THE DAIRY

Cromwell Argus, Volume L, Issue 2649, 24 November 1919, Page 2

THE DAIRY

SALTING AND WATERING THE COWS.

The question is frequently as' cd, "How much salt should a mature cow receive per day ?"• While it is possible in every-day practice In determine when an animal appears satisfied with the amount of the various materials which she, is receiving, it is difficult to state just how much her system requires. All animals require a certain quantity of salt. It not only, is an appetiser but it is a. necessity. In "Dairy Fanning" the authors point out that the amount of salt required by the individual animal varhs with the- amount of feed consumed. A dry cow requires about three-quarters of an ounce of salt per day : the cow in milk requires the same amount for maintenance, and it is estimated that a trifle over one-half ounce per da,\t should bo added for every twenty pounds of milk produced. On this basis cows yielding from twenty to-thirty pounds of milk per day require about* one and one-half ounces of salt. It is optional whether the salt is mixed with the feed or fed in an open trough. One objection to combining it with the ration is the danger- of uneven•ness in mixing, and unless a difference is made in the amount of feed given, the cow giving twenty pounds of milk will receive the sained quantity of salt as'' the one giving fifty pounds. When cows have access to the salt they are able to satisfy their, individual appetites. It is claimed that if salt is withheld from the animals for several weeks their vitality will be reduced. Salt is essential summer and winter to the health of the animal.

It is well known that mil': contains a very large percentage of water, and withholding water from the cow for one or two meals considerably reduces her flow of milk. In experiments the authors of "Dairy Farming" found that a cow producing '27 pounds of milk per day drank seventy-sewn pounds of water.

but when the same cow was dry she only drank around fifteen pound-; of water per day. A cow giving over one hundred pounds of milk per 'day was found to drink on an average of two hundred and fifty pounds of water.

These figures show that the omoi'nt of water required by the dairy cow is in proportion to the milk produced and the feed consumed. They also indicate that more attention should be paid to watering the cow i 1 milk than the farrow cow. If a cow, capab'e of producing fifty pounds of milk and over per day is to do her best she should have access 1 o water at least twice a day, and preferably at all times.

It has frequently been noticed that even when consuming succulent feed, the cow with water before her will take a few mouthfuls. She must need it or she would not take it, but what does the cow do that can only secure water once or twice a. day '? A logical conclusion is that her milk yield is affected. There is no doubt that this installing a water system in the stable has been paid for on many farms by the increased yield of milk alone, saving nothiig about the added convenience.

The cow /that must, walk some distance in the cold to the water trough and stand waiting her turn to drink, ca.nnot produce as much milk on the same quantity and quality of feed as she would if she could secure a drink under more favourable conditions.— "Canadian Farmers' Advocate." WHAT HINDERS PROFIT IN" DAIRYING ? The other day an lowa frien 1 addressed to "Hoard's Dairyman" the above question and asked the editor to write him the answer. Here it is : The main thing that hinders profit in dairy farming is poor cows. 35y that: we mean keeping a l°t of cows which do not pay any profit on their keep. If the averaga cow farmer could be induced to ent' r upon a vigorous campaign against, himself and his of good cow sense, as well as the poor cows that he insists upon keeping year after year, there would be a revolution in this cow business. Put the question any way you please, and it comes out the same : 1. We never yet saw a Jierd of cows of high average quality that did not pay a profit. Did you ? 2. We never yet saw a herd of low producing cows, no matter what the breed, that paid a profit. Did you ? .'?. We never yet saw a dairy farmer who resolutely set to work to cull out and grade up his herd but that made money by it. Did you ? 4. Wc never yet saw a dairy farmer who let things run along in a loose, unsystematic manner ; who would do nothing to bring up, the standard of production in his herd ; who made any money in dairying. Did you ? Put these questions together ; ap ply them to the situation as it exists on your farm and about you. Deduce from them what you should do to raise the standard of profit, and you will find yourself doing a lot of things that help that are not mentioned here. Start the farmer to looking at the question of profit from the right standpoint, and he must be a dull man who cannot then improve his condition.