FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



179 



According to this statement, the following is the order of these breeds for 

 butter-making: Holstein, Native, Jersey, Ayrshire, Sliorthorn. But we can 

 not say that Holstein is a more valuable breed for butter than any of the oth- 

 ers. We must know how much it costs to make a pound of butter from the 

 different breeds, — how much the food and labor costs, — before we can draw 

 any conclusions. These elements are lacking in all published reports, so far 

 as I know, and the absence of these makes all statements as to the amount of 

 butter produced by a breed, comparatively worthless. 



It seems a little strange that the ordinary "natives" should prove to be as 

 valuable for dairy purposes as some of the most famous breeds. The despised 

 natives have some points in their favor after all. Their first cost is compara- 

 tively small, they are hardy, do not require high feeding to keep them in good 

 condition, and they will give as much and as rich milk for the food consumed 

 as many of the fancy breeds. In fact, many persons who pursue dairying for 

 profit and not for pleasure only, think a well selected herd of native cows is 

 the most profitable after all. 



Most persons, in selecting a breed, would choose one in which the cows are 

 large and will give the greatest amount of milk, without any reference to what 

 the product costs. Other things being equal, a large cow is better for the dairy 

 than a small one, just as a large engine has greater capacity for performing 

 work than a small one. But the test in the dairy must be, which breed will 

 give the greatest amount of butter or cheese for the same amount of food con- 

 sumed? Prof. Arnold, in a recent number of the N. Y. Tribune, puts this 

 matter in a very clear light. He compares two cows, one weighing 1200 pounds 

 and the other weighing 800 pounds, both giving the same amount of milk, of 

 equal richness. He says : " Itis a common rule and pretty near the truth, in 

 estimating the cost of keeping animals, to reckon one pound of hay a day for 

 each fifty pounds of live weight, as the amount necessary to sustain the animal 

 in a uniform condition, without gaining or losing. If we adopt this rule, with- 

 out taking into account the better use of food by larger animals or the extra 

 food required for producing milk, which will be the same for both cows, it will 

 cost for the simple support of the large cow, 24 pounds of hay a day ; for the 

 smaller one, 16 pounds; difference, 8 pounds a day. For a year this will be 

 2,920 pounds, and for ten years — the average period of usefulness of dairy cows 

 — it will be 29,200 pounds, or 14.6 tons, which is the cost of maintaining for ten 

 years 400 pounds of live weight, not required for producing milk, and which is 

 worth no more at the end of the term than at the beginning. If we count the 

 hay at $7 a ton, the cost of sustaining 400 pounus of extra weight ten years will 

 be 8102.20, or §10.22 a year. It will not take long, at this rate, for extra weight 

 to eat up its value and bring itself into debt, simply to keep itself alive." 



Prof. Arnold compares the herd of Mr. Boies, whose cows average 1,200 

 pounds in weight, with Mr. Blodgett's herd of Jerseys, which average 780 



