39G BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XXXV. 



weight of tlie bullock — the hide is then generally considered to form an 

 eighteenth, and the tallow a twelfth part of the whole ; the remainder of the 

 offal, consisting of the head and pluck, blood, entrails, and feet, are 

 never sold by weight. The hide and tallow are, however, generally consi- 

 dered as equal in value, weight for weight, to the fore-quarters of the finer 

 sort of oxen, or to the full market price of inferior beasts, and alone yield a 

 very ample profit to the butcher. 



Chapter XXXVI. 



ON MILCH CO"\rS. 



It is well known to all landlords that no rents arc so well paid as those 

 of the dairy farms ; there cannot, therefore, be a doubt that they form a 

 secure and profitable occupation, and, indeed, tliis must ever be the case 

 while our consumption of cheese and butter exceeds the supply of the 

 country so largely as it at present does. Thus it may be observed that the 

 price of these articles has advanced much more in our markets during the 

 last half century than any other agricultural produce, while it has also had the 

 still superior advantage of being steadily maintained. They do not, indeed, 

 offer the same chances for a sudden rise as corn, by which the arable farmer 

 sometimes largely profits ; but neither do they present those fluctuating 

 depressions which often lead him to ruin. There is in fact nothing- specu- 

 lative in the business of a dairy ; for, if properly managedj it is sure to 

 afford sufficient for all the common domestic comforts, and if industriously 

 pursued, to be crowned with a moderate competence. It may, indeed, be 

 conducted upon a moderate scale in conjunction with an arable farm, con- 

 taining a very small portion of pasture, if the land be capable of growing 

 artificial grasses and root crops ; for the cows can be held in full milk upon 

 the soiling system, and a farmer's wife and daughters may easily take the 

 management of a dozen or twenty. We need hardly say that it is a health- 

 ful and not laborious employment, and one that will add materially to the 

 family income, without being considered by respectable females as at all 

 menial. 



The most essential points in the establishment of a dairy are : — 

 First, to have a good breed of cows. 



Secondly, to possess proper buildings and implements ; and, 

 Lastly, to be provided with an attentive and skilful dairymaid. 



THE BREED 



most in esteem with the London cow-keepers, who sell the milk without 

 making butter or cheese, is of the old Yorkshire stock, or a cross between 

 the Teeswater and the Holderness, as producing the greatest quantity ; for 

 they are in that case soiled in the house, and of course provided with an 

 abundance of cut grass, brewer's grains, and succulent roots ; but, when 

 grazed, they require very good pasture, and are not generally considered 

 to produce milk of a rich quality. They are also in request among those 

 dairymen from their great disposition to fatten ; which, together with the 

 abundance of their food, renders them quickly ready for the butcher. 



The long-horns, however, are still in request throughout Lancashire, 

 Cheshire, and the adjoining districts, as jiroducing a greater quantity of 

 cheese. The Suffolk polled cows — the Devons, bred in some of the rich 



