Vol. LVI. No. 2449. 
NEW YORK, JANUARY 2, 1897 
*1.00 PER YEAR. 
BREED OR BUY MILCH COWS ? 
A MILKMAN WITH A RETAIL TRADE. 
Theory, Practice and Facts. 
I notice that most milkmen, near the cities especially, buy all 
their cows and raise no calves, the used-up cows going for beef. 
Is this really the best way? If the land at home is too high 
priced to raise calves, why not get or hire cheap farms further 
back, and raise calves ? Dry cows and young stock could be kept 
on such a farm. How low-priced must land be in order to have 
it pay to raise calves? I have always lived on a butter dairy 
farm and raised all my cows. Soon I expect to go on to a milk 
farm near a city, hence my questions. J. w. N. 
Costs Too Much to Raise Calves. 
It is usual for milkmen near cities to buy cows rather 
than to raise calves, because the demand for milk 
taxes their dairy equipment to its full capacity. The 
economy of selling nearby milk pushes the cow rais¬ 
ing branch of the business further away from com¬ 
mercial centers, for the animal can be sent into mar¬ 
ket cheaper than the perishable milk. The relative 
price of land has not so much to do with it. 
Whether it is better to buy fresh cows or to raise 
heifers depends upon circumstances, 
A milkman has a certain amount of 
capital invested in land, buildings, 
animals and tools. Whatever his 
location, if his trade calls for all 
the product this equipment will 
produce when run at its full capa¬ 
city, it will be most profitable for 
him to concentrate his attention 
upon the production of his milk, 
and to replenish his herd by buying 
fresh cows or springers. For, if he 
cripple bis production of milk to 
raise heifers, he must buy milk to 
make up the difference. The milk 
bought will cost him more than if 
he made it himself; or else, if he 
can buy milk cheaper than he can 
make it, he should sell his herd al¬ 
together and become a retail milk 
peddler of other men’s product. 
On the other hand, if his trade do 
not work his equipment to its full 
capacity, the raising of heifers gives 
him an opportunity to exercise the 
surplus power of his farm along 
lines parallel to his regular busi¬ 
ness and supplementary to it. The 
care, the fodder, and the stabling 
of the heifers operate as an exten¬ 
sion of the regular business rather 
than a departure that requires-dif¬ 
ferent skill and different equipment. The heifers as¬ 
sist in expanding the business to the limit of the fixed 
charges. Partial idleness of fixed charges is an item 
about which too many farmers are careless. A manu¬ 
facturer will sit up Dights to load his equipment to 
its full capacity. A woman will crowd one more 
handkerchief into a trunk. 
But as to having a cheap outside farm on which to 
raise calves and pasture young stock and dry cows. 
If one has surplus capital and enough executive 
ability to run two different branches of agriculture, 
it might go. But count the cost. That second farm 
will largely increase the fixed charges. He may know 
how to make milk. Does he understand stock breed¬ 
ing ? No scrub business will pay. It were better to 
buy cows. On the second farm, he is not a milkman 
but a stock breeder. It sounds nicer, but it comes 
higher. But to be a stock breeder is a laudable am¬ 
bition, and if he can afford the risk, let him go on, 
but bearing in mind that, even at the best, all the 
heifers will not be prizes. 
“ How low must land be in price in order to have it 
pay to raise calves ? ” is a hard question, and unneces¬ 
sary. The land isn’t all of it. A little high-priced 
land well managed might be cheaper than a township 
of the “wornout”. More depends upon the man. If 
some market gardener, like the late Peter Henderson, 
should turn his attention to calf raising, the calves 
would be so thick to the acre, that the grower would 
take a risk of prosecution by the Humane Society for 
affording his stock insufficient breathing space. Even 
on high-priced land, if milk production does not absorb 
its full energy, calves may sometimes be raised to ad¬ 
vantage. e. c. BIRGE. 
Connecticut. 
Cheaper to Buy Cows. 
In an experience of about four years of shipping 
milk to Buffalo, I have purchased all of my cows and 
put all my energy into the milk business. I can pur¬ 
chase choice cows from two to eight years of age at 
$20 to $35, either nearby or fresh in milk. With our 
average price of milk, 8 5-G cents per gallon, I cannot 
afford to raise them at, say, $30 apiece. During the 
present season, I have purchased some two and three- 
year-old stock, fresh milkers ; two have -just lost their 
calves, and another strained her stifle in playing, so 
we are now in favor of cows at not younger than four 
years. 
