VOL. LXIV
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 25, 1909.
NO. 38
_xpexiznoi Qzpixvtmmt.
THE QUALITY OF COWS.
Select the Cow for a Purpose.
lst Premium.—A difference of opinion is held by dairymen as to the cow
best suited for dairy purposes. Some
claim that the dual purpose cow with
good milking qualities .regardless of
breed, is best suited while others hold
views that cows of distinct types with
good flow of milk should constitute the
dairy. Different localities and under
some circumstances may favor the one
idea while at other points the reverse
will hold true.
To the dairyman who has in view the
selling of milk, cream and butter, and
paying no regard to beef or calves the
herd should be of one type, be that
breed what it may. But to the farm
dairyman where this course is not pursued the dual purpose cow gives satisfaction and along with the dairy products go the profits derived from the
calf when of no further use in the dairy
the beef. Be the herd what it may the
query is "what is the quality of the
cow." On this point all nurserymen
agree. Three conditions are agreed upon, lst the amount of milk she will
give. 2nd richness of the milk. 3rd,
the cost to keep the cow per yaer.
For strictly money making purposes
quantity would be held above quality
hut where one wishes to retain well
pleased customers quality must be considered.
To enable a cow to fill both these requirements she must be a good feeder
nnd forager. Along with quality and
quantity must be a continuity of milk
How for a moderately long time. The
ideal dairy cow should give a flow—not
absolutely the entire year but so near
it that the time of rest would not prove
ii source of loss to the owner. The general appearance of a cow will give the
observer a good idea of her value as a
milker. She should be symmetrical in
form, not over fleshy. Head and neck
should be medium in size with neck
veins large.
Body should not be overly long ancf
should have sufficient breadth and depth
l,i give good room for an active diges-
tivesystem. It is a fact that cows having
l(|ng slim bodies are poor feeders and
as a result poor milkers. The legs
should be short allowing greater freedom in feeding and grazing.
.She should have well developed hind
'Uiarters and a fair sized udder. The
mliler by its action carries or transfers
from the blood all the elements constituting the milk except the water and a
careful study of it will show the milk-
lr>g value of the cow. Perhaps the most
Important test of th.' value of the cow
ils a milker is found in the escutcheon
"r milk mirror.
rhe escutcheon is much related to the
>'ilder, inasmuch as the arteries supply-
'nK the  udder with  blood  at the  same
time
nourish and  feed  the skin of the
^scutcheon,  thus showing  that  it  is    a
actor   in   furnishing   the   udder   with
'■lood.
readth of the escutcheon over the
'"sterior parts indicates good milking
"alities, both in length of time and a
""tinuous steady flow. II.
Some Good Dairy Breed.
2d Premium.—In selecting cows for
our dairy herds we should choose a cow
of some good dairy breed, and as near
the full bred stock as we can find. We
prefer the Jersey cattle for dairy purposes, and of this breed we select the
cows with the best points for a good
cow, they are mainly, a good disposition. Beware of a nervous cow for she
will not give her milk down if the
least disturbed from any cause and she
is therefore not profitable, a good milker or rather a quick milker, I have
known cows to be seemingly easy to
milk but they let their milk down slow-
Tlie Cow Should Earn Her Feed.
3rd Premium.—-One of the most important items in the make-up of a good
dairy cow is her capacity to earn her
feed. I have had some experience in
the matter and at one time turned four
or five fairly good looking cows off to
the butcher before I found one that
would pay her board. In fact that is
the whole story in many cases and that
depends as much many times on the
dairyman as the cow, for I think the
dairyman who does not understand
"cowology" can ruin the best cow in the
state by one year's mistreatment. If I
was sent out to buy you a. cow and was
A REMINDER   OF WINTER.
No. 707, Oct. 9.—How much is gain-
ed by shredding the corn stover?
No. 708, Oct. 16.—Describe the proper winter care of poultry.
Farm Home of James   Cox,  Henry  County.
ly and it took twice as long to milk
them as other cows and time is money
in dairying as in other work. Never
select a cow that is always in good
flesh, for she puts her fat on her back
instead of in butter. The best way to
build up the herd is to choose the most
profitable of your dairy cows and breed
them to valuable sires of the same
breed, then keep the heifers to raise for
dairy cows, feeding them the feed to
produce bone and muscle rather than
fattening feed. If you would rather
buy heifers that are nearly due to calve
and thereby get a good herd quicker
than raising calves some good points
to remember are, the neck should be
clean cut, the forehead dishing, the
eyes mild looking, the nostrils large.
