1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
427 
MILK YIELD AS A BASIS FOR FEED¬ 
ING FORMULAS. 
The Use of Two Rations. 
In compounding rations it is necessary 
to consider first the composition of feed¬ 
ing stuffs. All feeds contain four kinds 
of nutrients or food materials, the pro¬ 
tein or nitrogenous materials, the fats 
and oils, the carbohydrates, including 
searches, sugars and woody fiber, and 
the ash or mineral matter. These four 
nutrients are used by animals in various 
amounts and proportions, according to 
the kind of animal and the purpose for 
which the food is to be used, whether 
for growth, to produce flat, to form milk, 
or for work. The various food nutrients 
are not adapted to perform exactly the 
same work in the body. For example, 
those best suited to the production of 
heat are not best suited for making 
growth. The protein or nitrogenous 
portion of the food constitutes the great 
building material of the body. It builds 
up muscle, sinew ligaments and cartil¬ 
age of the body, casein and albumin of 
milk and probably a large part of the 
fat. It may also be used to build up 
fat in the body, and to produce heat. 
The fats and carbohydrates are very 
similar in their action. They cannot be 
used to form muscle or other nitrogen¬ 
ous parts of the body, but are largely 
used as fuel or may be stored up as fat, 
serving as a reserve force for heat and 
energy. From this it will be seen that 
the proportion of tbe various nutrients, 
the building material on one hand and 
fuel and fat-producing material on the 
other, should vary with the purpose for 
wuich the animal is kept. A part of the 
foou of every animal is needed to keep 
up the vital functions of the body, or to 
keep the animal machine in repair. A 
pari is usea as fuel, and the remainder 
should be available to build up products. 
The food that will serve best for keep¬ 
ing up the vital functions is composed 
quite largely of the carbohydrates and 
fat, or the heat-producing materials, 
but as the amount of production in¬ 
creases, proportion of protein must in¬ 
crease relatively faster than the carbo¬ 
hydrates and fat. 
A cow that is producing a large quan¬ 
tity of milk needs more building mater¬ 
ial (protein) than one that is nearly 
dry. Experiments are showing more 
and more clearly that protein is espec¬ 
ially Valuable in milk production, and 
the best practical feeders are rapidly 
tending toward the same conclusion. It 
seems logical, therefore, that rations for 
milk production should vary in the 
amount and proportion of protein they 
contain according to milk flow of the 
cows to be fed. In the past it has been 
common to base feeding “standards” or 
formulas for milch cows mainly on ihe 
live weight, on tbe assumption that the 
food requirements vary mainly with the 
size of the aq^fe.1. Late research, how¬ 
ever, shows that it is more logical to 
base rations on the milk flow. Animals 
that do not vary more than 200 pounds 
in live weight will not differ greatly in 
tneir food requirements, as far as the 
animal machine is concerned, but if 
these animals differ 10 to 15 pounds per 
day in milk how their demands for food 
wul be very different. Many feeders in 
the past have used one grain mixture 
and have varied the amount fed in ac¬ 
cordance with the milk yield. In order 
to base a feeding formula on the milk 
flow in such a way as to increase the 
protein for the heavier milk producers 
it will be necessary to have two grain 
rations; one to be fed to all animals of 
the herd, and one for the heavier-milk 
producers. The first may be called a 
basal or foundation ration, and the 
second a protein mixture, because it is 
made up of feeds rich in protein or 
nitrogenous material, such as cotton 
seed, linseed, gluten and pea meals, and 
should be fed in addition to the basal. 
By feeding in this way the heavier milk 
producers not only get a larger ration, 
but have a larger proportion of the ma¬ 
terials mat are most useful in milk pro¬ 
duction. Feeding formulas constructed 
on the basis of milk production have 
been proposed by at least one German 
authority, and are being advocated by 
some American writers. Scientific re¬ 
search is fast showing us the great im¬ 
portance of protein or building mater¬ 
ial, and n seems very probable that in 
the future feeding formulas or “stand¬ 
ard rations” for dairy cows will be 
-ased mainly upon milk production. 
’ c. s. PHELPS. 
WORK CATTLE IN NEW ENGLAND. 
There are very few working cattle used 
on farms now, and they are nearly all 
used in the hill towns, where the land is 
stony. I do not think that one-quarter of 
the working cattle are kept now that were 
kept 30 years ago, and nearly all farmers 
use horses, as being quicker and now con¬ 
siderably cheaper than 35 years ago, when 
wood sold at a good price and beef was 
high. Nearly all farmers kept one yoke, 
and many two, as they could be turned 
into beef when not wanted, but to-day a 
first-class yoke of cattle would not be easy 
to procure in this county. I think to-day 
they must sell at a rather low price. I 
never saw any cattle dishorned that were 
used In the yoke. w. t. 
Rockville, Conn. 
