FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT OF DAIRY COWS.
No branch of dairy farming can compare in importance with the management
of cows. The highest success will depend very much upon it, whatever
breed be selected, and whatever amount of care and attention be given to
the points of the animals; for experience will show that very little
milk comes out of the bag that is not first put into the throat. It is
poor economy, therefore, to attempt to keep too many cows for the amount
of feed we have; for it will generally be found that one good cow well
bred and well fed will yield as much as two ordinary cows kept in the
ordinary way, while a saving is effected both in labor and room
required, and in the risks on the capital invested. If the larger number
on poorer feed is urged for the sake of the manure, which is the only
ground on which it can be put, it is sufficient to remark that it is a
very expensive way of making manure. It is not too much to say that a
proper regard to profit and economy would require many an American
farmer to sell off nearly half his cows, and to feed the whole of his
hay and roots hitherto used into the remainder.
A certain German farmer was visited, one day, by some Swiss from over
the border, who desired to buy of him all the milk of his cows for the
purpose of making cheese. Not being able to agree upon the terms, he
finally proposed to let them take the entire charge of his cows, and
agreed to furnish food amply sufficient, the Swiss assuming the whole
care of feeding it out, and paying a fixed price by measure for all the
milk. “I found myself, at once,” says he, “under the necessity of
selling almost half my cows, because the Swiss required nearly double
the quantity of fodder which the cows had previously had, and I was well
satisfied that all the produce I could raise on my farm would be far
from sufficient to feed in that way the number of cows I had kept. I was
in despair at finding them using such a quantity of the best quality of
feed, though it was according to the strict letter of the contract,
especially as I knew that I had given my cows rather more than the
quantity of food recommended by men in whom I had perfect confidence.
Thus, while Thaër names twenty-three pounds of hay, or its equivalent,
as food sufficient for a good-sized cow, I gave mine full twenty-seven
pounds. But, if the change effected in the management of my cows was
great, the result was still more striking. The quantity of milk kept
increasing, and it reached the highest point when the cows attained the
condition of the fat kine of Pharaoh’s dream. The quantity of milk
became double, triple, and even quadruple, what it had been before; so
that, if I should compare the product with that previously obtained, a
hundred pounds of hay produced three times more milk than it had
produced with my old mode of feeding. Such results, of course, attracted
my attention to this branch of my farming. It became a matter of
pleasure; and my observations were followed up with great care, and
during several years I devoted a large part of my time to it. I even
went so far as to procure scales for weighing the food and the animals,
in order to establish exact data on the most positive basis.”
The conclusions to which he arrived were, that an animal, to be fully
fed and satisfied, requires a quantity of food in proportion to its live
weight; that no feed could be complete that did not contain a sufficient
amount of nutritive elements; hay, for example, being more nutritive
than straw, and grains than roots. He found, too, that the food must
possess a bulk sufficient to fill up to a certain degree the organs of
digestion or the stomach; and that, to receive the full benefit of its
food, the animal must be wholly satisfied, as, if the stomach is not
sufficiently distended, the food cannot be properly digested, and of
course many of the nutritive principles it contains would not be
perfectly assimilated. An animal regularly fed eats till it is
satisfied, and no more than is requisite. A part of the nutritive
elements in hay and other forage plants is needed to keep an animal on
its feet,--that is, to keep up its condition,--and if the nutrition of
its food is not sufficient for this the weight decreases, and if it is
more than sufficient the weight increases, or else this excess is
consumed in the production of milk or in labor. About one sixtieth of
their live weight in hay, or its equivalent, will keep horned cattle on
their feet; but, in order to be completely nourished, they require about
one thirtieth in dry substances, and four thirtieths in water, or other
liquid contained in their food. The excess of nutritive food over and
above what is required to sustain life will go in milch cows generally
to the production of milk, or to the growth of the fœtus, but not in all
cows to an equal extent; the tendency to the secretion of milk being far
more developed in some than in others.
With regard to the consumption of food in proportion to the live weight
of the animal, however far it may apply as a general principle, it
should, I think, be taken with some qualifications. The proportion is
probably not uniform as applied to all breeds indiscriminately, though
it may be more so as applied to animals of the same breed. Bakewell’s
idea was that the quantity of food required depended much on the shape
of the barrel; and it is well known that an animal of a close, compact,
well-rounded barrel will consume less than one of an opposite make.
The variations in the yield of milch cows are caused more by the
variations in the nutritive elements of their food than by a change of
the form in which it is given. “A cow, kept through the winter on mere
straw,” says a practical writer on this subject, “will cease to give
milk; and, when fed in spring on green forage, will give a fair quantity
of milk. But she owes the cessation and restoration of the secretion to
respectively the diminution and the increase of her nourishment, and not
at all to the change of form, or of outward substance, in which the
nourishment is administered. Let cows receive through winter nearly as
large a proportion of nutritive matter as is contained in the clover,
lucerne, and fresh grasses, which they eat in summer, and, no matter in
what precise substance or mixture that matter may be contained, they
will yield a winter’s produce of milk quite as rich in caseine and
butyraceous ingredients as the summer’s produce, and far more ample in
quantity than almost any dairyman with old-fashioned notions would
imagine to be possible. The great practical error on this subject
consists not in giving wrong kinds of food, but in not so proportioning
and preparing it as to render an average ration of it equally rich in
the elements of nutrition, and especially in nitrogenous elements, as an
average ration of the green and succulent food of summer.”
We keep too much stock for the quantity of good and nutritious food
which we have for it; and the consequence is cows are, in nine cases out
of ten, poorly wintered, and come out in the spring weakened, if not,
indeed, positively diseased, and a long time is required to bring them
into a condition to yield a generous quantity of milk.
It is a hard struggle for a cow reduced in flesh and in blood to fill up
the wasted system with the food which would otherwise have gone to the
secretion of milk; but, if she is well fed, well housed, well littered,
and well supplied with pure, fresh water, and with roots, or other
_moist_ food, and properly treated to the luxury of a frequent carding,
and constant kindness, she comes out ready to commence the manufacture
of milk under favorable circumstances.
_Keep the cows constantly in good condition_, ought, therefore, to be
the motto of every dairy farmer, posted up over the barn-door, and over
the stalls, and over the milk-room, and repeated to the boys whenever
there is danger of forgetting it. It is the great secret of success, and
the difference between success and failure turns upon it. Cows in milk
require more food in proportion to their size and weight than either
oxen or young cattle.
In order to keep cows in milk well and economically, regularity is next
in importance to a full supply of wholesome and nutritious food. The
healthy animal stomach is a very nice chronometer, and it is of the
utmost importance to observe regular hours in feeding, cleaning, and
milking. This is a point, also, in which very many farmers are at
fault--feeding whenever it happens to be convenient. The cattle are thus
kept in a restless condition, constantly expecting food when the keeper
enters the barn, while, if regular hours are strictly adhered to, they
know exactly when they are to be fed, and they rest quietly till the
time arrives. Go into a well-regulated dairy establishment an hour
before the time of feeding, and scarcely an animal will rise to its
feet; while, if it happens to be the hour of feeding, the whole herd
will be likely to rise and seize their food with an avidity and relish
not to be mistaken.
With respect to the exact routine to be pursued, no rule could be
prescribed which would apply to all cases; and each individual must be
governed much by circumstances, both in respect to the particular kinds
of feed at different seasons of the year, and the system of feeding. I
have found in my own practice, and in the practice of the most
successful dairymen, that, in order to encourage the largest secretion
of milk in stalled cows, one of the best courses is, to feed in the
morning, either at the time of milking--which I prefer--or immediately
after, with cut feed, consisting of hay, oats, millet, or corn-stalks,
mixed with shorts, and Indian, linseed, or cotton-seed meal, thoroughly
moistened with water. If in winter, hot or warm water is far better than
cold. If given at milking-time, the cows will generally give down the
milk more readily. The stalls and mangers ought always to be well
cleaned out first.
