Show AVERAGE FARM DAIRY the amount of feed which will be required what shall the average farmer in the northwest do in minnesota tor ex ample with an average herd 0 cowa in both number and quality relative to feed supplies assuming that this average farmer has only a halt dozen milk cows shall he build a silo and grow silage corn or provide other roughage this question was a feature at last winter s meeting of the minnesota state dairymen s association it was handled by A D allson who rather leaned toward improving the farm with clover etc rather than growing silage corn his remarks were applicable solely to the small herd of cow rather than the well es dairy herd mr allson placed the emphasis in handling the ordinary dairy herd on the farm on making a profit from the farm as a whole instead of from the milk cows simply otherwise there may be als appointment in the final outcome at the end of the year he beliefs there is very little net profit in the average crop of wheat alone and felt much the same way about the average dairy herd made up perhaps of cows ot in different quality the farmers of minnesota must get down to the idea of net profit on the farm as a whole said mr allson look out tor real business management just as surely as the city mer chant does in considering his investments we must grow grass crops and clover in order to keep up the productivity of the soil on a farm of acres 40 acres of grass and clover should be grown each year he believes that farmers can more profitably use such good hay as we grow or can wisely use roughage such as fod der corn roots millets etc depend largely upon hay and a few roots the latter for succulence rather than silage corn for the average minnesota farm with a few cows this question of silage means a considerable tax in the way of a structure etc mr allson believes enough roots can be grown on one halt to one acre to adequately supplement the hay it Is more expensive to supply silage he says tor the small herd of cattle than tor the large herd where of course conditions may ma ter lally differ in the large dairy herd the farmer can wisely put up more silage and use more of it the larger the number of cows kept also a larger amount of manure and thus avoid the growing of so much clover as is necessary on the average farm with a few cows he recommended as root crops mangels rutabagas and stock carrots STARTING A DAIRY As to the handling and breeding of pure bred stock the selection of the young females to maintain and increase the herd re quires careful consideration on the part of the breeder if the herd Is a pure bred one the sire being the same strain and very much like the females the offspring will be fairly uniform and the callea from the best producers can be selected unless they show some physical weakness or other reason for not being taken into the heard when the herd is to be composed of grade animals the sire should be purebred and if possible the selection of the te males to maintain the herd should be tested and the selection made of their individual aeilts when it Is feces sary to select the females before they can be tested they should be from dams that respond the quickest to the changed environment of the herd it a number of cows are placed in better environment the calves should be selected from the cows that show the greatest increase because of the better conditions the bull will be likely to be most over the females which respond the most read lly to changed environment the most improvement can be expected in the first generation as there are likely to be many reversions in the second generation some being much better than their dams and some much poor er dy this time the offspring of the best producing females can be selected tor the herd as a line ot breeding will have been established it the bull produces that are uniform strong and vigorous he can be safely bred to his own daughters as inbreed ing la the greatest factor in preventing reversions but if another bull must bo procured he should be related to the possible ahlm as much aa poss ble however no matter what attention is paid to the breeding of a herd 1110 and the herd is what they should be no amount 0 breeding can take the place of careful and regular feeding pure 6 wa er and sanitary stables the r suits of careful breeding ani select are soon lost by the farmer who dos not give hla stock the care that has nsnan to jtb elgh C 0 use of brains no industry agricultural particular can develop and proportion to the increasing ann ih W in it so 55 y ing will develop a higher degree of efficiency ig ng and breeding the cow ine and taking care of hw |