There are very few cattle used In this 
part now. Everyone wishes he had them; 
there is so much rough and stony land. 
Where they are used they plow the rough¬ 
est lots. I do not know of any dishorned 
oxen in use at all here. Last year the 
town tried to work horses on the road 
repairing, which was the poorest work 
ever done on the road. This year they 
use three yoke of cattle on the scraper, 
which makes a better job all round. I 
think that a good yoke of cattle will cost 
from $150 to $185; a good pair of horses will 
cost more, then the harness comes after, 
which will about double the price. We 
live in a fast time atm must pay the piper. 
Old men want cattle; young men must 
have the horse. A few years ago every 
farm had cattle, but now not over one per 
cent have them. a. d. 
Tolland, Conn. 
Not over one per cent in the town of 
Cheshire use oxen. Many of the “old- 
timers” on rough farms use them, but on 
the smoother farms horses are used almost 
exclusively. The reason for this is obvi¬ 
ous; the farmer who wishes to meet compe¬ 
tition now must "get there” the same day, 
and back again. Those who use cattle 
have at least one horse for the road work. 
Of course, in such cases, the heavy work 
is done with the cattle, and such work as 
cultivating, marking out, marketing prod¬ 
uce, etc., is done with the horse. I know 
of but very few instances where both a 
yoke of cattle and a span of horses are 
used on farms in this locality. One objec¬ 
tion, in my case particularly, in hot 
weather and when work is pushing, is that 
cattle are very liable to get overheated. 
When this happens, the team will seldom 
recover their normal condition. Dishorn¬ 
ing is not practiced in this section, except 
perhaps an occasional ugly bull. I have 
been obliged to dishorn but one of this 
class, and he was very docile after the 
operation. As to the humane part of it, 
I do not consider dishorning more cruel 
than being mangled by a vicious bull, or 
having teeth pulled by a third-rate den¬ 
tist. In regard to comparison of prices, 
cattle well trained, matched, etc., average 
$125; horses of the same standard $300. 
The equipments for horse teams would 
cost very much more than for cattle, and 
eventually the horse is a dead loss (horse 
beef not being in very great demand). Yet, 
the old cattle may be turned off for enough 
wherewith to purchase a younger pair. 
But, after all the extra expense on horse 
teams, I consider them cheaper in the 
saving of time, and their greater practi¬ 
cability as applied to farm work under the 
present conditions of agriculture. 
Cheshire, Conn. d. e. s. 
Temperature of Fowls. 
1 am anxious to know the normal tem¬ 
perature of hens; also the average tem¬ 
perature of a sitting hen, and is the tem¬ 
perature general or local? If the temper¬ 
ature is higher, how do you account for 
it? Can a hen have a higher superficial 
temperature than her normal temperature? 
There have been many theories given here, 
but no one has solved the problem. 
Dunnfield, N. J. E. m. b. 
The normal temperature of domestic 
fowls is 110 degrees. The superficial 
temperature during warm weather is 
about 105%. This is probably varied 
somewhat according to the weather. It 
has been stated that a broody hen has a 
higher temperature than normal, on ac¬ 
count of a natural feverishness at the 
time of becoming broody. I have at dif¬ 
ferent times taken the superficial tem¬ 
perature of several hens, both broody 
and otherwise, and have failed to find 
one degree variation in any of them, the 
superficial temperature of those tested 
being between 105 and 106 degrees, the 
bul'b of thermometer being placed be¬ 
tween the thigh and body. I do not think 
a hen can have as high a superficial tem¬ 
perature as her normal temperature, ex¬ 
cept in case of sickness, and it is impos¬ 
sible for her to impart the same degree 
of heat as her superficial temperature to 
the eggs. I find thermometers placed di¬ 
rectly on the eggs under hens will vary 
from 94 to 105 degrees, as to the position 
of the egg, registering the higher degree 
only when the bulb of thermometer is in 
direct contact with the body, while some 
of tnose that are covered by the wings 
register very little above 90 degrees. 
J. E. STEVENSON. 
Substitute for Buffalo Robes. 
Some 25 years ago buffalo robes were 
quite common at the North. Since the 
wild buffalo has been exterminated various 
substitutes have been tried. About the 
most successful is the hide of the black 
Scotch Rattle—Galloways and Aberdeen- 
Angus. These hides make good furs, and 
we are asked whether it will not pay to 
breed these cattle in the colder countries 
for meat and hide. Both breeds are noted 
for beef production. 
