THE LAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 37, 13 February 1926, Page 24

THE LAND.

YOU NEED A VACATION. SO DOES VOLT. COW. Perhaps the hardest working animal on the farm is the high-producing, profitable dairy cow. Her work is constant. It is nervous work, for motherhood and the production of food for young, the natural function of a dairy cow. Tt must not be overlooked, is a drain upon .the system, especially when improrpr feeding is practised. The producing cow is a hard-working animal and where production is maintained throughout a year, or ten. months,' or perhaps even longer than a year, it is a severe drain upon the cow's vital energy. Of course, if the cows are only of the scrub variety.'those mongrels which suivive with their skin and bones on withered grass in winter and burned up pasture in summer, and whatever they can find, to eat along the roadside or manage to reach through dilapidated wire fences, this contribution does not apply. Those kind of cows, with the kind'of care and feed outlined, would be better off dead than' with a vacation. What would they do? But we are speaking of the high-pro-ducing, profitable dairy cattle. And we beseech for her a vacation. A month, or six weeks or two months' complete rest from her milk-producing work. And on full feed until near calving time. During the oow's resting period, when she is on vacation, merely loafing in the shade of the biggest tree in the pasture or perchance, browsing down by the creek, let her have the same abundance of nourishing feeds that you. give to her herd sisters who are producing milk. A -vacation for a cow wouldn't, be a' vacation,, in fact, unless she. were well fed. What does a cow enjoy? Ask your-> self' the question. And then answer it. Well, we Imagine that she enjoys her work. That while she goes through most of the year giving us her wonderful food in abundance, that it may give sustenance to someone's baby, or strength to some invalid lying in a hospital, or helping some strong man recover from a serious illness, or keeping some elderly person in strong and rugged body and active mind, she is happy. One thing is in her favour: her work comes naturally to her and if she is kept in good health her appetite seems always keen v And then she must enjoy the spring pictures, and the' cool of the pastures on summer nights when she t may be allowed to graze after the heat of' the sun has been abated by the shadows of evening. And we think she must enjoy philosophising, for she lies so still, so contented looking, chewing her' ciid.. * ' The cow is a noble creature. She gives ,birth' to her baby and almost immediately it is taken from her. ' She must work for an adopted family, humans instead of bovines. She must hear, perhaps, the lusty" cries of her new-born, yet stand quite still in her stanchion of steel; and she is expected, under this treatment— and. winder' of wonders, she does—to give a milk yield which increases as the cla.vs go by. ) ' Don't you think that she earns a vacation? But now" to-get'to the practical side ol the question, the hard-headed, business' side- -If .you. will give each-of your cows a, vacation, and feed them well while they are loafing, it will repay you in dollars and-cents. Vacations are rests, and rests build up the cow's strength that she may come into her next lactating period with vogour and stamina, so that she is able to give a milk yield larger than if she were to be worked constantly without a rest; And her calf, a" most valuable asset in the breeder's business, will he born with greater strength, it" will have a greater opportunity to live through to mature age that it may also assume the role of -milk-producing cow and so keep the ever-changing chain to- ■ ward increased herd averages in growing motion. - .j' If y° u do not give your cows vacations, .•-do so. And if you have the habit of • - giving vacations to them, and while they are dry not -feeding them abundantly, try . the other way. During the dry period is the. time when the unborn calf is most heavily drawing upon its mother and if she lacks iood and nourishment she will draw upon her own reserves, so Ion" as they last, that, the calf, may have every opportunity to live and thrive. But if she ■■' does not secure enough nourishment from her feed to.keep.her own body in sufficient supply, and does not have a surplus on ; which'to draw for the calf, the calf suffers, is born weak, small ana unthrifty. '". ' ' '. ' We "believe in vacations, both for man and for .beast. We hope cow of , every breed will now and for ever after have a yacation, an -enjoyable one, filled with lots of shade, if it comes in summer, and with a plentiful supply of go'dp, wholesome feed.—"Jersey Bulle- :?. tin." - - CARE OF THE HOOFS.' " One usually remembers to trim his own finger, nails. If this is neglected soon one of them splits and pain results if the "quick" is. torn or exposed. It is much more important to keep the hoofs of colts in proper *hape and perfectly level, for the animal lias to walk on its feet, while" man has got past that stage of locomotion "in front." On the levelness of the hoofs (says a writer in "The Breeder's Gazette") . will depend the "plumb" of the bones rem?-" „ AS ' the Col t grOWS SO Will it remain through life. unkve? ar -l allowed to b<*ome pillar m£ y WiU throw tbe °°ny rema\ n ab r a \ ° Ut ° f ? lumb ' * will comSed a+ T ay> Unless the err °r ■;-.". Many ; of the - Pg in or out. "naSl° « v ng " ™g,", " interfering » P and « g a ' 4Jbrußhting" during action jW v .cut an unlevel &arh£ „f "S *««*** to the gmWSSrSj? fo <* "during J * w as certain that some- of -«J eases of "pigeon toe " or " snlav w fpostnre -when standing may counted for in like manner, and m anY * horse that otherwise would have had LtkiK f t " d P erfect action fails of that through faults of-form which might .'-".jr-.'-v--- - ' •' - ? -"?"t '■■ .i:...

