8:4 ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



drink, then i give them skimmed milk ; and when I cha'^ged my new milk I 

 would give them every twelve hours, and then twenty four, and so on, until 

 I got them where they would drink either sweet or sour milk. 



Q. Do you give grain feed V 



A. Yes ; I feed corn meal and wheat bran. 



Q. Do you think meal is better than whole grain for calves ? 



A. Yes ; you get more good out of it, and I think that a cow will give 

 more milk. I have heard men argue that there is no waste in feeding a cow 

 whole grain ; that what the cow don't get the hogs do. But we can't afford 

 to let the cows do that ; there is a wear and tear on the machinery which 

 affects the profit. I don't think it is policy. I feed my calves half skim 

 milk until they get to grass in the spring, and the next fall they are great, 

 noble fellows, well able to take care of themselves. The calf you raise in 

 the summer, if it goes through the first winter has got to be taken extra care 

 of in order to come out the next spring in good shape. 



Q. In other words, your calves raised in the winter are worth nearly as 

 much at a year and a half as calves raised in the spring are at the age of two 

 years ? 



A. Yes, they are worth just as much, and I have very often thought 

 winter calves, at six to eight months, are worth as much as spring calves at 

 a year. 



Q. I wish Dr. Tefft would give us some points on the value of corn fod- 

 der as compared with hay for beef and for milch cows ? 



A. I have been in the practice of using corn fodder largely in the winter 

 for years ; I prefer it. If it is cut properly, and at the proper time, your corn 

 won't shrink much. I want them fed twice a day on the fodder, cut up 

 about three-fourths of an inch or one inch, and once on hay. My cows will 

 do better on that feed than on any other, and the milk is better. It should 

 be cut as soon as it begins to glaze. In regard to fodder corn, I cut my 

 corn about twelve inches high, not close to the ground, and set it up in 

 shocks, cure it and have it taken into the barn. I have a tread horse-power, 

 one horse and the " Belle City " cutter. I feed night and morning, with the 

 corn fodder usually, and hay in the middle of the day. 



Q. Do you find it necessary for cows to have water more than once a 

 day ? 



A. They drink whatever they want at one turning out ; do not turn 

 them out too early in the morning and they will drink enough to last. The 

 water I use for my cows passes through my barn under the ground and comes 

 out on the south side, so they have a sunny place to go and drink. It ig the 

 same water that is used for cooling the milk, so it is warmed a little in win- 

 ter. I have a tank in my cooling room that will hold forty barrels ; I pump 

 by wind from a well into that tank. The same water goes to my cooling 

 tubs through pipes, and the water comes to the cooling tubs of the same 

 temperature as the water in the well, and the cows like that. It is not as 

 cold as the water they take out of the creeks. The inspection for the con- 

 condensed milk factory is so rigid that the patrons keep their barns in a 

 very good condition, as well as their strainers, milk cans, and everything 

 that is handled there ; they are exceedingly particular. 



