78 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
January 30 
Primer Science. 
WHAT FOOD FOR THE COW? 
FUEL FOR HER ENGINE. 
Part I. 
We have now seen how milk is made, 
and have examined the machine, the 
belting and the engine. Now we want to 
examine into the fuel or food that pro¬ 
vides heat and force. The different 
sorts of fuel in domestic use are familiar 
to all. In our house, we burn wood, 
coal, oil or gas as we choose. There was 
one room in the house that could not 
be heated readily from the heater, so we 
bought a little gas stove for it. Another 
winter, we expect to beat the coal trust 
by working several old apple trees up 
into convenient chunks for burning 
under the heater. Of course, we shall 
need a new grate for this. There must 
be special arrangements for burning 
these different fuels. We do not feed a 
horse in the same way that we feed a 
cow because we know that their stom¬ 
achs are different, like the grates or 
burners in different stoves. Some cows 
differ from others in their feeding habits. 
Some big, raw-boned animals are well 
adapted to disposing of great masses of 
coarse hay or stalks, while others will 
do better on more concentrated foods. 
You can easily kill a horse or a hog on 
small doses of cotton-seed meal, while a 
cow may eat three pounds per day of it 
without injury. All these things must 
be considered, and so we want to review 
the old “Balanced Ration” articles of 
two years ago, and see whether we can 
get a clearer idea of the food values of 
different grains and fodders. 
Back on page 843, of last year’s volume, 
you will find a question from a Connec¬ 
ticut dairyman. His cows were not doing 
as well as he felt they ought to, and he 
wanted to change his ration in some way. 
Various changes were suggested, and he 
made up his mind to give them a fair 
trial. So he weighed the milk carefully, 
and changed the ration—but let him 
tell his own story : 
Three Different Rations. 
The following are the records made as 
brief as possible. The first table shows 
the results from the ration fed before I 
received your favor : 30 pounds ensi¬ 
lage, 10 pounds oat hay, 3 pounds corn 
meal, 4 pounds malt sprouts, 2 pounds 
bran, 1 pound gluten feed. Those 
marked with a * were fed only half a 
grain ration in second and third tables, 
but in the first table, were all fed the 
same full ration : 
ONE WEEK—FIRST RATION. 
Sat. Sun. Mon. Tue. Wed. Thur. Fri. 
co . 
,0 N 
CD . 
,Q N 
CD . 
JD N 
GO 
& 
N 
tn 
,0 N 
03 . 
,£> N 
CO 
N 
J o 
J o 
J O 
j 
o 
J o 
J o 
j 
o 
..19 14 
22 12 
22 2 
21 
8 
22 10 
23 12 
23 
..20 2 
21 12 
20 6 
20 
8 
20 4 
21 4 
22 
2 
. .16 10 
18 12 
18 2 
18 
4 
18 12 
19 2 
18 
4 
..18 2 
17 .. 
15 12 
14 
4 
15 .. 
16 4 
18 
6 
Ida 
Babes..12 2 12 10 11 9 12 4 13 
Jesse....12 .. 11 4 9 14 
Anne ... 10 .. 10 4 9 4 
12 6 12 10 
Ida.115 10 
Babes. 86 9 
Jesse. 78 14 
11 
2 11 10 11 2 
12 2 
9 
4 10 
.. 9 14 
9 . 
Lbs. 
Oz. 
Calved. 
Due. 
.152 
12 
Sep. Failed. 
2 
Oct. 
..128 
14 
May. 
July. 
..115 
10 
May. 
.. 86 
9 
Aug. 
July. 
.. 78 
14 
A y)l. 
June. 
.. 67 
10 
May. 
Aug. 
Total.7.780 7 
This is the second ration, and results : 
30 pounds ensilage, 5 pounds oat straw, 
5 pounds hay, 3 pounds bran, 3 pounds 
gluten feed, 2 pounds linseed meal : 
ONE WEEK—SECOND RATION. 
Ida. 
Anne* . 
Sat. 
Sun. 
