IUIRT. 



rvunv. 



three aides of it. The dwelling U not bare attached, M it usually U in 

 common dairim, aud the building U not luirounded by a farm-yard : 

 the* an the only Timimrtnrr in which it differ* from that of a 

 common peasant. The dairy room U Mink below the level of the soil, 

 and U paved with brick. The aides are covered with 1 Hitch tiles, and 

 the arched roof with hard cement. The cow-house, like nil in Holland, 

 ha* a broad passage in the middle, and the cows atend with their bead* 

 towards this passage, which U paved with clinkers or bricks set on 

 edge. Their tails are towards the walls, along which runs a broad 

 gutter sunk six or eight inches below the level of the place on which 

 the cow* stand. This gutter slopes towards a sink covered with an 

 iron grate, which communicates by a broad arched drain with a vaulted 

 tank, into which all the liquid flows. The gutter is washed clean twice 

 a day before the cows are milked. The cows stand or lie on a sloping 

 brick floor, and have but a small quantity of litter allowed them, 

 which U removed every day, and carried to the dung-heap or to the 

 pig-styes to be more fully converted into dung. Whenever the litter 

 U removed, the bricks are swept clean; and in Bummer they are 

 washed with water. In Holland the cows' tails are kept up by a cord 

 tied to tho end of them, which passes over a pulley with a weight at 

 tin- other end, as we see practised with hones that hare been nicked : 

 thus they cannot hit themselves, or the person who milks them. The 

 manner in which the cows are fastened is worthy of notice : Two 

 clight pillars of strong wood are placed perpendicularly about two feet 

 distance from each other, so that the cow can readily pass her head 

 between them. On each of these U an iron ring, which runs freely up 

 and down, and has a hook in its circumference ; two small chains pass 

 from these hooks to a leather strap, which buckles round the neck of 

 the cow. Thus the cow can rise and lie down, and move forward to 

 take her food, which is placed in a low manger before the two pillars ; 

 but she cannot strike her neighbour with her horns. The mangers or 

 troughs are of wood, or bricks cemented together, and are kept aa clean 

 as all the rest of the cow-house. In Switzerland the cow-houses are 

 similar, but there is also a rack, the back of which towards the passage 

 shuts up with a board on hinges. The Dutch mode supplies more 

 light and air to the middle passage ; and as the food U given frequently 

 and in small quantities there is very little waste. The preceding cuts 

 will give a tolerable idea of the whole arrangement. The food U 

 brought in carts, which are driven nt once between the cows. What 

 U not wanted immediately is stored above, whence it is readily thrown 

 down before the cows. Thus much trouble is wived, and one man can 

 feed and attend to a great many cows. From November till May the 

 cowa never leave the cow-house. In summer, when they are out, if 

 they are in adjacent pastures, they are driven home to be milked, but 

 if the pastures are far off, which is sometimes the case, they are milked 

 there, and the milk is brought home in boats ; but this is not thought 

 so good for the butter, which is then always churned from the whole 

 milk, without letting the cream rise. The finest and best flavoured 

 butter is always made from the cream as fresh as possible ; and to 

 make it rue well, the milk should be set as soon as it is milked, and 

 agitated as little as possible. The greatest quantity is seldom obtained 

 when the quality is tho finest. When great attention is paid to the 

 quality, the milk is skimmed about six hours after it is set ; and the 

 cream taken off is churned by itself. The next skimming makes 

 inferior butter. These particulars are mentioned to show the necessity 

 there is of having the dairy as near as possible to the cow-house. 



The utensils of the dairy, such as pails, churns, vats, Ac., are usually 

 made of white wood, and are easily kept clean by scalding and 

 scouring. Leaden troughs are used in large dairies ; and if they are 

 kept very clean by careful scouring, they answer the purpose better 

 than wood. They may be so constructed that the milk may be let off 

 gently before the cream, which is collected by itself. This saves all 

 the trouble of skimming. Brass pans have the advantage of being 

 readily wanned on a chafing-dish in winter. In Devonshire tin or 

 brass pans are frequently used instead of earthenware. There is some 

 danger in the use of brass utensils, though a very little attention 

 will obviate it. It only requires that they should be kept bright, in 

 which case the smallest speck of oxide or verdigris would be per- 

 ceptible. Glass milk pans are coming into use, and are highly 

 approved. In Holland the milk is invariably carried in brass vessels. 

 Out-iron pans have been invented, which are tinned inside. They 

 are economical ; but there is nothing better or neater than well-glazed 

 white crockery ware, of the common oval form. Some recommend 

 unglaxed paw for summer, but they are difficult to keep sweet, as 

 the milk insinuates iUelf into the pores, and is apt to become sour 

 ::. . 