Roots and long hay may be given during the day; and at the evening
milking, or directly after, another generous meal of cut feed, well
moistened and mixed, as in the morning. No very concentrated food, like
grains alone or oil-cakes, should, it seems to me, be fed early in the
morning on an empty stomach, though it is sanctioned by the practice in
the London milk-dairies. The processes of digestion go on best when the
stomach is sufficiently distended; and for this purpose the bulk of food
is almost as important as the nutritive qualities. The flavor of some
roots, as cabbages and turnips, is more apt to be imparted to the flesh
and milk when fed on an empty stomach than otherwise. After the cows
have been milked, and have finished their cut feed, they are carded and
curried down, in well-managed dairies, and then either watered in the
stall, which in very cold or stormy weather is far preferable, or turned
out to water in the yard. When they are out, if they are let out at all,
the stables are put in order; and, after tying them up, they are fed
with long hay, and left to themselves till the time of next feeding.
This may consist of roots, such as cabbages, beets, carrots, or turnips,
sliced, or of potatoes, a peck, or, if the cows are very large, a
half-bushel each, and cut feed again at the evening milking, as in the
morning, after which water in the stall, if possible.
The less cows are exposed to the cold of winter, the better. They eat
less, thrive better, and give more milk, when kept housed all the time,
than when exposed to the cold. Caird mentions a case where a herd of
cows, which had been usually supplied from troughs and pipes in the
stalls, were, on account of an obstruction in the pipes, obliged to be
turned out twice a day to be watered in the yard. The quantity of milk
instantly decreased, and in three days the falling off became very
considerable. After the pipes were mended, and the cows again watered as
before, in their stalls, the flow of milk returned. This, however, will
be governed much by the weather; for in very mild, warm days it may be
judicious not only to let them out, but to allow them to remain out for
a short time, to exercise.
Any one can arrange the hour for the several processes named above, to
suit himself; but, when once fixed, let it be rigidly and regularly
followed. If the regular and full feeding be neglected for even a day,
the yield of milk will immediately decline, and it will be very
difficult to restore it. It may safely be asserted, as the result of
many trials and long practice, that a larger flow of milk follows a
complete system of regularity in this respect than from a higher feeding
where this system is not adhered to.
One prime object which the dairyman should keep constantly in view is,
to maintain the animal in a sound and healthy condition. Without this,
no profit can be expected from a milch cow for any considerable length
of time; and, with a view to this, there should be an occasional change
of food. But, in making changes, great care is required to supply an
equal amount of nourishment, or the cow falls off in flesh, and
eventually in milk. We should therefore bear in mind that the food
consumed goes not alone to the secretion of milk, but also to the growth
and maintenance of the bony structure, the flesh, the blood, the fat,
the skin, and the hair, and in exhalations from the body. These parts of
the body consist of different organic constituents. Some are rich in
nitrogen, as the fibrin of the blood, albumen, &c.; others destitute of
it, as fat; some abound in inorganic salts, phosphate of lime, salts of
potash, &c. To explain how the constant waste of these substances may be
supplied, Dr. Voelcker observes that the albumen, gluten, caseine, and
other nitrogenized principles of food, supply the animal with materials
required for the formation of muscle and cartilage; they are, therefore,
called flesh-forming principles.
“Fats, or oily matters of the food,” says he, “are used to lay on fat,
or for the purpose of sustaining respiration.
“Starch, sugar, gum, and a few other non-nitrogenized substances,
consisting of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, supply the carbon given off
in respiration, or they are used for the production of fat.
“Phosphates of lime and magnesia in food principally furnish the animal
with the materials of which the bony skeleton of its body consists.
“Saline substances--chlorides of sodium and potassium, sulphate and
phosphate of potash and soda, and some other mineral matters occurring
in food--supply the blood, juice of flesh, and various animal juices,
with the necessary mineral constituents.
“The healthy state of an animal can thus only be preserved by a mixed
food; that is, food which contains all the proximate principles just
noticed. Starch or sugar alone cannot sustain the animal body, because
neither of them furnishes the materials to build up the fleshy parts of
the animal. When fed on substances in which an insufficient quantity of
phosphates occurs, the animal will become weak, because it does not find
any bone-producing principles in its food. Due attention, therefore,
ought to be paid by the feeder to the selection of food which contains
all the kinds of matter required, nitrogenized as well as
non-nitrogenized, and mineral substances; and these should be mixed
together in the proportion which experience points out as best for the
different kinds of animals, or the particular purpose for which they are
kept.”
“On the nutrition of cows for dairy purposes,” Dr. Voelcker still
further observes that “milk may be regarded as a material for the
manufacture of butter or of cheese; and, according to the purpose for
which the milk is intended to be employed, whether for the manufacture
of butter or the production of cheese, the cow should be differently
fed.
“Butter contains carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and no nitrogen. Cheese,
on the contrary, is rich in nitrogen. Food which contains much fatty
matter, or substances which in the animal system are readily converted
into fat, will tend to increase the proportion of cream in milk. On the
other hand, the proportion of caseine or cheesy matter in milk is
increased by the use of highly nitrogenized food. Those, therefore, who
desire much cream, or who produce milk for the manufacture of butter,
select food likely to increase the proportion of butter in the milk. On
the contrary, where the principal object is the production of milk rich
in curd,--that is, where cheese is the object of the farmer,--clover,
peas, and bean-meal, and other plants which abound in legumine,--a
nitrogenized organic compound, almost identical in properties and
composition with caseine, or the substance which forms the curd of
milk,--will be selected.” And so the quality, as well as the quantity,
of butter in the milk, depends on the kind of food consumed, and on the
general health of the animal. Cows fed on turnips in the stall always
produce butter inferior to that of cows living upon the fresh and
aromatic grasses of the pastures.
Succulent food in which water abounds--the green grass of irrigated
meadows, green clover, brewers’ refuse, distillers’ refuse,
etc.--increases the quantity, rather than the quality, of the milk; and
by feeding these substances the milk-dairyman studies his own interest,
and makes thin milk, without diluting it with water, though, in the
opinion of some, this may be no more legitimate than watering the milk.
But, though the yield of milk may be increased by succulent or watery
food, it should be given so as not to interfere with the health of the
cow.
Food rich in starch, gum, or sugar, which are the respiratory elements,
an excess of which goes to the production of fatty matters, increases
the butter in milk. Quietness promotes the secretion of fat in animals
and increases the butter. Cheese will be increased by food rich in
albumen, such as the leguminous plants.
The most natural, and of course the healthiest food for milch cows in
summer, is the green grass of the pastures; and when those fail from
drought, or over-stocking, the complement of nourishment may be made up
with green clover, green oats, barley, millet, or corn-fodder, and
cabbage-leaves, or other succulent vegetables; and if these are wanting,
their place may be partly supplied with shorts, Indian-meal, linseed or
cotton-seed meal. Green grass is more nutritious than hay, which always
loses more or less of its nutritive qualities in curing; the amount of
the loss depending chiefly on the mode of curing, and the length of
exposure to sun and rain. But, apart from this, grass is more easily and
completely digested than hay, though the digestion of hay may be greatly
aided by cutting and moistening, or steaming; and by this means it is
rendered more readily available, and hence far better adapted to promote
a large secretion of milk--a fact too often overlooked by many even
intelligent farmers.
That green grass is better adapted than most other kinds of food to
promote a large flow of milk, may be seen from the following table, from
which it will appear that greater attention should be given to the
proper constituents of food for milch cows. Two cows were taken in the
experiment.
+-----------------------------+--------+---------+-----------+
| |Milk in | Butter |Nitrogen in|
| | five | in five | food in |
| Food of two cows. | days. | days. | five days.|
+-----------------------------+--------+---------+-----------+
|1. Grass, |114 lbs.|3.50 lbs.| 2.32 lbs. |
|2. Barley and hay, |107 |3.43 | 3.89 |
|3. Malt and hay, |102 |3.20 | 3.34 |
|4. Barley, molasses, and hay,|106 |3.44 | 3.82 |
|5. Barley, linseed, and hay, |108 |3.48 | 4.14 |
|6. Beans and hay, |108 |3.72 | 5.27 |
+-----------------------------+--------+---------+-----------+
Here grass produced the largest flow of milk, but of a quality less rich
than bean-meal and hay, which produced the richest quality; one hundred
and eight pounds making more butter than one hundred and fourteen pounds
of grass-made milk.