Mon. 
Tue. 
Wed. 
Thur. 
Fri. 
to 
03 . 
03 
CO 
CD . 
03 . 
CO . 
,Q N 
,D N 
& 
N 
£> N 
,£> N 
,D N 
,Q N 
J o 
J o 
J 
o 
J 0 
J o 
J o 
J o 
.21 14 
25 2 
27 
3 
25 6 
28 2 
27 14 
27 2 
21 .. 
22 12 
24 
6 
21 10 
23 12 
23 8 
23 2 
18 5 
19 14 
20 10 
19 12 
22 .. 
22 4 
21 2 
.17 6 
17 14 
18 
2 
18 2 
18 8 
17 10 
18 .. 
.12 6 
12 8 
13 
6 
12 6 
14 2 
13 8 
13 4 
.10 12 
12 .. 
11 
2 
10 12 
13 .. 
12 4 
11 8 
. 9 .. 
9 8 
8 14 
7 6 
8 15 
9 6 
8 .. 
Lbs. 
Oz. 
, 13 years old... 
11 
Lilly, 2 years old. 160 
Ollie.143 
Ida.125 
Babes* 3 years old. 91 
Jesse*. 81 
Anne*. 62 
2 
14 
8 
8 
6 
1 
Total.847 2 
Total gains over first week.66 11 
The third ration was : 30 pounds ensi¬ 
lage, 5 pounds corn stalks, 5 pounds oat 
straw, 4 pounds middlings, 3 pounds 
malt sprouts, 2 pounds linseed meal, 1 
pound gluten feed. We had one more 
cow in this record, a Holstein which had 
milk fever, which was cured by giving 
her 1% pound Epsom salts and 20 drops 
of tincture aconite every three hours. 
The day following, I received The R. 
N.-Y. of January 2, which gave the same 
remedy and also gave me confidence that 
what I had done was right; thus you 
see that I had builded better than I 
knew. The yield of Baby Blanche 2nd. 
is in the third table, although she is not 
on full feed; yet she is getting 30 
pounds ensilage, 5 pounds oat straw, 5 
pounds fodder corn, 6 pounds bran : 
ONE WEEK—THIRD RATION. 
Sat. Sun. Mon. Tue. Wed. Thur. Fri. 
CD . CO. CO CO. CO. CO CO. 
.On On On On On On On 
►JO 1-10 JO JO JO JO JO 
Blanche27 2 30 10 31 6 32.. 30 12 32 2 32.. 
Nellie...29 2 30 4 25 6 25 1 2 25 4 27.. 26 8 
Lilly....22 4 23 2 20 12 22 12 22 . 22 4 22.. 
Ollie....21 6 21 10 22 2 21 10 18 8 20 12 19 4 
Ida.17 6 20 12 20.. 18 6 14 12 17.. 14 12 
Babes*.13 2 13 10 12 6 14 6 13 12 13 4 12 12 
Jesse*...11 12 1114 11 2 11 6 11 2 10 12 10 1 
Anne*.. 9 8 10 1 10 4 10 .. 10 8 10 .. 9 12 
Lbs. Oz. 
Blanche.216 0 
Nellie.189 4 
Lilly.155 2 
Ollie.145 4 
Ida.123 0 
Babes*. 93 4 
Jesse*. 78 1 
Anne*. 70 1 
Total.1,070 00 
Less Blanche’s yield. 854 
Gain over second week. 6 14 
This is an impartial test, and I observe 
that three of the cows do as well on 
half the grain as they did on the full 
ration, thus showing where I had been 
throwing away good feed and money. 
Only one cow was fed extra feed, that 
was Nellie, three pounds extra, and she 
responds with four and five pounds 
milk extra per day. My silo is a tub 
silo, 2x6 staves, 16 feet deep, 13 feet in 
diameter, with five iron rods around it. 
I built it myself at a cost of $40. It 
keeps ensilage perfectly. It is built in 
half the hay mow. I shall build another 
one for summer, when the pasture is 
scarce. a. e. linley. 
