TESTS OF MILCH COWS.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2134, 27 December 1880, Page 4

TESTS OF MILCH COWS.

f“ Prairie Parmer.”] A record of the quantity (saying nothing about quality), of milk given by the different cow* on the farm or in the dairy, i* not often kept. Wo know of but a single instance through the dairy districts of the West, of keeping a daily record of the quantity of milk obtained from each individual cow in the herd, and we very much doubt if the number of dairies where such a record is kept exceeds half-a-dozen. The value of a cow is measured by the profit she brings her owner in milk or butter during a year, and unless she yields a fair return for her keeping, her owner is unwise in retaining her in the herd. We refer, of course, to cows kept for dairy purposes. An unprofitable dairy cow turned into beef will thus afford the means of supplying her place with a better milker—one that in addition to paying the coat of keeping or the amount of food consumed, leaves a margin of profit to her owner. As we have said heretofore, the testimony of numbers of experienced dairymen shows that more than half of the |[oows in the dairies of the country, and cspecia ly in the Western States, are unprofitable. It is true that more attention is being given to the matter now than it has received hitherto, and more of this class of cows are being weeded out than has been the case, but it is because their shortcomings are apparent without a resort to tests. The proper and really only true tost, whether a cow yields a fair profit to her owner is a record of all the facts pertaining to her keeping and the results from the time she drops her calf until ehe comes in again. Large yields of milk for short periods do not furnish proper evidence from which to decide the question whether or not a cow should be retained. We frequently see mention of the number of gallons of milk given by a cow during a single week or a fortnight, or the pounds of butter produced during a limited period. These do not establish the 'Value of a cow for the dairy. She may have been given special foods, or her treatment such as to have caused on extraordinary flow of milk. The cow may have produced a large yield only during such extraneous treatment and for the balance of the year been a very indifferent milker. It is well to keep this fact in mind, otherwise in purchasing cows for dairy purposes imposition may sometimes be practiced.

The cow for profit is one that gives milk in paying quantities the year through, or from her calving until within a few weeks of coming in again, and this can only be definitely ascertained by keeping a record of the quantity of milk given during her lacteal period. To keep such a record of the entire herd requires time and some additional labor, but it is the true and only definite method of arriving at a satisfactory conclusion in ascertaining which cows are profitable and which are not. At tbs srme time other facts entering unto the problem must not be overlooked. The cow should have good care, be properly housed and protected from inclement weither, be fed regularly and generously, milked regularly, and all the milk drawn from the-udder. These ar o matters which largely affect the question of a cow’s value. In good hands an animal may be a treasure —end that there are many instances of this kind is not to be doubted—whose vtlue under careless treatment would never be discovered.