In autumn, the best feed will be the grasses of the pastures, so far as
they are available, green-corn fodder, cabbage, carrot and turnip
leaves, and an addition of meal or shorts. Towards the middle of autumn,
the cows fed in the pastures will require to be housed regularly nights,
especially in the more northern latitudes, and put, in part at least,
upon hay. But every farmer knows that it is not judicious to feed out
the best part of his hay when his cattle are first put into the barn,
and that he should not feed so well in the early part of winter that he
cannot feed better as it advances.
At the same time, it should always be borne in mind that the change from
grass to a poor quality of hay or straw, for cows in milk, should not be
too sudden. A poor quality of dry hay is far less palatable in the early
part of winter, after the cows are taken from grass, than at a later
period; and, if it is resorted to with milch cows, will inevitably lead
to a falling off in the milk, which no good feed can afterwards wholly
restore.
It is desirable, therefore, to know what can be used instead of his best
English or upland meadow hay, and yet not suffer any greater loss in the
flow of milk, or condition, than is absolutely necessary. In some
sections of New England, the best quality of swale hay will be used; and
the composition of that is as variable as possible, depending on the
varieties of grasses of which it was made, and the manner of curing.
But, in other sections, many will find it necessary to use straw, and
other substitutes; and it may be desirable to know how much is required
to form an equivalent in nutrition to good meadow or English hay. The
following brief table of nutritive equivalents will be convenient for
reference:
------------------+-----------+-----------------
| | Percentage
| | of Nitrogen.
| Nutritive +--------+--------
|equivalent.| Dried. |Undried.
+-----------+--------+--------
1. Meadow hay, | 100 | 1.34 | 1.15
2. Red Clover-hay,| 75 | 1.70 | 1.54
3. Rye-straw, | 479 | 0.30 | 0.24
4. Oat-straw, | 383 | 0.36 | 0.30
5. Wheat-straw, | 426 | 0.36 | 0.27
6. Barley-straw, | 460 | 0.30 | 0.25
7. Pea-straw, | 64 | 1.45 | 1.79
------------------+-----------+--------+--------
The following is the composition of these several substances, in which
their relative value will more distinctly appear:
--------+------+-------+--------+-------+-------
| |Starch,|Gluten, | |
| Woody| Gum, |Albumen,| Fatty | Saline
Water. |fibre.| Sugar.| etc. |matter.|matter.
--------+------+-------+--------+-------+-------
14 | 30 | 40 | 7.1 | 2 to 5|5 to 10
14 | 25 | 40 | 9.3 | 3 to 5| 9
12 to 15| 45 | 38 | 1.3 | | 4
12 | 45 | 35 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 6
12 to 15| 50 | 30 | 1.3 | 2 to 3| 5
12 to 15| 50 | 30 | 1.3 | | 5
10 to 15| 25 | 45 | 12.3 | 1.5 |4 to 6
--------+------+-------+--------+-------+-------
From these tables it will be seen that, taking good English or meadow
hay as the standard of comparison, and calling that one, 4.79 times the
weight of rye-straw, or 3.83 times the weight of oat-straw, contains the
same amount or nutritive matter; that is, it would take 4.79 times as
much rye-straw to produce the same result as good meadow hay.
The more elaborate nutritive equivalents of Boussingault will be found
to be very valuable and suggestive, and the following table is given in
this connection for the sake of convenient reference.
NUTRITIVE EQUIVALENTS. (PRACTICAL AND THEORETICAL.)
----------------------+------------------------------------------+
| THEORETICAL VALUES. |
+------------------------------------------+
| BOUSSINGAULT. |
+------+----------+------------+-----------+
| | Nitrogen | Nitrogen | |
| | in 100 | in 100 | |
| Water| parts of |parts of un-| |
|in 100|dried sub-| dried sub- | Nutritive |
ARTICLES OF FOOD. |parts.| stance. | stance. |equivalent.|
----------------------+------+----------+------------+-----------+
English Hay, | 11.0 | 1.34 | 1.15 | 100 |
Lucerne, | 16.6 | 1.66 | 1.38 | 83 |
Red Clover-hay, | 10.1 | 1.70 | 1.54 | 75 |
Red Clover (green), | 76.0 | - | .64 | 311 |
Rye-straw, | 18.7 | .30 | .24 | 479 |
Oat-straw, | 21.0 | .36 | .30 | 383 |
Carrot-leaves (tops), | 70.9 | 2.94 | .85 | 135 |
Swedish Turnips, | 91.0 | 1.83 | .17 | 676 |
Mangold Wurzel, | - | - | - | - |
White Silician Beet, | 85.6 | 1.43 | .18 | 669 |
Carrots, | 87.6 | 2.40 | .30 | 382 |
Potatoes, | 75.9 | 1.50 | .36 | 319 |
Potatoes kept in pits,| 76.8 | 1.18 | .30 | 383 |
Beans, | 7.9 | 5.50 | 5.11 | 23 |
Peas, | 8.6 | 4.20 | 3.84 | 27 |
| | | | |
Indian Corn, | 18.0 | 2.00 | 1.64 | 70 |
Buckwheat, | 12.5 | 2.40 | 2.10 | 55 |
Barley, | 13.2 | 2.02 | 1.76 | 65 |
Oats, | 12.4 | 2.22 | 1.92 | 60 |
Rye, | 11.5 | 2.27 | 2.00 | 58 |
Wheat, | 10.5 | 2.33 | 2.09 | 55 |
Oil-cake (Linseed), | 13.4 | 6.00 | 5.20 | 22 |
----------------------+------+----------+------------+-----------+
----------------------+----------------------------+
| THEORETICAL VALUES. |
+----------------------------+
| FRESENIUS. |
+----------------+-----------+
| Relative | |
| proportion of | |
| nitrogenized to| |
|non-nitrogenized| Nutritive |
ARTICLES OF FOOD. | substances. |equivalent.|
----------------------+----------------+-----------+
English Hay, | - | 100 |
Lucerne, | - | - |
Red Clover-hay, | 1 to 6.08 | 77.9 |
Red Clover (green), | - | - |
Rye-straw, | 1 to 24.40 | 527⁷⁄₁₂ |
Oat-straw, | 1 to 12.50 | 445⁵⁄₁₂ |
Carrot-leaves (tops), | - | - |
Swedish Turnips, | - | - |
Mangold Wurzel, | 1 to 7.26 | 391¹⁄₂ |
White Silician Beet, | - | - |
Carrots, | 1 to 7.84 | 542.1 |
Potatoes, | 1 to 9.00 | 330⁵⁄₁₂ |
Potatoes kept in pits,| - | - |
Beans, | 1 to 2.8 | 34⁵⁄₁₂ |
Peas, | 1 to 2.14 | 34¹⁄₂ |
| | |
Indian Corn, | 1 to 6.55 | - |
Buckwheat, | 1 to 6.05 | 93⁵⁄₁₂ |
Barley, | 1 to 4.25 | - |
Oats, | 1 to 4.08 | 58¹¹⁄₁₂ |
Rye, | 1 to 4.42 | 58¹⁄₁₆ |
Wheat, | 1 to 2.42 | 38⁵⁄₆ |
Oil-cake (Linseed), | - | - |
----------------------+----------------+-----------+
----------------+-----------------------------------------------------
| Practical values, as obtained by
| experiments in feeding, according to
+------+------+------+------+------+---------+--------
ARTICLES | | | | | | |Schweit-
OF FOOD. |Block.|Petri.|Meyer.|Thaër.|Pabst.|Schwertz.| zer.
