs'..!''ishcd a national record tor 

 twice-a-il.iv milking. .At that time Splint- 

 er was almost unknown as a dair)' breed- 

 er. 



Tliis spring his herd ag.iin proved 

 their abilitv. In April iiis Js Mol.steins 

 plai.ed Iirst among the l.'^S*' herds on 

 test in Illinois. In March they had been 

 in lourtii j^kue. 



A modest man. Splinter savs he is sur- 

 prised himselt at the reiords his cows 

 have made. 1 le claims no special formula 

 for success. 



When his herd established the twice- 

 a-day record in 1939 they produced 61^ 

 pounds ot buttertat and Ui,.so6 pounds 

 of milk, more than three times the Illi- 

 nois average. At that time he was on 

 a ^S-acre farm, milking eight cows. Two 

 ol these cows are still in his herd. 



Splinter's tarm is located only a few- 

 miles from the Wisconsin .state line. He 

 lives comfortably in a neat white trame 

 hou.se with his wite and 1 I -year old 

 daughter. Viola. The window in their 

 modern kitchen overlooks a well-kept 

 lawn which slopes down to a small creek 

 and a woovled pa.sture bevonJ. where 

 Viola's sheep and lambs graze. 



Started on 42 Acres 



Walter Splinter started tanning a mile 

 up the road on his grandfather's -i2-acre 

 farm when he was lb vears old. This 

 was in 191n. 



"I must have joined I'arm Bureau 

 shortly after tliis when I was IS or 19 



Champion Dairyman 



Walter Splinter has a knack with 

 dairy cows. Unaided, he broke national 

 record in 1939 for twice-a-day milking. 



years old," Splinter recalls. "They sent 

 me a 2''-vear membership pin several 

 years ago." He also has one of the first 

 lite insurance policies sold by Country 

 Life. It was for SIOOO. He wishes it 

 were tor more. 



Herd Cost Little 



In 192J Splinter bought a "S-acre farm 

 .uid li\ed there tor 22 vears. Then in 

 1'' 11 he bought the farm across the road 

 where he now Ii\es. He farms fi acres 

 at [^resent and has increased his herd to 

 2 i cow s. 



In 1923 Splinter bought his first pure- 

 bred Holsteins, two aged cows and two 

 vcarling heifers. They came from a herd 

 not tar from Splinter's farm and cost the 

 voung farmer a total of S'iOO. "I was 

 liuky with the.se foundation cows." 

 Splinter said. "Thev produced good 

 calves." 



It has cost him very little to build his 

 herd. The most he ever paid for a herd 

 sire was S-i50. 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 cjuietly. "A dairy cow responds 

 more to gentle handling than any other 

 tarm 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, ^0; soybean meal, "iO. In the 

 summer he substitutes soybean tor the 

 linseed meal. 



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 arc 

 waiting at the gate to be milked. "I 

 had to get my cows from the pasture only 

 once la^t summer," Splinter said. They 

 are almost pets. 





p-is 



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I. A. A. RECORD 



