•M 
PHOTO^eTtb^: 
Vol. LXVII. No. 3050 
NEW YORK, JULY 11, 1908 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR 
Hfife 
THE HOLSTEIN COW UNDER TEST. 
Care, Feeding and Handling. 
“Good morning, girls; how arc you feeling this 
morning?” 
The speaker was a smooth-faced man of beaming 
countenance and heroic proportions. The “girls” were 
five in number. They stood in a row. about 3'< feet 
apart, and were all contentedly chewing their cud as 
they partially turned in their swing stanchions to 
greet their friend and master with what might easily 
be construed into a smile of recognition. The master 
stepped quickly to the feeding alley, where a row of 
five buckets decorated the wall, each one heaped high 
with a pulped mixture of turnip and table beet. 
These “girls,” I am sorry to say, have never read 
the Ladies’ Home Journal—they lack in table man¬ 
ners. They actually strained forward in the stan¬ 
chions, stuck out their tongues and licked their chins, 
as the buckets were brought forward and the con¬ 
tents poured out before them. . Some of them even 
got down on their knees and ran their tongues out 
a foot or more in frantic endeavor to reach their 
neighbors’ food. Meanwhile the master, after placing 
the roots before his pets, passed to a 
row of pans a little farther down the 
wall, emptying the contents of each upon 
the roots. These pans contained a mix¬ 
ture of bran, cornmeal, ground oats, 
“Ajax,” gluten, linseed meal and a little 
cotton-seed meal—varying somewhat in 
proportion from time to time, as the 
condition of the heifer and the judg¬ 
ment of the feeder dictated. 
During the first seven days of an offi¬ 
cial test these five heifers—two years 
old—received 16 pounds of roots four 
times a day, four pounds of the grain 
mixture four times a day, and all the 
silage and hay they would consume. 
At the end of the first seven days they 
had all produced more than enough but¬ 
ter-fat to entitle them to advanced reg¬ 
istration. This comparatively safe ra¬ 
tion was fed for the first week without 
increase, so that requirements for ad¬ 
vanced registration might be made 
without risk of overfeeding. Then the 
owner, in order to try their mettle and 
to make as large a record as possible, 
gradually increased the grain) ration, 
adding one pound per day, until all but 
one of the heifers consumed as high as 24 pounds 
per day, before refusing to clean up the manger. At 
the same time, the amount of roots was increased 
to about 20 pounds at a feed, making 80 pounds per 
day. All of the cows made substantial gains on the 
increased feed. Very little silage and hay was eaten 
during the last few days, as the roots and grain 
seemed to be about all they could handle. Occasion¬ 
ally, however, a nice forkful of Alsike clover would 
appear in the hay, and was highly relished. Another 
lot of test cows that I have in mind were fortunate 
enough to live near Syracuse, where they were fed 
all the bright Alfalfa hay they cared to consume; 
and they would eat a lot of it, even when fed a 
heavy grain ration with lots of roots and brewers’ 
grains. 
Many breeders and feeders have some pet combi¬ 
nation of feeds which they consider superior to all 
other mixtures. I have noticed, however, in practice 
that they will change the ration often, sometimes 
■varying it from day to day, according to the condi¬ 
tion of the cow. This seems to me to be the ra¬ 
tional way to feed test cows. Digestibility and pala- 
tability of foods are two very important items to 
consider. A well-balanced ration may lack both these 
requirements. I have known of several cases where 
cotton-seed meal, which is very rich in protein, and 
therefore valuable in narrowing flown a ration, had 
to be cut out on account of the cows’ dislike for it. 
There are undoubtedly many combinations of grain 
equally as good as any other. A goodly amount of 
the protein feeds seems to be essential, but the in¬ 
dividuality of the cow. in regard to taste, powers 
of digestion, etc., must be closely watched and 
seriously considered. 
From 20 to 30 pounds of grain per day are often 
fed to Holstein cows undergoing official test. In 
many cases, I am convinced that more food is con¬ 
sumed than can be digested or assimilated. Certainly 
from an economic standpoint—where the value of the 
milk is considered—there is great waste in feeding 
such enormous rations. But, it must be remembered, 
the record of the cow is the only consideration. Cost 
of milk cuts no figure. A pound or two of butter 
to her credit may mean many dollars’ value added to 
the cow, as well as to her offspring, her sire, her dam 
and all near relatives. In other words, a cow under 
test is fed anything and everything in the food line. 