----------------+------+------+------+------+------+---------+--------
English Hay, |100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100
Lucerne, | - | 90 | - | 90 | 100 | 100 | -
Red Clover-hay, |100 | 90 | - | 90 | 100 | 100 | -
Red Clover | | | | | | |
(green), |430 | - | - | 450 | 425 | - | -
Rye-straw, |200 | 500 | 150 | 666 | 350 | - | 267
Oat-straw, |200 | 200 | 150 | 190 | 200 | 400 | 200
Carrot-leaves | | | | | | |
(tops), | - | - | - | - | - | - | -
Swedish Turnips,| - | 300 | - | 300 | 250 | 200 | -
Mangold Wurzel, |366 | 400 | 250 | 460 | 250 | 333 | 366²⁄₃
White Silician | | | | | | |
Beet, | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Carrots, |366 | 250 | 225 | 300 | 250 | 270 | 300
Potatoes, |216 | 200 | 150 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200
Potatoes kept in| | | | | | |
pits, |400 | - | - | - | - | - | -
Beans, | 30 | 54 | 50 | 73 | 40 | - | 30
Peas, | 30 | 54 | 48 | 66 | 40 | Boussin-| 30
| | | | | | gault |
Indian Corn, | - | 52 | - | - | - | 59 | -
Buckwheat, | - | 64 | - | - | - | - | -
Barley, | 33 | 61 | 53 | 76 | 50 | - | 35
Oats, | 39¹⁄₂| 71 | - | 86 | 60 | - | 37¹⁄₂
Rye, | 33 | 55 | 51 | 71 | 50 | - | 33¹⁄₂
Wheat, | 27 | 52 | 46 | 64 | 40 | - | 30
Oil-cake | | | | | | |
(Linseed), | 42 | 108 | - | - | - | - | 43
----------------+------+------+------+------+------+---------+--------
The reader will find no difficulty in making this table of practical
value in deciding upon the proper course of feeding to be pursued.
In winter the best food for cows in milk will be good sweet meadow hay,
a part of which should be cut and moistened with water, as all inferior
hay or straw should be, with an addition of root-crops, such as turnips,
carrots, parsnips, potatoes, mangold wurzel, with shorts, oil-cake,
Indian-meal, or bean-meal.
It is the opinion of most successful dairymen that the feeding of moist
food cannot be too highly recommended for cows in milk, especially to
those who desire to obtain the largest quantity. Hay cut and thoroughly
moistened becomes more succulent and nutritive, and partakes more of the
nature of green grass.
As a substitute for the oil-cake, hitherto known as an exceedingly
valuable article for feeding stock, there is probably nothing better
than cotton-seed meal, now to be had in large quantities in the market.
This is an article whose economic value has been but recently made
known, but which, from practical trials already made, has proved
eminently successful as food for milch cows. An average specimen of this
was submitted for analysis to Professor Johnson, who reported that its
composition is not inferior to that of the best flax-seed cake, and that
in some respects its agricultural value surpasses that of any other kind
of oil-cake, as is shown in the following table, containing in column
first the analysis of cotton-seed meal made by himself; in column
second, some of the results obtained by Dr. C. T. Jackson on cake
prepared by himself from hulled cotton-seed; in column third, an
analysis of cotton-seed cake, made by Dr. Anderson, of Edinburgh; in
column fourth, the average composition of eight samples of American
linseed-cake; and in column fifth, an analysis of meadow hay, obtained
by Dr. Wolff in Saxony, given as a means of comparison.
---------------------------+------+------+------+------+------
| I. | II. | III. | IV. | V.
---------------------------+------+------+------+------+------
Water, | 6.82| | 11.19| 9.23| 16.94
Oil, | 16.47| - | 9.08| 12.96| -
Albuminous bodies, | 44.41| 48.82| 25.16| 28.28| 10.69
Mucilaginous and Saccharine|}12.74|} | | 34.22| 40.11
matters, |} |} ... | 48.93| |
Fibre, | 11.76|} | | 9.00| 27.16
Ash, | 7.80| 8.96| 5.64| 6.21| 5.04
+------+ +------+------+------
|100.00| |100.00|100.00|100.00
| | | | |
Nitrogen, | 7.05| 7.75| 3.95| 4.47| -
Phosphoric acid in ash, | 2.36| 2.45| - | - | -
Sand, | .94| - | 1.32| - | -
---------------------------+------+------+------+------+------
Johnson also remarks, in this connection, that the great value of
linseed-cake, as an adjunct to hay for fat cattle and milch cows, has
long been recognized; and is undeniably traceable in the main to three
ingredients of the seeds of the oil-yielding plants. The value of food
depends upon the quantity of matters it contains which may be
appropriated by the animal which consumes the food. Now, it is proved
that the fat of animals is derivable from the _starch_, _gum_, and
_sugar_, and more directly and easily from the _oil_ of the food. These
four substances are, then, the _fat-formers_. The muscles, nerves, and
tendons of animals, the fibrine of their blood, and the curd of their
milk, are almost identical in composition, and strongly similar in many
of their properties with matters found in all vegetables, but chiefly in
such as form the most concentrated food. These _blood_ (and muscle)
_formers_ are characterized by containing about fifteen and a half per
cent. of nitrogen; and hence are called _nitrogenous substances_. They
are also often designated as the _albuminous bodies_.
The bony framework of the animal owes its solidity to _phosphate of
lime_, and this substance must be furnished by the food. A perfect food
must supply the animal with these three classes of bodies, and in proper
proportions. The addition of a small quantity of a food rich in oil and
albuminous substances to the ordinary kinds of feed, which contain a
large quantity of vegetable fibre or woody matter, more or less
indigestible, but nevertheless indispensable to the herbivorous animals,
their digestive organs being adapted to a bulky food, has been found
highly advantageous in practice. Neither hay alone nor concentrated food
alone gives the best results. A certain combination of the two presents
the most advantages.
A Bavarian farmer has recently announced that heifers fed, for three
months before calving, with a little linseed-cake, in addition to their
other fodder, acquire a larger development of the milk-vessels, and
yield more milk afterwards, than similar animals fed as usual.
Cotton-seed cake must have an equally good effect.
Some of those who have used cotton-seed cake have found difficulty in
inducing cattle to eat it. By giving it at first in small doses, mixed
with other palatable food, they soon learn to eat it with relish.
On comparing the analyses II. and I. with the average composition of
linseed-cake IV., it will be seen that the cotton-seed cake is much
richer in oil and albuminous matters than the linseed-cake. A
correspondingly less quantity will therefore be required. Three pounds
of this cotton-seed cake are equivalent to four of linseed-cake of
average quality.
During the winter season, as already remarked, a frequent change of food
is especially necessary, both as contributing to the general health of
animals, and as a means of stimulating the digestive organs, and thus
increasing the secretion of milk. A mixture used as cut feed, and well
moistened, is now especially beneficial, since concentrated food, which
would otherwise be given in small quantities, may be united with larger
quantities of coarser and less nutritive food, and the complete
assimilation of the whole be better secured. On this subject Dr.
Voelcker truly observes that the most nutritious kinds of food produce
little or no effect when they are not digested by the stomach, or if the
digested food is not absorbed by the lymphatic vessels, and not
assimilated by the various parts of the body. Now, the normal functions
of the digestive organs not only depend on the composition of the food,
but also on its volume. The volume or bulk of the food contributes to
the healthy activity of the digestive organs, by exercising a
stimulating effect on the nerves which govern them. Thus the whole
organization of ruminating animals necessitates the supply of bulky
food, to keep the animal in good condition.
Feed sweet and nutritious food, therefore, regularly, frequently, and in
small quantities, and change it often, and the best results may be
confidently expected. If the cows are not in milk, but are to come in in
the spring, the difference in feeding should be rather in the quantity
than the quality, if the highest yield is to be expected from them the
coming season.
The most common feeding is hay alone, and oftentimes very poor hay, at
that. The main point is to keep the animal in a healthy and thriving
condition, and not to suffer her to fail in flesh; and with this object
some change and variety of food is highly important. And here it may be
remarked that cows in calf should not, as a general rule, be milked the
last month or six weeks before calving, and many prefer to have them run
dry as many as eight or ten weeks. The yield of milk is better the
coming season, and holds out better, than if they are milked up to the
time of calving.
There are exceptions, however, and it is often very difficult to dry off
a cow sufficiently to make it judicious to cease milking much, if any,
before the time of calving. Some even prefer to milk quite up to this
time; but the weight of authority among the best practical farmers is so
decidedly against it, that there can be no question of its bad economy.
Towards the close of winter, a herd of cows will begin to come in, or
approach their time of calving. Care should then be taken not to feed
too rich or stimulating food for the last week or two before this event,
as it is often attended with ill consequences. A plenty of hay, a few
potatoes or shorts, and pure water, will be sufficient.
