1160 
THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
December 10, 
f 
MILKING COWS BEFORE CALVING. 
When and under what circumstances do 
you consider it advisable to milk a heifer 
before calving? Is there any trouble liable 
to result from so doing? 
If the heifer is properly fed and hand¬ 
led I think it seldom necessary to milk 
her before she has her first calf. It is 
always an indication of a good milker. 
It is very desirable that a heifer develop 
a good udder, and to remove the milk 
before she delivers her calf is to .stop 
such udder extension, and at the same 
time stimulate the milk secreting glands, 
so that the material which she needs to 
develop her calf is diverted to making 
more milk. Careful estimates show that 
it takes as much feed to produce a calf 
at full time as to make 1000 pounds of 
milk. Consider a calf born at seven 
months, how small it is, and compare it 
with one at full time, only two months 
later, and one realizes that from two- 
thirds to three-fourths of this growth— 
and consequent demand for building 
material in the way of feed—is needed 
in this short time. Just a day or two 
ago I met a man who had milked a heifer 
for five weeks before calving. The in¬ 
jury in such a case cannot help but be 
serious, and likely permanent. For when 
the milking is once begun it must be 
continued. Heifers often make up a bag 
before calving, which left alone will re¬ 
duce. The swollen udder is a much less 
serious thing in the heifer than with a 
cow which has been milked a season. I 
have had them swell clear to the navel, 
all to disappear in a day or two after 
calving. When the time at which the 
calf should come is known, and the heifer 
shows distress because of a distended 
udder, it is humane to draw a little 
milk, a few hours before, but it is better 
not; and no serious trouble will result 
if her bowels are kept loose with laxative 
foods and a dose or two of epsom salts 
in three-fourths of a pound to one pound 
doses. Avoid also stimulating feeds, just 
at this period, such as rank pasture, or 
concentrated highly nitrogenous feeds. 
Bathing the udder with hot water is 
good, but this should never be done if 
she is afterward to be exposed to cold 
or draughts. Better apply a cooling oint¬ 
ment such as vaseline or sweet oil with 
plenty of rubbing. e. van alstyne. 
It is seldom we are bothered this way, 
although this Summer we had to bring 
in from pasture and milk one that had 
been sucked by a younger one. We 
would milk before calving if the udder 
showed unusual distention and signs of 
inflammation, in which case extract of 
poke root (Phytolacca) should be ap¬ 
plied and well rubbed on but not 
kneaded as so often advised. A piece 
of the green root equal to a hen’s egg 
can be fed to advantage three or four 
times a day. We do not know of another 
remedy as good. r. f, shannon. 
The proper time to begin milking a 
heifer (or any other cow) is when the 
udder becomes painfully distended with 
milk, and no ill effects should follow 
from such milking. It is not only cruel 
to the animal, but often results in the 
loss of one or more quarters, to allow 
the udder to become caked and inflamed 
from over distending with milk before 
calving. I would not milk out clean, but 
would draw enough milk to keep the 
udder from becoming inflamed and 
painful to the cow. On the other hand, 
do not be afraid if the heifer makes up 
a big udder accompanied with consider¬ 
able swelling. I think that it is a good 
thing to let the udder get well stretched 
out, and may add to the future capacity 
of the cow. It is not often, but some¬ 
times a heifer may come to her milk for 
quite a time before she drops her first 
calf, and there are cases on record where 
the heifer has come to her milk without 
even having been bred. I have before 
me the report of Mrs. Kate M. Busick 
of her Jersey cow “Maud of Maple 
View,” No. 39511, (test 23 pounds 10j^ 
ounces of butter in seven days. Mrs. 
