Vol. LV. No. 2429. 
NEW YORK, AUGUST 15, 1896. 
*1.00 PER YEAR. 
THE FATE OF THE CALF 
SHALL IT BE DAIRY OR SLAUGHTERHOUSE? 
What To Raise ! What Not To Raise! 
I asked a prominent farmer recently, what per cent 
of heifer calves are raised to maturity in New York 
and the New England States. He replied, “ Not 
one in seven.” I also asked him what per cent of 
heifer calves, the issue of well-bred, profitable cows, 
were raised, and he said, “Probably not one in 
three.” Inquiries from other well-informed dairy¬ 
men, while varying above and below these figures, 
practically conceded the statements to be true. 
What, then, becomes of the great majority of un¬ 
fortunates ? Many are fed a few weeks to ripen 
them properly for a veal pie ; others are knocked in 
the head within a few days after their advent, 
simply to get their skins, while many more are 
hustled off at once to the compost heap, or thrown 
to the hogs. Sentiment does not often enter the 
case at all, and I am inclined to believe that good 
business judgment is also lacking in a good many 
instances. I will concede at once that many milk 
producers on small farms near large cities cannot 
afford to raise their calves, but find it more econom¬ 
ical to buy cows in milk when needed. 
The great rank and file of Eastern dairymen should 
raise more heifers than they do, for no other reason 
than self interest. “The first lesson” in a calf’s 
training is, more or less, a lesson of patience to the 
teacher ; but to the farmer who counts the interests 
of his dairy second only to that of his family, it is 
really a pleasure to see the calves grow and thrive 
under his care. From a personal interview with 
many New England farmers, and a careful study of 
the tabulated statistics of dairy products, I am con¬ 
vinced that not more than one-half of the dairy cows 
in New England are paying in full for their board 
and lodging. In one sense, this is not the cow’s fault, 
but simply her misfortune in not being built on dairy 
lines ; yet the owners keep these 
same cows to a ripe old age, rather 
than sell them for what they will 
bring, and give some promising 
young heifers a chance. 
A short conversation with L. R. 
Tabor, of Westford, with whom I 
stopped recently, brought out some 
very good reasons why farmers 
should raise their own dairy cows. 
Mr. Tabor makes butter that was 
thought good enough to receive the 
award of a gold medal at the World’s 
Fair in 1893, and also understands 
his business in other departments of 
the farm. I asked him whether it 
paid him to raise his own cows, and 
if so, why. His reply was, “ I like 
to raise my own heifers, because I 
can raise a good cow cheaper than I 
can buy a poor one. Were I to go 
out to buy some cows to put into 
my dairy, I would have to pay the 
price of good cows, but in reality, I 
would get about the poorest milkers 
in the herd.” 
“Can’t an experienced dairyman 
tell a good cow at sight before he 
pays for her ? ” I asked. 
“ Well, some may, but all farm¬ 
ers are not experts in judging ani¬ 
mals, and then, there is a good deal 
of human nature about the cow. She is not always 
what she looks to be. The secretion of milk is largely 
a nervous function, and cows sometimes have had 
such previous treatment as to render them almost 
worthless for dairy purposes.” 
Mr. Tabor then showed me several large, well- 
developed, two-year-old heifers of his own raising, 
each giving five to six quarts at a milking. “ These 
heifers,” said he, “ are from my best grade Jersey 
and Short horn cows, and were sired by a purebred 
Jersey bull. They are worth more to me than their 
mothers were at the same age, as they are bred 
THE SCRUB HEIFER. A ROBBER COW. Fig. 169. 
with more reference to the dairy than the shambles.” 
I then looked at a bunch of yearling candidates for 
dairy honors, that the boys had just brought in 
from pasture. Fig. 170 shows one of them in charge 
of Master Archie, which is also in training for dairy 
honors later on. Another reason why Eastern farm¬ 
ers should raise more heifers of the dairy type is, be¬ 
cause there are now, and have been for two or three 
years past, more buyers than sellers. Although dairy 
products have, at times, dropped to very low figures 
within recent years, still the demand for a high grade 
of dairy cattle at remunerative prices, has been con¬ 
tinuous, at least, in northern New England. I have 
heard it said many times, of late, that a cow is worth 
more than a horse, which is really true of good cows 
and poor horses. Good cows sell readily in this mar¬ 
ket at $35 to $50, and buyers have to advertise more 
or less to get them at that. I asked a successful 
farmer the other day, what it cost him to raise a 
good cow to maturity, say, just her second lactation, 
and he replied, 
“ Simply the labor of caring for her.” 
To make the matter more plain, I asked him to 
explain what brand of atmosphere and what sized 
ration he fed her on, and he replied, 
“I divide the life of the cow into two epochs. 
First, from calf to first lactation, which is about 
two years. Second, from beginning of lactation to 
end of the second, which is two years more. Now 
in the second half of her life, if she doesn’t earn 
enough to pay for what hay and grass I fed her 
when she was but a mere calf, then she never will 
pay it. I consider the manurial value I receive 
from her as well as the milk she gives, in making 
this estimate, which I believe to be a fair state¬ 
ment of fact.” 
I suggested something about interest on the in¬ 
vestment, and he said, 
“ There is no interest, because no investment. 
It is cheaper to turn the calf into the pasture than 
to kill and bury it.” 
This proposition does not contemplate the rearing 
of scrub stock that is mostly head and horns. In 
order to get some estimate of what others might 
think of the proposition, I stopped at a farm where 
very ordinary native cattle are kept, and asked the 
owner if he would take a calf to raise for me, and 
when matured, he should have the rent of the cow 
for a reasonable time as recompense for the material 
and labor put into her ; and if so, how long he thought 
that he ought to keep the cow to get even. His reply 
was emphatic and conclusive. 
“Life is too short to gamble on 
such futures. Why, man ! I can 
git all the calves I want for nutbin, 
and can’t make a livin at it either.” 
A picture of such a heifer as he 
keeps is shown at Fig. 169. 
Still another reason why farmers 
should raise their own dairy cows 
rather than buy them, is the risk of 
buying tuberculosis. One can get 
all the tuberculosis he desires with¬ 
out buying it. The greatest com¬ 
plaint I have heard from farmers in 
this and other States, arises from 
the fact that they introduced tuber¬ 
culosis into their herds, from cows 
bought out of infected herds. The 
records of our State Cattle Commis¬ 
sion show a very large per cent of 
this disease to have sprung from a 
few herds where young stock has 
been sold for breeding purposes. 
My advice to dairymen is first to 
make sure that their cattle are free 
from tuberculosis, then raise their 
own heifers, and they can rest 
secure against the ravages of this 
dread disease. Of course, they will 
need to introduce new blood into 
their herds, and will be obliged to 
change sires every year or two ; but 
it is much easier to secure one animal known to be 
free from disease, than a large number picked at 
random. It is, also, possible, in these days, to secure 
animals of excellent breeding, at prices but little 
above those of common stock a few years ago. 
Vermont. o. w. scakff. 