As the time of calving approaches, the cow should be removed from the
rest of the herd, to a pen with a level floor, by herself. Nothing is
needed, usually, but to supply her regularly with food and drink, and
leave her quietly to herself. In most cases the parturition will be
natural and easy, and the less the cow is disturbed or meddled with, the
better. She will do better without help than with; but she should be
watched, in order to see that no difficulty occurs which may require aid
and attention. In cases of difficult parturition the aid of a skilful
veterinary surgeon may be required. For those who may desire to make
themselves familiar with the details of such cases so far as to be able
to act for themselves, Skellett’s “Practical Treatise on the Parturition
of the Cow, or the Extraction of the Calf,” an elaborate work, published
in London in 1844, will be an important guide.
In spring the best feeding for dairy cows will be much the same as that
for winter; the roots in store over winter, such as carrots, mangold
wurzel, turnips, and parsnips, furnishing very valuable aid in
increasing the quantity and improving the quality of milk. Towards the
close of this season, and before the grass of the pastures is
sufficiently grown to make it judicious to turn out the cows, the best
dairymen provide a supply of green fodder in the shape of winter rye,
which, if cut while it is tender and succulent, and before it is half
grown, will be greatly relished. Unless cut young, however, its stalk
soon becomes hard and unpalatable.
Having stated briefly the general principles of feeding cows for the
dairy, it is proper to give the statements of successful practical
dairymen, both as corroborating what has already been said, and as
showing the difference in practice in feeding and managing with
reference to the specific objects of dairy farming. And first, a farmer
of Massachusetts, supplying milk for the Boston market, and feeding for
that object, says: “For thirty cows, cut with a machine thirty bushels
for one feed; one third common English hay, one third salt hay, and one
third rye or barley straw; add thirty quarts of wheat bran or shorts,
and ten quarts of oat and corn meal moistened with water. One bushel of
this mixture is given to each cow in the morning, and the same quantity
at noon and in the evening. In addition to this, a peck of mangold
wurzel is given to each cow per day. This mode of feeding has been found
to produce nearly as much milk as the best grass feed in summer. When no
wheat-bran or any kind of meal is given, the hay is fed without
cutting.”
Another excellent farmer, of the western part of the same state,
devoting his attention to the manufacture of cheese, and the successful
competitor for the first prize of the state society for dairies, says of
his feeding: “My pastures are upland, and yield sweet feed. I fed, in
the month of June, all the whey from the milk made into cheese, without
any meal. In September, my pastures being very much dried up, I fed all
the whey, with one quart of meal to each cow, and also ten pounds of
corn fodder to each cow per day.
“I commence feeding my cows in the spring, before calving, with three
quarts of meal each per day, until the feed in the pasture is good.
“I consider the best mixture of grain, ground into meal, for milk, is
equal quantities of rye, buckwheat, and oats. For the last ten years I
have not made less than five hundred pounds of cheese and twenty pounds
of butter to each cow; and one year I made six hundred and forty pounds
of cheese and twenty pounds of butter to each cow.
“A cow will give more milk on good fresh grass than any other feed. When
the grass begins to fail, I make up the deficiency by extra feed of meal
and corn fodder. I feed all my whey to my cows. I let them run dry four
months, and during this time I give them no extra feed, always keeping
salt before them.”
Another, with one of the best butter dairies in the same state, explains
his mode of management of cows in the stall as follows: “In the
management of my stock the utmost gentleness is observed, and exact
regularity in the hours of feeding while confined to the stable, and of
milking throughout the year.
“The stock is fed regularly three times a day.
“In the morning, as soon as the milking is over, each cow (having been
previously fed, and her bag cleaned by washing, if necessary) is
thoroughly cleaned and groomed, if the expression may be used, with a
curry-comb, from head to foot, and, when cleaned, turned out to drink.
The stable is now cleaned out, the mangers swept, and the floors
sprinkled with plaster; and as the cows return, which they do as soon as
inclined, they are tied up and left undisturbed until the next hour of
feeding, which is at noon.
“The cattle at this time are again turned out to drink, and, after being
tied up on their return again, fed. Of course the stable is at this time
again thoroughly cleansed. And so again at night the same course is
pursued. At this time a good bedding is spread for each cow, and, after
all are in, they are fed.
“At six o’clock the milking commences, and at its termination, after
removing from the floor whatever manure may have been dropped, the
stable is closed for the night. If carrots are fed, which is the only
root allowed to my cows in milk, they are given at the time of the
evening milking.
“Whatever material is taken for bedding (as corn-stalks, husks, &c.) is
passed through a cutting-machine, and composes the noon feed, such
portions as are not consumed by the cows being used for bedding. The
additional labor of cutting up is amply compensated by the reduced
amount of labor in working (loading) and ploughing under the manure.
“While I consider it highly desirable that the cows, during the period
they are stabled, should be kept warm and dry, I regard it as
indispensable that they should be perfectly clean; and, although the
stock is stabled the whole time, care is taken that there is a
sufficient degree of ventilation.”
In Herkimer county, New York, one of the best dairy districts in the
country, a dairy farmer who kept twenty-five cows for the manufacture of
cheese, making in one year nearly seven hundred pounds per cow, states
his mode of feeding as follows: “When the ground is settled, and grass
is grown so that cows can get their fill without too much toil, they are
allowed to graze an hour, only, the first day; the second day a little
longer, and so on, till they get accustomed to the change of feed before
they are allowed to have full range of pasture. Shift of pasture is
frequently made to keep feed fresh and a good bite. About one acre per
cow affords plenty of feed till the first of August. If enough land was
turned to pasture to feed the cows through the season, it would get a
start of them about this time, and be hard and dry the balance of the
season. To avoid turning on my meadows in the fall, I take one acre to
every ten cows, plough and prepare it the fore part of June for sowing;
I commence sowing _corn_ broadcast, about half an acre at a time (for
twenty-five cows), so that it may grow eighty or ninety days before it
is cut and fed. I have found, by experiment, that it then contains the
most saccharine juice, and will produce the most milk. If the ground is
strong, I sow two bushels per acre; more if the ground is not manured.
“The common yield is from fifteen to twenty tons (of green feed) per
acre. About the first of August, when heat and flies are too oppressive
for cows to feed quietly in the day-time, I commence feeding them with
what corn they will eat in the morning, daily, which is cut up with a
grass-scythe, and drawn on a sled or wagon to the milk-barn and fed to
them in the stalls, which is one hour’s work for a man at each feeding.
When thus plentifully fed, my cows have their _knitting_-work on hand
for the day, which they can do up by lying quietly under artificial
shades, erected in such places as need manuring most, and are most airy,
by setting posts and putting poles and bushes on top, the sides being
left open. These shades may be made and removed annually, to enrich
other portions of soil, if desired, at the small expense of one dollar
for each ten cows. At evening, my cows are fed whey only, because they
can feed more quietly, with less rambling, and will give more milk by
feeding most when the dew is on the grass.
“The capacity of cows for giving milk is varied much by habit. In fall,
after the season of feeding is past, I feed four quarts of wheat bran or
shorts made into slop with whey, or a peck of roots to each cow, till
milking season closes (about the first of December). When confined in
stables and fed hay and milked, they are fed each one pail full of thin
slop at morning before foddering, and also at evening, to render their
food more succulent, and they will not drink so much cold water when let
out in the middle of the day. In cold weather cows are kept well
attended in warm stables. No foddering is done on the ground. Thus a
supply of milk is kept up, and the cows get in good flesh, while their
blood and bags are left in a healthy condition when dried off.
“This flesh they hold till milk season in spring, without other feed
than good hay. They will not get fleshy bags, but come into milk at
once. About the first of April they are carded daily, till they are
turned to grass. Wheat-bran in milk or whey, slops, or roots, are daily
fed, as they are found best adapted to the nature of different cows, and
most likely to establish a regular flow of milk till grass comes.”
All practical dairymen concur in saying that a _warm and well-ventilated
barn_ is indispensable to the promotion of the highest yield of milk in
winter; and most agree that cows in milk should not be turned out even
to drink in cold weather, all exposure to cold tending to lessen the
yield of milk.
