1798 
December G, 1919 
Jfre RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
Pasture and Barn Notes 
Grooming Dairy Cows. —With present 
high prices for labor, and in many cases 
with insufficient labor obtainable to do 
the absolutely necessary work on dairy 
farms, is it going to pay to try to groom 
the milking cows this Winter? I imagine 
that if such a question were put to a 
hundred dairymen, the replies would 
range all the way from the answer of the 
man who says that he would rather have 
fye minutes grooming a day for a cow 
than a quart of grain, to the man who 
maintains that any time spent on a cow 
other thau that absolutely necessary for 
putting feed in the manger and milking 
is wasted. In our own experience, while 
W T e have not observed that grooming is a 
very satisfactory substitute for good feed, 
still we believe that within reasonable 
limits every minute that can be spent 
on a dairy of cows when they are in the 
barn, grooming, scraping off the gutters, 
shaking up the bedding, sweeping out the 
mangers, pays; yet we must make this 
assertion with no definite proof of in¬ 
creased production. Perhaps there is 
none. Certainly, however, there is one 
effect that results from clean barns and 
clean, happy and contented cattle, and 
that is the feeling of pride and satisfac¬ 
tion with his job which comes to the dairy¬ 
man himself. If a man is milking a herd 
of cows, night and morning, with his at¬ 
tention centered solely on a few cents’ 
cash profit, he is not going to be very 
happy, and the chances are very good 
that ho will be disappointed in the profit. 
If. on the other hand, he is milking those 
cows as a part of his pursuit of happiness, 
every ounce of pride and contentment that 
he can get out of the job means every¬ 
thing to him. Did a real dairyman ever 
spend five minutes brushing the sleek 
coat of that most responsive of all ani¬ 
mals, a dairy cow, which fairly spoke her 
appreciation of the long soothing strokes 
of the brush, and not step back from the 
job a happier and better man? 
Muddy Barnyards. — The County 
Agent called at the farm the other day 
and called our attention to a little detail 
which we confess had escaped us. A 
somewhat limited observation since then 
makes us believe that we were not alone 
in our delinquency. We had been show¬ 
ing the County Agent our barn, with the 
new concrete floors, the whitewashed 
walls, and the King ventilating system, 
and frankly trying to make an impression. 
Very tactfully, he complimented us on 
our improvements, but gradually worked 
us around toward the stable door and 
paused and looked out into the barnyard. 
Just outside the door we have a small con¬ 
crete pavement. Stepping off this, the 
cows had so punched the ground that it 
was a sea of mud. Big stones had worked 
up to the surface, and altogether it was 
about as uninviting a spectacle as one 
could imagine; and yet the funny thing 
about it was that none of us had ever 
thought much about it. After he called 
our attention to the condition by remark¬ 
ing that “we would probably finish up our 
repairs by graveling the barnyard,” the 
County Agent told us that not one farm 
in ten, even those with the best buildings, 
had good banyards. Well, we won’t be 
among the nine that don’t very much 
longer, and we pass this experience along 
with the idea that perhaps some other 
dairyman may have so completely cen¬ 
tered his attention on his barn that he 
has forgotten the barnyard. 
Breaking Young Stock to Leap.—• 
Back in the old days when calves were 
few and boys plentiful, this was not 
much of a problem. The boys took care 
of it. On the modern dairy farm, with 
dozens of calves and a lone boy or two 
off to school or college, there is usually 
no one around who gets up in the morning 
looking forward to a wrestle with a 600- 
lb. yearling; so the dairy calves grow up 
into cows that know nothing about being 
led. Then a buyer comes along, a cow is 
sold, and the fun begins. After several 
very trying experiences of this kind last 
Summer, we have made a resolution that 
every purebred calf and yearling we have 
is going to be broken to lead this Winter. 
We are going to begin by taking them 
one at a time, and tying them for a few 
days with a halter, then leading them up 
and down the alleys in the barn a few 
times, and finally giving them a trip or 
two outside the barn. Perhaps all this 
trouble would not be worth while with 
grades, but we know that it will pay with 
food value. We should no longer sell 
ing price of a purebred animal will de¬ 
pend upon her appearance. If she can 
be led before the purchaser with her head 
up, ton line straight, and in a contented 
mood, the chances for a successful sale are 
10 to one compared with what they would 
be if three men with a couple of hay ropes 
drag her along, sulking and sullen, or with 
braced feet restrained her wild-eyed 
plunges. DAIRYMAN. 
New York State Dairymen’s Association 
Part I. 
An Important Industry. —All that 
was needed to make the forty-third an¬ 
nual meeting of the New York State 
Dairymen's Association at Geneva a suc¬ 
cess was a larger representation of dairy 
farmers. A good program covering time¬ 
ly subjects was well carried out. Dr. W. 
Nordan, director, welcomed the dairymen 
to the State Experiment Station. Prof. 