These figures speak for themselves. 
The prices for the various grains were, 
malt sprouts, $15 per ton; middlings, 
$13 ; corn meal, $17 ; bran, $13 ; linseed, 
$22, and you will see that, by changing 
the ration, he obtained a cheaper pound 
of milk. Now, how does any one know 
that one ration is cheaper or better than 
another ? How can one know whether 
coal, gas, oil, wood or electricity will 
furnish the cheapest heat ? There must 
be some way of getting down to bottom 
facts. Let us take this Connecticut ex¬ 
perience as a basis and see what these 
facts are. 
COWS AND UDDERS. 
EXPERIENCE WITH DIFFERENT SHAPES. 
I have been much interested in the 
articles upon cows’ udders, which have 
recently appeared in The R. N.-Y. I 
think that any experienced dairyman 
will at once recognize the different types 
as illustrated, and if his herd is at all 
extensive, will not have much difficulty 
in picking out one or more of each from 
the number. My experience bears out 
the statements made in the articles re¬ 
ferred to as regards desirability of the 
various types, with one or two excep¬ 
tions. Guernsey cows are, at least, as 
good as any for dairy purposes, yet one 
of their weak points is a defective fore¬ 
udder. Many specimens of this breed 
are deficient in this particular. 
The statement in Part II. of the articles 
in question that a cow with a poor front 
may give a large amount of milk for a 
short time, but that those holding out 
their milk best are pretty sure to have 
good front development, I wish to say 
may be misleading. One of the best and 
most persistent milkers in my herd is a 
Guernsey with such an udder. She will 
give a most persistent flow of very rich 
milk, never going dry unless great care 
is taken to encourage this. In a year 
when she failed to breed, her milk flow 
continued for but little short of two 
years, and it could easily have been kept 
up until she dropped her calf. Excep¬ 
tions only go to prove the general rule, 
I know, and a good front development 
is, certainly, commendable. 
Years ago, I bought a cow of non¬ 
descript breeding. I was badly in need 
of a new milch cow, and under some 
protest, finally purchased this one. She 
was more advanced in years than I 
would have liked, and did not possess 
many of the points which mark the 
ideal dairy cow ; but the urgency of the 
case seemed to make it advisable to over¬ 
look these deficiencies, and the cow was 
brought home. Her udder was almost 
the exact shape of Fig. 17—the funnel 
shape. Well, the first peculiarity which 
became noticeable was a most decided 
tendency to kick when being milked. 
As all sorts of expedients were resorted 
to to overcome this habit, it may not be 
entirely devoid of interest to those who 
have been troubled in this way, for 
there are few things more exasperating 
than a kicking cow. This, remember, as 
a slight excuse for me, was years ago, 
when we knew less than we do now 
about the proper way to treat our cows. 
Yielding to the feeling for retaliation 
for such action upon the part of the 
cow, which, so far as mortal eye could 
discover, had no excuse whatever for 
such behavior, she was subjected to a 
“ course of sprouts ” like a disobedient 
boy. This proving unavailable, various 
other devices were resorted to, such as 
buckling a strap around her body 
tightly, using a rope and twister in the 
same way, and in spite of all, kick she 
would, and did. 
In the meantime, she had shown such 
excellent milking qualities that we were 
convinced that it would be to our ad¬ 
vantage to get along with her in some 
peaceable manner ; so as a last resort, a 
rope was fastened to a post directly be¬ 
hind her stall, and a strap-snap, and 
ring fastened to this at such a distance 
that, when her foot was extended as for 
milking and held by means of this de¬ 
vice, it was impossible for her to kick. 
This worked to a charm, and after 
awhile, she got so she would take her 
place and put back her right foot for the 
fastening as quietly as you please, and 
never offer to stir a foot during the 
operation of milking. I have dwelt upon 
this at some length for the reason that 
it is nothing unusual to find cows ad- 
(Continued on next page.) 
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The Thrice-a-Week World. 
Gives plenty of reading for the long winter 
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