384 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



animal product the same material may be marketed and fhe fruitfulness of the soil 

 preserved and increased. 



Fourth. The amount of cheese and butter which a cow can be made to produce in a 

 given time, or rather which they have produced, almost surpasses belief. The noted 

 Oakes cow, a native animal, in Massachusetts, yielded in one season an averaj^e of 18 

 ounces of butter per day for 215 days, or 467^ pounds, which, at 35 cents, is $1G2.6'2, or 

 $134.57 more than the average of our cows. Numerous instances are on record of a per 

 annum yield of 1,000 gallons of milk, or 780 pounds of cheese. These are some of the 

 possibilities, and while such may be rare and extreme cases, they show a defect some- 

 where when the average falls to 80 or 90 i^ounds. 



Mr. A. L. Bradbury addressed the board on the advantages to dairy- 

 men from raising their own cows. He closed his remarks with the fol- 

 lowing directions for the treatment of calves : 



Admitting that it is better to raise our own cows, how shall we raise our calves so as 

 to retain the use of the cow in the dairy ? * * » How soon can we begin to substi- 

 tute other food than milk for our calves ? Not the first week, for the calf should have 

 the milk of its dam for one week at least. Now, if we wish to commence to substitute 

 something instead of milk, he must be taken from the cow and taught to drink and 

 feed the same elements of nutrition the milk contains. One quart of milk contains 

 about li ounces of butter, 1 ounce of sugar, 1+ ounces of casein, and 70 grains of 

 bone matter. Experiments have shown that one pound of oil or fat is equal to 2i pounds 

 of starch or sugar ; thus one quart of milk contains of flosh-formiug material 1^ ounces, 

 of fat or heat-giving material A^ ounces, or a total of 5g^ ounces of nutritive elements. 

 Now, if we take out one ounce of butter to a quart of milk, we shall have removed one- 

 half of its value for the calf, which we must make uj) in quantity by doubling up, or 

 substituting starch in the form of buckwlieat Hour, at the rate of 2^ ounces for every 

 ounce of butter taken away. The better plan is to gradually substitute skimmed milk 

 for the new by adding new milk with warm skimmed milk for its morning and eve- 

 ning meals, and giving it skimmed milk at poon, for it should be fed three times per 

 day atleas*^^. AVhen the calf is four weeks old it will do well enough on skimmed milk 

 alone, provided it can have enough, with always keeping good sweet hay by it. Reared 

 in this way, wo have our milk for use in the dairy, and get much better calves than 

 in the ordinary way of letting them draw the milk themselves until they are ten or 

 twelve weeks old, then taking them away at once. A calf should not be weaned until 

 it Ts four or five months old. In a cheese-dairy whey and oatmeal can be substituted 

 for skimmed milk, after the calf is two months old, with good success. 



Mr. Colburn said that farmers and dairymen made a great mistake by 

 selling their March calves, as they made much better milkers than those 

 dropped in June. While it costs a little more to raise these early spring 

 calves, on account of the high price of milk and butter at that season of 

 the year, be thought that the additional expense was more than over- 

 balanced by the exti'a milking qualities of the cow. His method of 

 treatment in the rearing of calves was given as follows: 



For the first week I let them have half of the milk ; then I take them off and teach them 

 to drink. I let the milk stand from twenty-four to thirty-six hours, skim it, warm it 

 milk-warm, and give it to them, six quarts to a feed, twice a daj' for the first week or 

 fortnight ; then I increase the quantity so as to give them all that the cow will give. 

 When they are about four weeks old, I put a little shorts, oatmeal, or oats, cooked po- 

 tatoes, or crusts of bread in a trough where they can get at it. After they get so as to 

 eat too much, I allowance them to about a pint and a half of oats a day, or something 

 equivaleut ; and so right on until they are six or eight months old, increasing the feed. 

 I give them milk until they are four months old. If yon want to carry the calves up 

 to great growth early, keep them up for eight months ; but I usually turn them out 

 to grass when four months old. The first winter I feed some roots with good dry grass, 

 not hay. I have by this system of feeding matured my Jersey calves at seventeen 

 months old. 



In the course of discussion on the subject of farm experiments, Mr. 

 Stewart, of l^ewport, gave a detailed statement of his system of treat- 

 ing grass-lands. After stating that he had commenced farming on an 

 old rundown farm, he said: 



My only object has been to raise grass, consequently my experiments have been in 

 that direction. The first year I succeeded very well in getting along with the drought, 

 and the grasshoppers passed by me with but little injury. But the second year they 



