A RATION FOR PRODUCT
Nelson was to commence work on the cow-house at once; at least, the
mason was. I left the job as a whole to Nelson, and he made some sort of
contract with the mason. The agreement was that I should pay $4260 for
the barn complete. The machinery we put into it was very simple,--a
water heater and two cauldrons for cooking food. All three cost about
$60.
Thompson had selected six cows, from those bought with the place, as
worth wintering. They were now giving from six to eight quarts each, and
were due to come in in April and May. An eight-quart-a-day cow was not
much to my liking, but Thompson said that with good care they would do
better in the spring. "Four of those cows ought to make fine milkers,"
he said; "they are built for it,--long bodies, big bags, milk veins that
stand out like crooked welts, light shoulders, slender necks, and lean
heads. They are young, too; and if you'll dehorn them, I believe they'll
make your thoroughbreds hump themselves to keep up with them at the milk
pail. You see, these cows never had more than half a chance to show
what they could do. They have never been 'fed for milk.' Farmers don't
do that much. They think that if a cow doesn't bawl for food or drink
she has enough. I suppose she has enough to keep her from starving, and
perhaps enough to hold her in fair condition, but not enough to do this
and fill the milk pail, too. I read somewhere about a ration for
'maintenance' and one for 'product,' and there was a deal of difference.
Most farmers don't pay much attention to these things, and I guess
that's one reason why they don't get on faster."
"You've got the whole matter down fine in that 'ration for product,'
Thompson, and that's what we want on this farm. A ration that will
simply keep a cow or a hen in good health leaves no margin for profit.
Cows and hens are machines, and we must treat them as such. Crowd in the
raw material, and you may look for large results in finished product.
The question ought always to be, How much can a cow eat and drink? not,
How little can she get on with? Grain and forage are to be turned into
milk, and the more of these foods our cows eat, the better we like it.
If these machines work imperfectly, we must get rid of them at once and
at any price. It will not pay to keep a cow that persistently falls
below a high standard. We waste time on her, and the smooth running of
the factory is interrupted. I'm going to place a standard on this farm
of nine thousand pounds a year for each matured cow; I don't think that
too high. If a cow falls much below that amount, she must give place to
a better one, for I'm not making this experiment entirely for my health.
The standard isn't too high, yet it's enough to give a fine profit. It
means at least three hundred and fifty pounds of butter a year, and in
this case the butter means at least thirty cents a pound, or more than
$100 a year for each cow. This is all profit, if one wishes to figure it
by itself, for the skimmed milk will more than pay for the food and
care. But why did you say dehorn the cows?"
"Well, I notice that a man with a club is almost sure to find some use
for it. If he isn't pounding the fence or throwing it at a dog, he's
snipping daisies or knocking the heads off bull-thistles. He's always
doing something with it just because he has it in his hand. It's the
same way with a cow. If she has horns, she'll use them in some way, and
they take her mind off her business. No, sir; a cow will do a lot better
without horns. There's mighty little to distract her attention when her
clubs are gone."
"What breeds of cows have you handled, Thompson?"
"Not any thoroughbreds that I know of; mostly common kinds and grade
Jerseys or Holsteins."
"I'm going to put a small herd of thorough bred Holsteins on the place."
"Why don't you try thoroughbred Jerseys' They'll give as much butter,
and they won't eat more than half as much."
"You don't quite catch my idea, Thompson. I want the cow that will eat
the most, if she is, at the same time, willing to pay for her food. I
mean to raise a lot of food, and I want a home market for it. What comes
from the land must go back to it, or it will grow thin. The Holstein
will eat more than the Jersey, and, while she may not make more butter,
she will give twice as much skimmed milk and furnish more fertilizer to
return to the land. Fresh skimmed milk is a food greatly to be prized by
the factory-farm man; and when we run at full speed, we shall have three
hundred thousand pounds of it to feed.
"I have purchased twenty three-year-old Holstein cows, in calf to
advanced registry bulls, and they are to be delivered to me March 10. I
shall want you to go and fetch them. I also bought a young bull from the
same herd, but not from the same breeding. These twenty-one animals will
cost, by the time they get here, $2200. I shall give the bull to my
neighbor Jackson. He will be proud to have it, and I shall be relieved
of the care of it. Be good to your neighbor, Thompson, if by so doing
you can increase the effectiveness of the factory farm. We will start
the dairy with twenty thoroughbreds and six scrubs. I shall probably buy
and sell from time to time; but of one thing I am certain: if a cow
cannot make our standard, she goes to the butcher, be she mongrel or
thoroughbred. What do you think of Judson as a probable dairyman?"
"I shouldn't wonder if he would do first-rate. He's a quiet fellow, and
cows like that. He has those roans tagging him all over the place; and
if a horse likes a man, it's because he's nice and quiet in his ways. I
notice that he can milk a cow quicker than the other men, and it ain't
because he don't milk dry--I sneaked after him twice. The cow just gives
down for him better than for the others."