In the London dairies, where, of course, the cows are fed so as to
produce the largest flow of milk, the treatment is as follows: The cows
are kept at night in stalls. About three A. M. each has half a bushel of
grains. When milking is finished, each receives a bushel of turnips (or
mangolds), and shortly afterwards one tenth of a truss of hay of the
best quality. This feeding occurs before eight A. M., when the animals
are turned into the yard. Four hours after, they are again tied up in
their stalls, and have another feed of grains. When the afternoon
milking is over (about three P. M.), they are fed with a bushel of
turnips, and after the lapse of an hour, hay is given them as before.
This mode of feeding usually continues throughout the root season, or
from November to March. During the remaining months they are fed with
grains, tares, and cabbages, and a proportion of rowen or second-cut
hay. They are supplied regularly until they are turned out to grass,
when they pass the whole of the night in the field. The yield is about
six hundred and fifty gallons a year for each cow.
Mr. Harley, whose admirable dairy establishment has been already alluded
to, as erected for the purpose of supplying the city of Glasgow with a
good quality of milk, and which contributed more than anything else to
improve the quality of milk furnished to all the cities of Great
Britain, adopted the following system of feeding with the greatest
profit: In the early part of summer, young grass and green barley, the
first cutting especially, mixed with a large proportion of old hay or
straw, and a good quantity of salt to prevent swelling, were used. As
summer advanced less hay and straw were given, and as the grass
approached ripeness they were discontinued altogether, but young and wet
clover was never given without an admixture of dry provender. When grass
became scarce, young turnips and turnip-leaves were steamed with hay,
and formed a good substitute. As grass decreased the turnips were
increased, and at length became a complete substitute. As the season
advanced a large proportion of distillers’ grains and wash was given
with other food, but these were found to be apt to make the cattle
grain-sick; and if this feeding were long continued, the health of the
cows became affected. Boiled linseed and short-cut wheat-straw mixed
with the grains were found to prevent the cows from turning sick. As
spring approached, Swedish turnips, when cheap, were substituted for
yellow turnips. These two roots, steamed with hay and other mixtures,
afforded soft food till grass was again in season. When any of the cows
were surfeited, the food was withheld till the appetite returned, when a
small quantity was given, and increased gradually to the full allowance.
But the most elaborate and valuable experiments in the feeding and
management of milch cows are those recently made by Mr. T. Horsfall, of
England, and published in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society.
His practice, though adapted, perhaps, more especially to his own
section, is nevertheless of such general application and importance as
to be worthy of attention. By his course of treatment he found that he
could produce as much and as rich butter in winter as in summer.
His first object was to afford a full supply of the elements of food
adapted to the _maintenance_ and also to the _produce_ of the animal;
and this could not be effected by the ordinary food and methods of
feeding, since it is impossible to induce a cow to consume a quantity of
hay requisite to supply the waste of the system, and keep up, at the
same time, a full yield of the best quality of milk. He used, to some
extent, cabbages, kohl rabi, mangolds, shorts, and other substances,
rich in the constituents of cheese and butter. “My food for milch cows,”
says he, “after having undergone various modifications, has for two
seasons consisted of rape-cake five pounds and bran two pounds, for each
cow, mixed with a sufficient quantity of bean-straw, oat-straw, and
shells of oats, in equal proportions, to supply them three times a day
with as much as they will eat. The whole of the materials are moistened
and blended together, and, after being well steamed, are given to the
animals in a warm state. The attendant is allowed one pound to one and a
half pounds per cow, according to circumstances, of bean-meal, which he
is charged to give to each cow in proportion to the yield of milk; those
in full milk getting two pounds each per day, others but little. It is
dry, and mixed with the steamed food on its being dealt out separately.
When this is eaten up, green food is given, consisting of cabbages from
October to December, kohl rabi till February, and mangold till grass
time. With a view to nicety of flavor, I limit the supply of green food
to thirty or thirty-five pounds per day for each. After each feed, four
pounds of meadow hay, or twelve pounds per day, is given to each cow.
They are allowed water twice a day to the extent they will drink.”
Bean-straw uncooked being found to be hard and unpalatable, it was
steamed to make it soft and pulpy, when it possessed an agreeable odor,
and imparted its flavor to the whole mess. It was cut for this purpose
just before ripening, but after the bean was fully grown, and in this
state was found to possess nearly double the amount of albuminous
matter, so valuable to milch cows, of good meadow or upland hay. Bean or
shorts is also vastly improved by steaming or soaking with hot water,
when its nutriment is more readily assimilated. It contains about
fourteen per cent. of albumen, and is rich in phosphoric acid. Rape-cake
was found to be exceedingly valuable. Linseed and cotton-seed cake may
probably be substituted for it in this country. Mr. Horsfall is
accustomed to turn his cows in May into a rich pasture, housing them at
night, and giving them a mess of the steamed mixture and some hay
morning and night; and from June to October they have cut grass in the
stall, besides what they get in the pasture, and two feeds of the
steamed mixture a day. After the beginning of October the cows are kept
housed. With such management, his cows generally yield from twelve to
sixteen quarts of milk (wine measure) a day, for about eight months
after calving, when they fall off in milk, but gain in flesh, up to
calving-time. In this course of treatment the manure is far better than
the average, and his pastures are constantly improved. The average
amount of butter from every sixteen quarts of milk is twenty-five
ounces, a proportion far larger than the average. His investigations are
very full and complete.--See Appendix.
How widely does this course of practice differ from that of most
farmers! The object with many seems to be to see with how little food
they can keep the cow alive. Now, it appears to me that the milch cow
should be regarded as an instrument of transformation. With so much hay,
so much grain, so many roots, how can the most milk, or butter, or
cheese, be made? The conduct of a manufacturer who owned good machinery,
and an abundance of raw material, and had the labor at hand, would be
considered as very absurd, if he hesitated to supply the material, and
keep the machinery at work at least so long as he could run it with
profit.
Stimulate the appetite, then, and induce the cow to eat, by a frequent
change of diet, not merely enough to supply the constant waste of her
system, but enough and to spare, of a food adapted to the production of
milk of the quality desired.
SOILING.--Of the advantages of soiling milch cows, or feeding
exclusively in the barn, there are still many conflicting opinions. As
to its economy of land and food there is no question, it being generally
admitted that a given number of animals may be abundantly fed on a less
space; nor is there much question as to the increased quantity of milk
yielded in stall feeding. Its economy in this country turns rather upon
the cost of labor and land; and the question asked by the dairyman is
whether it will pay--whether its advantages are sufficient to balance
the extra expense of cutting and feeding over and above cropping on the
pasture. The importance of this subject has been strongly impressed upon
the attention of farmers in many sections of the country, by a growing
conviction that something must be done to improve the pastures, or that
they must be abandoned altogether.
Thousands of acres of neglected pasture-land in the older states are so
poor and worn out that from four to eight acres furnish but a miserable
subsistence for a good-sized cow. No animal can flourish under such
circumstances. The labor and exertion of feeding is too great, to say
nothing of the vastly inferior quality of the grasses in such pastures
to those on more recently seeded lands. True economy would dictate that
such pastures should either be allowed to run up to wood, or be devoted
to sheep-walks, or ploughed and improved. Cows, to be able to yield
well, must have plenty of food of a sweet and nutritious quality; and
unless they find it, they wander over a large space, if at liberty, and
deprive themselves of rest.
If a farmer or dairyman is the unfortunate owner of such pastures, there
can be no question that, as a matter of real economy, he had better
resort to the soiling system for his milch cows, by which means he will
largely increase his annual supply of good manure, and thus have the
means of improving, and bringing his land to a higher state of
cultivation. A very successful instance of this management occurs in the
report of the visiting committee of an agricultural society in
Massachusetts, in which they say: “We have now in mind a farmer in this
county who keeps seven or eight cows in the stable through the summer,
and feeds them on green fodder, chiefly Indian-corn. We asked him the
reasons for it. His answer was: 1. That he gets more milk than he can by
any other method. 2. That he gets more manure, especially liquid manure.
