SOLON ROBINSON, 1845 545 



some day be interesting to those who take pleasure in 

 increasing their agricultural information. And here I 

 give you a scrap about 



An Orange County Milk Farm. — While on a visit at 

 Newburgh last summer, I made the acquaintance of Mr. 

 J. R. Colwell, who lives on a farm of 280 acres, 2^fc miles 

 from the river, and upon which he keeps 50 cows, 4 oxen, 

 5 horses, and varying numbers of young stock. About 

 60 acres are in grain cultivation; the other in pasture, 

 mowing, and woodland, which latter, however, is pas- 

 tured. The average crops on this, as well as adjoining 

 farms, may be fairly stated as follows: — Corn, 40 bush- 

 els to the acre ; rye, 20 ; oats, 40 ; and hay, one-and-a-half 

 tons. Of course the great reliance for profit is upon the 

 milk sent to the city market. This is sold at an average 

 through the year of two cents per quart, delivered on 

 board of steamboats at Newburgh. Mr. Colwell expects 

 his cows to average 5 or 6 quarts of milk per day through 

 the year, which will be in a year, at 5V2 quarts per day, 

 2,0071/2 quarts, at 2 cents, $40.15, which is a little below 

 what is generally calculated for the average produce of 

 cows in Orange county. 



Last year Mr. Colwell only kept sixteen cows, from 

 which he sold milk to the amount of $890, making an 

 average of $55,621/2 to each cow; a very pretty little 

 item for some of us out west, who brag of our great 

 prairie pastures, to set down opposite our account of 

 profit, where cow-keeping costs nothing, and the profit 

 is in exact proportion. 



But I must tell how Mr. Colwell's cows are kept. In 

 summer, upon good pasture, watered by such springs 

 and rills as are always found trickling through a moun- 

 tainous country such as this is. At six o'clock regularly 

 through the summer, they are brought from the pasture 

 to the yards, and milked, and then turned out in a dif- 

 ferent pasture during the night. This change of pasture 

 every night, Mr. Colwell looks upon as an item of great 

 importance. When the pasture begins to fail, say 1st 



