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expense of converting the marsh lands into meadows of timothy and 

 clover are regarded as great difficulties in the way of dairying. As the 

 country grows older, and fills up with inhabitants, some portions of it will 

 be found capable of being used for these purposes. At the present time 

 many of our farmers keeping from two to six cows do not even make 

 butter enough for the family use ; they sufifer their cows to range over 

 the country during the summer season, and in the fall, when the feed has 

 become scarce, they have made no provision to enable their cows to hold 

 out in the quantity of their milk. The bad economy of wasting one- 

 third of their time in hunting after cows that have strayed in the woods, 

 or on the prairies, is not seen by them ; and instead of enclosing fields and 

 baving some conveniences whereby time and labor may be saved, they 

 allow the old way to continue. Many settlers, it is true', come into the 

 new States with very limited means for commencing farming, but it is far 

 better to enclose fields, and keep cows and cattle where they can be found, 

 than to spend twice or three times the amount of time requisite to build a 

 fence in searching after them. Every farmer ought to make at least butter 

 enough for his own family use ; it is very bad economy for them to buy 

 it when they can just as well supply themselves from their own farms. 

 For a farmer owning eighty or one hundred and sixty acres of land, 

 three or four cows, and with plenty of means to keep them in good con- 

 dition, to be seen in market purchasing butter for his own family use 

 looks bad, and is a sad commentary on his management. We can sura up 

 all that relates to this matter in a few words : When our farmers more 

 generally realize the importance of dairying, we may look for some 

 improvement in the stock of cows, and better care in their management. 

 At present, every calf is raised, however meager, and what little can be 

 realized from cows, in the shape of milk and butter, by sufi'ering them to 

 roam at large, taking their chance like wild beasts, is considered clear 

 gain. But little is expected, and farmers are not disappointed in their 

 expectations. Let farmers first turn their attention to fitting their lands 

 for suitable pasturage for cows ; let them take some pains to have good 

 stock ; keep only good cows, and keep them well, and they will soon find 

 them not only a convenience as furnishing them a little butter and milk 

 for family use, but also a source of profit yielding a rich return equal to 

 the profits of grain growing. Farmers generally, in Wisconsin, must get 

 into the dairy business gradually ; the best that most of them can do at 

 present is to make a little butter. This they are better prepared to do 