have been prevented or corrected by timely rasping and trimming of the hoofs. We, therefore, believe in having every colt stand on a platform, scale or other level place at least once a month for a careful inspection of its feet. When departures from normal and desirable shape and levelness are detected at such times they may, as a rule, readily be corrected by a few strokes of the hoof-rasp, but sometimes a little paring with the knife or cutting with the buttress will be necessary. Faults that have gone far or existed long cannot always be corrected by trimming, or the injury to the leg above has become fixed and cannot wholly be mended by foot-trimming. Such work on the feet is also necessary for the show cattle and the hoofs of all cattle may, now and then, require some trimming to proper shape and size. We have seen a fine, fat steer solame in the show-ring that he failed to win a prize. Sound, level underpinning is imperatively necessary for both horses and cattle. CONFORMATION OR TEST ? There are still a great many dairymen and, alas! many breeders of dairy cattle, who claim to be able'to judge the worth of a cow by its conformation. Of late years, since testing has become more common, most men have lost faith in the size of. udder, or the straightness of the rump, as indications of dairy promise, but the old faith dies hard. Mr. J. W. Gower, an American biologist, has been carrying on experiments begun in 1913 by Dr. Raymond Pearl at the- Maine Experiment Station, to ascertain the factors . affecting milk: yield, butterfat inheritance- and milk, solids, and. he has concluded that a seven days test is an infinitely better indication "of what a cow will, yield in 365 days than any of- the recognised points of conformation. Even the milk veins, the size and quality of the udder, the depth of rib and size of paunch were found to be mighty poor indicators of capacity to yield milk and butterfat. Nineteen nationally recognised judges were asked to. "score", numerous cows. Of these nineteen, only nine "scored" the best milkers, eight were only fair, andtwo gave the lower producing cows the higher scores. It was found that the judges capable of picking out the be=t yielders, by the score card, based their judgments on the size of the rear udder, the body wedge, with deep, large paunch, and the size of the udder as a whole. It was found that the measuring tape was a better indication than the score card; that milk yield is quite largely determined by the weight of the cow, her body .rlength, .width and girth, though inheritance is the greatest factor. It was 'found, also, that conformation, has no relation to the butterfat percentage a cow. is able to give in her milk. , Scientific investigation explodes a lot of theories, and all the scientific discoveries to date are available to cattle breeders.' The, pity is that so many men are blissfully unconscious that many of their pet theories and their staunch beliefs have been exploded long ago. THE LIMITATIONS OF HERD TESTING. There are things that herd testing organisations cannot do. They cannot compel a dairyman to destroy or sell to the butcher the inferior cows in his herd if he desires to keep them. They cannot compel him to buy a better bull and to select and rear heifer calves from high producers only. They cannot make him provide and Btore' feed and feed according to production. The work and results of herd testing associations will, however, point the way, and. urge the dairy farmer to direct his attention to the economical importance of his dairy herd, and of his dairy farm, and of the value of his own time, and assist in ensuring prosperity in his business. The better bull campaign, the method of disposal of the unprofitable dairy cows, and the conservation of fodder on the dairy farms should receive the attention of local producers' associations in dairy centres with a view to the formation of an organised and comprehensive and practical scheme for-making more effective the work of the herd testing officers. . TO DRENCH CATTLE. When drenching cattle they should be placed in a corner in a crush or bail where the head can be easily got at. Standing close up on the right side, the left arm is passed round the head, the fingers inserted into, the mouth, the upper jaw grasped, and the mouth gently opened. The > drench is then slowly poured while the head is slightly elevated.. Do not pinch the nose or insert fingers in the nostrils. The ! medicine is best poured from a special tin drenching flask, but if an ordinary bottle is used care must be taken that it is not broken on the animal's teeth. Any attempt on the part of the animal to. cough should be the signal to release this hand at once. Rather waste ( the drench than run the. risk .of. choking the animal under treatment. Never attempt to pour the drench down the nostrils. This absurd practice has led to the death, of many unfortunate patients. ■—" ——— — ' ! I THE COW AN ENGINE. \ The cow may be compared to an engine. A passenger locomotive carries 2101b of steam. If the steam pressure gets down only a few pounds, the train, will lose time, and if the pressure drops to 1801b the engine becomes so inefficient that it is practically useless so far as keeping the train up to the schedule is concerned. All the coal burned and labour used below this, is wasted, unless j the top 301b of pressure is put on. Yet all the coal burned below the 1801b pressure must come first before the top pressure can be utilised. So with the dairy cow. A large amount of feed must be given for mainbefore she begins to use it for rt^ mi v,- and Blle milst b e for 2tk? ««r e -i 8 . any. profit, but I P^gS^ 0 * °* milk