274 Management of Dairy Cattle. 



the moi-e efficacious will such food be for the particular purpose 

 for which it is used. 



Sug'ar, starch, &c., vary very considerably in form and propor- 

 tion from vegetable oils, which closely resemble animal fats. 



Wlien we consider that plants have a two-fold function to per- 

 form, viz. to serve as food for animals and also for the reproduc- 

 tion of the like plants, and that after having undergone the 

 process of digestion they retain only one-half or one-third of 

 their value as manure, the importance of affording a due hut not 

 excessive supply of each element of food essential to the wants 

 and purposes of the animal will be evident. If we fall short, the 

 result will be imperfect ; if we supply in excess, it will entail 

 waste and loss. 



Linseed and rape cake resemble each other very closely in 

 chemical composition ; the latter is chiefly used for manure, and 

 its price ranges usually about half that of linseed cake. In sub- 

 stances poorer in nitrogen and with more of stai-ch, gum, oil, &c., 

 the disparity in value as food and as manure will be proportion- 

 ately greater. 



During the present season Mr. Mendelssohn, of Berlin, and 

 Mr. Gausange, who is tenant of a large royal domain near Frank- 

 fort on the Oder, on which he keeps about 150 dairy cows, have 

 been my visitors. These gentlemen have collected statistics in 

 dairy countries through which they have travelled. I learnt from 

 them that in Mecklenburg, Prussia, Holland, &c., 14 quarts of 

 milk yield, on the average, lib. of butler; in rare instances 

 12 quarts are found to yield 1 lb. Both attach great importance 

 to the regulation of the temperature. Mr. Mendelssohn tells me 

 that the milk from cows fed on draff (distiller's refuse) requires a 

 higher temperature to induce its yield of butter than that from 

 cows supplied with other food. 



On inquiry in my own neighbourhood, I find it is computed 

 that each quart at a milking represents 1 lb. of butter per week. 

 Thus a cow which gives 4 quarts at each milking will yield in- 

 butter 4 lbs. per week, or from 56 quarts 64 oz. of butter, or from 

 14 quarts of milk 1 lb. of butter. Taking the winter produce 

 alone, it is lower than this ; the cream from my neighbours' cows, 

 who use common food, hay, straw, and oats, somewhat resembles 

 milk in consistency, and requires three to four hours, sometimes 

 more, in churning. On one occasion a neighbouring dairy woman 

 sent to borrow my churn, being unable to make butter with her 

 own ; I did not inquire the result. If she had sent her cow, I 

 could in the course of a week have insured her cream which 

 would make butter in half an hour. These dairy people usually 

 churn durin"- winter in their kitchen, or other room with a -fire. 

 Each of them states that from bean or oat meal used during winter 