3. That he saves it all, by keeping a supply of mould or mud under the
stable, to be taken out and renewed as often as necessary. 4. That it is
less troublesome than to drive his cows to pasture; that they are less
vexed by flies, and have equally good health. 5. That his mowing-land is
every year growing more productive, without the expense of artificial
manure. He estimates that on an acre of good land twenty tons of green
fodder may be raised. That which is dried is cut fine, and mixed with
meal or shorts, and fed with profit. He believes that a reduced and
partially worn-out farm--supposing the land to be naturally good--could
be brought into prime order in five years, without extra outlay of money
for manure, by the use of green fodder in connection with the raising
and keeping of pigs; not fattening them, but selling at the age of four
or five months.” He keeps most of his land in grass, improving its
quality and productiveness by means of top-dressing, and putting money
in his pocket,--which is, after all, the true test both for theory and
practice.
Another practical case in hand on this point is that of a gentleman in
the same state, who had four cows, but not a rod of land to pasture them
on. They were, therefore, never out of the barn,--or, at least, not out
of the yard,--and were fed with grass, regularly mown for them; with
green Indian-corn fodder, which had been sown broadcast for the purpose;
and with about three pints of meal a day. Their produce in butter was
kept for thirteen weeks. Two of them were but two years old, having
calved the same spring. All the milk of one of them was taken by her
calf six weeks out of the thirteen, and some of the milk of the other
was taken for family use, the quantity of which was not measured. These
heifers could not be estimated, therefore, as more than equal to one cow
in full milk. And yet from these cows no less than three hundred and
eighty-nine pounds of butter were made in the thirteen weeks. Another
pound would have made an average of thirty pounds a week for the whole
time.
It appears from these, and other similar instances of successful
soiling, or stall-feeding in summer on green crops cut for the purpose,
that the largely increased quantity of the yield fully counterbalances
the slightly deteriorated quality. And not only is the quantity yielded
by each cow increased, but the same extent of land, under good culture,
will carry double or treble the number of ordinary pastures, and keep
them in better condition. There is also a saving of manure. But with us
the economy of soiling is the exception, and not the rule.
In adopting this system of feeding, regularity is required as much as in
any other, and a proper variety of food. A succession of green crops
should be provided, as near as convenient to the stable. The first will
naturally be winter rye, in the Northern States, as that shoots up with
great luxuriance. Winter rape would probably be an exceedingly valuable
addition to the plants usually cultivated for soiling in this country,
in sections where it withstands the severity of the winter. Cabbages
kept in the cellar, or pit, and transplanted early, will also come in
here to advantage, and clover will very soon follow them; oats, millet,
and green Indian-corn, as the season advances; and, a little later
still, perhaps, the Chinese sugar-cane, which should not be cut till
headed out. These plants, in addition to other cultivated grasses, will
furnish an unfailing succession of succulent and tender fodder; while
the addition of a little Indian, linseed, or cotton-seed meal will be
found economical.
In the vicinity of large towns and cities, where the object is too often
to feed for the largest quantity, without reference to quality, an
article known as distillers’ swill, or still-slop, is extensively used.
This, if properly fed in limited quantities, in combination with other
and more bulky food, may be a valuable article for the dairyman; but, if
given, as it too often is, without the addition of other kinds of food,
it soon affects the health and constitution of the animals fed on it.
This swill contains a considerable quantity of water, some nitrogenous
compounds, and some inorganic matter, in the shape of phosphates and
alkaline salts found in the different kinds of grain of which it is made
up, as Indian corn, wheat, barley, rye, &c. Where this forms the
principal food of milch cows, the milk is of a very poor quality--blue
in color, and requiring the addition of coloring substances to make it
salable. It contains, often, less than one per cent. of butter, and
seldom over one and three tenths or one and a half per cent., while
good, salable milk ought to contain from three to five per cent. It will
not coagulate, it is said, in less than five or six hours, while good
milk will invariably coagulate in one hour or less, under the same
conditions. Its effect on the system of young children is therefore very
destructive, causing diseases of various kinds, and, if continued,
certain death.
MILKING.--The manner of milking exerts a more powerful and lasting
influence on the productiveness of the cow than most farmers are aware
of. That a slow and careless milker soon dries up the best of cows,
every practical farmer and dairyman knows; but a careful examination of
the beautiful structure of the udder will serve further to explain the
proper mode of milking, to obtain and keep up the largest yield. “The
udder of a cow,” says a writer in the Rural Cyclopædia, “is a unique
mass, composed of _two_ symmetrical parts, simply united to each other
by a cellular tissue, lax, and very abundant; and each of these parts
comprises two divisions or quarters, which consist of many small
granules, and are connected together by a compact laminous tissue; and
from each quarter proceed systems of ducts, which form successive unions
and confluences, somewhat in the manner of the many affluents of a large
river, until they terminate in one grand excretory canal, which passes
down through the elongated mammillary body called the teat. Its
lactiferous or milk tubes, however, do not, as might be supposed,
proceed exactly from smaller to larger ducts by a gradual and regular
enlargement, because it would not have been proper that the secretion of
milk should escape as it was formed; and therefore we find an apparatus
adapted for the purpose of retaining it for a proper time. This
apparatus is to be found both in the teat and in the internal
construction of the udder. The teat resembles a funnel in shape, and
somewhat in office; and it is possessed of a considerable degree of
elasticity. It seems formed principally of the cutis, with some muscular
fibres, and it is covered on the outside by cuticle, like every other
part of the body; but the cuticle here not only covers the exterior, but
also turns upwards, and lines the inside of the extremity of the teat,
as far as it is contracted, and there terminates by a frilled edge, the
rest of the interior of the teats and ducts being lined by mucous
membrane. But, as the udder in most animals is attached in a pendulous
manner to the body, and as the weight of the column of fluid would press
with a force which would, in every case, overcome the resistance of the
contractions of the extremity, or prove oppressive to the teat, there is
in the internal arrangement of the udder a provision made to obviate
this difficulty. The various ducts, as they are united, do not become
gradually enlarged so as to admit the ready flow of milk in a continual
stream to the teat, but are so arranged as to take off, in a great
measure, the extreme pressure to which the teat would be otherwise
exposed. Each main duct, as it enters into another, has a contraction
produced, by which a kind of valvular apparatus is formed in such a
manner as to become pouches or sacks, capable of containing the great
body of the milk. In consequence of this arrangement, it is necessary
that a kind of movement upwards, or lift, should be given to the udder
before the teat is drawn, to force out the milk; and by this lift the
milk is displaced from these pouches, and escapes into the teat, and is
then easily squeezed out; while the contractions, or pouches, at the
same time resist, in a certain degree, the return or reflux of the
displaced milk.”
The first requisite of a good milker is, of course, the utmost
cleanliness. Without this, the milk is unendurable. The udder should,
therefore, be carefully cleaned before the milking commences. The milker
may begin gradually and gently, but should steadily increase the
rapidity of the operation till the udder is emptied, using a pail
sufficiently large to hold all, without the necessity of changing. Cows
are very sensitive, and the pail cannot be changed, nor can the milker
stop or rise during the process of milking, without leading the cow more
or less to withhold her milk. The utmost care should be taken to strip
to the last drop, and to do it rapidly, and not in a slow and negligent
manner, which is sure to have its effect on the yield of the cow. If any
milk is left, it is reabsorbed into the system, or else becomes caked,
and diminishes the tendency to secrete a full quantity afterwards.
Milking as dry as possible is especially necessary with young cows with
their first calf, as the mode of milking, and the length of time to
which they can be made to hold out, will have very much to do with their
milking qualities as long as they live.
At the age of two or three years the milky glands have not become fully
developed, and their largest development will depend very greatly upon
the management after the first calf. Cows should have, therefore, the
most milk-producing food; be treated with constant gentleness; never
struck, or spoken harshly to, but coaxed and caressed; and in
ninety-nine cases out of a hundred they will grow up gentle and quiet.
But harshness is worse than useless. Nothing does so much to dry a cow
up, especially a young cow.
