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Wisconsin Farmers' Institutes / Wisconsin Farmers' Institutes : a hand-book of agriculture
Bulletin No. 11 (1897)
Taylor, H. C.
How to get good cows, pp. 188-194
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Page 192
7 - --77 WISWONSIN FPABMR ENSTrTDTL like Brown Beasie be spoiled in one year by a scrub owner? Mr. Taylor-Yes; if you expect a breed of domestic anima to long con- tinue showing the peculiar character- isties of that breed, you must throw around them those climatic influ- ences, those foods, these environ- ments, that have made them the pe- culiar animal that they are. Question-At how low a per cent. would you keep a cow? Mr. Taylor-It does not depend en- tirely upon the per cent. of fat in the milk, the quantity and the qual- ity should both be taken into consid- eration. Sometimes a four per cent. cow is profitable while a six per cent. cow is unprofitable. She must be a persistent milker through the year. The question as to the quantity comes under the same head, but I will say a cow that will not produce 200 pounds of butter in a year would be below my standard of profitable- ness; if she *on't do that, I think you had better discard her and get one that will do better than that, be- cause there are plenty of herds in this state that are producing even one third more than that with good feed. Question-Which is the most profit- able, a cow that will give twenty pounds, testing 5 or 5.5, or a cow that will give forty pounds, testing 3 per cent.? Mr. Taylor-Well, usually speaking the six per cent. is the most profit- able cow, because your chances are good of getting an increase along the line of increased production, while in the other case you will not succeed in getting 'the richness in- ereaaed. We like to have a large flow of rich milk. Question-Can you increase the per cent. of fat in a cow's milk after keeping her six months? Mr. Taylor-The per cent. of but- ter fat cannot be increased by feed; that is generally conceded. There seem to be a slight temporary In- crease sometimes If you want to increase the per cent. of butter fat just take off her feed. Question-Why, then, is it that when the flow of milk becomes small that milk seems to be richer? Mr. Taylor-Because she has been long in milk and the per cent. of butter fat increases as the milking period advances. Every cow as she advances in period of lactation, in- creases the butter fat slightly. Mr. Goodrich-You mean it in- creases the per cent. but not the amount of butter fat? Mr. Taylor-Yes, the per cent. of butter fat will go up and down- fluctuate-and you cannot always tell why. Mr. Everett-You and Mr. George C. Hill do not agree. He said this morning that the milk was influ- enced by the feeding. Mr. Taylor-Well, it is when you feed only sawdust. That is the only feed known to the materia medics of cowology that will increase the per cent. of butter fat. Mr. Everett-How do you increase the per cent. of fat in a cow? Mr. Taylor-By good breeding; it is an individual characteristic; I might say a breed characteristic. The per cent. of butter fat and the quality of butter fat are two differ- ent things. Let us not strive to in- crease the per cent. of butter fat by feeding, but-let us try to increase the quantity of milk. We can do that. When a cow is in a normal condition, giving a normal quantity of milk, it is always a normal quality; quality is an item that is born with her and you cannot change that, whether she is giving thirty, forty, or fifty pounds of milk. Mr. Reed-If you are going to raise your calves to increase your own herd, must you wait until each calf is a cow before you can know what she is going to be? 19 | 7r ; -,- - - 74 7 -
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