Busick says: “When she was a year 
old the herdsman’s wife said to me one 
morning: ‘Mrs. Busick, I wish you 
would step out to the paddock and see 
Maud; her udder is so large I think 
she surely needs attention.’ I went, anc 
upon examination found her udder dis¬ 
tended to its utmost capacity. Having 
always been petted and handled, she 
stood perfectly quiet while I milked from 
her nearly half a gallon. I directed the 
herdsman’s wife to relieve the calf once 
a day until I came again. In a week 
she had gained so that we were obligee 
to milk her twice a day to avoid her 
suffering. At 13 months old we took 
the milk from one milking and churnec 
7 l /i ounces of golden butter, and from 
time to time one day’s milk was churnec 
and made one pound of marketable but¬ 
ter. A Jersey breeder declared that she 
must have lost her calf, saying: ‘No 
heifer, not a mother, could do such 
work’; but on the morning of August 24 
she dropped a heifer calf nearly as large 
and scrawny as herself, and he was 
forced to admit that he had made a mis¬ 
take. This calf at three years old made 
a test of 16 pounds of butter in a week. 
She was sired by Eurotas-Pogis Le 
Brok, No. 19503, and he was but eight 
months old at time of service.” 
J. GRANT MORSE. 
It has been my experience that seldom 
should a heifer be milked before calving. 
It is often necessary with a cow that has 
been in milk and does not thoroughly 
dry up. It is contrary to nature to have 
milk in the udder the first time until the 
young thing is ready to remove it. Often 
men mistake a caked udder for an udder 
full of milk, and begin milking, which 
does not help the situation. If the feeds 
are right, that is, if they have cooling 
feeds, those which will not produce fever, 
and the animal is strong and vigorous, 
not too fat, and has her feed reduced for 
two weeks prior to parturition and the 
bowels are kept open, no trouble will 
follow. H. E. COOK. 
I fail to see any reason why a heifer 
or cow should not be milked before calv¬ 
ing. We have often drawn out part of 
the contents of the udder, sometimes 
three or four times before the cow calved, 
and have never noted any ill effects 
from the practice. This milking may 
not be absolutely necessary, but when the 
udder is unduly distended and inflamed, 
giving the animal pain, it is an act of 
mercy to relieve her. Draw out enough 
to relieve the pressure, but do not empty 
the udder. Feed laxative foods, such 
as silage and roots, especially to heavy 
milking cows which are more likely to 
suffer from distended udders before 
calving than their less highly developed 
sisters. c. s. M. 
MARE WITH INDIGESTION. 
I would like advice in regard to a young 
mare that came into my possession 'about 
two months ago. She is a little past three 
years old ; was bred about two weeks before 
I got her. She had not been very well 
cared for, had not been worked much, but 
had been driven in buggy some ; was quite 
thin in flesh; I think on account of too 
much driving and not enough feed. Since 
I have owned, .her she has been doing about 
as well as can be expected ; has gained in 
flesh until she now looks quite well, has 
gained perhaps 75 pounds, and as far as 
I can see seems to feel all right, but her 
hair does not lie down as it should, and she 
has pin worms. I gave her an injection of 
strong tobacco water. I have been feeding 
two to three quarts of oats, sometimes 
about one pint of rye chop in the oats, and 
good Timothy hay; about work enough for 
exercise. The urine is cream or mud color; 
when she is working it looks natural, but 
if she stands in barn for a day or .two af 
a time it is always a bad color, small 
amounts at a time. I have given her some 
Glauber salts, about one ounce in the 
drinking water, morning and evening, but 
it does not seem to make any difference. 
Pennsylvania. r. u. s. 
The mare suffers from chronic indiges¬ 
tion, and her kidneys are all right. Have 
her teeth attended to by a veterinary den¬ 
tist. Work or exercise her abundantly 
every, day and let her have a roomy box 
stall in stable. Do not feed rye chop.' Peed 
five parts oats and one part bran. Allow 
one pound of this mixture per 100 pounds 
live weight and in cold weather allow a 
few ears of corn at noon in addition to the 
oats and -bran mixture night and morning. 
Give the drinking water before feeding. 
Allow free access to rock salt. If the 
urine continues to be abnormal in color 
mix in feed night and morning one table¬ 
spoonful of a mixture of two parts pow¬ 
dered wood charcoal and one part each of 
bicarbonate of soda and powdered hydras- 
tis. a. s'. A. 
“X' 
vi*y 
*5 
Let Us Feed One Of Your 
Cows For Three Weeks 
W E’VE got a proposition that will interest every 
man who owns cows. It will be the positive 
means of earning more money from your present 
dairy investment. It necessitates no extra expense. We’ll 
show you how you should get not less than 10 per 
cent extra out of each cow you own. 