If I had a second farm for dry stock, I would buy 
cows while cheap or dry, put them on the farm, and 
I think that they would give much quicker returns in 
money. I have bought and sold more than I have at 
present, and have only two cows that were in the 
dairy one year ago. I have lost only one cow within 
five years, and she had rheumatism so that we killed 
her. I lose very little in changing cows, in fact I 
think that the cows and calves pay for the cows pur¬ 
chased. w. w. c. 
South Wales, N. Y. 
Advantages and Disadvantages. 
There are great advantages in raising his own cows, 
to every dairyman. If one have healthy stock, oh 
serve proper rules of sanitation, and buv few or none, 
he stands a better chancejto escape] tuberculosis, etc., 
than if he go into the market for his cows. They are 
wonted at home, herd together kindly, and he can 
turn off at an early age those that prove faulty. 
Almost every farm has some outlying pasture that 
will be improved by pasturing with young stock, 
rather than lying idle or being visited occasionally 
by the dairy herd. Or such outlying lands can be 
bought too low to be considered, if they can be used 
for such a purpose. 
On the other hand, milk producers near our cities 
and villages prefer generally to purchase their stock, 
as they must make a supply of milk varying with the 
demand, in order to accommodate their customers, and 
have little use for surplus milk at any season. To 
keep up their supply of cows, they find one of their 
heaviest bills, for a milkman finds that others want 
cows just when he does, and he has to pay a good 
price for good animals. Until the present educational 
period on tuberculosis, he was quite liable to get ani¬ 
mals from an infected herd. A little more education 
on tuberculosis, sanitation, etc., will solve the prob¬ 
lem that now confronts us, and in this we class breed¬ 
ing our own stock at home in healthy 
conditions. t. s. gold. 
Connecticut. 
A Veteran Imported Jersey Cow. 
The Jersey cow Cypres (Founda¬ 
tion Stock). 2545 Jersey Herd Book 
and 17413 American Jersey Cattle 
Club, was bred by F. LeCerf, St. 
Owens, Jersey, and was dropped in 
May, 1878. She was imported in 
1882 by A. M. Herkness & Co., of 
Philadelphia, Pa. Soon after she 
was purchased by Mr. Nathan Brow¬ 
nell of Ilubbardsville, N. Y., where 
she remained as one of the founda¬ 
tion cows of his “Hillside” herd 
until about one year ago when, on 
account of old age and failing 
health, Mr. Brownell disposed of 
his entire herd, excepting one which 
he retained as a family cow. Cypres 
was then bought by J. Grant Morse 
and was placed in his Hickory Hill 
farm herd at Poolville, N. Y., as 
were, also, a number of others, in¬ 
cluding Duke’s Cypres, No. 100166, a 
daughter ot Cypres, and a very fine 
model of a Jersey cow. She is now 
five years old, and will be tested 
when she again becomes fresh, if 
nothing happen to injure her in the 
meantime. While Cypres has always been a regular 
breeder and a very large and persistent milker, she 
has never been tested for a record. Mr. Brownell, 
while a heavy feeder, did not believe in taking the 
chances of spoiling a very valuable cow by forcing 
her for a big record. He was content to keep his 
cows producing all he thought they were able to 
stand without injury, and trust to their appearance 
in effecting sales. Whether this was a wise thing to 
do is a matter of personal opinion. This photograph 
(see Fig. 1) was taken the latter part of last March, 
when her calf was about three weeks old, and the old 
cow was not looking as well as usual, having fallen 
away somewhat in flesh after giving birth to her calf, 
which was a very large, vigorous young fellow. At 
this time, the mother was giving, on an average, 
about 25 pounds of milk daily, testing six per cent 
butter fat. Although very nearly 18 years old at that 
time, she is a valuable dairy cow even yet. The next 
time a man tells you that he is afraid to feed his cows 
heavily, because he thinks that they will last only a 
short time under this treatment, just call his atten- 
AN EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD JERSEY [AND -IlERn CALF. Fig. 1. 
