6i3 
September 12 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
DIARY OF A DAIRY FARM. 
GETTING INTO THE MILK BUSINESS. 
(Concluded^) 
The last week in August, I pufehased 
eight springers, grade Short-horns, Hoi 4 
steins and Jerseys. One cow had a 
Calf by her side, another dropped a calf 
by September 1, attd all were due to be 
fresh either in September or October. 
With the new cows, another problem 
presented itself—that of providing succu¬ 
lent fodder to maintain the flow of milk, 
the drought not having yet been broken. 
Water, also, was scarce, and not at all 
handy. For fodder, however, we began 
cutting field corn, reinforcing it with a 
heaping, four-quart measure of the ship- 
stuff and hominy, two parts ships to 
One of hothiny—once a day. Four of the 
new cows came fresh in $eptemberj 
while two more of the old herd went 
dry, making eight cows in milk. The 
milk check for this month amounted to 
$52.52, with milk at 2% cents per quart. 
Uy October, the pastures had greened up 
a little, under a meager rainfall, and 
with the addition of three more fresh 
cows, the milk receipts reached $86 93, 
the price remaining the same as for Sep¬ 
tember. During this month, two cows 
from the old herd — one a registered 
Jersey, the other a grade—came into 
milk, and were sold for $55—very much 
less than the Jersey alone had cost; 
but it seemed a necessary measure, as 
they were not profitable as milk pro¬ 
ducers. 
In November, we repaired our stables, 
putting in windows and stanchions, and 
battened all cracks, making them light 
and warm. We now began to feed four 
quarts of grain night and morning, with 
dry corn stalks, the pasture having 
utterly failed. Our grain feed consisted 
of corn and cob with oats, ground to¬ 
gether and mixed with equal parts of 
shipstuff and hominy. We procured a 
cutter, also, and cut the stalks, having 
pui-chafeed of a neighbor his crop of corn 
stalks at 2^ cents a bundle. In Novem¬ 
ber, two more of the old herd dropped 
calves, and as prices for cows were very 
low in the New York market, we deter¬ 
mined to keep them, thinking that we 
could profitably do so, a conception that 
was afterwards disproved by the scales. 
In this month, our milk check amounted 
to $91.28, milk 2% cents, from 12 cows ; 
all Gf the new cows were now in milk , 
two fresh from the old herd, and still 
other two milked since April and June. 
There were two more, also, from the 
old herd now dry. 
In December, a new problem presented 
itself ; that of securing an abundant 
supply of pure, sweet water, so situated 
that the cows could get to it without 
trouble, and drink without let or hind¬ 
rance. For years, the stock had been 
Watered from a brook which flowed at 
the foot of a steep hill in the barnyard, 
or from a spring about 300 rods distant ; 
but the cold dip in December froze the 
edges of the brook so that the cows 
were afraid to approach it, and stopped 
the flow from the spring. Even when 
the cattle attempted to reach the brook, 
the master spirit stood guard and effectu¬ 
ally prevented the younger ones from 
drinking, two or three valuable heifers 
being badly hooked. Of course, this 
condition of affairs seriously affected 
the -milk yield, causing a shrinkage of 
more than $5 during the first two weeks. 
Clearly, something must be done or our 
hopes would be doomed to disappoint¬ 
ment. 
The first move was to send for a man 
and have the whole herd dishorned. 
The operation was neither long nor pain¬ 
ful, neither did it affect the milk yield to 
any appreciable extent. The work was 
done with a pair of clippers, very little 
blood flowed—more in the case of the 
younger than the older cows and all 
began to eat immediately afterward. 
The wounds also healed quickly, and 
the hooking business suddenly ceased. 
The water question, however, was not 
so easily disposed of. At length, it was 
determined to throw a dam, not over two 
feet in height, across a springy place by 
the side of the brook, where a small, but 
clear stream trickled down to join the 
larger current, put in a hydraulic ram, 
and force the water to the barn, a dis¬ 
tance of 400 feet, and over a rise of 20 
feet. For this purpose, a ram was pur¬ 
chased, 400 feet of one-half-inch and 20 
feet of one-inch lead pipe were secured ; 
the ditch was dug three feet in depth its 
entire length, the pipe laid, the ram put 
in place, and the solution was at hand. 
An abundance of soft, pure water is 
forced into a trough under a shed in the 
barnyard, where the cows come to drink 
with no flashing horns to deny them 
entrance to this Eden. Did it pay to go 
to the trouble and expense ? Ask the 
milk yield for the next two weeks, 
which amounted to more than $8 more 
than the previous half month, making 
the total receipts for December, $90.22. 
In January, our corn-and-cob meal 
began to fail, the crop having been a 
light one, and hearing Chicago gluten 
highly spoken of, I purchased one-half 
ton to give it a trial. We now fed 
about eight quarts of the grain feed 
with the addition—as soon as it could 
safely be done—of two quarts of the 
gluten meal, divided into two feeds. 
The last two cows of the old herd came 
into milk about January 1, and during 
this month, we milked 14. The increase 
in milk—probably owing to the fresh 
cows and the gluten feed—was very per¬ 
ceptible, the milk check amounting to 
$53.59 for the first two weeks of the 
month. The middle of January, our 
corn being now gone, I determined to 
sell 200 bushels of oats, and buy ship- 
stuff and hominy to feed in connection 
with Chicago gluten meal. At this time, 
also, I became anxious to know which 
cows were “paying their keep,” and 
which were kept at a loss. Accordingly, 
a pair of scales were purchased, and set 
up in the stables where feed and milk 
could be weighed and a record kept. 
