120 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



to a herd by a poor bull of the Jersey, or any other breed, 

 is equally beyond computation. A few rough figures must 

 suffice : The average butter product of cows in the United 

 States may be put at 60 lbs. a year ; that of cows selected 

 for dairy purposes 100 lbs ; while a grade Jersey herd in 

 New York State gave an average per cow of 365| lbs., and 

 this in an unfavorable year. A herd of thirty pure Jerseys 

 in Massachusetts gave 306 lbs., and a selected herd in New 

 York 400 lbs., as an average for each cow for the year. 



The cost of producing a pound of butter throughout the 

 countr}'", in private dairies, may be put at twenty cents, and 

 the average price received for it, twenty-five cents. And 

 this margin of five cents a pound is further reduced by the 

 expense of marketing it. If by the purchase of a Jersey bull 

 and greater care and cleanliness in the stable and milkmen 

 we increase the cost per pound of our butter to twenty-five 

 cents, but at the same time double the yield per cow in 

 quantity and add from ten to twenty-five cents to each pound 

 of butter we have to sell, it takes no great amount of figur- 

 ing to give us the value of the Jersey blood ; or, to put it in 

 another way, where a good native will sell for from $35 to 

 $55, a good grade Jersey will bring from $55 to $85. There 

 is certainly profit in grading up with a Jersey bull, consider- 

 ing the increased value of the butter and the cows. 



In regard to the details of the " handlinof " of the cows and 

 their product : The animals should be stabled above gi^ound. 

 It is not possible to get fresh air enough about the cows in 

 any form of cellar stable to ensure perfect milk. It is not 

 enough to have the cattle in an above-ground stable, — there 

 must be no manure whatever in any cellar beneath them. 

 Nor is it safe to have grain or hay in the stable or above it. 



The cow must be so stalled and fastened that she cannot 

 walk forward into her manger and dung upon that portion 

 of the platform upon which, when lying down, she rests her 

 flank and udder. There is no need of a gutter behind her. 

 If the platform is raised six or eight inches above the pas- 

 sageway behind, and if this fall of six or eight inches is just 

 behind her heels and the passageway gypsumed and covered 

 with dry sawdust or some other good absorbent, no gutter 

 whatever will be necessary, and without the gutter the stable 



