1901 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
463 
DAIRY AND FARM NOTES. 
Reform ihe Robber Cow. 
I have a two-year-ol(i heifer giving 26 
pounds of milk per day. She is not built 
on “dairy lines.” Will she be likely to 
improve and make a profitable cow, or 
should I beef her? c. 
Resi'Kct Fou Cows. —Every day and 
year in dairy experience adds to my re¬ 
spect and consideration for a cow. I 
read and hear about the unprofitable or 
“robber cow,” and there are thousands 
of them. But the one thing that taxes 
my patience and excites my sympathy 
is this constant howl about poor cows, 
when these same poor cows so often do 
not have any chance to show the stuff 
that’s in them. 1 have had the courage, 
against strong odds, to say from the in¬ 
stitute platform that we are more in 
need, as a whole, of food and care than 
breed. In other words, the opportunity 
is far greater, the chances for failure 
further removed, less danger of drawing 
a blank, and less money expended, in 
developing what we have than in pay¬ 
ing extravagant prices for purebred ani¬ 
mals, some of them being valuable chief¬ 
ly for the length of their pedigree. I 
do not wish to ignore the value of pedi¬ 
greed stock, or improvement in stock by 
selection and breeding. Without this 
constant selection, we should soon re¬ 
vert to the original stock. 
Man and Nature. —Did you ever ob¬ 
serve, as written in geological history, 
that nature was sluwly but surely evolv¬ 
ing a higher development of animal 
and plant life during prehistoric ages. 
When a man assumed command and be¬ 
gan a development of animal life, a 
marvelous change took place, and now 
if man withholds his energy, reversion 
rapidly takes place toward the original 
type. Let us, therefore, look carefully 
to our breeding stock, but remember 
that food and care, with selection, have 
built up our great producers. Six of 
Blackwell’s 10 rules for stock improve¬ 
ment pertained to food and care. Cow 
education has therefore come to be as 
much of science as pedagogy. This long 
preface has been written that I may 
not be misundei’stood. Animal life and 
the laws that govern it are complex; 
'.hey are not easily changed, or rather, 
results are not momentarily changed. 
This robber cow in the hands of Smith 
may become a profitable cow when 
Jones gets a chance to educate and de¬ 
velop the animal. 
Begi.n with Caiui'. —This development 
must begin with calfhood for best re¬ 
sults, and right here I wish to make a 
general observation that I feel confident 
those who have the same opportunity 
to observe will readily accept. Com¬ 
munities of dairy farmers who have pro¬ 
duced butter year after year, without re¬ 
gard to its value in comparison to 
cheese or crude milk, carefully fed their 
skim-milk to their young, growing 
stock, have prospered very favorably In 
comparison with sellers of milk or man¬ 
ufacturers of cheese, although the last 
named as a rule receive considerably 
more for their milk than the butter pro¬ 
ducers. The feeding of milk to the 
young calf during its first year, the only 
natural food, develops digestive powers 
never lost during after years of hard 
work at the pail. While at the time 
of reckoning the milk seller gets larger 
returns in the end if he raises his stock 
they must suffer in development and 
power of digestion, or, as found in most 
cases, the dairymen do not raise them 
at all, but depend upon the dealer to 
bring in a fresh supply and take away 
the worn-out animals for beef or bo¬ 
logna, depending upon their condition. 
Trained Rorrers. —Among the farm¬ 
ers in the milk-selling sections are num¬ 
berless “robber” cows. They buy them 
of farmers who have not been good feed¬ 
ers, and put them upon heavy feed at 
once. Their milking machinery is about 
as well adapted to utilizing this raw 
material, and converting it Into milk 
as would be the Erie Canal for a man- 
of-war. If these cows had received an 
early training, made up of well-bal¬ 
anced rations, suited to their individual 
needs, not necessarily compounded in 
accordance with some chemist’s theory 
of foods, given rational care, not senti¬ 
mental care, the food fed later in life 
would have returned a profit. My friend, 
Gould, says some sensible things along 
this line in the issue of Hoard’s Dairy¬ 
man for June 7, 
Fat Heifers. —Would you put a heifer 
two years old in the robber class, giv¬ 
ing 26 pounds of rich milk a day? Of 
course, this is quite indefinite. C. does 
not give the per cent of fat nor cost of 
keep, two essentials. But I should con¬ 
sider this animal far removed from the 
robber class, unless she has a tape¬ 
worm, and consequently, eats everything 
in sight. If this heifer is giving four-per¬ 
cent milk, she is making pounds of 
butter a week, or producing enough fat 
to make it, if carefully manipulated. 
