Vermont Dairymen's Association. 159 



special breed of cattle. He had a herd of 30 cows that made on 

 an average 380 pounds of butter per cow for the year. They 

 were of many breeds, but all had dairy characteristics. Mr. 

 Norton started in the dairy business 25 or 30 years ago, with two 

 cows and 40 acres of land. Today he owns the finest home in 

 his county, and possibly the best barn of any man in our State. 

 In connection with this, he owns hundreds of acres of our best 

 land. His barns and house have electric lights and his separator 

 and churn are run by an electric motor. He was one of the first 

 men in our State to use a hand separator. He manufactures his 

 own butter and has a special market for it. He endeavors to 

 raise all his calves, which later on he sells for veal, therefore his 

 skimmilk nets him 25 or 30 cents per hundred. He has his 

 cows calve in the fall as much as possible and he is a strong be- 

 liever in protecting them from inclement weather. They are 

 even watered in the barn. In fact, he is a believer in forcing a 

 cow to drink more water than she really cares for. After the 

 cows drink all they want, he mixes grain feed v\^ith the water 

 in bottom of boxes. He thoroughly believes that a milch cow, to 

 do her best, should be in such good condition that she can be 

 sold to the butcher at any time for beef. 



His principal feeds are ground corn, bran, clover hay and 

 silage when he can get them. He regulates the quantity accord- 

 ing to his judgment of the needs of each individual cow, feeding 

 as near a balanced ration as possible. Mr. Norton tells this 

 story : "Two years ago, when building his magnificent barn, a 

 farmer owed him $2500 which he had promised to pay at that 

 time, but was unable to do so, Mr. Norton had to borrow that 

 amount of money from the local bank. This he has paid off 

 from the proceeds of the dairy and farm ; but the other farmer 

 who did not have time to milk cows has not been able to make his 

 payment yet." Now what Mr. Norton has done is possible for 

 others to do. 



When cows are on grass during the month of June or the 

 latter part of May, there is never any question about dairying 

 paying, because they have an abundance of succulent food, or 

 what might be termed a balanced ration in the grass they eat. 

 Silage fed during the winter months approaches nearer grass or 

 summer conditions than most any other feed owing to its succu- 

 lent nature. For this reason, if no other, a good silo should be 

 found on every well regulated farm. It is true that we have 

 many cows that give a large flow of milk for a short period. 

 This kind of a cow is not profitable and is likely to deceive the 

 owner, as a dairyman usually remembers her as she is at her 

 best. When a monthly test or yearly record is kept of individual 

 cows, no such difficulty is experienced. Undoubtedly we have 



