THE COW AND THE DAIRY. 



The daily average quantity of slop for a Cow is about a barrel of thirty-two 

 gallons. At first we were incredulous as to the amount they learn to consume ; 

 but after many careful inquiries at many dairies, the fact is rendered certain. 

 Now it is evident that no Cow in health would eat such an enormous quantity of 

 slop. By feeding on this unnatural and stimulating food, they are thrown into a 

 state of disease, and for a short time will feed monstrously, and yield large quan 

 tities of bad milk.&quot; .... 



&quot; The cow-pens are rude, unsightly wooden buildings, varying from fifty to 

 two hundred feet in length, and about thirty feet in breadth. They are very 

 irregularly arranged, so as to cover the entire ground, excepting narrow avenues 

 between ; and appear to have been temporarily constructed, as the arrival of new 

 dairies required enlargements for their accommodation. It, is said they will con 

 tain about two thousand head of cattle; but this estimate, we would judge, is an 

 exaggeration. The stalls are rented by the proprietor of the distilleries to the 

 different cow owners, at from four to five dollars a year per each head of cattle, 

 while the slop is furnished at nine cents a barrel.* Slop constituting both food 

 and drink, water and hay or other solid or gramineous fodder, supply no part of 

 the wants of these abused animals. The fluid element, indeed, appears not to 

 be in request for purifying purposes. Fountains of pure water, extensive hay 

 ricks, capacious out-houses, and similar conveniences, which are ordinarily 

 deemed so import-ant for the feeding and watering so large a stock, are here dis 

 pensed with as unnecessary appendages to a city dairy. 



&quot; The interior of the pens corresponds with the general bad arrangement and 

 repulsive appearance of the exterior. Most of the cattle stand in rows of ffom 

 seven to ten across the building, head to head and tail to tail alternately. There 

 is a passage in the rear for cleaning, and another in front which gives access to 

 the heads of the cattle. The floor is gently inclined, but no litter is allowed. 

 The stalls are three feet wide, with a partition between each, and a ceiling about 

 seven feet high overhead. But the chief and most inexcusable defects are the 

 want of ventilation and cleanliness ; though in the latter respect, since public at 

 tention has been called to their vile condition, they are somewhat improved. 

 There appears, however, no contrivance for washing the pens, or by which a 

 circulation of air can be produced. To scent the effluvia, as it is diluted and dif 

 fused in the surrounding atmosphere, is sufficiently offensive, and the visitor will 

 instinctively retire in dread of closer proximity. But to survey the premises round 

 about, and merely to look into the pens, will but inadequately convey an idea of 

 the disgusting reality. . . . The astonishment is that animal life, with all 

 its wonderful recuperative energies, and power of accommodation to circum 

 stances, can exist in so fetid an atmosphere.&quot; .... 



&quot; Such, then, as described, is the barbarous and unnatural treatment of this do 

 cile, inoffensive and unfortunate animal, that is destined to supply us with nutri 

 ment, both when living and dead, and which is one of the most valuable gifts of 

 Providence to ungrateful men.&quot; .... 



&quot; Slop-milk is naturally very thin, and of a pale bluish color. In order to dis- 



\vere still spoken of by the inhabitants in the neighborhoods as nuisances of so oflensive a character as to 

 prevent the improvement of property in their vicinity ; while their present vile condition too truly indicated 

 the nature of the evils they were continuing to inflict on more distant portions of the community. The 

 most careful inquiries, however, failed to tilicit any new information of interest; but we everywhere re 

 ceived the fullest confirmation of the facts and principles which are spread throughout this work. 



In the course of the tour, we visited a large rum-distillery located in the immediate neighborhood 

 of the South Ferry, Brooklyn. We were not disappointed in failing of admittance into the concern, for 

 it is common to all these establishments, which are battening on the spoils of an injured community, to 

 conceal, as far as possible, their operations from the public eye. It was, however, of little consequence, for 

 there were other means of information at hand, and much that was open to observation. We were informed 

 that from seven hundred to one thousand bushels of grain are daily converted into whisky at this distillery, 

 the refuse of which would suffice to slop two thousand Cows; and that about fifty head of cattle, and from 

 jive to seven hundrred swine, were fattening on the premises. No milch Cows are there kept ; but we count 

 ed eighty-seven carts and wagons, containing an aggregate of one hundred and twenty-nine hogsheads, appa 

 rently waiting for slush, exclusive of numerous others which were going and returning from the premises. 

 The hour of our visit (3 o clock P.M.) was inopportune to witness the dally delivery of the slop. The great- 

 cat activity in the business is from 4 to 8 o clock morning and evening, during which time an incessant 

 tream of carts is seen issuing from the distillery, laden with slop for the supply of the neighboring dairies. 



The quantity of milk required for the daily supply of the cities of New- York and Brooklyn, as near as can 

 oe ascertained, is about fifteen thousand gallons. This, at the ave?-age price of six cents per quart, amounts 

 to three thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars per day, or. in round numbers, to fficen hundred thousand 

 dollars a year. 



* The price of slop is not uniform, but is varied by the value of grain. It has been aa low as 6 c&amp;lt;3nts per 

 barrel. 