How much milk she will give in a six- 
year-old form no one could tell. I have 
been greatly interested of late in study¬ 
ing the difference in families. We have 
a family of Holsteins that gave nearly 
as much milk in their three and four- 
year-old form as later in life. Another 
family that came on later was so in¬ 
ferior to the first mentioned that we 
disposed of the bull that sired them, 
feeling we had made a serious blunder. 
At five and six years old these cows 
came to their maturity, as the first ones 
did at three and four, and were deep, 
heavy milkers. I would not care to go 
on record as saying a heifer at two 
years old of inferior dairy form and 
ability would develop into a profitable 
cow at six. The good cows have their 
sign out with their first calf, not neces¬ 
sarily at 20 months to two years 
old. I am of the opinion that many 
otherwise strong, healthy cows have 
been permanently hurt by early calving. 
Early Calving. —It is the most veri¬ 
table humbug that a heifer must calve 
before maturity, or she will develop into 
a beefy steer. Ten years of persistent 
milking is a long, hard strain, coupled 
with an annual reproduction, and no 
better preparation can be given than to 
have the heifer strong, well ripened, and 
fat, if necessary. If her breeding has 
been from dairy animals and her food 
adapted and liberal, the beef will come 
off, the thick neck will come down, and 
this heifer will have a start, “a consti¬ 
tution like an ox.” (The first men¬ 
tioned family of Holsteins were of this 
type, calving at 2% to three years 
old, and usually fat. We soon 
pumped that out into the milk pail, and 
fed cornmeal to get it back again. I 
am not speaking of the breeder who is 
selling stock and making records, but 
of the or for the farmer, who gets 
his living and pays for his farm out of 
the milk receipts. 
Feeding Problems. —A point connect¬ 
ed with animal development which does 
not receive full consideration, unless it 
is from farmers who milk their cows as 
near as possible to freshening time, is 
the character of the food fed during the 
late period of gestation. This idea will 
apply as forcibly to the heifer with her 
first calf. Farm-grown foods are usual¬ 
ly of the carbonaceous order, having a 
nutritive ratio of 1:7 or wider, not well 
suited to the development of the young 
calf nor the building of an udder with¬ 
out infiammation. Otherwise good 
dairymen object to a grain ration from 
Fall to Spring for a heifer preparing to- 
drop her first calf, fearing udder 
troubles. Many years’ experience has 
confirmed an opinion that no such dan¬ 
ger is imminent, and I do firmly believe 
that such a well-balanced ration as 
wheat bran, oats, mixed hay and silage, 
or if all home-grown, oats and peas, 
mixed hay and silage, fed in such quan¬ 
tities as the individual may require 
for steady growth and health, will de¬ 
velop an udder of more capacity, and 
the good cows without large udders are 
in the imagination, whatever may be 
our theory or conception of milk se¬ 
cretion. 
Clean Vessels. —So many of the 
young things that have been raised on 
everything but milk seem to require 
such an an abnormal amount of food, or 
else are mincing and dainty. The 
calves usually suffer with periodical 
scouring, due to over-feed on the days 
of excessive thirst or hunger. I speak 
from experience. We have tried every¬ 
thing to take the place of milk. I am 
ready to admit that I don’t know any 
patent combination to take its place, 
and we have come to give fresh, new 
milk in varying quantities if skim-milk 
is not at hand. Of course, it is expen¬ 
sive, but better not to raise the calf than 
do as we have at times tried to do. 
