Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 232, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 September 1916 — MAKING the FARMPAY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MAKING the FARMPAY

COW IS GREATEST PRODUCER

It is truly said that the cow is man’s greatest benefactor. Hail, wind, droughts and floods may come, destroy our crops and banish our hopes, but, from what is left, the cow manufactures the most nourishing and life-sus-taining foods. For 2,000 years she has shown her allegiance to man, sharing alike in his prosperity and adversity, responding to all that waa done fqr her, until through her development she has become indispensible as an economic factor In our national progress. Dairy communities are rich communities. The cow produces the most and best food at the least costr sire brings in a steady income; she converts cheap roughage into profit; makes the farm worth more; builds big red barns and good homes —means living on the farm. Cow Makes Farm Worth More. There is always an air of permanence and prosperity about a well-mam aged dairy farm. A man feels independent when he knows his income is steady. The dairy business is a cash business. It calls for intellectual activity. The success of the man engaged in it depends upon his using his head, developing his judgment. Dairying builds up the farm. It requires fewer acres to produce a good living, and consequently lends to closer (neighbors and more thickly-settled icommunities. As land, labor and feed increase in

price, the cow will more and more displace the strictly meat-producing farm animals. She produces human food with greater economy than does the steer, sheep or pig. The United States census for 1910 shows an Increase of about 20 per cent in dairy stock while the total number of all cattle has decreased. “It Is interesting to learn that Lady Oak, a Holstein cow, now owned by the Minnesota experiment station, in one day produced in her milk an amount of human food equal to a calf weighing 115 pounds. In a year’s record this cow produced 993 pounds of fat, 631 pounds of protein and 1,052 pounds of carbohydrates. This product 'was equal to 2GG calves weighing 125 ipounds each, or 142 calves weighing 200 pounds each, 28 yearlings weighing, 500 pounds each, or 5 steers weighing 1,100 pounds each. ¥hese figures indicate the wonderful efficiency of the -dairy animal- as am economlcal producer of human food.” Princess Carlotta, a cow owned by the dairy department of the University of Missouri, in one year produced more human food in her milk than Is contained in the complete carcasses of four steers weighing 1,250 pounds each. This statement, impossible as It seems, Is not only true, but does not even do full justice to the cow. The solids in the milk, which are completely digestible, are counted against the entire carcass of the steer, only part of which is edible. The total amount of dry matter in the milk was 2,218 pounds, all of which Is edible and digestible. The steer, with a live weight of 1,250 pounds, contained 50 per cent of water in the carcass, leaving a total of 548 pounds of dry matter. In this dry matter of the steer is included hair and hide, bones and tendons, organs of digestion and respiration. In fact, the ent{re animal, a considerable portion of which Is not edible. The analysis of the steer’s carcass was made from .samples taken after grinding up to-

By CHAS. M. CARROLL

gether one-half of the complete carcass, and Is not in any sense an estimation of the composition of the carcass. Princess Carlotta'produced proteins sufficient for more than three steers; nearly fat enough for two; ash enough to build the skeletons for three, and in addition, 920 pounds of milk sugar worth as much per pound for food as ordinary sugar. It is because of this economical use of food that the dairy cow and not the steer is kept on high-priced land. When land is cheap and feed abundant the meat-producing animals predominate, but when the land becomes high in value and feed expensive the farmer turns to the dairy cow. Duchess Skylark Ormsby Is the world’s champion butter producer. The results of her 3p5 —consecutive —days’ test, conducted by the Minnesota Agricultural college, shows that she produced 27,761 pounds of milk, nearly 14 tons, or over 23 times her own weight. The butterfat contained’in this year’s milk yield weighed 1,205 pounds. At 35 cents a pound, she produced about SSOO worth of commercial butter in one year. To her credit of SSOO worth of butter must be added over 20,000 pounds of skim milk and buttermilk, about 14 tons of manure, and a calf, which pay for her feed and care, making the SSOO a net profit to the owner. Dairy Products Second in Value to the Corn Crop. There are about 22,000,000 dairy cows in the United States, and the annual value of their products reaches

