VOL. LIV.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., APRIL 29, 1899.
NO. 17
"gxpzxizucz Qzpixxtmzut.
HOW DO YOU TREAT COWS FROM DRYING OFF TO CALVING?
Hew Avoid Nilk Fever?
1st Premium.—We have been operating a
small butter dairy for the past six years, and
have until the last two yearg congratulated
ourselves on having cows that were perpetual
milkers; but experience has taught us that this
was a mistake, as we now believe we get more
milk during the year, and find it to be much
better for the cow if she stands dry for b!x or
eight weeks previous to calving. It is generally but very little trouble to dry them, but as
some cows want to dry up too long before
calving, and are held to their milk over this
period, it may occasion some little trouble to
dry them up. Put her on a ration of wheat
straw, and a very little corn for a few days,
and the drying up process is soon completed.
In some cases we have taken them from pas-
' ture and put them on this ration. After the
cows are entirely dry we put tbem back on
pasture, or if we are stabling them we soon restore their usual allowance of clover hay, fodder and corn, and when within three or four
weeks of calving time we begin feeding
a small allowance of bran, ground oats and a
very little oil meal with their other feed,
gradually reducing their allowance of corn,
and increasing the bran until within a few
days of calviDg, when if we find the udder is
filling too rapidly we decrease the amount of
bran and quit the use of corn entirely. We
also have a large box stall where the cow is
placed a few days previous to calving; here
she is supplied with plenty of clean straw for
bedding and if the weather is pleasant Bhe is
allowed some exercise in a lot during the
day. We have never had a case of milk fever
in our herd, and believe that the care of the
cow previous to and immediately after calving will in a great measure prevent it. If after calving the calf does not take the milk
within half an hour the cow is milked the
calf fed by hand. As a general rule we do
not feed the calf by band until it is four days
old. If the udder should be caked or swollen
we use salt and vinegar, rubbing on well with
the hand, and the more rubbing the better.
With this way of handling we believe their ls
little to fear from milk fever, aa we have had
one cow in our herd that wag as heavy a
milker I think as any cow in the State.
Grant Oo. W. B.
2d Premium.—Oows of our own raising are
seldom allowed to go dry. Soon as we do not
care to use the milk any longer, the cow is
milked clean once a day, and the milk fed to
the pigs. In the winter they have all the
rough feed they can eat, but are not fed near
bo heavy of bran and crushed corn as when
milk ie expected. Salting is never neglected.
About three weekB before calving linseed meal
is fed with their ground feed—one-half pint at
a time every few days. I favor moist feed;
think it is the saf^t at calving time, but our
cows are never educated to eat it, dry feed being the handiest. The milk cow does not
need any drugs at calving time, but they do
need a warm stable in winter, and good, clean
bed; straw is the best bedding material. It is
inhuman to let cows suffer for days with a full
udder before the calf comes. As a preventative of milk fever linseed meal ls fed more
freely after the calf comes, though with discretion. A laxative is generally needed, and
I know of nothing more effectual than lin1
"eed meal. If the weather is cold the chill is
taken off the drinking water until the calf is
«everal days old. Allow me to emphasize the
Importance ot salting often, just a little salt
at a time. The cow with the new born calf
needs attention for at least three days.   New
grass is a great help to the fresh cow, but we
cannot have that at all times of the year, and
it is not a good idea to trust the welfare of the
cow to Providence and new grass. If the cow
will eat scalded or moist bran, with a tablespoonful of lard in It, for several feeds while
the calf is quite young, it answers every pur.
pose for a laxative. 0. B.
Connersville.
3d Premium.—Oows oi the improved dairy
breeds, which for many generations have been
manufacturing their feed into milk instead of
beef, are not generally Inclined to dry off long
before calving. Oows that have a tendency to
lay on fat will many times go dry, in spite of
all precautions to the contrary. To prevent
drying off, cows should have a good milk ration, not too much corn and similar feeds;
and they must be milked aB regularly ag possible, and great pains taken to draw all the
milk from the udder each time. Special care
should be taken with heifers in milk for the
first time, as, if allowed to be dry a good
while, they are inclined to do the same way
next time. The tendency to give milk for
long periods is inherited, and heifers from
cows that go dry a long time should not be
kept for the dairy herd. In my opinion a cow
that gives a moderate allowance of milk for
io or 11 months in the year Is a great deal
more valuable than one that gives a large
quantity for a short time, and is dry for 6
months. To prevent milk fever, I think no
medicine ls necessary. The cow should not
be over fat, and Bhould be fed very lightly for
a week or two before calving and the same
length of time afterward. If the calf does not
take all the milk she should be milked perfectly clean, and if udder is caked and feverish, at
least three times a day. If a cow is not allowed to go dry at all there is no danger of
milk fever, when properly fed; but most people prefer to have them dry for a month or
six weeks. Longer ls unnecessary. Personally, I have had perfect success every way with
cows that never missed a milking before calving. J. G. W. B.
