AMERICAN DAIRY NOTES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1367, 12 May 1898, Page 4

AMERICAN DAIRY NOTES.

Successful dairy breeding and feeding is the subject of a letter to Hoard's Dairy main (Wisconsin) by Mr F. A. Roberts, whose cows are stated to average 3001 b. of butter this year. " My stock at present," writes Mr Roberts, "consists of 1 Jersey bull, 14 milkers and 9 heifers not yet in milk. The bull is a Hfctle over 4| years old. Of the 14 milkers. 6 are heifers with first calf, 5 of the 6 being daughters of the above bull. Of the 14 milkers, 1 is a grade Ayrshire; the others are grade Jerseys. Of the 23 cows and heifers, 17 are descendants of the first cow I owned after buying my farm 17 years ago This cow is of medium size, had a large storage capacity for fodder, a good shaped a fair sized udder, a pleasant face and a gentle disposition. In short, she was what we would call now a good general purpose cow. Of my 14 milkers, 10 are her descendants. Previous to 1892 I sold my milk and took little pains about breeding or thought little about it, except to keep only tho best heifers. Had I begun early to breed to the best sires, I am confident I should have more productive cows now. My milkers are all medium size, healthy and happy. T say b&ppy, because it always seemed to me that the cow of gentle disposition, well cared tor, is an emblem of contentment. Until two years ago I was obliged to feed at the barn in the summer, owing to the f«ct 'hat my pasture was hotter adapted to grow pines thun grass. I bought an adjourning farm, and novv have a nice pasture. In the autumn I feed second crop clover, maizi cobs from the canning factory,, msisw fodder I and green barley. The latter is sewn | early in autumn on ground from which a crop of hay or grain has been taken, and is cut and fed daily the last past of autumn and the first part of winter. Throughout the winter I feed hay and ensilage. My idea is to have some kind of succulent food the year round. It' goes a long way in keeping the animal in health, and without good health a cow is comparatively useless. My grain ration varies with the season, the animal and the price of the different feeds. The past summer I fed maize meal, gluten feed and barn, from 4 to 71b per cow, according to her size, time due the calf, &c. The mixture was made up of two parts by bulk of bran, one each of maize meal and gluted feed. In the winter I feed bran 7 gluten feed, gluten meal and cottonseed meal, with a little linseed meal. Each cow gets from 6 to 81b a day. The mixture is made of four . parts by bulk of barn, two gluten feed and one each cottonseed meal and

Chicago gluten meal. When I have plenty of it, I feed 25 to 301 b ensilage and two fair sized feeds of hay. This yea.r, owing to the untoward season, I am. short of ensilage, and shall have to content the cows with more hay, keep-

in/j; the measure of grain a little higher. I feed morning and night, but not at noon, water once a day, about 11 o'clock. Feeding, catering, and milking must be done at the same hour each day. Cows are to be kindly treated at all times. Petting them pays in the milkpail. Each cow should have a little exercise each day."

' An interesting visit to the dairy \ farm of Mr Y. W. Tratt, of White- \ water, Wisconsin, is described in Hoard's Dairyman of 2nd January : " We called the other day," the report states, "on this noted breeder of Guernsey cattle, and obtained a lesson in the difference in profits on the use of skim milk between good heifer calves and pigs. The iesson was considerably emphasised by the fact that we met, the same day, several butcher's I waggons scouring the country for young calves, and we noted several very likely heifers in them, which had been sold for a trifle by farmers who don't figure profit and loss very much. Mr Tract owns several farms, which he leases to tenants, supplying each one with a herd of cows and a good registered Guernsey bull at the head. In his yard were a lot of nice grade Guernsey heifers, 6 and 8 months old, which he had lateJy brought in from the tenant farms. He had bought of the tenants their half share in the young things, and the average price paid was lldol. (4s 2d to the dol.). That made the heifer worth 22d01. Suppose we figure t!>B calf worth, when two week old, the butcher's price of 5 dol., that would leave 17 \ dol. as the amount to be credited to the growth. Suppose that for 150 days the beifer was fed 101 b a day of skim milk or 15,0001 b of skim milk ; 50 c. worth of oats and 50 c. worth of linseen meal. We have for this outlay the sura of 17 dol. The parturage will practically amount to nothing. We have then 16dol. for 15,0001 b of skim milk. But it should be remembered that this valne only came when the milk was fed to heifers sired by a registered bull of pronounced dairy breeding. There is a grand chance for dairymen of intelligence to raise the future cows of the country, if they will only establish the foundation right.