184 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
February 20, 
HANDLING DAIRY COWS. 
Will F. D. K., who tells on page 93 
about his herd of cows tell us when his 
cows are fresh? How does he handle them 
at this time? What grain ration does he 
feed? Does the bull run with the cows? 
My cows usually begin to freshen the 
last of October, and then along until 
March. At present 15 of the 21 are 
fresh. I usually dry them off about 
two to two and one-half months before 
calving, and about two weeks before 
their time is up begin feeding grain, 
from four to eight pounds per day, de¬ 
pending on the condition of the cow. 
About one week before due I put them 
in a box stall and when fresh allow the 
calf to suck once and then remove the 
cow to the stable, and gradually in¬ 
crease their feed until I have them up 
to their maximum ration, which will be 
in about four to six weeks. My ration 
this present Winter has been 200 pounds 
bran, 160 pounds Ajax flakes, 50 pounds 
cotton seed, 50 pounds oil meal, and 
some of the time 100 pounds of hominy, 
depending on the condition of the cows. 
If I see them falling off in flesh I 
add the hominy. If gaining I cut it 
out. I feed from 10 to 12 pounds per 
day to each cow, according to amount 
of milk she is giving. They have from 
40 to 55 pounds of silage per day, and 
what Alfalfa hay they will clean up. 
When they freshen in October I put 
them in the barn and on to their Winter 
ration. While it is quite a temptation 
to turn to pasture, I have found that 
what they get at that time of year runs 
(as Nature intended it to) largely to 
fat, to the detriment of the milk pro¬ 
duct. My bulls are kept in box stalls 
as long as they are peaceable, and are 
then rung and fastened in stall; do not 
run with cows. F. d. k. 
Manlius, N. Y. 
SILO QUESTIONS. 
I see a good many Ideas on silos from 
time to time in The R. N.-Y. and would 
like Information on one I am contemplat¬ 
ing building. It is to be built on the 
north side of basement barn. The base¬ 
ment wall is eight feet high. I would like 
to dig out the earth down to about three 
feet below the basement floor, and lay the 
silo up to top of basement wall with 
stones and concrete, then finish with wood. 
I could cut a doorway through my basement 
wall and walk right into silo from feeding 
floor. That would give me a silo 11 feet 
high underground, and could finish it with 
wood to any desired height; therefore a 
silo 32 feet deep would only take staves 
21 feet long. Would it be as good in every 
respect as built wholly outside? 
New York. j. w c. 
Your plan is a good one; it will not 
only be convenient and durable, but 
doubtless cheaper. If you use the lime 
concrete with rough stones that I have 
previously described you will have no 
stones going clear through the wall, to 
carry dampness or frost. The earth on 
the back will hold the concrete in place, 
so you will only need a frame on the 
inside to hold the material until it sets. 
The heavy pressure will all be on the 11 
feet below ground., and your super¬ 
structure need not *be so strong. If you 
build this silo square with the corners 
cut off, you can doubtless put it up 
more cheaply and just as good for all 
practical purposes. 
EDWARD VAN ALSTYNE. 
RATION FOR FATTENING STEERS. 
I am feeding 40 pounds of good corn 
silage and 10 pounds of corn fodder per 
day; grain ration composed of two pounds 
of buckwheat bran, one pound of cornmeal, 
one-quarter pound of oil meal, one-quarter 
pound of cotton-seed meal. Is this a sat¬ 
isfactory ration? IIow many pounds of 
grain ration Should be fed daily to fat¬ 
tening steers of 700 to 900 pounds weight? 
New York. L. f. a. 
This ration is good so far as it goes, 
hut it is too light for fattening steers 
of that weight rapidly. It will take so 
much food anyway, to maintain them; 
the surplus makes gain, so long as they 
are fed no more than they can assim¬ 
ilate. Doubtless there is a good bit of 
corn in the silage, probably two pounds 
daily. This with what grain you are 
feeding, with make but 5 y 2 pounds, 
rather light feed. It is too carbon¬ 
aceous, for steers of that weight are 
probably young, and need to grow 
muscle as well as fat. With so little 
protein they will be more likely to lose 
appetite, and their digestion will not be 
so good. One-fourth of a pound daily 
of a feed to an animal of that size is 
like expecting to fertilize (?) an acre 
with 200 pounds of fertilizer containing 
one or two per cent of plant food. Just 
how much you can feed with profit, no 
one can tell who is not with the cattle. 
