E22—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 4,1983
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Newton Bair
THE SPRING FLUSH
Abe Hess was born and raised on
one of the fine, productive farms
along the Yellow Breeches Creek
in York County. He also operated
the old homestead for many years,
finally retiring to a more modest
estate where he lived well into his
nintieth year. Being of thrifty
Pennsylvania Dutch stock, he lived
and died a moderately wealthy
man.
One of Abram’s favorite tales of
lus dairying experience was about
“Calico” a three-colored cow.
Whether her red, white and black
hide was responsible for her
behavior and performance is not
too important. She was also
unusual in other ways.
Calico was the herd leader, not
so much the ‘boss' type as the pace
setter. She had a characteristic
sometimes seen in animals that
lets them sense just when things
should be done, whether the dumb
owner is aware of it or not. Like the
night the herd broke into the corn
field and Calico displayed her
loyalty by bawling loudly right
under the bedroom window to alert
the hired man of the impending
disaster. Like Ada the Ayrshire,
Evik’ trademark
she was always the first one
through the pasture gate, always
found the choisest spot to graze
and the coolest shade to rest. And
no other critter dared to challenge
her.
But spring time was the time for
really showing her true colors.
Calico always went dry in
January, when the hay was scarce
and com fodder became the mam
diet. There must have been enough
vitamins in her, com, oats and bran
to allow her to survive the winter,
smce she wasn’t working anyway.
She always calved in April, just
when the bluegrass meadow was at
its greenest.
Abe loved to tell how old Calico
would ‘run the bucket over’ at
milking time. Of course, all the
cows responded to the stimulation
of fresh, green spring pasture after
a winter diet of corn fodder, but old
Cal always had things timed right.
She picked the best time to get
pregnant, so she could rest all
winter, and have her baby just
when the best feed and most
confortable shade were abundant.
Now, lots of cows have this same
desire to get romantic in May or
June, stand dry in mid winter and
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freshen when the pasture is lush
and green. In Abe’s time it didn’t
matter too much because he sold
his cream to a plant that made
butter in winter and ice cream in
summer. The skim milk was fed to
the pigs, which were the real
winners in the food chain. Things
are somewhat different today.
In spite of our modern
techniques of better heat detection,
controlled breeding, balanced
nutrition and expensive housing,
nature still has the upper hand in
dictating when our nation’s cows
will produce the most milk.
Springtime is still the time of
“flush production". We’ve come a
long way since ‘ole Calico’s day,
when most of the milk was
produced in the summer months,
but the natural tendencies are still
there. The spring flush of milk is
not compatiable with the year
round demand created by our
marketing system.
All dairy managers will be
seriously addressing this and other
production problems in the near
future. We are now at the peak of
not only the Spring Flush, but this
time it has become an all-time
deluge of milk. Dairying has
prospered as it has in no other time
in history, and we are indeed a
land flowing with Milk and Honey.
(Yes, the beekeepers have done
well too, in terms of over
production). Can such a blessing
be sustained, or will be become a
curse?
The ‘Spring Flush’, symbolized
by Abe Hess’s old Calico cow who
‘run the bucket over’, is also
symbolic of our present situation.
The thing that is different, is that
we now know how to sustain the
flood of milk all year. It won’t
automatically go away next
winter.
We do have several things going
for us that Abe didn’t, however. We
have a growing population of
people to use our product. We have
I
I
\
$0
m
residual herbicide
that’s ideal for
your PIK acres
Evik Available Through
Your Local Dealer
or Custom Applicator
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This Spring Flush every year concern:
too.
a better product to sell. We have
the means to advertize, package
and deliver a multitude of high
quality dairy products to the
buyer. And we have ail of the
mechanics to compete with phony
floods and fads that are tricking
the public palate. We have the
means to Cooperate, if we keep our
Coopertives strong. If we don’t use
these mechanisms seriously and
fev.
A burndown
Evik does everything you want a
herbicide to do on idle PIK acres.
Evik gives you options you can’t
get with other herbicides.
• Like low cost.
• Burndown of weeds up to six
inches high.
• Limited residual control, so
you can plant small grains in
the fall.
Ask us about Evik for weed
control on your PIK acres.
n
energetically and
find the Dairy Bin
a sea of milk.
Learn a lesson 1
She was a little bi
but she was alsc
knew how to take.
seasons, and in a
ultimate goal was i
her mates, and
benefactor.
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