Troy, president of the Dairymen’s Asso¬ 
ciation, responded to the address of wel¬ 
come. He spoke of the large number of 
people engaged in the dairy industry, and 
the immense value of the products. In 
New York the number of workers is equal 
to one worker caring for four cows. To 
increase the dairy output we need more 
workers and more equipment. One great 
change in the dairy business • has been 
the organization of dairymen. It is the 
business of these organizations to make 
a good product and show the public its 
food value. We should no longer sell 
our milk for a flat price per 100 lbs., re¬ 
gardless of its composition. Higher stand¬ 
ards of sanitation are needed, both on 
farms and at milk receiving stations. Milk 
should be sold to the consumer according 
to its food content and its cleanliness. 
PURE Milk. —C. S. Wilson, Commis¬ 
sioner of Agriculture, spoke at the open¬ 
ing session, in Jordan Hall. He said 
that investigations have shown that less 
than one-half of one per cent of the milk 
shipped to New York City is unlawfully 
adulterated. The producer and consumer 
are protected. The testing of milk and 
cream to show butterfat content, and pay¬ 
ing for milk on this basis is becoming 
universal in New York. A law has been 
passed to protect the producer against 
dishonest tests. License is required for 
testing. A large number of those licensed 
are women, who are doing as good work 
as the men. The accurate and honest use 
of the Babcock test in New l'ork has 
made a new basis for payment, and has 
increased the butterfat content of the 
milk in the State. Dr. Jordan said that 
the glassware used in making the Babcock 
test must be standardized by the New 
York Experiment Station. Harry Steve- 
son. a graduate of Cornell, then gave an 
address on “Keeping the Young Man on 
the Farm.” 
Feeding Stuffs. —The following points 
were touched on in Dr. W. II. Jordan’s 
address on “The Feeding Stuffs Prob¬ 
lem” : 
1. Guaranteeing the percentage either 
of the so-called inferior ingredients or of 
all of the ingredients entering into the 
compounded feeds. 
2. Guaranteeing the proportions of the 
several classes of ingredients, such as 
high protein feeds, carbohydrate feeds and 
feeds rich in crude fiber. 
3. Requiring a guarantee of the per¬ 
centages of digestible nutrients in the 
compounded feeds. 
4. Requiring the separate sale of the 
material designated by law as inferior. 
5. Exclusion by law of certain very in¬ 
ferior ingredients from the compounded 
feeds and limiting under certain condi¬ 
tions the percentage of crude fiber which 
a compounded feed may contain. 
A suggestion as to the enforcement of 
such a provision is the inspection of the 
mills where these goods are manufactured, 
by both Federal and State agents. It is 
clear that in New York, for instance, it 
would be of little use to inspect local 
mills, because a large proportion of our 
feeds come from other States, where New 
York inspectors would have no authority. 
Federal authorities would necessarily co¬ 
operate with State authorities. No one 
can doubt that if State inspectors are kept 
constantly in these mills to check up the 
weighing, it would be a very efficient 
means of knowing what the goods contain. 
The opinion is freely expressed that 
neither the State nor the Federal gov¬ 
ernment would be willing to go to this 
length because of the large number of 
inspectors necessary and the heavy attend¬ 
ing expense. The real remedy to be ap¬ 
plied to this feeding stuff situation, and 
perhaps the only effectual one, is the in¬ 
telligent use by farmers of our existing 
knowledge concerning cattle foods. They 
have been buying very freely and in in¬ 
creasing quantities mixtures concerning 
which it is plainly stated that they con¬ 
tain screenings, rice hulls aud other low- 
grade ingredients. It is a very serious 
question whether knowledge of the pro¬ 
portions of these will in any way depress 
the sale of such mixtures w. h. j. 
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sen 
Her Health Was Not Left 
to Chance 
The cows that make the hig milk records are 
well fed and well bred, to be sure. But, above 
all, they are in the pink of condition. The con¬ 
stant strain of heavy milk production - will wear 
down the vitality of the digestive and genital 
organs of the best of cows, and the result is such 
ailments as Abortion, Retained Afterbirth, Bar¬ 
renness, Scouring, Bunches and Milk Fever. 
Any of these diseases can be successfully treated 
and eliminated with KOW-K.URE, the great cow 
medicine. The medicinal properties of this fa¬ 
mous remedy act directly on the organs of pro¬ 
duction and reproduction, putting the cow s sys¬ 
tem back to normal, healthy action. A decided 
increase in the milk yield is sure to follow. 
Feed dealers and druggists sell KOW- 
KURE; 60c and $1.20 packages. 
Consider cow-health first, and your dairy 
will be a leader, and a money-maker. 
Our free treatise, 
“THE HOME COW DOCTOR,” 
will give you valuable point* 
ers on how to treat and 
prevent cow diseases. 
Ask for your copy. 
Dairy 
Association Co. y 
Lyndonvillc, Vermont 
#V//‘ 
COW 
OaiCSonco 
‘■■'XDOlWfllll.'rt-* 1 ** 
Health Pays! 
This perfect three-year- 
old Jersey has a yearly 
milk record of 1 7,793 lbs. 
Nothing short of 100^> 
health would make such a 
record possible. 