It will depend, too, on how much your 
grain costs, price you can get for them 
when finished, and whether part of your 
plan is to get them to utilize as much 
of the silage and fodder grown on the 
farm as possible, by feeding them a 
longer period. It is well to remember 
that if they are well finished it will add 
materially to the selling price. Watch 
their appetite and voidings. The latter 
should be of about the same consistency 
as in midsummer; not loose. If they 
are offensive in smell, that is a sure in¬ 
dication they have more than they can 
properly digest. I feel quite sure it will 
pay to increase the oil meal and cotton¬ 
seed meal to one pound each a day. 
Possibly it might be wise to drop the 
one pound of cornmeal and increase the 
two just mentioned two pounds each 
daily. The cornmeal is worth almost 
as much in the market and the others 
contain more fat, and the protein will 
be relished, and promote both growth 
and digestion. ewdard van alstyne. 
MERINO SHEEP BREEDERS UNITED. 
At the annual meeting of the Vermont 
Merino Sheep Breeders’ Association, held 
at Middlebury, January 29, 1908, there 
was only one change in the officers for 
the ensuing year. The officers elected were 
as follows: President, E. M. Bissett, East 
Sho'reham; vice-president, C. M. Rauch, 
Middlebury, and L. S. Busard, Bridport; 
secretary and treasurer, C. A. Chapman, 
Ferrisburg; directors, J. C. Hamilton, 
C. W. Smith, Bridport; W. C. Sturtevant, 
Weybridge; L. A. Webster, Whiting; Com¬ 
mittee on pedigree, H. E. Sanford, West 
Cornwall; H. D. .Tackson, Bridport; A. F. 
Phillips, Brandon. There lias been for the 
last few years among our most thoughtful 
breeders in New York, Ohio and Vermont a 
belief that all the Merino registers doing 
business on the same lines should be united 
and that question was brought up and thor¬ 
oughly discussed, after which the meeting 
voted to write the three above registers in 
New York, Ohio and Vermont, if it could 
bo done under the name of the Vermont, 
New York and Ohio Merino Sheep Register 
Association, and the details of closing up 
the deal was left to the secretary to ar¬ 
range. If this is done there will be but one 
register in the United States for the regis¬ 
tration of Merinos on the lines followed 
by Vermont since the organization in 1876. 
This is as it should be, as the breeders 
will aH be united. The headquarters will 
be for the present at Delaware, Ohio, under 
charge of Wesley Bishop, the present sec¬ 
retary of the Ohio association. 
C. A. CHAPMAN. 
Windmill For Power. 
J. B., Brooklyn, N. Y .—I have a large 
windmill on my farm that is now used en¬ 
tirely for pumping water. I desire to 
utilize this power for general farm pur¬ 
poses, sawing, grinding, churning, etc. Can 
you refer me to any book that will en¬ 
lighten me on the subject? 
Ans. —If J. B. has one of the stand¬ 
ard windmills, placed on the market by 
large manufacturers, he can probably 
get the information he is seeking by 
applying to them for their circular of 
instruction for setting up power mills 
and installing machinery to be driven by 
them. Most of the manufacturers of 
these mills have printed and illustrated 
literature such as your correspondent 
is seeking. He would better apply di¬ 
rectly to the manufacturers of his mill. 
If it is a mill designed specially for 
pumping water it may not be well adapt¬ 
ed for the other purposes he names. 
He must recognize also that a windmill 
is serviceable for power purposes only 
when there is sufficient wind movement, 
and that the character of the work to be 
done may be such that it cannot be well 
deferred for a favorable wind. 
f. h; king. 
LOSS OF MILK through improper feed is 
enormous. You will be surprised how much more 
milk your cows will give if you will furnish them a 
ration especially prepared for milk produc¬ 
tion. Just for curiosity sake go to your 
dealer and get a couple sacks of 
BADGER DAIRY FEED 
—the molasses feed that is surprising even the old 
time dairy feeders, and try iton one of your cows. 
This feed will build up a cow’s physical powers, fur¬ 
nish her lacteal organs with milk making nutrition to 
such a degree that her flow will increase 20 per cent. 
It is simply because it is com¬ 
posed of the best known 
grains combined with 
pure molasses making a 
succulent feed that cows 
like and produce big re¬ 
sults on. Your dealer has 
it, or can get it for you. 
Chas. A. Krause Milling 
Box 100 Milwaukee, Wis. 
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