We’ll take any cow you have, (providing she is still able to give 
milk) and inside of seven days we’ll increase her milk supply. We’ll 
make it possible for you to get more milk than ever before. 
This is a fair and square deal. We’ll leave the matter entirely 
to your judgment. You simply have to weigh the milk each day 
and see the remarkable results. 
K 
added to the ration you are now using will improve every cow in your 
herd. They gobble it up as they do the tender June grass—it’s just as 
tender and succulent. It does not make a bit of difference what you 
are feeding now. Dried Beet Pulp included in your daily ration will 
make your cows healthier and stronger, keeping them always in 
prime physical condition. They’ll feel better and act better, 
for Dried Beet Pulp strengthens their constitution, aids digestion, 
regulates the bowels and kidneys, prevents garget and lengthens 
the milk giving period. 
It prevents any of the bad after effects of heavy feeding, as it loosens up 
the ration in such a way that it is easily digested. Stop feeding only heavy 
grains and dry roughage. Add light, bulky, milk-producing, profit-earning 
Dried Beet Pulp to your ration. 
Dried Beet Pulp is simply the Sugar Beets with most of the sugar 
taken out. All the tender, nutritious vegetable tissues of the beet are 
retained. Nothing more—nothing less. It is not a patented remedy 
nor a cure-all mixture. 
Thousands of dairymen write of the enormous milk increase 
they have experienced since feeding Dried Beet Pulp. 
Here’s the Way to Get 
New Big Profits Right Away 
Go to your dealer, show him this advertisement, tell him you want to try a sack of Dried 
Beet Pulp at our risk. Don’t take “no” for an answer; you are entitled to get what you 
want. Here is our proposition; it involves no risk for you or the dealer. 
We will ship your dealer (if he does not already carry it in stock) 500 lbs. Dried Beet 
Pulp so that you can try it. If after you have fed one sack, the cow you selected has not 
increased her milk production, we authorize the dealer to return you in full your pur¬ 
chase price, and we will in turn refund to the dealer. The decision in the matter will 
rest entirely with you; your dealings will be with the man you know and with whom 
you trade. 
The Larrowe Milling Co. 
603 Ford Bldg.) 
Detroit, 
Mich. 
& 
A* 
* 
* 
A 
Few 
Letters. 
Read 
These: 
L< e 
id * 
v°. 
X we* 
VO V 
% 
v° 
v°; 
5V 
©>■ 
Wm. Barclay. Manager of 
Glen Farm. South Portsmouth. 
R. I., who has charge of the 
famous “Missy of the Glen," 
“Glenanaar of the Glen” and 
their other record - breaking 
cows, writes: 
“W have fed Dried Beet Pulp 
to Missy. Glenanaar, and all our 
other cows that have made big 
records. We consider it a valuable 
feed in that it keeps the stomach and 
bowels in good condition when feeding 
heavy grains for production. During the 
entire period of the test our cows never refused 
a feed. They have always dropped a fine, healthy 
calf about three months after finishing their test." 
W K. Hepburn, Supt. of • ..gwater Farms. North 
Easton, Mass., the home of the record-breaking "Dolly 
Dimple” writes: ‘ We have found it (Beet Pulp) a very 
valuable part of our ration in feeding test cows. * 
C. H. Eckles. Prof, of Dairy Husbandry, University of 
Missouri, Columbia. Mo., writes: "We have fed the beet pulp 
to our Holstein cow “Josephine” since the beginning of ber milkinr 
period. With the first six months she produced 17008 lbs. of milk, 
which is the largest production en record for that length ot time. ’ 
y\° \> V 
EXCELSIOR SWING STANCHION 
Warranted The Best. 30 Days’ Trial 
Unlike all others. Stationary when open 
Noiseless Simple Sanitary Durable 
The Wasson Stanchion Co., 
ltox 60 , Cuba, N. V. 
XT ICK 
Highest Grade Sanitary 
Not a particle of wood about them, 
“uick to open — Quick to close — 
uick to please—Quick shipments. 
Ask for 1910 Catalogue. 
BOWEN & QUICK, Mfrs. Auburn, N.Y. 
