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greatly deficient in this respect. It costs as much to keep animals of the latter 

 description as of the former, and of course it is for our interest to keep only the 

 best, or as good as we can procure. How shall we be able to tell, then, good 

 butter-making cows fi-om poor ones? Now there are certain mai'ks of a good 

 cow well known to the experienced farmer, and by which he most usually judges 

 in making a selection — head and face long and narrow ; neck slim and flat, not 

 round and fleshy; wide in the loin and deep in the flank; small fore quarters, 

 and large hind quarters; milk veins large; teats middling size, long and standing 

 apart; bags and teats of a reddish brown or orange color, and so also the color 

 of the inner part of the ear — this color denoting the producing of butter of a 

 similar hue. The hair on the bag short and silky, and pointing upward on the 

 hind part, and so up the thigh. The farther up the thigh the hair thus runs 

 and the wider it spreads in an upward direction, the better the cow, according to 

 the theory of Guenon, the French writer; and this criterion is highly esteemed 

 by some of our best judges of cows. 



We give these mai'ks, for what they are worth, observing that it is only by 

 long and close attention, that one is able to form a correct judgment of milch 

 stock — and then sometimes the most experienced are mistaken in their opinions. 

 The safest way, therefore, to test the butter-properties of a cow, is to set her milk 

 by itself, till enough is collected for a churning — that will tell you how much 

 butter she will make in a given time and its quality. Cows are found that will 

 yield ten to sixteen pounds per week. A stock of cows that will average one 

 pound of butter a day, in good feed, is a good stock — the thickness of the 

 cream also denotes the quality of the milk. For this* purpose lactometere are 

 used; wine-glasses, or glass tumblers may also be filled with milk from your 

 cows, putting each cow's into a separate glass, and the thickness of the cream 

 can easily be seen. Let it be remembered that it is not the quantity, but the 

 quality of the milk, that determines the question whether a cow is profitable for 

 butter-making. The Alderney cow gives but a small mess of milk, but it is 

 extremely rich. The Cream-pot breed of Colonel Jaques, in this State, are 

 famous for the richness of their cream. I have myself seen him take a pan of 

 milk from his milk-room, in the coldest part of the winter, and with a common 

 table fork remove the cream, almost in one mass, into a bowl, and there stir it 

 with the same fork by the fire, till in less than three minutes it was formed into 

 the best of butter. These are specimens of number one cows for butter. On the 

 other hand, cows have been known that give a large quantity of milk, which, 

 with all possible pains, could not be churned into butter. I have never witnessed 

 this fact, but have it fi-om reliable statements. 



As to the different breeds of cows, I will not undertake to give a decided pre- 

 ference of any one, as my experience will not justify my doing so. I will only 



