7ht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
3_a 
amounts given during the 10 days pre¬ 
vious to calving. Generally bran, beet 
pulp and ground oats should be supplied 
at this time. If the udder is swollen and 
shows a great deal of fever, this can he 
relieved by giving one or two doses of Ep¬ 
som salts, the dose being a pound Of Epsom 
salts dissolved in warm water and added 
to a pound of molasses that has likewise 
been reduced by the addition of a pint of 
water. Follow this with a bran mash 
made by pouring a teakettle of boiling 
water over three or four quarts of bran, 
allowing it to cool to body temperature 
before being fed to the animal in the form 
of a thick slop. The grain should be 
gradually increased as the inflammation 
disappears from the udder following 
calving. It would require from 10 days 
to two weeks to bring the cow to her full 
flow of milk, and very little grain should 
be fed until all inflammation disappears 
from the udder. In order to satisfy the 
animal’s appetite she should be gener¬ 
ously supplied with some roughage, such 
as Alfalfa or clover hay or corn fodder. 
I would not feed very much silage during 
the first 10 days following the birth of 
the calf. 
Baby Beef 
Can you tell me at what age they kill 
“baby beef” to be the best? I have a bull 
calf, Holstein and Guernsey, 10 months 
old ; girth, 4 ft. 11 in. He has been eat¬ 
ing about 4 qts. meal and stock feed per 
day for three months ; good English hay 
and silage, all he would clean up, with 
plenty of fresh water since coming to the 
barn. While in the field staked out he 
had all the second-crop grass he could eat, 
with separated milk and grain twice 
daily. A circular from the Department 
of Agriculture say that they kill at 15 to 
IS months of age. Would he be tough 
eating at 10 to 12 months of age? 
New Hampshire. E. M. F. 
You are reminded that it is not possible 
to obtain choice baby beef from steers 
tracing to any of the dairy breeds of cat¬ 
tle. The term “baby beef” is applied to 
representatives of the beef breeds that 
are fed practically all of the grain that 
they will clean up with relish from the 
very day of their birth. The calves are 
allowed to suckle their dams until-eight 
or 10 months old, and during all of this 
time they are fed grain, and usually they 
are forced fed by the time they are 10 or 
12 months old. As a rule they are mar¬ 
keted between the ages of 12 and 18 
months, depending of course upon their 
condition and the degree of ripeness that 
they evidence. The dairy calf in question 
could be killed when 10 or 12 months old. 
providing it is in good flesh and it would 
yield a carcass of fair quality. The meat 
of course would not have the marbling 
that would be found in a strictly beef 
breed carcass, but if the calf has been fed 
generously, as you have indicated, the 
youngster will yield an attractive and 
palatable carcass. The meat would not 
be tough if the animal is killed when 10 
or 12 months old. 
Feeding for Butter Fat 
The following is a ration that I am 
feeding to my cows for butter. Would you 
consider it a well-balanced ration? Corn 
and cob meal, 100 lbs.; 100 lbs. wheat 
bran. 50 lbs. gluten, 50 lbs. Alfalfa meal 
and 33 lbs. O. P. oilmeal. I feed 10*4 
lbs. of the above mixture per cow per day, 
mixed with 11 lbs. short-cut corn fodder, 
wetted with hot dissolved molasses, two 
pints of pure molasses per cow per day. 
Also feed about 8 lbs. mixed hay, Tim¬ 
othy. Alfalfa and clover, per cow per day. 
Can you improve the above ration to in¬ 
crease the amount of butter? I only get 
about 19 lbs. of milk per day per head, 
about 7 lbs. of butter per head in seven 
days. Cows are fresh milking yet. Cows 
are well stabled about 21 hours out of 24. 
Fresh well water is given once a day since 
it is cold. What per cent protein and fat 
do you figure the above ration to be? It 
costs me about .$62.50 per ton. Do you 
think it would pay me to pay from $70 to 
$75 per ton for the rations that are on 
the market that run from 15 to 20 per 
cent protein? H. B. W. 
Maryland. 
N O other implement ever 
paid you such handsome 
returns as that old, worn-out 
spreader of yours. Yet to con- 
tinue its makeshift use is mighty poor 
economy. If it is time-worn to the point 
where frequent repairs are needed, 
scrap it—and get in its place the famous, 
combination manure-and-straw, wide 
spreading 
A Worn-Out Spreader 
If Not Replaced, Will Some Day Mean 
-Out Farm! 
Straw Spreading Attachment 
At small cost, you can get this one-man attachment for 
new or old machines. Handles a big load. Shreds the straw 
fine and spreads it wide. Gives you two machines in one. 
Easily set up or detached. Puts a new money value on your 
straw stacks. 
MEW IDEA 
Ike OriginalWide Spreading Spreader 
(Known in the West as NISCO) 
The New Idea perpetuates farm 
prosperity . It makes spreading of 
manure, lime or straw, easy, thorough and 
most highly profitable. It will earn far more 
than your old spreader—in bigger crops through. 
better fertilizing. And it will pay its cost twice 
over by saving time, labor and repairs. 
Many important, patented features of con¬ 
struction and operation make New Idea the 
known leader. It has no gears. No compli¬ 
cated parts to break or get out of order. Built 
low down; easy to load. And its light draft 
lets you heap it thirty inches high and still 
have an easy haul. 
Thorough, Uniform Spreading 
An endless chain brings every scrap of 
manure to the big revolving shredders and 
patented distributing paddles. These spread 
it in a fine, even blanket, well outside the 
wheel tracks. Control at seat lets you spread 
any quantity—3, 6, 9,12, or 15 loads per acre. 
Dealers everywhere sell the New Idea Spreader. Farm¬ 
ers, County Agents and highest agricultural authorities 
endorse it. Plan to see the New Idea dealer in your 
town without delay. Ask him for a free copy of our 
Valuable booklet, **Feeding The Farm.” 
NEW IDEA SPREADER COMPANY, 
COLDWATER, 
“Spreader Specialists” 
BRANCHES IN THE FOLLOWING CITIES: 
OHIO 
HARRISBURG, PA. 
INDIANAPOLIS, IND. 
CHICAGO, ILL. 
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. 
OMAHA, NEBR. 
PEORIA, ILL. 
SYRACUSE, N. Y. 
COLUMBUS, OHIO 
KANSAS CITY, MO.' 
JACKSON, MICH. 
WATERLOO, IA. 
ST. LOUIS, MO. 
The ration you are feeding is very 
well suited for dairy cows, and it carries 
a nutritive ratio of 1 :4.5. By adding 100 
lbs. of ground oats and increasing your 
gluten meal from 50 to 100 lbs. I am in¬ 
clined to believe your production would 
be slightly increased. You also might 
find it advantageous to feed an increased 
amount of molasses, say 3 lbs. per cow 
per day. You are reminded that one can¬ 
not materially increase the butterfat con¬ 
tent of the milk by modifying the rela¬ 
tive proportions of protein, carbohydrate 
or fat. The ability to produce milk high 
or low in butterfat is an inherited qual¬ 
ity and is not subiect to modification 
through changes in the feeding mixture, i 
This combination would be not only more 
economical than the mixed rations avail¬ 
able at $70 a ton, and you would find it 
not only more digestible but more pal¬ 
atable. If you could obtain some mangel 
beets, or add perhaps some moistened beet 
pulp to your combination to supply suc¬ 
culence, it would be possible to increase 
your production slightly. 
“Mrs. Beggs offended her husband’s 
war chums when she welcomed them to 
a dinner.” “How so?” “She told them 
it was a strictly private affair, and they’re 
all officers.”—Baltimore American. 
