THE FARM.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 38, 3 December 1920, Page 11

THE FARM.

(By "Furrow").

HOW TO DRENCH A COW. When drenching a cow ihe head should not be held t-oo high, and there should be no pressure on the throat to prevent swal. lowing. The head should be held straight cut in front of the body, and not too much medicine poured into the mouth at one time. Usually cows are very easy to drench, but occasionally one will resist, and thsn ca-re must be exercised or the medicine may be forced into the lungs. Once it is there, there is little or no remedy, and if the quantity is at all appreciable the animal will probably die in a few hours — sometimes, in fact, m a surprisingly short time. The thumb and miadle finger in the nostrils to serve as a bull ring will generally make a cow hold up her head and take her medicine with little or no resistance. HOW TO DEAL WITH A KICK1NG COW. A good method of dealing with a kicking cow is to take a strap two inches wide and thirty inches long with a buckle at one end, and punch several holes in the other end one inch apart. The first hol{ should be six inches from the end, and the holes should be extended about fourteei?. inches along the strap. Put the strap round the left leg, above the hock joint, and then run it across and round above the hock on the right leg and back across to the left hock, where it is buckled. The strap will be crossed between the legs. When this is done the feet cannot be lifted more than two inches off the floor, .and a woman or child can milk the cow in perfect safety. As this doesn't hurt the cow, she is not afraid, and eats her feed just as if notliing had happened. THE MAKING OF A IiERD. Many of our dairy farmers sell good cows considering them to be worthless. This apparently is a peculiar stateinent to make, but, nevertheless, it is only too true, and it is an astounding fact that so many of our dairy farmers have so little idea of the actual value of their cows. This un- \ fortunate state of affairs will continue to exist until accurate records of the milk yield from each individual cow are kept and the use of the Babcock tester becomes more general. The only reliable way to arrive at the true merits ot any dairy cow is to estimate her value by tne use of the Babcock test and the keeping of accurate records of tne quantity of milk she gives. Unless the individual yiekls from each cow are carefully noted, it is impossible to make a proper selection of a profitable cow. Cow testing tuus enables the farmer to fmd out the cows that are profitable, and those that are not paying their way. In some cases over one-quarter of the herd has been found when the milk was te-ted to be un. profitable. This rneans to the farmer a direct loss in energy, feed, and money. Ihe average production per cow of milk and butter-fat in this country is not what it should be ; this is the result of keeping such a large numher of unprofitable cows. It 's impossible to detect unless a system of weighiug the mila from each individual cow, keeping her records, and the use of the Babcock tester, ~e carried out. By this system the farmer is enabled to find out which cows are the best producers of milk and butter-fat. It is hardly possible to estimate the real value of a dairy cow by outward ' appearances, as it is known that the milk of some of our best looking cows is very low "in butter-fat. Cow testing ako helps to discover the great differences in persistency of the milk fiow, and the slightest variation in tne individual records causes the owner to 1'ook for the reason of the shrinkage. The financial aspect after a few years is very gratifying, as higher prices are obtained for the progeny of the cows with a good record of merit, and the cows themselves are worth much more than those without a record of any kind. Keeping of records and the use of the Babcock tester are everything in the dairy business. Do you weight and test your milk? If not, start now. Although the average farmer cannot afford to commence with a herd oi purebred cows, he, on the other ha.nd, should at any reasonable cost, procure a purebred bull. It should, of course, be the aim of every dairy farmer to improve his herd, and this aim may be hastened greatly by the use of a sire of undoubted milking strain. The old saying, "The bull is half the herd,' should be taken to heart. If a farmer persists in using a cheap mongrel bull he is employing the very best means of courting disaster. And I am convinced that the use of inferior bulls is one of the very greatest hindrances to progress in dairy farming.