The longer the young cow, with her first, and second calf, can be made
to hold out, the more surely will this habit be fixed upon her. Stop
milking her four months before the next calf, and it will be difficult
to make her hold out to within four or six weeks of the time of calving
afterwards. Induce her, if possible, by moist and succulent food, and by
careful milking, to hold out even up to the time of calving, if you
desire to milk her so long, and this habit will be likely to be fixed
upon her for life. But do not expect to obtain the full yield of a cow
the first year after calving. Some of the very best cows are slow to
develop their best qualities; and no cow reaches her prime till the age
of five or six years.
The extreme importance of care and attention to these points cannot be
over-estimated. The wild cows grazing on the plains of South America are
said to give only about three or four quarts a day at the height of the
flow; and many an owner of large herds in Texas, it is said, has too
little milk for family use, and sometimes receives his supply of butter
from the New York market. There is, therefore, a constant tendency to
dry up in milch cows; and it must be guarded against with special care,
till the habit of yielding a large quantity, and yielding it long,
becomes fixed in the young animal, when, with proper care, it may easily
be kept up.
If gentle and mild treatment is observed and persevered in, the
operation of milking appears to be one of pleasure to the animal, as it
undoubtedly is; but if an opposite course is pursued,--if, at every
restless movement, caused, perhaps, by pressing a sore teat, the animal
is harshly spoken to,--she will be likely to learn to kick as a habit,
and it will be difficult to overcome it ever afterwards. To induce quiet
and readiness to give down the milk freely, it is better that the cow
should be fed at milking-time with cut feed, or roots, placed within her
easy reach.
I have never practised milking more than twice a day, because in spring
and summer other farm-work was too pressing to allow of it; but there is
no doubt that, for some weeks after calving, and in the height, of the
flow, the cows ought, if possible, to be milked regularly three times a
day--at early morning, noon, and night. Every practical dairyman knows
that cows thus milked give a larger quantity of milk than if milked only
twice, though it may not be quite so rich; and in young cows, no doubt,
it has a tendency to promote the development of the udder and
milk-veins. A frequent milking stimulates an increased secretion,
therefore, and ought never to be neglected in the milk-dairy, either in
the case of young cows or very large milkers, at the height of the flow,
which will ordinarily be for two or three months after calving.
The charge of this branch of the dairy should generally be intrusted to
women. They are more gentle and winning than men. The same person should
milk the same cow regularly, and not change from one to another, unless
there are special reasons for it.
There being a wide difference in the quality as well as in the quantity
of milk of different cows, no dairyman should neglect to test the milk
of each new addition to his dairy stock, whether it be an animal of his
own raising or one brought from abroad. A lactometer is a very
convenient instrument here; but any one can set the milk of each cow
separately at first, and give it a fair and full trial, when the
difference will be found to be great. Economy will dictate that the cows
least adapted to the purpose should be disposed of, and their place
supplied by better ones.
THE BARN.--The management of dairy stock requires a warm and
well-ventilated barn or cow-room, in latitudes where it becomes
necessary to stall-feed during several months of the year. This should
be arranged in a manner suitable to keeping hay and other fodder dry and
sweet, and with reference to the comfort and health of animals, and the
economy of labor and manure. The size and finish will, of course, depend
on the wants and means of the farmer or dairyman; but many little
conveniences can be added at trifling cost.
The cow-room, Fig. 56a, is given as an illustration merely of a
convenient arrangement for a medium-sized dairy, and not as adapted to
all circumstances or situations. The barn stands, we will suppose, upon
a side hill, or an inclined surface, where it is easy to have a cellar,
if it is desired; and the cow-room, as shown in the figure, is in the
second story, or directly over the cellar, the bottom of which should be
somewhat dished, or lower in the middle than around the outer sides, and
carefully paved or laid in cement.
[Illustration: Fig. 56a. Cow-room for 34 cows and 3 yoke of oxen.]
The cow-room, as shown in the figure, is drawn on a scale of twenty feet
to the inch. On the outside is represented an open shed, _m_, for carts
and wagons to remain under cover, thirty feet by fifteen, while _l l l l
l l_ are bins for vegetables, to be filled through scuttles from the
floor of the story above, and surrounded by solid walls. The area of
this whole floor equals one hundred feet by fifty-seven. _k_, open
space, and nearly on a level with the cow-chamber, through the door _p_.
_s_, stairs to third story and to the cellar. _d d d_, passage next to
the walls, five feet wide, and nine inches above the dung-pit. _e e e_,
dung-pit, two feet wide, and seven inches below the floor where the
cattle stand. The manure drops from this pit into the cellar below, five
feet from the walls, and quite round the cellar. _c c c_, plank floor
for cows, four feet six inches long. _b b b_, stalls for three yoke of
oxen, on a platform five feet six inches long. _n n_, calf-pens, which
may be used also for cows in calving. _r r_, feeding-troughs for calves.
The feeding-boxes are made in the form of trays, with partitions between
them. Water comes in by a pipe, to cistern _a_. This cistern is
regulated by a cock and ball, and the water flows by dotted lines, _o o
o_, to the boxes, and each box is connected by lead pipes well secured
from frost, so that, if desired, each animal can be watered without
leaving the stall, or water can be kept constantly before it. A scuttle
by which sweepings, etc., may be put through into the cellar, is seen
at _f_. _g_ is a bin receiving cut hay from third story, or hay-room. _h
h h h h h_, bins for grain-feed. _i_ is a tunnel to conduct manure or
muck from the hay-floor to the cellar. _j j_, sliding doors on wheels.
The cows all face towards the open area in the centre.
This cow-room may be furnished with a thermometer, clock, etc., and
should always be well ventilated by sliding windows, which at the same
time admit the light.
[Illustration: Fig. 57a.]
Fig. 57a is a transverse section of the cow-room, Fig. 56a, _a_ being a
walk behind the cows, five feet wide; _b_, dung-pit; _c_, cattle-stand;
_d_, feeding-trough, with a bottom on a level with the platform where
the cattle stand; _k_, open area, forty-three feet by fifty-six.
The story above the cow-room, Fig. 58a, is one hundred feet by
forty-two, the bays for hay, ten on each side, being ten feet front and
fifteen feet deep, and the open space, _p_, for the entrance of wagons,
carts, etc., twelve feet wide. _b_, hay-scales. _c_, scale-beam. _m m m
m m m_, ladders reaching almost to the roof. _l l l_, &c., scuttle-holes
for sending vegetables direct to the bins, _l l l_, etc., below. _a a b
b_, rooms on the corners for storage. _d_, scuttles, four of which are
used for straw, one for cut hay, and one for muck for the cellar. _n_
and the other small squares are eighteen-feet posts. _f_, passage to the
tool-house, a room one hundred feet long by fifteen wide. _o_, stairs
leading to the scaffold in the roof of the tool-house. _i i_, benches.
_g_, floor. _h_, boxes for hoes, shovels, spades, picks, iron bars, old
iron, etc. _j j j_, bins for fruit. _k_, scuttles to put apples into
wagons, etc., in the shed below. One side of this tool-house may be used
for ploughs and large implements, hay-rigging, harrows, etc.
[Illustration: Fig. 58a. Room over the cow-room for hay, &c.]
Proper ventilation of the cellar and the cow-room avoids the objection
that the hay is liable to injury from noxious gases.
The excellent manure-cellar beneath this barn extends only under the
cow-room. It has a drive-way through doors on each side. No barn-cellar
should be kept shut up tight, even in cold weather. The gases are
constantly escaping from the manure, unless held by absorbents, and are
liable not only to affect the health of the stock, but to injure the
quality of the hay. To prevent this, and yet secure the important
advantages of a manure-cellar, the barn may be furnished with good-sized
ventilators on the top, for every twenty-five feet of its length, and
with wooden tubes leading from the cellar to the top.
There should also be windows on different sides of the cellar, to admit
a free circulation of air. With these precautions, together with the use
of absorbents in the shape of loam and muck, there will be no danger of
rotting the timbers of the barn, or of risking the health of the cattle
or the quality of the hay.
The temperature at which the cow-room should be kept is somewhere from
50° to 60°, Fahr. The practice and the opinions of successful dairymen
differ on this point. Too great heat would affect the health and
appetite of the herd, while too low a temperature is equally
objectionable, for various reasons.