the enormous sum of nearly $1,000,000,000. Only the corn crop exceeds the dairy products as a source of income to the farmers of the nation. Neither the production of butter nor cheese has kept up with the increase of population. In 1910 there were 20,G 25.000 dairy cows in the United States, an increase of about 12,000,000 head in 50 years. This wonderful growth in dairying and cheese-manu-facturing has added enormously to the material wealth of every community and state Where these pursuits are carried on. It has also been a wonderful aid wherever it has been conducted intelligently in conserving the fertility of the soil. This one great advantage to the wealth of the nation can hardly be computed in dollars and cents. In 1870 practically all of the butter and nearly all of the cheese, except In the older states as New York and Ohio, were made on the farm. The average prieeof farm bu tter was about -15 cent s and nearly all of it was sold or traded for dry goods and groceries at the country stores. The export market for cheese governed the price in New York and Ohio, which practically were the

only cheese-producing states in the nation. In 1875 there was a great awakening —the coming of the refrigerator car

jtnrtteflLAiacffiiily tra n sfonnatloo ln.tMmarket. It placed Wisconsin, IlllnolJ and other states on the dairy map and opened up the channels of export to their cheese and butter. Later came the cream separator, which was a great factor in the development of the dairy business. Since that time dairying has been growing very rapidly. Points for the Dairyman. Any man to make success In the dairy business should bear in mind these points: * 1. Strict regularity in feeding and milking. —2. <Jood permanent pastures. ~ 3. At least one silo foßs-wlnter feeding and one*with a smaller capacity for summer feeding. 4. Cows that will give at least 4,000 pounds of milk or 200 pounds of butter in a year. 5. Plenty of roughage; and when pastures fall some concentrates, as cottonseed meal and gluten feeds. 6. Pure water. High producing cows must have large quantities of water. It is well said that it is cheaper to warm ice cold water with a tank heater than to, allow the cow to warm it with 50cent corn. The water tank should be in a cozy, sheltered, sunny place. 7. Clean and well ventilated barns and healthy cows. Dark, damp, steamy, poorly ventilated barns are Ideal places for the development and spread of tuberculosis. Kennedy: 1. Test the cows with the tuberculin test. 2. Cut new windows and let in an abundance of sunlight. 3. Provide proper ventilation. S. Quietness and kindness. Loud talking, swearing and rough handling are not permitted in a well-managed dairy. The average.dairy cow of this country produces something like 3,500 pounds of milk in a year and approximately 150 to 160 pounds of butterfat.

This is not profitable dairying. Yet farmers cannot greatly increase dairy production unless they apply the scales and Babcock test to their individual cows and find out the cows that pay for their feed and those which do not The co-operative cow-testing association enables all the dairy farmers of a community to test all their cows. With an average of 25 members the cost of such an association usually amounts to $1 to $1.50 pet cow per year. Benefit of the Cow-Testing Associa-, tion. According to lowa bulletin No. 13 2,950 yearly records from 177 different dairy herds have been completed in the five cow-testing associations in lowa which have been organized in the state since 1909. The average cow in the testing associations produced 217 pounds of butterfat per year at a net profit of $32.77, after paying for the feed at market prices, less the cost of hauling. If the 1,500,000 milk cows of lowa produced as much butterfat per year as the average cow in the cow-testing associations, it would mean an increased production for the state of 115,500,000 pounds of butterfat per year, worth, at 30 cents per pound, $34,650,000. j The most profitable cow returned her owner a net profit of $125, while the poorest cow lacked $25.92 of paying for her feed. ", The cow-testing association Is the best method of detecting the loafers In the herd. It puts dairying on a business basis, arouses the interest of the owner, his boys and hired man in the cows, stirs up local pride by bringing the people of the community together to talk over their business and helps to make farm work enjoyable and interesting.

Some people think that it Is a hard job to milk cows and care for stock, but we will find it just the opposite if we will take an interest in the work and get opr heads in the game. All work is drudgery unless we like it — put the best we have Into it, and use intelligence. The cow has lifted many a mortgage and saved the home.

Duchess Skylark Ormsby, World's Champion Cow —Record, 1,205 Pounds of Butterfat; Milk, 27,661 Pounds; Butter, 1,507 Pounds.

These Are Growing Into Money for Us Day and Night—and on Sundays.