DAIRY STOCK. 173 



make this one of the means of living, would take the trouble 

 to keep an exact account for a year or two of the yield of 

 their herds, the amount received for dairy products and the 

 manner and cost of keeping, it would be of the greatest value 

 to many young farmers, and not a little benefit to themselves. 

 The vast difference in the income of different cows, without 

 any perceptible difference in cost of keeping, would surprise 

 us, and the result of careful observation would very likely 

 show that, in a herd of twenty cows, a large portion do not 

 pay expenses, while the remainder yield a good profit. 



It may be objected, that keeping an exact account of the 

 production of each individual in a large herd, would involve 

 such an amount of labor as to be practically impossible. But 

 we think not. Let the milk of each cow be measured or 

 weighed one day in each week for a year, and the amount 

 produced by each one in that time could be very easily calcu- 

 lated. The knowledge gained by trying this experiment is 

 worth, to the person trying it, all the trouble it costs. 



It would, doubtless, be found that a large proportion of 

 cows do not pay expenses. But is not the first step to pecun- 

 iary success in dairy farming to ascertain how much a cow 

 must yield to pay a fair profit, and the next to find out which 

 individuals of the stock are not doing it. 



We want information, too, respecting the income farmers 

 of good judgment in the selection of stock actually do receive 

 from such cattle as they can obtain, for it is utterly imprac- 

 ticable for a milk producer to buy a herd of cows which will 

 all prove to be extra. And then the farmer, in deciding 

 whether or not it is profitable for him to continue in this 

 branch of his business, must extend his observations over a 

 term of years. He must buy his cows and sell them before 

 he can tell exactly how the account stands. If he buys extra 

 stock for milk, he must pay for that quality in the cow, 

 and when her usefulness is ended, he must expect to sell her 

 for the sum she is worth for beef. If he has a large stock, 

 he must expect to lose an animal occasionally, and must con- 

 stantly expect more or less loss from swelled udder, or " gar- 

 get," and he must bear in mind that a large milker is more 

 liable to diseases of this nature than a cow yielding a mod- 

 erate quantity. 