ONE OF THE HOLSTEIN GIRLS. Fig. 252. 
regardless of cost, which will increase the flow of 
milk. Most feeders have a theory of their own in 
regard to the influence of certain foods on the per¬ 
centage of fat in milk; but these theories are as 
various as they are numerous, and often reach oppo¬ 
site conclusions. The production of butter fat seems 
to be increased or decreased from day to day, and 
from milking to milking by the physical and nervous 
condition of the cow, more than by any change of 
feeds or of combinations of feeds, except in so far 
as these changes may affect the general health of the 
cow. When cows are milked four times a day the 
milking nearest the noon hour generally tests highest. 
Various theories have been advanced to explain this, 
but the cow seems inclined to keep the secret to 
herself. 
Breeders and feeders of Holstein cows are, as a 
class, in love with their work. They like their cows, 
and, so far as my observation goes, are invariably 
kind and gentle with them. As a breed they (the 
cows I means) are docile and not easily excited. 
One rarely sees a nervous Holstein. Occasionally a 
cranky cow may be found in any breed or combina¬ 
tion of breeds. When such a one shows temper 
during the milking process, without just cause or 
provocation, a good sound slap on the' ribs with 
the flat of the hand will be found to bring them 
to a reasonable consideration of things in general. 
I do not believe in combing cows with a three-legged 
stool, or in any way abusing or irritating them, 
neither do I believe in being run over by a “bossy” 
and cantankerous cow. 
Sometimes, through accident, during an official test 
a part or the whole of a mess of milk may be lost. 
Great pains are taken to avoid this—and it rarely 
happens. When only a small portion is lost the 
milker and supervisor together agree upon the amount; 
but, when a large part is lost, the whole mess is left 
out of the calculations until three days have elapsed. 
At the end of three days an average is taken, both of 
weight and test, of the three previous and three fol¬ 
lowing milkings at the same hour at which the mess 
was lost, and this average is given as the amount 
and test of the lost milking. For example: Suppose a 
mess were lost at the six o’clock milking on a Sun¬ 
day morning. On the following Wednesday the 
amounts and tests of the 6 a. m. milkings of the 
previous six days, beginning with Thursday and omit¬ 
ting Sunday would be averaged, and 
that amount and test given for the lost 
Sunday milking. 
It often happens that a cow gets “off 
her feed,” as the breeders express it. 
Under such high pressure it is not sur¬ 
prising that they sometimes say “no 
thank you’’ to the feeder. The loss of 
appetite means a temporary falling off 
in milk, but when the feeder is careful 
the cow usually comes back to a nor¬ 
mal condition in a day or two. Of 
course the loss may seriously affect the 
record of the cow, and the only way 
to avoid it is to exercise great care and 
watchfulness in the feeding and man¬ 
agement of all cows under test. 
C. S. MOORE. 
R- N.-Y.—The cow shown in the pic¬ 
ture on this page, Fig. 252, is one of 
those Holstein “girls” mentioned by Mr. 
Moore, Belle Pietertje of Oneida 52783. 
In her test for seven days’ record she 
gave 593.2 pounds of milk, making 2S.25 
pounds butter, and in the 30-day test 
2,520.8 pounds milk and 115.32 pounds 
butter. Her best one day’s milk record 
was 89.4 pounds. This is bulk enough 
to keep an expert milker busy for several minutes. 
What Do the Tests Prove? 
I have read Mr. Mapes’s article on “Testing a Hol¬ 
stein Cow,” and can but wonder what such a test 
amounts to anyway, either to determine the value of a 
certain breed as dairy cows, or of the individual 
cow herself. It, of course, shows how much butter 
she can make in 30 days. But if the cost is counted 
of fitting her for the test, and her feed during the 
test, it will be found that the butter she made will 
cost twice what it would sell for at market prices. 
If this is true how can a farmer be guided by those 
tests in changing his cow for other breeds boomed in 
this way? It must be plain to anyone that this cow 
under ordinary care and under profitable feeding 
would be only a fair to good cow at best. The 
writer has 30 cows. During the month of June, 1907, 
21 cows were in milk. Of those two were farrow, 
while three were to be fresh in October and one a 
heifer two years old. They gave during the month 
12,646 pounds of milk, test 4.40, butter fat 556.8, 
gain per cent of churn 12, butter 623, besides the 
milk we used in the house for a family of eight, in- 
