Keeping one cow: Being the experience of a number of practical writers, in a clear and condensed form, upon the management of a single milch cowVarious
Science
Keeping one cow: Being the experience of a number of practical writers, in a clear and condensed form, upon the management of a single milch cow
Various
Cows; Dairying
For several years I had been experimenting on a small scale in soiling
cattle. My area of land, however, was exceedingly limited, being only
a portion of the kitchen garden of a city residence, but my success
was, even in this small way, so satisfactory, that I determined at
some future day to try it on a more extensive scale. My reading and
experience convinced me, that in our favored southern climate, a half
acre of land, intelligently cultivated, would produce a supply of food
amply sufficient to support one cow through the year, and circumstances
favoring, I determined to try the experiment. In April, 1876, I became
owner of a lot two hundred and fifty feet long by one hundred and twenty
wide in the rear of my premises—the greater portion having been used as
a grass plot for a horse. I immediately began by fencing off a portion
one hundred and twenty feet by two hundred, running a wagon-way eight
feet wide down the center, which, with the space occupied by the stable
(say twenty by thirty feet), left nearly twenty-two thousand feet, or
within a fraction of half an acre, for actual cultivation. The land was
a sandy loam, covered with a thick sod of Bermuda and other grasses.
Years before it had been cultivated as a market garden, but latterly
given up to grass; it sloped to the south sufficiently to favor good
drainage. In and around the stable was a goodly lot of manure, which,
during April, was spread upon the land—some forty cart loads. On April
twentieth the land was thoroughly plowed with a two-horse turning-plow,
and harrowed until finely pulverized. On May first, I planted one half
of the land in Southern field corn, in drills two feet apart, with the
grains about one inch apart. The rows were lengthwise, to render after
cultivation more convenient. On May fourth, sugar corn was put in one
half of the remainder, planting at the same distance as the larger
variety. May sixth, the remaining fourth was sown heavily with German
or “Golden” Millet, in drills twelve inches apart. Seasonable showers,
followed by warm sunny days, soon produced a vigorous and rapid growth.
On May fifteenth, a Thomas’ harrow was run over the first planted corn,
and six days later over the second planting, and over the millet. On May
thirtieth, the corn was plowed, followed by a good hoeing. A fortnight
later, a second and last hoeing was given. The millet was also hoed
twice, after which the growth effectually shaded the ground, and thus
prevented the growth of weeds. In the meantime I had repaired the stable,
and had a large door cut into the side next to the original lot, and
made a stall for our pet Jersey cow. The floor was cypress, three inches
thick, and sloped slightly from the manger. By actual measurement of the
space occupied by the cow—giving just room for her hind feet to clear the
same, a trough, eight inches deep, and fifteen wide, was made to receive
the urine and droppings. The stall was four and one half feet wide, the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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