DAIRIES. 569 



I have gone so fully into the subject of dairying in my obser 

 vations upon English husbandry, that I shall not extend them. 

 In Holland, the cows are generally pastured and milked in the 

 field. In Flanders, in parts where good pasturage does not 

 abound, they are soiled, and in one of the best districts half an 

 acre of clover to a cow is considered ample for the summer. In 

 winter they have hay, straw, carrots, turnips, or potatoes, in such 

 proportions as a judicious feeder will see to be necessary. But 

 there prevails universally in Flanders a practice of giving the 

 cows a mixture of rye-meal, or the meal of buckwheat with 

 water. This is considered as most indispensable, and, no doubt, 

 contributes essentially to increase the milk. In general, the 

 Flemish farmers prefer a mixture of food both for their cows 

 and their fatting cattle, cutting up straw, hay, turnips, and carrots 

 together. 



There are modes of management in the Swiss dairies which 

 are well worthy of notice. Where it is desired to avail them 

 selves of the feed upon the mountains, a herd of cows is driven 

 therein the summer; and some persons men in the cases which 

 I found go with them, carrying their provision with them, and, 

 occupying a building which is only habitable in summer, tend 

 the cows, and make the cheese. They carry little else than 

 bread with them, and for this they have occasionally to descend 

 the mountain, which, with the return, is no slight task ; but 

 bread and buttermilk form their principal and almost sole diet. 



In another case, in a small village, consisting, it may be, of 

 fifty or a hundred families, I found an arrangement certainly 

 peculiar, but which seemed excellent, and capable of being 

 adopted to advantage in many other situations. Some of the 

 villagers kept one only, some two or three cows. A man and 

 his wife, skilled in making cheese, were employed, in a suitable 

 building, with all the necessary fixtures, to make the cheese for 

 the village. The milk was carried to the place for making the 

 cheese, morning and evening, and there measured and receipted 

 for. Of the whey, each one, when he carried his milk, got his 

 proportion in return. The cheese was sold on joint account; 

 and, after deducting expenses, the proceeds were divided accord- 

 ins: to each one s contributions. This arrangement was excel- 



O O 



lent ; first, for those who kept only one or two cows, and who 

 could not, under the circumstances, make cheese but to a disad- 



48* 



