LECTUEES AND ESSAYS READ AT INSTITUTES. 281 



general farmer wants to make the most of his labor, and I am satisfied that 

 this lies in the path of improvement. I do not claim that there is now no 

 improvement going on, but there is not enough. There is now an awakening 

 all over the country, particularly in the west where the improvement is greater 

 than with us. And if we are to compete at all with them we must exert our- 

 selves to the best improvement by better breeding and better feeding. 



To conclude, we have seen that improvement is to increase the value of our 

 cattle and their products. The means are better selection and breeding, and 

 better feeding, and the gain, a vast increa?e in wealth to individuals and to the 

 State. What we need to accomplish this is better farming, more enterprise. 

 We need to study and learn more. There is much to be learned in regard to 

 foods. All should know that foods for stock have different elements; that 

 nitrogen produces flesh and bone ; that carbon produces fat and heat; that the 

 best results in feeding will be reached by a proper combination of flesh form- 

 ing and fattening food, suited also to the appetite and digestion of the animal 

 and with reference to the product we wish to obtain, whether growth, or milk, 

 or fat. The science of breeding is still in its infancy. The laws of heredity 

 and transmission of qualities in animal life are but imperfectly known even by 

 breeders of pure-bred stock. We need to learn in all departments of our 

 agriculture, and if these institutes shall but show us our weakness, and awaken 

 an enthusiasm that shall beget an improvement in ourselves, our farms, and 

 •our stock, their object will be accomplished. 



MANAGEMENT OF THE DAIRY. 



BY MRS. ALBERT GRANGER. 

 l^Read at Hastings Institute.! 



Mk. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, — The subject I am requested to 

 bring before this meeting is of importance enough to be handled by a more 

 experienced and abler pen than mine. Thirty years of hard work in a farmer's 

 kitchen is not likely to develop a woman into a very brilliant writer; therefore, 

 I shall ask very much leniency in your criticism. 



As the foundation of the dairy is the cow, it> is essential she bo selected 

 from the breed best adapted to whichever branch of the business you wish to 

 follow. The Jersey cow gives a milk pcculiarily adapted to butter, and usually 

 very rich. The Ayrshire cow gives a milk not as well adapted to butter, but 

 better fitted for cheese. So if you please we will take up the Jersey cow (or 

 any other you may happen to have) and the butter making, leaving the cheese 

 to the factories where most of it has been made since the days of our grand- 

 mothers. 



Now we have the cows. We will go back to the pasture and secure sweet 

 and nutritious grasses and the purest water, as milk and butter of the finest 

 quality cannot be produced from weeds, sour grasses, slops, or impure water. 

 The cows should be driven to their stalls to be milked and pass the night; 

 they should here receive some feed and be bedded with clean straw. They 

 should be carded regularly, not only for the sake of looks, but to insure 

 •that cleanliness which is such an essential condition to the procuring and 



