THE WINTER MILCH COW.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume VII, Issue 1153, 26 February 1886, Page 3

THE WINTER MILCH COW.

The winter milch cow is a familiar and' useful, and often a much-ne-glected* and Bometimea a muchabused animal, not, perhaps, intentionally, btit Worn a lack of due consideration. She is generally the most serviceable beast in the herd. The lmssibn she fills is so important that she ought to have a place on every farmer's* premises. Her milk fills a place in the dietary of a country home that nothing else can serve as well. It is the cheapest, most palatable, andWst wholesome animal food the farm affords or the villager can purchase, and, in a great variety of ways, improves the relish and value of other food of which it is made to form a part. We say, give us a winter milch cow, if we can have but one. The . table in summer can take care of itself without milk better 4han; in winter, but we would not, if possible to have it, go without in summer. To get all the good this valuable cow is capable of turning out, she must have, good care. This she does not always get. One of her misfortunes w, that she is turned out to buffet the cold with no better protection than her associates that are not giving milk. She cannot endure the cold as well as they. The fat and sugar .which they burn up in their bodies to" give them warmth, Bhe turns put in her milk, making the combustion of heat-producing matter in her body run Jow, and she pinches with the cold inconsequence. <The unthinking. owner is apt to overlook this fact, and hence, allow her to suffer with the. cold, and to diminish her usefulness also. If, from undue exposure to wintry winds, her teats crack and become sore', and sne endeavors in her own way to protect herself from the pain the handß o£ the miller occassion, she is liable to be harshly yelled at by an enraged milker, and perhaps to get a whack over the back of hips with a milking stool, and made to suffer needless pain. These are some of the abuses to which this patient and inoffensive creature is compelled to snbmit, for which she has our heartfelt sympathy. She should have less exposure in the open yard in the cold weather than other cattle. She should have a warmer stable, and drink of tener, and have a better supply of food adapted to her necessities than other stock, for her needs are greater in these respects . It may be needless to remind the reading farmer of the proper treatment due to this cow in cold weather, but it may not be amiss to jog his memory a little when the winds are howling, in regard to the keen susceptibility to cold felt by his winter milch cow, and also bring this matter to the attention of all others wha keep cows in a full flow of milk in the winter season — " Live Stock Journal."