Wayne Oo.
Oows should be allowed to rest from 6 to 8
weeks before calving. The small quantity of
milk given the last two months amounts to
but a very small item, and if the cow is allowed to retain it a strong and healthy calf is
the result. During the dry period the cow
should have succulent food, such as bran
mashes, turnips, potatoes, sugar beets, artichokes, or any kind of roots that will take the
place of their best natural resource, bluegrass.
Feed clover hay, but do not feed too heavily
of either roots or hay, and fe>3d no corn. Corn
is too heating, and I believe it to be one
source of milk fever. I lost a very valuable
cow a few years ago by milk fever, and I had
fed her well on corn and timothy hay, as it
was during the drouth and there was no pasture. Veterinarians say the kidneys do not
act ln milk fever, and I believe that a reasonable amount of green or root food will have a
tendency to ward off that dread disease.
Burlington. E. H.
Bill Nre in advertising his cow enys "In
May she generally goes for a week or two and
returns with a tall red calf, with wabbly legs."
She was no doubt one of the purpose animals
so frequently found on farms. They do not re-
require special attentlon.and are not worth the
trouble if they did. But if one has a special
purpose cow that has merit, then the extra
care ls well repaid. About two weeks before
calving place the cow in a well ventilated box
stall. Her feed has been reduced so that she
gets nothing but nice, clean clover hay and
plenty of salt and water. If she does not go
dry, six weeks before calving, milk her
through and give the calf a little castor oil in
lieu of  colostrum.   Care should be taken to
see that the bowels are kept "open" as the
time approaches. Small dotes, one tablespoonful of Epsom salts may be given daily
to accomplish this, followed bya full dose
one and one-half ounces, and ono ounce
ground ginger, 24 hours before parturition, if
necessary. After calving feed warm, sloppy
feedg, such as bran mashes, adding a little
salt to each, for a few days and gradually return to full feed, Oows treated in this manner will eeldom be troubled with either garget
or milk fever, and will pay well for the care
and attention given them, A. J. N.
Marlon Oo.
BZVIKW.
Note that Mr, H's cow that died was fed up
to calving on corn and timothy hay. If short
of pasture a little bran and oil-meal might
have saved her. There isn't much perpetual
motion in this world except in the flight of
the old earth around the sun, and it can't help
that. It is cheaper to continue than to stop
and start again. But the rule of nature is a
period of brisk activity followed by rest. We
may Improve on nature by extending the
milking period, but it seems reasonable and
saves lots of milking to dry cowg off and give
a few weeks rest to bath cow and milkmaid.
Milk fever has been thought to result from
mild blood poisoning after calving. If the
system is free and the quarters clean the danger is greatly lessened. Oar letters are very
practical and valuable this week.
E. H. 0.
No. 165, May 6.—Does lt pay to spray fruit?
What fluids do you use? What sprayer? When?
How often?
No. 1G6, May 13.—Experience In melon culture.   Soil, planting, bugs, marketing.
No. 167, May 20.-—Give your best variety of
potatoes. Eow do you secure vitality and a
good stand, and prevent blight and bugs?
No. 168. May 27,—A friend has a living room
In the S. E. front of a' two story house. It has
a bay window and one other large window,
and measures 16x18x10 feet. Eow can she
paper it and furnish it, carpet, plctunjs and
all the rest? (Other rooms will match it later.)
The cost should suit a 160 acre farm.
No. 169, June 3.—Name popular mistakes in
corn culture. Does it pay to detassel barren
stalks? Or to plant a few late rows for pollen?
No. 170, June 10.—Tell us sbouta nice farmers' picnic.  How make it lively and restful?
No. 171, June 17.—Experience in Bowing rye,,
beans, clover, or other feed crops in corn.
No. 172, June 24.—How best clean rooms In
daily housework, floors, furniture, brass, pictures and the like.
No. 173, July 1.—The effect of the policy of
political expansion on American agricultural
nterests.
