DAIRY FARMING. 21 



under the tests of the milk contractor. There is little or no butter 

 making on milk farms, and consequently no skimmed milk that can 

 be fed either to calves or to pigs. There are many milk farmers 

 who do not keep even a single hog but give all the swill tiiat accum- 

 ulates to their milch cows. Such an extreme division of labor and 

 adherance to a specialty may be of doubtful utility but such are the 

 facts as we find them at the present time. Tlie milkman buys his 

 cows, and as he can make nothing unless he feeds high and crowds 

 them very near to their utmost capacity, he is constantly wearing 

 them out, and in some cases at a pretty rapid rate. There are many 

 farmers near the large cities who rarely keep their cows after their 

 milk yield falls below a certain point, but trade them off for new 

 i^iilch cows or sell to the butcher and buy again outright. This may 

 seem strange to a Maine farmer, but it must be remembered that * 

 the milk supply for the cities comes chiefly from sections where 

 hay is dear and good pasture land is very scarce and expensive. 

 The soiling system or stall-feeding is practiced very extensively by 

 milk farmers, and while it is well adapted to the keeping of cows 

 that are in full flow it may not always pay in the case of dry cows 

 or young growing stock. 



Now where does this supply of new milch cows come from which are 

 required to keep the stalls of the milk producer full at all times? It 

 comes in part from farmers living where selling milk is inconvenient. 

 Some of it comes from farmers who will not be tied up to a milk 

 farm, or who have pastures that are better adapted to dry cows than 

 to milking stock, and a considerable portion is furnished by dealers 

 who come up here into northern New P^ngland and buy up your new 

 milch cows, or those which are soon coming in, and ear them down 

 to the milk producing districts. I suppose that quite a large per- 

 centage of cows that are sold to go out of your State are sold while 

 in their prime as milking stock. 



Now I believe the butter makers ol this State should become ac- 

 quainted with the demands of this trade in new milch cows for the 

 milk producing districts, for with your excellent pasture land, your 

 cheaper hay, and especially your adopted business of dairying you 

 can supi)ly this demand with advantage both to yourselves and to the 

 buyers. There arc a few farmers who raise good calves without giving 

 them much milk ; but ihe practice is attended with considerable risk 

 and a good deal of tj-ouble, and you ma^- rest well assured that in 

 the matter of raising milch cows you can never come into ver}- close 



