Show irro the farmers Fan ners notebook note book la the journal of agriculture cultural cul cui management of Dairie dairies 3 it is thought by some thattie that the dairy business can banneyer aver neter be made to pay in this arid mountainous tain us region that there are obstacles to be overcome that do not exist in countries where the former and the latter rains come in their season where irrigation is unknown and where luxuriant meadows and choice blooded cows abound we have no doubt at the same time we are equally well satisfied that by judicious management a profitable dairy might be established here the following on the modes of conducting dairies in scotland and ireland contains valuable data for all interested in the profitable management of cows sir john sinclair has stated that it is supposed that the same quantity of herbage that would add ibs lbs to the weight of an ox would produce english gallons of milk 2 now if we reckon 6 oz of butter to be the average weight L obtained from a gallon of milk we will V ili lii get 3 ibs bg of butter from the same quantity of herba herbage ge as was supposed to produce buce 2 ibs lbs of beef if the hypothesis of sir J sinclair be correct there can be no doubt that it is the interest of the farmer to adopt the dary dairy system in preference orence irence to the feeding of cattle but even granting that the difference between the production of beef and butter is As not so great as stated by him yet it is generally admitted that there is a considerable mar margin I 1 n in favor of butter particularly when we fa take k e into account the relative price of the two at the present time the importance of the subject being 0 admitted tedde we may inquire shortly as to what wh at kind of feeding is best adapted for producing the largest yield of butter akon alton in his agriculture of ayrshire published about the be beginning annin of this tilis century tells us that the winter food food of the dairy stock at that time was the straw of oats or toward the murrish parts of the country the hay of bog meadows frequently but ill preserved for a few weeks after they calved they were allowed some weak corn and chaff boiled with infusions of hay bay and by way of luxury a morsel of rye grass or lea hay once every everyday day and of late years by some farmers a small quantity of turnips in the early part of the winter and a few potatoes in the sprin spring have been added the effect 0 of f such feeding on the animals is apparent when they are turned out on the grass in summer many of them are so dried up and emaciated that they appear like the ghosts of cows their milk vessels are dried up and it is not till they have been several weeks on the grass that they give either much milk or that of a rich quality the ile summer feeding was g epe epp rally raily pasture and though a much muck better system of feeding has been practiced throughout the country since the introduction of turnip husbandry yet an approximation to that described by mr aiton will be found in some of the upland districts farmers have now however a great variety of it food from which they can make a selection and the problem to be solved now is not how a sufficiency of one particular kind of food is to be gathered together to keep the cows in life for a considerable consider considerable agle atle period of the year but rather what variety of food or better what mixture of varieties how much and in what state raw or cooked will prove most profitable for the production of butter the mainstay of the dairy farmer now a as S formerly in summer is grass in w winter inter ho how W ever every there h has been a great improvement in the feeding reeding of of the c cows from the use of turnips and other roots as well as many other substances such as beans beang draff or distillers and brewers 1 grains linseed and aad rape cake etc even now in summer in some districts it is found advisable and profitable where batter butter is wanted more than milk to give the cows some nourishing food in addition to chepas the pasture at the very height of the season draff rap rai and bean meal are the two substances more generally used in such circumstances i if the production of butter is to be the main object of keeping a dairy there are two things to which the farmer should pay particular attention the kind of cows he keeps and the feeding when we speak of the feeding we mean not merely the quality of food the farmer purchases but of what is grown on his farm it is well known that the grass and turnips on some farms will produce far more butter from the same quantity of milk than those grown on others we have known cattle fed on turnips alone from particular farms made fat in the same time as similar animals fed on turnips with the addition of two or three pounds of linseed cake each per day the treatment and housing of the animals beld bein being 0 alike in both cases certain fields will give a larger proportion of butter to the milk than others on the same farm A farmer therefore should be guided not only by the locality but by the farm in determining what department of the dairy he should turn his attention to without referring at all at present to the kind of cow most profitable for a butter dairy we pass on to a consideration of the kinds of food that may be used most profitably for the production of butter the great authority on this subject is mr horff horsfall all ail who has hag laid the public under great obligations to himself for the publication of his experiments and views on this interesting question his ills method of f feeding is the following in may alay his cows are turned out on rich pasture near the homestead toward evening they ar are aie housed for the night when they are supplied with a mess of a steamed mixture to be afterward described and a little hay each mornin morning and even eyen evening during june mown grass is given to the them ng instead of hay and they are also allowed two feeds of steamed mixture this treatment is continued till october when they are again wholly housed after this they receive steam food ad three times per day after each meal cabbages are given from october till december kohlrabi till february and mangels till grass time the supply of 0 each of these varieties of green f food being limited to 30 or 35 lbs ibs