102 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
February 12 
LIVE STOCK 
AND DAIRY . 
WHAT IS "A GOOD COW’’? 
PROF. HAKCKER, OF MINNESOTA, TALKS. 
Prof. T. L. Haecker recently addressed 
four dairy institutes held under the aus¬ 
pices of the Connecticut Dairymen’s As¬ 
sociation. He said, among other things: 
“ Before taking charge of the dairy herd 
of the Minnesota Experiment Station, I 
traveled extensively over the State, look¬ 
ing up its dairy interests, and the pros¬ 
pect was not flattering. Low prices for 
all dairy products, little knowledge 
among dairymen, and a type of cows 
not suited for the business were the 
rule. When I went to the station. I de¬ 
termined to work out the cost of pro¬ 
duction, and since I have been there, we 
have weighed every pound of food the 
animals were fed, known its cost,weighed 
all the milk received, and tested it for 
its butter fat. We feed each cow all she 
can consume and assimilate. At the end 
of the first year, we found that some 
cows charged us 17 cents per pound for 
butter made from their milk, while 
others charged only 12 cents, and others 
ranged between these two sums. The 
breed made no difference; some Short¬ 
horns made cheap butter, and some Jer¬ 
seys costly butter. Breed had nothing 
to do with the cost, it was all in the cow. 
Size or color had nothing to do with it. 
We put all the cows that made cheap 
butter on one side, and ranged the cows 
who charged the most for butter, on the 
other side. Each side, no matter what 
breed, showed similar characteristics. 
Those that charged a high price were 
the sleek, nice-looking animals that 
would answer the description of the 
general-purpose and beef cow, while 
those that made butter cheap, had the 
genuine dairy type, the light quarters 
and the heavy, wedge-shaped barrel. 
Every pound of food consumed was put 
to a good use. 
“ It takes just about so much food to 
run the machinery of every cow. The 
question is, What does she do with the 
rest of her food ? If she returns it to 
you in the form of milk, she may be a 
profitable cow ; if she lays it on her back 
as fat, she is not a dairy cow. Always 
avoid the cow that has a tendency to lay 
on fat, if you want cheap milk produc¬ 
tion. I am going to tell you how to 
know a good cow. It’s a simple matter. 
One or two signs will denote a good cow, 
as well as twenty. In a poor cow, the 
thigh runs down straight, so there is no 
space between the thigh and udder on 
one side and the tail on the other. There 
should be plenty of daylight between 
the udder and the tail. One of the best 
ways to tell what kind of a cow you 
have is by her temperament. A good 
dairy type has a sharp spine, strongly 
developed nervous system, and sharp hip 
bones. A good cow has a large, wedge- 
shaped stomach, for she must have a 
large and powerful digestive system to 
use up her food quickly, and make the 
best returns for it. 
“ Some of the animals the first year 
made but little over 200 pounds per cow, 
while others gave over 300 pounds. We 
have kept up this record every year, and 
the last year, our cows averaged 399 
pounds per cow, and at a cost of only 4.2 
cents per pound of butter for feed. One 
cow gave us 512 pounds during the year. 
These were not picked, high-priced dairy 
cows, but the common run of dairy stock. 
You in Connecticut have much better 
types of dairy breeds, as in our country, 
too much attention has been paid to beef 
animals and not enough to the true dairy- 
type animal. We plan to have the cows 
come in in the Fall, in order that the work 
may all be done by the university stu¬ 
dents. The cows are in the stable only 
about two hours per day. They are turned 
in at 5 A. m., fed and milked, turned out 
in the covered barnyard, where running 
water and salt are accessible at all times. 
The yard is kept bedded with sawdust 
and shavings, that the cows may not eat 
any fodder except that given them in the 
stable. They are turned into the barn 
at 5 p. M., fed and milked, and turned out 
again. 
‘ ‘ We never have a cow off her feed or 
out of condition, and they are fed all 
they can consume. We feed balanced 
rations, and study minutely the cost, as 
we want to get the cheapest possible ra¬ 
tion. We save a cent wherever it can be 
saved. For grain feeds, we use bran and 
barley, largely coarse bran ; we hardly 
consider middlings fit for bedding. Bran 
is our great grain food.” 
When asked if a cow would not eat 
more than she could digest, he said, “No, 
that is, after a little, provided it is a 
balanced ration. Let a cow loose at a 
meal barrel, and she will gorge herself ; 
but begin gradually in feeding, and feed 
a balanced ration, and she will not over¬ 
eat. When she is up to or a little above 
her full capacity, she will begin to leave 
a little in the manger. This is the time 
to watch her, drop off just a little, and 
feed all she will eat clean and with 
avidity. 
“ I take stock in the Babcock test, but 
not in the theory that you can take the 
Babcock test under your arm, and go off, 
and by testing a cow’s milk once, deter¬ 
mine her value. She must be tested sev¬ 
eral times during her milking period. 
You must also know how much food she 
consumes to know whether or not she 
is a profitable cow.” ii. G. m. 
NEW YORK STATE vs. ARMOUR & CO. 
Mr. Woodward Would Compromise. 
Knowing as I do the way lawyers 
charge for services, and the dreadful un¬ 
certainties of the law, I am decidedly in 
favor of the State accepting the offer and 
compromising the case. I have kept as 
well posted in the points of this case as 
a farmer can, and was in favor of a com¬ 
promise when first proposed by Armour 
& Co. It is possible that the State might 
then have realized a little something, but 
even now, if the $ 20,000 are paid, I am 
quite sure that costs and lawyers’ fees 
will take the last dime, and the longer 
the case is in the courts, the worse it 
will be for the State. It is not so much 
the fine, as the establishment of the 
right to enforce the law, that we want, 
and if Armour & Co. are willing to quit 
trying to crowd this stuff uj^on the New 
York markets. I say, let up on them, and 
then see to it that if they make another 
attempt, they are spotted on sight. 
.J. s. WOODWARD. 
No Compromise with Oleomargarine. 
I have, from the beginning, watched 
with a great deal of interest the progress 
of the legal fight between our State offi¬ 
cials and the Armour Packing Company, 
relative to the sale and suppression of 
that fraudulent article, oleomargarine. 
At the beginning of the contest, “ the 
powers that were ” asserted that the vic¬ 
tory for the State largely depended upon 
the constitutionality of our State law 
which forbids its sale; that, if the con¬ 
stitutionality of that could be estab¬ 
lished, there could be no doubt of a 
sweeping victory over the perpetrators 
(Continued on next page.) 
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Established 1847. 
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ADDRESS 
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NEW VANAAN, CONN. 