Robes from Angus and Galloway 
hides are on the market in the hands of 
jobbers and dealers. They are no longer 
an experiment, but a success in every 
sense of the term. I have an Angus 
robe from a three-quarter-blood two- 
year-old heifer that I have used five 
years, and have given it hard usage. It 
is good as new, and allways soft and 
pliable as well as handsome. The 
hides are not uniform as to character of 
hair, and they vary in value according¬ 
ly. The poorer specimens are of little 
more value than common hides, while 
finer specimens are worth double. I 
have had upwards of 40 hides tanned 
for robes and found them good sellers, 
but have done nothing with them the 
past years. I do not think the locality 
in which the animal is raised cuts any 
figure in value of hides, unless bred for 
several generations, in which case the 
more northerly regions would give 
best results. Only animals killed dur¬ 
ing December, January and February 
give the best hides, as the hair is then 
at the best. Orders are placed by tan¬ 
ners for choice hides to be reserved for 
robe manufacture at many leading 
slaughtering establishments. 
Illinois. l. m’wiiokter. 
Jerseys from Jersey. 
A friend of The R. N.-Y. who is start¬ 
ing a small but choice herd of Jerseys, 
tells us tnat he attended the recent 
Cooper sale, at which imported Jerseys 
were sola at auction. The sale was a 
great success, and large prices were 
realized. These Jerseys had more or 
less of me blood of Golden Lad, a bull 
that has become famous on the Island. 
It seems strange to an outsider that 
there should still be a» demand for im¬ 
ported Jerseys when the claim has been 
made, and we think justly, that the most 
profitable Jerseys in the world are now 
bred and raised in America. Breeders 
explain that the Island Jerseys com¬ 
bine both production and beauty to a 
remarkable degree. The American Jer¬ 
sey has oeen bred and handled for a 
tremendous yield of milk and butter, and 
this has made a larger, coarser animal. 
Most of the leading American herds 
have, we think, been bred away from the 
graceful, deerlike animals, which were 
originally imported. There is now a 
desire among many breeders to tone 
down the size and coarser shape of the 
American Jersey, by going back to fresh 
Island blood. There are really two dis¬ 
tinct types of Jerseys now in this coun¬ 
try. The animals that have been bred 
for a number of generations in the Gulf 
States vary considerably from those 
bred and handled in Canada, or in 
northern New England. One would 
think that American breeders mignt 
carry out their purpose by securing ani¬ 
mals from the norm or the south as de¬ 
sired, but there seems to be a general 
opinion among many of them, that fresh 
Island blood will prove useful and very 
profitable. 
“ALPHADE LAVAL” 
CREAM SEPARATORS. 
The l>e Laval Cream 
Separators were first and 
have always been kept 
best. They have always led 
in improvements, which 
imitating machines must 
await the expiration of 
patents to use. The 20th 
Centuby improvements 
give them still greater ca¬ 
pacity and efficiency. They 
are immeasurably superior 
to any other system or 
method that can be em¬ 
ployed in the separation 
of cream-caving $5.- to 
$10.- i>or cow per year 
over any setting system 
and $•'!.- to $5.- over any 
other centrifugal method. 
All sizes, styles and prices 
— $50.- to $800.- 
Send for new “20th Centuby” catalogue. 
THE DE LAVAL SEPARATOR GO. 
Randolph & Canal Sts., 74 Cortlandt Street, 
CHICAGO. I NEW YORK 
SEPARATOR FR 
( on io Days’Trial. Llghtest^^^M^ 
easiest running HAND Separator. 
NATIONAL Cream 
: 
Separator 
Free book tellti nil about it. 
National Dairy Machine Co.. Newark. N.). 
SHARPLES 
CREAM SEPARATORS 
always the best. 
T1IK SHAKPLKS CO. P. 91. SIIABPLBS, 
Chicago, 111. Went Cheater Pa. 
Keeps Milk Sweet 
Send for our big ""s 
free catalogue ( TRADE 
:>fcooler#and^L ^4ARK 
Bestov] 
f'lfl plies. - ' 
■DlK DAIKTHEN’S 8UPPLY CO., 1»37 H>rk<l 8». rhlUd.lphla. 
Our Ffee Book, 
“Milk, 
9 9 
may be had for the ask¬ 
ing. It tells many val¬ 
uable things about the 
care and handling of 
.HAVE milk, and describes the 
□UR Champion Milk Cooler- 
Aerator-the great sour 
milk preventer. 
CHAMPION MILK COOLER CO., 
Dairy Supplies, 
39 Railroad Street, Cortland, N. Y. 
EVERY DAY 
IN THE YEAR. 
MOST MEN 
will pay $125 fora twine 
binder or a corn binder, 
machines that can only 
be used a few days in the entire 
year, and think nothing of It. 
THE KEMP 
Manure 
Spreader 
costs much less than that, and 
can be used successfully every 
day in the year. It will earn 
ne interest on the money every day It is used. Spreads all kinds of fine and coarse manure, 
rood ashes, lime, salt. etc. Spreads broadcast or drills in the row. Splendid new catalogue 
’RKk Tells all about it KEMP A BURPEE MFG , GO., Box 33, Svracuae. K. Y. 