Small quantities of feed, and not over¬ 
feed should always be the rule. I won¬ 
der whether every dairy farmer reader 
of The R. N. Y. scrubs and scalds his 
skim-milk or whey storage barrel or 
tank every day. As I ride through our 
town whey barrels are out in the sun 
without cleaning, until one locates them 
without sight. Is it possibie for young 
calves’ stomachs to digest tnis army 
of germs? A calf that can live through 
this should certainly have a constitution 
and be. hardy. Constitution, digestion, 
a good udder; that’s enough. Horsemen 
say: “Give me good feet and legs and 
an appetite, and we will do the rest.” 
Give me the above mentioned essentials 
in a cow, and I think we can make a 
good, clean 10 per cent profit. 
_ H. E. COOK. 
More Kicking Cures. 
I see that H. W. C. is troubled with a 
kicking cow. 1 suppose he has received 
lots of advice about managing her, but 
think he might like my way. 1 take a 
leatlier strap and pass it around the dew- 
claw of the right fore leg, and through 
the loop raise the fool up and buckle the 
sti-ap around the leg. v. a. 
Maine. 
My plan is to take a strap about 214 or 
three feet long with buckle on one end, 
and put it around hind legs Just above 
gambrel or hock joint; cross it beiween 
legs and buckle ii up tight as may be 
necessary on outside of leg next to milker, 
it will be in shape of figure eight when 
on. 1 have used this plan about 14 years 
on several different cows, and never saw 
one yet that could kick. 1 arn using it 
every day on two cows with good results. 
It is easily put on and taken off, and the 
cow cannot hurt herself nor the milker, 
as I have known some to do with strap or 
rope around body. Let the Hope Farm 
man try this on Julia and report result. 
Pennsylvania. j. o. l. 
We have Mr. Stewar.t’s “self-cleaning 
stable,” or steel grating for 24 cows. It 
is very nice to keep cattle clean. Ours is 
in basement on south side of barn, over 
stone cement gutter. It would, save lots 
of work if it could be arranged to clean 
out right through bottom of gutter into 
cart. j. X. s. 
Massachusetts. 
Mark Lane Express tells of the con¬ 
viction of the proprietor of a butter fac¬ 
tory, who was charged with adulterating 
the butter with milk and water. Special 
machinery had been devised for forcing 
moisture into butter, and some samples 
analyzed contained 10 per cent excess of 
moisture. As this appeared to be a clear 
case of fraud In selling milk and water at 
the weight price of butter, a fine of $100 
and $75 costs was imposed. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you will get a quick reply and 
"a square deal.” See our guarantee 8th page 
Shoo Fly is the Original Stock protector of 
I8S5. There are many imitations- no equals “ I 
have used thirty (:10) gallons annually the past 
seven years on my herd-it is effectual and 
cheap.”—H. W. Comfort, Fallsingtcn, Pa., Ex- 
Pre.Hidentof Pennsylvania Dairy Union —Adv. 
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Dairy Separatoj^ 
the latest product of the 
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HIGHEST PRIZE (KNIGHT’S 
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Five sizes—850 to $200 each. 
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Chicago, III. West Chester, Pa. 
WHEEL BARROWS, 
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Save$ 10 per Cow 
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Prices, $50 to $800. 
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Write for illustrated catalogues 
HAVE YOU SEEN 
THe New Bowl? 
That’s the question you now hear wherever cream 
lu-ators are used. It refers to the light and Ciisy- 
niug bowl now used on the 
-the hinylwith fewparts, and perfectly smooth surfaees-tho 
bowl whieti gives the milk several distinct separntions. 
Our now catalogue for luol shows why the EMPIRE is the 
inost practical, the easiest-running, the most efficient for the 
farm. May we not send you aeopyl 
United States Butter Extractor Co., 
BLOOMFIELD, N. J. 
p 5 U -1 
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