THE DAIRY. 299 



purposes, butter and cheese, are the only measure of the value 

 of milk ; and a cow is esteemed good or indifferent, as she 

 rives one or the other in the greatest abundance. 



CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH MODIFY THE QUANTITY AND CHAR- 

 ACTER OF MILK. Besides the accidental variation in the 

 quantity and quality of milk in different animals before 

 adverted to, there are many reliable causes which influence 

 both. Of these, parentage has a most decided and uniform 

 influence, frequently modified, however, in the particular 

 individual, by some personal and controlling causes. But a 

 cow whose maternal ancestry on both sides are choice milkers, 

 is almost certain to resemble them. Food influences the 

 qua ntlty rather than the quality. Boussingault tried numer- 

 ous experiments, with cows fed on various kinds of food, and 

 found the difference hardly appreciable in the quality of milk. 

 Its true benefit is to be looked for, in the increased quantity, 

 through which the valuable ingredients are distributed in 

 nearly the same proportion, as when the product is materi- 

 ally lessened. By quality we mean to be understood, the 

 amount of the ingredients, valuable for nutrition only; for it 

 is certain, that there is a rich aromatic flavor, not only in milk, 

 but in butter and cheese, which is afforded in various articles 

 of food, and especially by the fresh green herbage which 

 abounds in the pastures from spring to autumn. Activity or 

 rest has a great effect on both quantity and quality. The 

 less action and the more quiet and rest, the greater the 

 amount of milk and butter. But exercise is absolutely essen- 

 tial to the production of cheese. Butter may be made from 

 cows confined in a stable, but cheese can only be profitably 

 made by animals at pasture. It is supposed by physiologists, 

 that the exercise in gathering their food, rather than any 

 peculiarity in its character, is necessary to convert the nitro- 

 genized tissues, into the nitrogenized principle of caseum or 

 cheese. The time from calving, has also its effect. The 

 first milk drawn from a cow after calving, has been found to 

 yield over 15 per cent, of casein, while in its ordinary state 

 it gives only 3 to 5i. As the quantity of milk diminishes in a 

 farrow cow, the quality improves within certain limits. Preg- 

 nancy affects the quality injuriously, and especially towards 

 its latter stages; and a cow that is predisposed to giving milk, 

 should be dried off a few weeks before its expiration, as it is 

 then unfit for use. Fat cows give poorer milk than such as 

 are moderately lean ; and young animals do not come up to 

 the maximum of their quality, till after their third or fourth 



