DAIRY PRODUCTS. 177 



buy milk from a Dutch herd for butter, in preference to Jer- 

 seys. To have the highest success, the stalls of the butter 

 herdsman should not contain mixed breeds of cattle. As the 

 cow is only a " vitalized manufactory " to change the elements 

 of grasses, grains and roots into milk, so her feed should be 

 abundant and nutritious. To gain this end, the pastures 

 should be improved. It is desirable that pastures should 

 have a variety of fine, sweet grasses, of succulent properties, 

 with a succession of growth ; that noxious weeds, sedge- 

 grasses, bushes and brambles be eradicated. It is capital 

 well invested to fertilize pastures, particularly with the wood- 

 ash and gypsum. The water, too, should be pure, abundant, 

 and not in stagnant pools. The grass for winter-feed of the 

 milch cow should becut early, before or as soon as the seed 

 is soft and pulpy, nor should it be over sun-dried. Duriug 

 the dry months of summer, some forage-crops for soiling 

 ouofht to be cultivated to maintain the flow of milk. In 

 winter-feeding, roots and grain should be given, with hay. 

 As the quality of the milk is affected by the feed of the cow, 

 we prefer, for roots, the carrot, parsnip, or sugar-beet. Sup- 

 plying milch cows with water in winter demands no small 

 attention from the herdsman. The patient cow, that contrib- 

 utes so much to the necessities as well as the luxuries of 

 living, should be treated tenderly. In driving or milking, 

 gentleness, kindness and quiet are preferable to blows, milk- 

 ing-stools, boots or stones. Talking, especially when loud, 

 ought not to be allowed while milking. A little hay before 

 the cow, when being milked, tends to quietude. Not the 

 least consideration to prevent " barny taste " in cream and 

 butter, is cleanliness. 



Second. The milk-room should have a northerly aspect, 

 removed from the odors of filthy yards or pigsties, nor be over 

 a damp or vegetable cellar. Registers should be so arranged 

 in the walls as to admit pure, dry air when wanted ; also the 

 exit of impure air. Charcoal, in boxes, in different parts of 

 the creamery, is a good disinfectant. A subdued light is pref- 

 erable. Heat can be introduced through steam-pipes attached 

 to the kitchen-range stove. The temperature of the room 

 should be about 60 degrees, Fahrenheit. All milk and 

 butter appliances should be washed thoroughly, scalded with 



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