Part 11 (2/2)

Follow the management recommendations of practical and successful poultrymen.

Use the marketing system best adapted to the locality and the personal factor of sales ability.

Determine possibilities of selling ducks, geese, turkeys and other fowl as a means of supplementing income from chickens.

Remember each type of poultry requires specific management.

_Don'ts_

Don't neglect scientific feeding of the poultry flock.

Don't go into poultry production on a large scale without experience.

Don't neglect local markets as outlets for the sale of eggs and poultry and don't make s.h.i.+pment of eggs and stock to commission houses of unknown rating.

Don't over-extend in poultry investment to the point where temporary reversal would be disastrous.

_Chapter_ XI

THE FAMILY MILK SUPPLY

Living in the country should make possible an adequate and safe milk supply for the family. The transportation of milk from the farm and its distribution in the city const.i.tute a costly process under present methods, and this limits consumption. Furthermore, the ordering in advance of a definite quant.i.ty each day means as a rule that only the milk delivered will be consumed. A maximum amount of milk is thereby set, based upon factors that may be alien to real needs of the family for this food beverage. Using milk and dairy products freely from a near-by supply will contribute much to the health of the entire family and especially of the children. The term ”family” is used in this case to denote two or three adults and the same number of children.

Nutritional experts declare that milk is the most important of the ”protective” foods. Scientists agree that milk protects by providing in the best form those necessities which are often lacking in other foods.

Milk supplies calcium so necessary for sound bones and teeth, phosphorus, easily digested protein, b.u.t.ter fat and milk sugar. Most important of all are the vitamins found in milk. Milk acquires these properties from the cow, a living factory manufacturing milk from raw products, which are the foods the cow eats--the pasture gra.s.ses and the cured hay, supplemented with carefully blended grain rations. Nutrition authorities recommend at least a quart of milk daily for every child and ample amounts for adults as well.

_Sources of Milk Supply._--The country resident will have little difficulty in securing an adequate supply of wholesome milk at low cost.

He may obtain it from a neighbor who is in the dairy business or he may maintain a cow or two where the area is large enough to provide some pasturage and where a building for stabling is available.

If the milk is bought from some near-by farm it is important that the purchaser a.s.sure himself of the health of the cows producing the milk and of the sanitary conditions surrounding production and handling. Quality in milk is much more than cream content. Cleanliness in production and handling is far more important, and this the country resident can personally determine by occasional visits to the source of supply, an advantage difficult for the urban resident to attain. Quality in milk is not necessarily measured by the investment in the milking barn or the showy external features of the producing and handling plant.

The essential factors in the production of clean, wholesome milk are healthy, clean cows; healthy milkers; clean, sterile utensils; and sanitary stables and premises. These conditions can be attained by any careful dairyman and can be checked by any layman interested in securing a dependable supply of safe milk. The purchaser should insist that the cows be tested regularly under government supervision for tuberculosis and the reactors to the test removed from the herd. This is important in all circ.u.mstances and particularly so where the milk is consumed in the unprocessed state by children.

_Producing Milk at Home._--It is entirely feasible for the rural family to produce at home an ample supply of milk at low cost. To do this it is only necessary to have stabling facilities for one or two cows and to have a member of the family sufficiently interested to feed, care for and milk the cow or cows. If this plan is to be followed the owner, if he is inexperienced, should enlist the aid of a neighbor or friend in making the purchase. The animal should be fresh, that is, just starting the period of lactation, and preferably not more than four or five years of age. A cow that is fresh can be judged as to ability to produce good milk from all four quarters of the udder in adequate amount.

_Selecting the Family Cow._--The breed to be selected is not important, except that for family use a cow of the so-called Channel breeds (Guernsey or Jersey) is considered better adapted because of the higher b.u.t.ter fat content of the milk as compared with the Holstein-Friesian, for example, which usually produces a larger total quant.i.ty of milk with less b.u.t.ter fat. It is not necessary to purchase a pure-bred animal of any of the breeds, so far as milk production is concerned. On the other hand, a pure-bred registered cow may often be purchased at moderate cost. The owner will undoubtedly take greater pride in such an animal and her offspring will have higher selling value.

In making a purchase the new owner should insist upon having a tuberculin test chart delivered with the animal, and certification as to freedom from contagious abortion (B. abortus) should also be obtained if possible. If production records have been kept during the animal's previous lactation periods, these should be secured, as they will definitely indicate milk-producing ability over a considerable period of time. For family use a cow that produces milk steadily in uniform amounts over eight or ten months is far more desirable than one which produces a large volume following freshening and then slumps off rapidly.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Desirable types of utensils for a small dairy. _A._ Crock for temporary milk storage or for gravity separation of cream. _B._ Milking stool. _C._ Twenty-quart milk can and cover. _D._ Strainer. _E._ Stirrer. _F._ Circulating water cooler for freshly drawn milk (not essential for a one- or two-cow dairy if other cooling practices are followed). _G._ Sanitary covered-top milk pail. _H._ Measuring rod. _I._ Small churn for family b.u.t.ter making.]

_Importance of Pasture._--Pasturage plays so important a part in economical milk production and in contributing to the health of the animal that it is unwise to consider keeping one's own cow unless 3 or 4 acres of pasture land per animal are available. When the cow is on pasture from May until November no other roughage is required, provided of course the gra.s.ses and clovers are plentiful. Plenty of water is essential, and if this is not made available by a stream in the pasture, it will be necessary to furnish drinking water three times daily.

_Stabling and Feeding._--From early November until May it will be necessary to provide stabling facilities, roughage in the form of hay, ensilage or beet pulp, and concentrated feed to keep the animal producing.

About 3 tons of good timothy-and-clover hay or alfalfa will be needed per animal during these six months. Storage room will be needed in the building for the hay and for the concentrated feed. A good practice is to keep the cow in a box stall 12 by 14 feet in size. Ample bedding should be provided, consisting of straw, wood shavings, shredded corn stalks, peat moss or dried leaves. These will absorb the liquid manure and after such use should be applied to the garden or other land areas for fertilizing purposes.

<script>