The body should be of fair size with a
good under curve, the back bones
should stick up and the part just back
of the shoulder blades should be thin,
the hips wide apart and a good space
between hips and first rib, the udder
should be large and well formed with
four teats of good size uniformly placed, so that the cow may be milked with
both hands with convenience. Be sure
the cows are not breachy; a rough is
poor profit no matter how much milk
she gives, or butter she makes.
After selecting a cow to the best of
your knowledge for a good dairy cow,
see that she has the shelter and protection from flies in summer that a oow
should have, also the quality and quantity of feed needed to produce milk;
pure water and plenty of it will make
considerable more milk than most people think for. Subscriber.
only permitted to know one thing in regard to her I would want to know that
she had an appetite for everything a
cow will eat, for I have never owned a
good milker that was not a good eater;
but I would not want her to
be over fat. She should have a good
sized udder hanging straight down
with four good sized teats, also straight
down. Easy to milk but not so easy as to
lose her milk. A little nervous but gentle to good treatment. Not masculine at
any point, nor vicious to other cattle or
stock of any kind. Should give a reasonable amount of milk say an average
of two gallons per day of 4 per cent fat
for ten months out of the year, with ordinary treatment of the average farmer. She need not be large any where
except in girth right in front of
her udder. Hair fine, skin thin
and silky under the touch. If you
should find a cow that filled your eye as
to what a cow should be you would
have to own and milk her a year before
you would know whether she was a
good one or not, for many cows of
promise go dry three or four months
out of the year. The cream should
separate easily by gravity or otherwise
and churn at proper ripening and temperature in fifteen minutes and the
butter be of good (not too yellow) color. If you happen to have such a cow
as I am talking about don't take less
than a hundred dollars for her.
J. G. H.
No. 706, Oct. 2.—Give the proper
fall and winter treatment of the brood
sow.
Harvesting    the Big Canadian    Wheat
Crop.
Editors Indiana  Farmer:
Rosthern, Sask., August 28.—Harvesting the one hundred and thirty
million bushels of wheat in Western
Canada is not without its dramatic and
humorous sides. One of the incidents
is graphically described this week, by
the Manitoba Free Press in this way:
"A procession of ten passenger
trains, each of them from 18 to 20
coaches in length, pulled out from the
vicinity of Montreal and Toronto last
Thursday and filed at top speed around
the great curve of Lake Superior on the
C. P. R., headed for the West, laden
with a cosmopolitan mixture of 6,000
harvest hands, jumbled together as
indiscriminately as one would shuffle a
poker deck, they arrived in Winnipeg
between Saturday at noon and Sunday
at noon. People in the vicinity of the
depot knew that they arrived, that is,
those who have not been deaf since
infancy, for the advent of every unshaven and begrimed battalion was announced by a wild cheer that emanated
from the flrst coaches and spread into
a deafening roar as the train pulled into the trainshed and the following
coaches took up the cry of pent up relief and gladness. It was more like
the arrival of a crowd of holiday spirits
given a respite from work for a day,
than one expectant of many a hard
day's work in the harvest field."
This letter is written from one of the
older settled districts of Sunny Central
Saskatchewan, which has long been
known as "the wheat town." Eight
elevators are lined up at the station,
waiting   for   this   year's   crop. The
elevator capacity at this point is 270,-
000 bushels and at one time, before
additional railways entered the district, over one million bushels of hard
wheat were shipped from this station
in a year, winning for Rosthern the-
belt for being the largest primary
wheat  market  in   the  world.
In those days Rosthern shipped
1,200,000 bushels, while now she ships
900,000. Additional railways West
have cut off the territory of this market.. A drive through the district is a
revelation. Field after field full of
binders make it appear all one farm
of hundreds of thousands of acres,
most of it thirty bushels to the acre,
except where careless farming has allowed weeds to grow. The damage
from hail was almost infinitesimal, and
no damage whatever from any other
cause has occurred. This year's wheat
should bring over one dollar per bushel the present value at the station being $1.03. This garden spot extends
Northwestward for a distance of upwards of one  hundred   miles.
Lawrence Gait.
The fight for county option is on in
Knox county; the vote will be taken
on Thursday, the 30th. From the way
the friends of temperance are working
we predict their success. Four recent
murders, all caused by drink, have
aroused the people to the necessity
j of shutting up the dens where drunk-
| arils and criminals are made.