THE MILK MACHINE 319 



The ten heifers which I reserved in the spring 

 of 1896 were now nearly two years old. They 

 were expected to " come in " in the early autumn, 

 when they would supplement the older herd. 

 The cows purchased in 1895 were now five years 

 old, and quite equal to the large demand which 

 we made upon them. They had grown to be 

 enormous creatures, from thirteen hundred to 

 fourteen hundred pounds in weight, and they were 

 proving their excellence as milk producers by 

 yielding an average of forty pounds a day. We 

 had, and still have, one remarkable milker, who 

 thinks nothing of yielding seventy pounds when 

 fresh, and who doesn't fall below twenty-five 

 pounds when we are forced to dry her off. I 

 have no doubt that she would be a successful 

 candidate for advanced registration if we put 

 her to the test. For ten months in each year 

 these cows give such quantities of milk as would 

 surprise a man not acquainted with this noble 

 Dutch family. My five common cows were good 

 of their kind, but they were not in the class with 

 the Holsteins. They were not " robber " cows, 

 for they fully earned their food ; but there was 

 no great profit in them. To be sure, they did 

 not eat more than two-thirds as much as the 

 Holsteins ; but that fact did not stand to their 

 credit, for the basic principle of factory farming 

 is to consume as much raw material as possible 

 and to turn out its equivalent in finished product. 

 The common cows consumed only two-thirds as 



