FARM NOTES

Te Aroha News, Volume XIXXX, Issue 6382, 23 August 1923, Page 3

FARM NOTES

MILK COWS NEED MINERALS IN FEED. That milk cows need more minerals, particularly lime and phosphorus, than is commonly found in their feed, is the finding of recent feeding tests

at the Ohio experiment station. The best feeds to supply these elements are clover hay, lucerne hay, and wheat bran. If plenty of one or more of these is not given in the daily feed, it will be wise to add about one pound of fine ground limestone and two pounds of specially prepared bone meal to each 100 pounds of grain mixture. An increased flow of milk may not be noted at once, but the good effects are in the prevention of future decrease in milk production. The minerals may make their best showing in the following year. / The two elements most likely to be lacking are calcium, and bone meal carries both calcium and phosphorus. When these are combined in the feed while the cow is dry, it is found that she will store enough to increase production still further during her next milking season.

The best strainer for milk is cheese cloth or filter cloth, which can be burnt each day, and save the trouble of washing and sterilising. The routine of work should be planned during slack times. The advantage of well planned operations, will be found when the rush of work is on. Perfect ventilation in the stable means warmth in winter and coolness, in summer. A corrugated iron stable can be constructed to have both conditions.

After The last experience with floods in the Mississippi Valley, it is considered that levees are of very little use in controlling a river. The proper means are preserving the forest growth on the watersheds and storing the flood waters in reservoirs. A cow in full milk is working as hard as a horse in heavy work. Such a horse must be fed on oats to maintain his strength. Similarly with_ a cow. The cow works first for herself then for the farmer. If it takes her all day to get enough food for herself the farmer is going short. By enriching her food the farmer is increasing her working hours for himself. , Among domestic animals, the dairy cows is the most economical producer of human food. According to Jordon the growth of a pound of edible beef solids requires a food expenditure nearly seven times as great as is necessary for the production of a pound of milk solids. The milking cow, therefore, is to be regarded as a very efficient machine, and a complete knowledge of her body’s working is very desirable, so that we may be able to adjust any disturbance occurring in the functioning of the parts. In many areas the pasture is unsatisfactory, and the dearth of essential mineral elements becomes a limiting factor in the productive capacity of the milking cow. t What is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable occurrences in the history of animal breeding has become an established fact in the noted herd of registered Friesians owned by Bridgford Friesian Co., of California, states the Breeders’ Gazette, Chicago. As experienced breeders know a female born twin to a bull in only a small percentage of cases is capable of reproduction. Such a heifer, in Woodbine herd, because of her valuable pedigree, was reared on the chance that she would become a 'breeder. She got in calf at normal age, but was not regarded as a likely candidate for any unusual production record and was left in pasture right up to calving time, without the grain fed period prior to freshening that is usual with test cows. In fact, this heifer never had a bite of grain up to calving, and freshened in thin condition. She started off with such good production, however, that her owner decided to put her on test, and she was carried for the usual 365 day period, finishing with 7641 b fat from 27,160.51 b milk, the milk record being the world’s record for a junior two-year-old, she having calved at the age of two years and four months.