We began, also, to feed from six to 
seven pounds of the mixed feed, with 
one quart, night and morning, of the 
gluten (the two quarts weighing five 
pounds) to each cow. Don’t know 
whether this is a balanced ration or 
not, but intend to find out. 
The revelation of the scales was not 
altogether a surprise, but it was satis¬ 
factory in confirming suspicions, and in 
giving exact knowledge concerning in¬ 
dividual cows. Seven of the cows bought 
in August were found to be fairly profit¬ 
able, giving all the way from 11 to 15 
quarts daily, the third day of the test; 
two from the old herd that dropped their 
calves in January did better (I could 
give exact figures in each case, but this 
article is already too long), the two 
from the old herd which had been in 
milk since April and June. One was a 
registered Jersey, the other the two- 
year-old heifer ; they gave 10 and 9 
quarts respectively, while the three re¬ 
maining, one of which I thought was a 
bargain, gave seven to eight quarts 
daily, hardly paying for fodder and 
grain. 
The milk check for the last two weeks 
in January, under the changed ration of 
shipstuff and hominy, with gluten, 
amounted to $67.70, by far the best re¬ 
turns of the winter, and not so bad 
considering that most of the cows had 
been five months in milk, while two had 
been milked nearly 10 months. 
F. J. BELCHER. 
TEXAS FEVER; A REPLY. 
Some months ago, there appeared in 
The R. N.-Y. some statements in regard 
to Northern cattle brought South, and 
the danger of their taking Texas fever 
or acclimation fever. The article was 
written in reply to a question by a sub¬ 
scriber. I have, unfortunately, mislaid 
the number in which the article ap¬ 
peared, so that I cannot quote directly 
from it The writer said, in substance 
however, that Northern cattle brought 
South were no more likely to die of 
acclimation fever than natives, unless 
they were allowed to run in the woods 
and swamps where they would get cov¬ 
ered with cattle ticks. The inference 
was that a few cattle ticks on Northern 
animals should cause no anxiety to the 
owner of the cattle. 
I have just had some experience so 
utterly contradictory to this statement, 
that I think that this article should not 
go unchallenged. In November, 1895, I 
had a bull calf sent here from Massa¬ 
chusetts. He grew and flourished admir¬ 
ably, showing every indication of a 
strong constitution. As soon as the 
cattle ticks appeared in the spring, 
every precaution was taken to keep him 
free from them. Up to about July 25, 
he had never had more than three or 
four ticks on him. At about that date, 
I found about a half dozen ticks, which 
I at once removed. On the morning of 
August 4, I noticed that he seemed 
languid and weak in his hind legs. I 
suspected Texas fever, and drenched 
him with salts. By night, his tempera¬ 
ture was at 106 degrees F., and his pulse 
was 96. He was given large doses of 
quinine that day and the next. On Augut t 
6, his temperature dropped to 102 degrees 
F., at 5 A. m. and at 9 A. m. he died. A 
post-mortem examination showed every 
indication of Texas fever. 
The writer of the article referred to 
would, no doubt, do others besides my¬ 
self a service by backing up his state¬ 
ments with some specific examples of 
northern cattle surviving the attacks of 
small numbers of cattle ticks. 
Alabama. f. g. Henderson. 
I cannot recall a single statement that 
would justify Mr. Henderson in the in¬ 
ference “that a few cattle ticks on 
northern animals should cause no anxiety 
to the owner of the cattle.” I do not 
assert it as a fact, but, as far as I know. 
I was the first to assert and demonstrate, 
in the columns of The R. N.-YL, that 
ticks are the “ cause ” of Texas fever. 
The Government officials had, thus far, 
considered them simply as the “means.” 
Later, however, the Kansas Experiment 
Station proved them to be the cause, as 
a Jersey heifer, on which a “ few ” were 
placed, was soon taken with the fever 
and died from its effects. To this. 1 sub¬ 
sequently called attention in The R. 
N.-Y. for the sake of convincing the 
doubting Thomases. On page 327, in 
1893, I warned a man against the whole¬ 
sale introduction of Simmenthal cattle 
into the South on account of the ticks, 
and in support, quoted from the Special 
Report on Diseases of Cattle and Cattle 
Feeding, page 429, as follows : 
Adult animals, particularly milch cows or fat 
cattle, nearly all die. Calves are much more 
likely to survive. 
Calves stand a better chance, but this is 
far from saying that their importation 
into the South ” should cause no anx¬ 
iety.” 
In July and August, 1893, I gave a 
pretty full account of the disease and 
circumstances connected therewith, and 
on page 538, called particular attention 
to the fact that cattle from the North, 
or non-tick-infested regions, seemed to 
be the choice of the ticks, and then show¬ 
ed why the natives stood a better show 
by being gradually inoculated from calf- 
hood up. But neither I nor any one else 
would pretend to assert that the “ na¬ 
tives ” enjoy perfect immunity. 
The editors of The R. N.-Y. may re¬ 
member the hubbub this article created. 
(Continued on next paye). 
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