LIVESTOCK 211 



poorest of the herd as many as nine at one time 

 replacing them by purchases of better ones or 

 by those of our own raising; until the dairy herd of 

 twenty-five cows averaged including two-year 

 old heifers which should have been counted as half 

 cows eight thousand pounds per cow per year. 

 Some of the best cows exceeded twelve thousand 

 pounds per year. At that time the State Dairy- 

 men's Association estimated that the average yield 

 per cow per year throughout the State was between 

 three thousand and three thousand five hundred 

 pounds. So at last the stars in the " Milky " way 

 shone clear above the Cornell hills. 



About 1885 Professor H. H. Wing became my 

 assistant and some years later took entire charge 

 of the Dairy Department. But once more we had 

 a scare on account of tuberculosis. Once a year 

 the herd was tested with tuberculin, and that year 

 a fine Holstein bull responded to the test. It was 

 hard to believe it and a second test was made 

 which confirmed the first. To improve the dairy 

 cattle of the surrounding country I had offered the 

 services of this bull to the farmers at a nominal 

 price and they had availed themselves of the offer. 

 Dr. Law afterward concluded that the bull had 

 become infected from this outside source for, when 

 he was killed, the herd remained clean. 



