WORKING HORSES.

Southland Times, Issue 19458, 24 January 1925, Page 12

WORKING HORSES.

CARE ON THE FARM. Horses, like all other farm animals, require to be carefully treated and attended to if the maximum is to be got out of them* especially is this the case with the working horse. A teamster should be a man of great patience, and must be prepared to study the temperament of his horses individually. The hours of work should not be too long and should be regular, as far as possible, each day’s work being balanced with the previous day’s. A four hours’ spell in the chains is quite long enough for horses doing heavy farm work, but the animal may be saved a great deal of strain by careful handling, and by putting each horse in the team in a place which best suits him. Horses in the collar should never be hurried in turning. The teamster who yells and roars at his horses is never a good horseman. The proper and regular feeding of horses is the most important consideration of all. The time to be given them in the morning should be of not less than one hour and a half’s duration; in fact, three hours is better, while at noon the minimum should be set at one hour and a quarter. In the evening the time allowed should be two hours. Working horses should never be fed the whole meal in one lot. The horse, especially when tired, will only niddle at the food and pick it over, taking all the oats he can and leaving the chaff. A feeder should be small on the bottom so that the animal cannot sort out the oats easily. However, if food is given a little at a time, the animal is induced to clean up each lot, and in this way will eat a good deal more. A horse cannot work continually if he does not eat well. During winter months, if grass is scarce, a small ration of carrots will be found beneficial. In dry weather chaff should be moistened for w-orking horses. Half an ounce to one ounce of Epsom salts inthe feed every morning will be found to keep the animals free and soft in the coat. Salt is an absolute necessity, and every manger should have some placed in it. AME RIC AN FBIESIANS. SOME NOTABLE RECORDS. During last year 2177 Friesian cows, tested in the United States of America for a term of 365 days, made the splendid average of 18,0001 b. milk, 6081 b fat. Eighteen cows produced over 10001 b fat in the year, the top cow being De Koi Plus Segis Dixie, wrthl349lb. fat in 365 days. A total of 88 Friesian cows in America have produced over 10001 b fat in 365 days, and 58 cows have given over 30,0001 b milk in the time. In last year’s test 815 cows over the age of six years averaged 20,4591 b milk, 6871 b fat. DOES FEEDING PAY? AN INTERESTING QUERY The published reports of the results of feeding concentrates to the cow in milk have so much interested an Australian dairyman that he writes to the Live Stock Bulletin to inquire if these very gratifying results are obtained in America cannot the same be secured in the Commonwealth, and it may be further suggested’that the inquiry may well extend to the Dominion. The reports that have attracted the interest of the Australian fanner appear in a manual for the Cow Testing Association of America from the Holstein Friesian Society of that country, and the observations of the Australian dairyman are after quoting from the manual. “A farmer in Wisconsin did not believe in feeding grain of any kind to dairy cows, but about five months after he joined his local cow testing association he was finally urged to try feeding some grain. The report states that at the end of a thirty day period he was astonished to find that his milk increased 46 per cent., his butterfat 41 per cent, and his revenue 32 per cent.” The article in mind goes on to say that these results naturally opened his eyes, and that he decided to feed, and to feed grain while his cows were on pasture. If such marvellous increases in production are possible in America we are wondering what it would mean to other dairying countries if the supplementary feeding of concentrates was gone into whole-heartedly. In reading over the manual we endeavoured to ascertain a certain factor, and investigated the fact. First, how much feed i is necessary; we find that concensus of opinion depended largely upon the available pastures and the capacity of the cow. One authority recommends that as long as you increase the feed and get enough additional milk to pay for the feed and make a profit, to keep on increasing it. Another recommends that, roughly 3 to 41b of concentrates per day is about right for a heavy producing cow. Then the matter of cost enters in, and we find that on to-day’s basis a mixture of concentrates can be purchased in this State at about £ll per ton delivered on the farm, which would figure approximately lid per lb. Therefore, feeding the dairy cow only 41b per day, the cost per cow per day would only be sd. Surely this very small amount, taking into consideration the increase at per centages above would not scare the most pessimistic dairy farmer from giving feeding a trial. Reading on in the little booklet abovementioned, we find that the results of this method of feeding along scientific lines in every instance of which the writer was aware feeding bad produced a steadily increased production, and enumerated the following: That the feeder might expect, after a short period, during which the cows were becoming accustomed to the feed, that he would get increased value with the extra milk, a longer lactation period, and, which be aptly states, more milk for mor# days, a better condition of the herd, better standing in the community as a successful man, and last, but perhaps not least in value, better sale price of cows and a better value for their progeny. In conclusion, we come to the question: Why the apathetic attitude of the average dairy farmer? Surely, if by increasing his production he can receive a larger net profit per lb of butter or per gallon of milk, he would be willing to do so, and at such a slight cost. We do not understand why a larger number do not give this modern method of procedure a trial. The man on the land can perhaps make a good thing with pasturage only, but is not this merely a bare existence as compared with what he could get if he fed supplementary to that good pasture?