Premiums of $1 75 cents and 60 cents will be
given to 1st, 2d and 3d best articles each week.
Let copy be as practicable as possible and forwarded 10 days before publication to
Oarmel.   - E. H. Cowans.
the atmosphere, and nltogcn is the most expensive fertilizer on the list. A strong clover
sod yields from 60 to 70 pounds of fertilizer
nitrogen per acre, equal to from 400 to 450
pounds of nitrate of soda or 750 to 875 pounds
of eight per cent tankage. It is very easy to
understand why clover should be a popular
field crop, and but for the official statistics, it
would be natural to suppose that the acreage
would be higher relatively now than some 20
years ago, when its special properties were
not go well known.
As a matter of fact, the reduction In clover
acreage is very probably not a matter of
choice. Farmers now find it difficult to get a
"stand," though 20 yearg ago this was practical-
lyunknown. As catching a crop becomes more
and more uncertain, farmers have gradually
given up the old time free seeding to clover;
it is no longer profitable. The reason lg very
plain; clover can easily supply its own nitrogen but It cannot supply potash and phos.
phates. These fertilizers it must have sup.
piled precisely as in other crops; in fact, all
clovers require these mineral fertilizers in very
liberal quantities in order to gtore up atmospheric nitrogen. We have been so accustomed to expect a clover to furnish a complete fertilizer, that when lt is starved out we
call it a mysterious disease—clover  sickness.
There is a great deal of talk about clover
"pumping" potash and phosphates out of the
gubgoll, and supplying them in the shape of
manures made from clover forage for pushing
other crops. Subsoils are subject to the same
laws of quantity as surface soils, and are exhausted in the same way. It does appear that
clover is capable of more completely exhausting a soil than a cereal crop; but ultimately,
the result is the same except that it is a little
more thoroughly done. When the potash and
phosphates of a soil have been exhausted by
successive crops of clover, it is a somewhat
expensive matter to get lt again in good
heart, but it ls a simple matter of properly
feeding the crop. To produce a hundred
pounds of nitrogen, clover must assimilate 90
pounds of potash and 35 pounds of phosphoric
acid; without this mineral fertilizer, it Is
helpless. Wheat requires for every 100 pounds
of nitrogen, 50 pounds of potash and 40
pounds of phosphoric acid. Clover is evidently a special crop and requires special
treatment. There is every reason to believe
that the cause of the falling off in clover acreage Is simply due to improper fertilization,
to a lack of appreciating the Importance of
mineral fertilizers. Gkobqe Wilson.
The Clover Question.
Editors Indiana Fabmeb.
Dr. Chamberlain of the Ohio Fanner has
shown that the clover acreage in Ohio has declined in the past 20 years, as compared with
wheat acrcaee. In 18731874 the official statistics show one acre of clover to three acres of
wheat. 1893-9-1 the ratio was one of clover to
four of wheat. This Is all the more striking
from the fact that in Ohio the clover craze
has been more persistently pushed than in
any other State. While official publications,
agricultural lecturers and the farm press accomplish useful results, all three of these forces comblnd cannot give an unprofitable
method in cultivation a long life. As a matter of practical fact, the farmers of Ohio have
found by experience that the clover Bcheme
is unprofitable, and have ln a large measure
abandoned it.
There must be a good reason for the failure
of clover, as theoretically it should be effective. All farmers know the value of good
clover sod for a clean culture crop, for clovers have the property of Btorlng nitrogen from
Listing Property For Taxation.
Editors Indiana Farmur.
This subject hag been receiving considerable
thought and consideration by all classes of
persons, especially aa this ls the time of reappraising real estate. Our State oflicers and
law makerg feel that there la something wrong,
either that there is considerable taxable property In the State that is not listed, or else there
la an irregular valuation. The agricultural
Interests, especially the land owners, are feeling that under the depressed condition and
low prices of the products of the farm it would
be unjust and unreasonable to advance the
valuation of their farms for taxation. Yet the
general advancement of Improvement in the
way of gravel roads, bridges, ditches, etc., demand an advance of the valuation of all taxable property within the State. We feel that
thero has been an effort made to equalize and
economize and put all taxable property upon
the tax duplicate upon a cash basis; yet we realize that much depends upon those listing
and valuing and those owning and interested
ln the property being listed and valued. Still
we feel that justice and right will prevail, and
that our noble State will stand in the ranks of
the just and honorable. D. M. Lett.
Jackson Oo.