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Show Iowa, as a Dairy State. H. R. Wright, dairy commissioner of Iowa, says: "Iowa is a great dairy state. The creameries of the state annually an-nually make about 80,000,000 pounds of butter. The census of 1900 says that we make 61,789,288 pounds of butter but-ter on our farms. The same authority says that there is made in the United States 420,954,016 pounds of .creamery butter and 1,071,745,127 pounds of butter produced on farrns. So that Iowa, with 56,025 square miles of area, produces almost .20 per -cent of the creamery butter," and nearly 10 per cent of all the butter made In the United States. The value of our dairy products is about $28,000,000 annually, to which must be added the value of milk and cream consumed as such, and the value of the skimmed milk and other by-products which must aggregate, ag-gregate, perhaps $5,000,000 more. All of these figures ' are very large and naturally are a source of some pride to those engaged or interested in the dairy business. But our pride in this does not increase our bank accounts. The average number of cows kept by the creamery patron Is only, seven, and the average butter production per cow Is less than 140 pounds. If it is true that it costs $25 per acre to keep a cow it will be seen, that there is not an extraordinary profit in the product of the average cow. The profits in dairying would be larger and more certain If the cows were fed and cared for with more attention to proper methods, and the number of cows would be very much greater if the possible profits In dairying were better .understood. ' Bacteriology and Dairying. We find that the .study of bacte-lology bacte-lology was begun as far back as 1675 by Anthony Von Leenwenhock of Delff, Holland, but not much progress was made during the next two hundred hun-dred years. Only twelve years ago Professor Storch, of Copenhagen first Introduced the use of purecultures purecul-tures In cream ripening and now they are almost universally used in Denmark. Den-mark. In fact, so common has become be-come the use of starters that a butter-maker Is not considered up-to-date unless he has a fair knowledge of dairy bacteriology and starters. , - In this country we have three or four firms that make a business of v furnishing pure cultures to cream-v cream-v erymen. Yet our knowledge of cultures, cul-tures, we might say, dates back to 1893, when Dr. Conn, of Connecticut, isolated a species of bacteria from some milk sent from Uruguay to the World's Fair. It was thought for a time that this germ was the flavor producing bacteria that gave to the butter the ideal . flavor. But the experiments ex-periments conducted at the different experiment stations did not entirely carry out this idea. Nevertheless to Dr. Conn must be given the credit of first introducing pure cultures in this country. While B 41 did not accomplish accom-plish all that was claimed for it, the introduction of it had the effect of awakening the dairymen of the country coun-try tn the benefit that could be de- rived from cultures or starters. Prof. G. L. McKay. The Dry Cow.. From Farmers' Review: The dry cow that is to be fresh in March or April often has a hard time during winter. She Is turned with the yearling year-ling or two-year-old steers, and with them gets the run of the corn fields, and at other times receives only corn fodder for her daily ration; or, prob-. prob-. ably with her companions she takes her 'chances at the straw pile Progressive Pro-gressive farmers have learned that corn stalks or wheat straw alone do not give a profitable growth on young stock, nor satisfactory gains on older ones. In fact, they have decided that instead of getting a profit from their rough feed they often lose the profit obtained on last summer's pasture, and all has to be done over again next summer. Surely the dry cow should have our sympathy. True, she may not be turned into money very soon. If steers fail to grow or gain on such food much less could we expect a dry cow' to produce a well-developed calf and feed it well afterwards on such food. Then she is not only expected to feed the little youngster, but to live one-half of her milk to the family, i ff this supply is given, the cow must be storing a reserve force when dry U allowed to rough it through she all the while gives away from her own system instead of laying up a surplus for future needs. Clover bay with some corn or bran with corn fodder an? timothy hay will be a fairly good ration for the dry cow. Do not feed too sparingly of the bran foods.-W. Tt Anderson. American conditions change imported import-ed dairy breeds. It has been fre-ouently fre-ouently remarked that the descend-- descend-- ant ol ! Channel Island cattle Imported to this country increase in size in a tew generations, and that the Amer-SL Amer-SL Jersey cow is larger than the Jersey cow on her native island. |