92 



Tioga: First, because it cau be carried on with less labor; second, because of 

 the uniform bigli prices of butter and cheese, while all other farm products fluctuate ; 

 third, it improves the farm more than grain-growinoj. I give the statistics of my owa 

 dairy of only 9 cows : Value of the cows, |450 ; interest for one year, $27 ; pasturing, 

 $108; wintering, (including 1,350 pounds of meal fi«d,) $IG8.f)l ; cost of making 1,450 

 pounds of butter, 3 cents per pound, $43.50 ; total, $797.11. Returns: 1,450 pounds of 

 butter, 34 cents per pound, $493 ; 9 veals, $72 ; 900 pounds of ijork, 7 cents per pound, 

 $63 ; value of the cows on band, $450 ; total, $1,078 ; net profit, $280.89. The above is 

 a fair average for the county ; some large dairies do better. The butter, sold some 

 time ago, is now worth 40 cents, which would add $87 to the profits. No other branch 

 will pay as well for the amount invested. Montgomery : Farmers living on the rail- 

 roads, which traverse our county in almost all sections, generally prefer selling their 

 milk, as that requires far less labor in preparing for market than butter. Labor is 

 becoming a great consideration with us, not only on account of difficulty iu procuring 

 it, but of the high price it commands. Chester : A dairyman reports that on a farm of 

 140 acres he keeps 30 cows, which yielded 6, 5G6 pounds of butter, sold at 43f cents net, 

 or 218f pounds, and $95.70, per cow. Philadelphia : The milk business, and next to this 

 the more bulky crops which cost too much to bring from long distances. 



Mauyland. — Carroll : I keep 16 cows, from which I sell 25 gallons of milk daily the 

 year round, at 18 cents net per gallon ; making $1,642.50 in addition to the use of milk 

 and butter iu a family of twelve. Previous to the opening of the Western Maryland 

 Eailroad, no milk reached Baltimore from this county ; now we are sending 800 to 

 1,000 gallons daily. We probably make 1,000,000 pounds of butter per annum. Within 

 eight years tiie dairy business has increased 20 per cent. 



Michigan. — Oalland: During the month of April we milked and made from 5 Dur- 

 ham cows 160 pounds of butter, v/hich bi'ought 35 cents per pound, making $56; and, 

 after deducting the express-charges to Detroit, which were $1.60, leaving iJ54. 40 for one 

 mouth's income from 5 cows. Diirii3g the year 8 Durham cows made 1,312 pounds of 

 butter. The average price for the same was 28 cents per pound, making $367.36, or 

 $45.92 per cow ; add to this the price of 5 calves, sold for $12.50 per head, (and the 

 rest would have brought the same if sold.) and you can see that the income annually 

 from each cow is $58.42. Wayne: Dairying has been decidedly the most profitable 

 branch of industry in this county. Several instances have occurred where j)arties have 

 run in debt for an additional farm, and in a few years have paid up everything. In 

 one instance a neighbor purchased a farm, running in debt $10,000, and iu less than five 

 years paid up for it. 



Wisconsin. — Green: There are over twenty cheese-factories in this county, of six- 

 teen towns. A number of them make the common American cheese, but several are 

 engaged in the manufacture of the variety known as Limburger. Shehoi/gan : During 

 the pat't year the manufacture of cheese in our county amounted to 1,000,000 pounds, 

 having 2,888 cows for its source. A considerable amount has also been made by the 

 small manufactories. 



Iowa. — Muscatine : One of my correspoij dents, giving his experience in dairying, 

 expresses his preference for butter-making. He says : " I have milked!'20 cows during 

 the past eeason ; average value of cows last spring, $20 each ; raised 20 calves, av- 

 eraging $3 for each ; sold $300 worth of butter, besides ^upplyiug my own table. 

 Pasturage for the cows cost about $60. The milk fed to pigs has more than paid all 

 other exptnses and the labor bt stowed upon them." 



STOCK-RAISING. 



Maink. — Oxford : Almost the oi,ly source cf profit to the farmer. The local markets 

 afford a demand for all the beef and early lambs he can supply. Pisacataqnis : Sheep 

 more easily kept and yield more profit on the capital invf^ted than lu^at stock. 



New Hampshihe. — Carroll : Cows as high $50 per head. Sheep tli;)-t could have been 

 bought last spring for $2 per head are selling for $4 and $5, to say nothing of the wool- 

 clip, which sold for 40 cents per pound. Horses high, also working-oxen. A pair 

 bought last spring for $90 cau now be sold for $130. Cheshire: Where suitable pastures 

 can be procured. One farmer on a river-farm (if 40 acres, with a hill sheep-pasture of 

 50 to 60 acres, (costing not over $10 per acre,) keeps 150 Spani.sh merino sheep, 3 cows, 

 and 2 horses. Last year, besides keeping his flock good, he sold of wool and increase 

 to the amouut of $800, and that is about his annual income. Raising young cattle 

 comes next in profit, requiring but little outlay and little assistance where labor is so 

 high that it eats out all the profit. 



Pennsylvania. — Westmoreland: Perhaps the breeding and rearing of horses might 

 claim pre-eminence, especially since the iuqiortation of the large English Lincoln 

 horses. These are now extensively bred, and sell readily at prices, for the best speci mens, 

 ranging from $500 up to $3,000. The French " Percherons" are also making their way 

 among our f iriners, but are not yet so popular as the others. 



Maryland. — Kent : Sheep and hay. 



