Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 304, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 December 1917 — COMFORT IN DAIRY BARN OF IMPORTANCE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

COMFORT IN DAIRY BARN OF IMPORTANCE

(By W. M. KELLEY.)

Good stable management is an important factor in determining the profits from the dairy herd during the winter. The first essential is that the cows be comfortable, because a cow kept otherwise can never do her best. She must have a comfortable place to lie down, stand up, move and stretch her limbs and lick herself all over the body. She must have sunshine and plenty of light. She may have pure air to breathe, and this means that the stable must be provided with some system of ventilation to give a frequent change of air. This need not be expensive, only a little forethought and a few dollars’ worth of material and labor. She must have good pure water at least twice a day, or better still, have an automatic water basin at her side. The stable should be cleaned daily, and be thoroughly disinfected. The ceiling, floor and sides should all be smooth, and of concrete construction, and the fixtures largely iron. It is not expensive, and they are sanitary and permanent. Large, smooth, concrete mangers for feeding are about the best we know of today. Judgment and common sense must be exercised in the methods of feeding and handling cows. Fixed rules in feeding are not practical. Best Feeding Methods. Overfeeding is wasteful; underfeeding is unprofitable. The cows must be well nourished at all times, but if given more than they need for maintenance and production, they waste it as a rule. Never stir up dust or foul odors at milking time. If you do, a lot of it is sure to get into the milk. Whether to feed the cows just before milking is a much debated question. It is not at all dangerous to feed them a little grain, provided you stir up no dust or disagreeable odors. As a rule, the cows will give down their milk more freely when they have contented minds, and a little of the

right kind of feed goes |a long way toward bringing about tjitfi contented state of mind. Never clean the stables just before milking, for it will stir up a tenfold odor than any feed the cows will eat. , Conserve Soil Fertility. If there is any question before the farmers of this country of more importance tljan that of conserving the soil’s fertility, I am not cognizant of it. The most important business of dairy farmers is to increase the quantity of manurial substances and apply it whefe it is most needed. All of the manure, both liquid and solid, should be saved and applied to the land. I believe it is oest to haul it from the stable to the field and apply it as fast as made. When all the liquids have been saved bv the use of absorbents, large amounts of manure may be made and, if it is hauled to the fields direct from the stable, these liquids will drain into the soil to the depth of the furrow slice, and there will be little loss from exposure. In addition, the cows will not be wading knee-deep in the mire and filth every time they are turned out in the yards for water and exercise. Most of the work comes at a time when other farm operations are slack; and the soil, besides enriched, plows easier and works up better during the whole of the next season, .on account of being porous by being covered with manure during the winter. Time to Haul Manure. When hauling manure from the stable to the field, we plan to haul the farther fields while the ground is frozen, and close to the barn while soft and muddy. There is no reasonable excuse for a dairy*farmer to allow more than onethird of his manurial fertility to wash away in a dirty, filthy barnyard, and spend one or two weeks during the busy season in the spring to haul it across the muddy fields to get it on his land.

INTERIOR OF WELL-EQUIPPED MODERN DAIRY STABLE.