Rensselaer Republican, Volume 26, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 January 1894 — Care of Cows. [ARTICLE]

Care of Cows.

As the Daily question is the one in which our county, and especially' the part near Rensselaer is agitating' at this time, how to manage cows is' of first importance. The first requisite is good warm stabling, which will more than save its cost in one seasofi, and when provided with stabling, the cows want to be kept there all the time, unless it is warm enough outside not to child them, as every time a cow chills it stops the flow of milk. If anyone is handling less cows than justifies keeping one person in special charge, it would be better to let the sows remain in the stable all the time, only when they are to be watered, and that should be done twice daily. The water should be about near blood temperature, as anything that chills stops or lessens the flow of milk. Another matter is to keep the stable clean, giving the cows ample room, and make it as light as you possibly can, putting the. windows where they will admit as much sunshine as possible. The next item is to feed them all they will eat of good milk rations. Bran is first class, but should be fed with corn meal, ground cob and all and from 1 to 2 pounds of oil meal daily. Good milkers are the best, but cows on the above rations with good care will give good yield of milk or accumulate flesh that will help to pay o, even fully pay for the feed. The cost of feed wants to be counted and studied to have it the cheapest and the best, which is, that which y ields the most milk. The silo is claimed to furnish the cheapest feed, and one that can be raised on the farm. The discussion of that will be raised later, as it could not be put into use until next fall, I am using wet starch feed. It costs $4 50 per ton on the tia:k at Marlboro, which is 20 cents per 100 pounds. 80 pounds make good rations, with 1| to 2 pounds of oil meal per day. I consider this 25 u> 38 per cent, cheaper than the uther ration, and my cows are doing better than they did on the other, which I used before.