per day for each cow four lbs ibs of meadow hay are also allowed after each meal or 12 ibs lbs per day for each cow and water is placed before them twice a day of which they partake as much as they feel inclined for the steamed food spoken of above consists of 5 lbs ibs of rape cake 2 ibs lbs of bran for each cow mixed with a sufficient quantity of bean straw oat straw and shells of oats in equal proportions to supply them three times a day with as much as they will eat the whole of the materials are moistened and blended to gather and after being well steamed are given to the animals in a warm state the attendant is allowed 1 ib lb to 11 2 ibs lbs of bean meal per cow according to circumstances which he is charged to give to each cow in proportion to the yield of milk those in full milk getting 2 ibs lbs each per day others but little it is dry and mixed with the steamed food on its being dealt out separately this is certainly high feeding but it is amply repaid by the results for while cows fed in the ordinary wai wak way seldom beldom produce m milk ilk lik which yields more t than an I 1 oz of butter to every quart mr Hors falls milk gives upward of 11 2 oz for every quart it is also algo an important part of his system never to allow his cows to fall off in condition ile he considers the maintenance of the condition essential to a large yield of milk there can be no doubt of the soundness of this opinion A cow low in condition can not give the same quantity of milk as much of the nourishment of the food is drawn off to make up the condition of the animal and when a aver very lean cow is put on rich food it is some wee weeks s before the full benefit of the food can be obtained in milk for the reason stated above another useful deduction made by mr lir horsfall from his experiments is that matter is the most essential element in the food of the milk cow and that any deficiency fici ency jn in the supply of this will be attended with loss of condition and a consequent diminution in the quality of the milk in scotland bran is not very often used as an ingredient in any fixture of food for milk cows but it will be seen from the forer foregoing gin gln that th at it forms an im important part of mr hors spotting Sp ottine falls mixture some time a ago we came upon the following extract we to believe belleve bileve from the irish farmers gazette which gives some valuable hints is as to the use of different substances in the f feeding of milk cows in reading g over the experiments on feeding in stephens a dlf dif ferenee difference of opinion exists as to the comparative fattening qualities of linseed cake bean and other meal and in the report ort of the larse lame national agricultural schooler Scho scio oil olor for 1853 1833 1 ib lb of beans is said to be equal in bat fattening qualities to 30 lbs ibs of turnips and nearly 3 lbs ibs of oatmeal oat meal I 1 tried the bean meal one season at the rate of 3 lbs ibs a day boiled for each milk cow with mange mangel turnip and hay by february one of them was fat but I 1 may say dry and the others with about half the quantity of milk they had when commencing I 1 tried oatmeal for two winters the same avee quantity in the same way and each cow gave i three times the quantity of milk and butter and turned out full bette beite the following summer I 1 tried the same quantity of yellow indian meal last winter and I 1 think it good for tor both loth milk and butter I 1 tried bran fir for for three winters at the rate of 4 ibs lbs every night for each cow it was equal to the oatmeal while using and my cows turned out better the following summer than on any other feeding the gran bran not only keeps them healthy and gives them a greater relish for their food but there is some combination of qualities in it beyond what any writer I 1 have seen attributes to IV it the state in which the food is given has also a great effect in the production of both milk and butter we have observed more than once that the yield of butter and milk is never so great when we give cows boiled turnips with beans boiled quite soft among among them as when they get the boiled turnips and the same weight of beans made into meal and mixed raw with them again there is more milk and no taste of the turnip in it when the turnips are pulped gulped and mixed with cut straw or chaff and fermented than if the same weight of turnips are given whole and raw in the journal we read a short notice on this subject 1 by M lejeune a director of t the he agricultural school at Thou rout in belgium the facts he reports are not to be regarded as experiments instituted to test any theory but are merely extracted from his accounts and show the importance of attending to the mode in which i food is given to milk cows bows in february 1855 the milk of eight cows was selected for experiment the cows were fed in the following manner each cow got per day 44 44 lbs ibs of 0 meadow hay lbs ibs straw 48 48 ibs lbs linseed meal lbs ibs of beetroot beet root and a cooked mash consisting of 55 55 ibs lbs of turnips 27 27 ibs lbs of beetroot beet root 12 ibs lbs linseed meal mea 32 3 2 lbs ibs of rape cake ii li 11 ib lb of grain dust li ii 11 ib of mixed meal about 11 2 oz of salt sait and 6 gallons of water from this very watery diet a large quantity of milk was obtained 16 quarts of which gave 1 ib of butter in the month of february 1856 the calculation was made from the milk of ten cows eight t of which chich were those with which the observations ions were made in the previous year the nutritive value of the food detailed above was calculated to be equivalent to upward of 30 ibs lbs of good meadow hay per head the food given in 1856 consisted of oat root the meal of rye oats and buckwheat linseed cake rape cape and the dust of wheat or bran given in such proportions as to make the equivalent value of the days feed equal to a little more than 31 ibs lbs per head of hay none of it was cooked and the beetroot beet root was reduced to small pieces and sprinkled over the meal there was not the same quantity of milk but the proportion of butter was much larger beine being being 2 ibs lbs of butter for every 20 quarts of milk the cows with the exception of the food were managed in the same way in both years and there were more newly calved cows in 1855 than in 1856 |