THE DAIRY HERD

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 29 April 1922, Page 3

THE DAIRY HERD

_ Some of the landing dairy authorities claim that the average returns from the dairy cows of the dominion of Canada, are considerably less, than 45001bmilk each. From personal observation5 we would say these figures could be

considerably reduced, and still be within the mark. But seen at the above figures, the person who is satisfied to milk such cows, day in and day out, year in and year out, without making one visible effort to remedy the matter, is not deserving of much sympathy. The road to successful dairying is by the route of better breeding and better feeding.

The cow is no more successful on scrimpled ration than the steam engine is on half steam. To be most successful the dairy cow must be a persistent milker, milking 10 months each year. To do her best, she should be well fed the two months that she is "dry. Her embryo calf is a heavy drain on her system. Hence the need for liberal feeding, to develop a strong calf, and develop a vigorous cow ready to start off in milk at her best, instead of requiring a couple of months to build up. as is often the case at present. It is surely false economy to see how many cows can be kept on a given amount of feed. True economy in feeding is to see how much, a :.;cow ;can .consume profitably, which can only be done intelligently when combined with the weigh scales and the Babcock tester. The dairymen of Canada would increase their finances by many millions of dollars annually if they followed better breeding and better feeding policies. The class of cow that would keep the home fires burning 25 years ago" will not do it to-day. The average farm is worth more than double what it was then, and it must, at least, produce the interest on the investment. Living is generally on a higher plane, and will remain so. The automobile is in general use, which means larger expenditures on our Io:al railways, meaning greatly increased taxation, all of which must be produced by the dairy cow in so far as the dairy farmer is concerned.— R. H. H., in The Canadian Countryman.