DRY LAND FARMING IN EASTERN COLORADO 
7 
a comfortable income and enable the farmer to pay cash for his family 
purchases, no matter how dry the year. Then, the dry land farmer 
should seed as much land to wheat as he is able to prepare thoroughly 
with intensive cultivation, and when he raises a crop, the money from 
it will be surplus cash and will not be needed to pay old store bills, 
as is the case with the strictly grain farmer. 
DAIRYING. 
The income in different dairy herds of Colorado ranges from $12 
to $120 per cow per year, depending upon the quality of the cows kept 
and the way they are treated. Careful farmers in the dry land section 
should make good cows give an average return of $30 to $50 each per 
year. Many do not get more than $12 per year per cow. 
The dry land farmer’s supply of feed is constantly limited by the 
sparse rainfall, and for this reason he needs the dairy cow that will 
make the most from every pound of feed that he can give her. The 
selection of the cow is of first concern. 
The largest returns in Colorado are being secured from cows 
of the extreme dairy type and of the Holstein, Jersey, Guernsey and 
milking Short horn breeds. The unprofitable dairy cows are those 
that convert most of their feed into flesh and yield a good quantity of 
milk for a few months only. 
Most dry land farmers do not have the money with which to buy 
pure bred dairy cows, and can not give them the necessary care, shelter 
and feed. Generally the dry land farmer had better secure his cows 
from neighboring herds of beef cattle, selecting the cows with dairy 
forms that are usually found in beef herds. Not always, but as a 
rule, he will find that such cows are grade short horns. 
In selecting range cows for dairy herds there are four essential 
points: 
1. Great Stomach Capacity. The dry land farmer can feed little 
grain and his cows must daily eat large quantities of grass or rough- 
age to be profitable. This requires ample room for storage, and to 
secure it the cow must be deep from back to belly, in front of the 
hip bones, and broad in the same region. Avoid a round bodied cow 
whose ribs are short and a flat ribbed cow. The ribs should be long 
and well sprung, providing for a large paunch. 
2. The coiGs hack should he sharp and have little flesh when 
she is in good condition. When the feed is used to put thick flesh 
on the back, as is the case with beef cattle, it can not go to produce 
milk in the udder. The neck, shoulders, rump and thighs should be 
thin fleshed in the well fed animal. 
3. Ample room for the udder and a capacious udder when the 
cow is fresh. The cow should be well cut up behind between the 
legs so that the udder can extend well up toward the root of the tail. 
The flank should be well arched, instead of level, as in the beef cow, 
giving room for the udder, and the udder should extend well forward 