The most common use of cows is to supply butter and cheese 

 ( l!i Tim and CHEESE], and sometimes to fatten calves [CALF] for the 

 butcher; but the most profitable dairy is that which supplies large 

 towns with milk. In these dairies the system is different. The cows 

 are mostly kept in stalls, and fed with food brought to them. Some 

 dairymen near London possess several hundred cows, and tho arrange- 

 ment of their establishment! U worthy of notice. The cows are 

 bought chiefly in the north, before or after they have calved. They 

 arc seldom allowed to go to the bull, but are kept as long as they can 

 be made to give milk by good feeding. When they are dry, they are 

 often already sufficiently fat for sale, oral all events they soon fatten, 

 and are sold to the butcher. A succession of cows is thus kept up, 



new one* arriving as others are sold off. The women who purchase 

 the milk from tho dairyman and carry it about for sale, come for it 

 to the dairy and milk the cow* twice a day ; and as they well know 

 that the last drop of milk is the richest, the cows are sure to be 

 milked quite dry, an essential thing in a dairy. An accurate account 

 is kept of the quantity- which each woman takes, which is paid iW 

 weekly. When there la more milk than there is a demand for, it u 

 set, and the cream Is sold separately, or made into butter ; but this is 

 seldom done to any extent The cows are fad on every kind of food 

 that no increase the milk : brewers' grain* and distillers' wash are 

 preferred, when they can be obtained. The grains are kept in large 

 pita, pressed close and covered with earth, under which circumstances 

 they will remain fresh a long time. Turnips and beet-root are used in 

 large quantities ; but hay U given sparingly. The cows are generally 

 placed in pairs, with a partition between every two pair. Each cow u 

 fartannd to the corner of the stall, where she has a small trough with 

 water before her : thus they cannot gore each other with their hums. 

 The cows chiefly employed in the London dairies are the abort-horned 

 breed. The following passage, taken from a work published by 

 Messrs. Blackie of Glasgow (' How to Choose a good Milk Cow '), 

 describes the experience of a London dairyman : " A Yorkshire cow in 

 a London dairy establishment is seldom calculated to give less than 

 twenty quarto of milk daily for the first four months after dropping 

 her calf, and many of their breed have been known to give from thirty 

 to forty quarts daily for a few weeks after calving. In Mr. Biggs' 

 dairy (Edge ware Road), twenty quarts a day U the average quantity 

 of a great proportion of his best cows, and many of them would con- 

 tinue in milk all the year round ; but as this would be injurious to 

 the animal, and would diminish the yield in the succeeding year, 

 they are intentionally run dry about six weeks before the time of 

 calving. The whole quantity of milk produced in twelve months by 

 one of these Yorkshire cows cannot be leas than 4000 quarta, or 1000 

 gallons. The retail price is It. ill. per gallon, and when sold wholesale 

 to the milkman the price realised by the dairyman is not less than 

 It. per gallon, so that from this datum it appears that a cow giving 

 1000 gallons per annum produces 502. worth of milk during that 

 period. Of course the feeding is very liberal, and from the high price 

 of green food in the metropolis is necessarily very expensive. The 

 milking and feeding in Mr. Biggs' dairy is as follows : 



4 A.y. Milked. (A good milker can milk 16 cows in 24 hours.) 

 4 1 bushel basket of brewers' grains to every 2 cows. 



6 3 bushels of swedes or mangold-wurzel to every 2 cows. 



7 1 truss of hay to every 12 cows. 



9 Water, which is the only time they are allowed to drink 

 during the 24 hours in winter, and each cow drinks about 

 24 quarts. In summer water is given twice. 

 11] 1 bushel of grains to 2 cows. 



1 P.M. Milked again. 



2 8 bushels of roots to 2 cows. 



8 1 truss of hay to 8 cows. 



In summer the green food consists of clover, rye-grass, or vetches. 



The cows are milked twice a day, which occupies about 24 hours 

 each time. The cow-houses are cleaned out five times each day, and 

 the gutters kept sweet by allowing water to flow through them. The 

 cows are thoroughly combed and cleaned once a w, ck. From the 

 foregoing data the following calculations of the annual expense of 

 house-feeding a London dairy cow may be deduced 



Winter Food, October 1st to May 1st. 



212 bushels of grains, at 6d. . 



13 J tons of roots, at 20. . . . 



1 ton of hay, at j/0 



Summer Food, May 1st to October 1st. 

 114 tons of grass, &c., at 20. . . . 

 153 bushels of grains, at 6d. . . 



Total cost of food . . . . 



Interest on capital, 16/. at 6 per cent. 

 Annual loss 



11 10 



.", li! 



d, 



a 

 o 

 o 



I 



6 



88 9 



10 

 16 

 160 



Total cost 



Produce from Cow. 

 1000 gallons of milk, at 1. 



Calf 



Manure 



. 40 19 



Deduct expenses 

 Profit 



55 

 . 40 19 



14 1 



In the above calculation* no charge is made for rent of premise* ; but 

 though II. per cow be struck off for thin, the profit is still abundant." 



