Ch. XXXVI.] ON MILCH COWS. 399 



comparisons between the product of the cows which come into his possession, 

 even when tliey are of the same breed ; for those bred upon the same farm, 

 got by the same bull, and of the same age and appearance, not unfrequently 

 yield not only various quantities of milk, but afford butter of different 

 weights from the same quantity*. Experiments are easily made by feeding 

 the cows on the same food, and measuring its quantity, together with that 

 of their milk ; which, if kept and churned separately, the cost of the proven- 

 der and the value of the butter will soon discover which is the most profit- 

 able. This, indeed, is rarely done ; but its neglect is highly injudicious ; 

 for a bad cow will eat as much as a good one, and thus occasion a daily 

 comparative loss. 



MANAGEMETMT. 



The chief points to be regarded in the construction of a cow-house are, 

 that it should be comfortably warm and very airy, but more especially that 

 it be dry ; for although a certain degree of warmth is healthful, yet cows, 

 if kept dry, are not very susceptible of cold, and fresh air should never be 

 excluded. There is no other distinction necessary between it and ox-stalls, 

 of which we have already given so ample a description t, except that it 

 should have calf-pens adjoining, and be kept with still greater cleanliness. 

 So far, indeed, is this carried in Holland, where the dairy forms so pro- 

 minent an object in the husbandry of the country, that the wealthiest 

 farmers generally have their common parlour opening by a glass-door into 

 the cow-house, which is regularly swept and sanded to a state of the most 

 extreme neatness ; and the animals are not only wisped and curried like 

 horses, but we have seen their tails tied up in pullies, in the same manner 

 as those of horses after they have been nicked, and this solely to prevent 

 their soiling themselves. 



As to the effect of food, notwithstanding all that has been said respecting 

 the nutritive properties of peculiar roots and artificial grasses, experience 

 has very decidedly shown that no food is comparable to that of good 

 natural pasture for milch-cows ; for not only does it yield a greater quan- 

 tity of milk, but, in fact, the flavour of grass butter may always be distin- 

 guished by its superior richness and delicacy from that which has been 

 made from milk produced from soiling in the house ; and its quality may 



* Thus, according to a Report on Dairy Management, stated in the Transactions of 

 the Highland Society, it appears that some cows fed in the same manner produced 

 double the quantity of butter from the same quantity of milk. — N. S., vol. ii., p. 258. 



t See vol. i., chapters v. and viii. In addition to what we have stated on this 

 subject at p. 202, we should say that Mr. Harley's cow-house, near Glasgow, is 

 perhaps, in all its establishment, the most complete in the kingdom. It contains 

 standings, under one roof, for ninety-six cows, placed in double rows across the building, 

 two rows facing each other, with a passage between them iium which both are fed. The 

 bottom of the stalls decline a little towards the centre, to lead into a common drain com- 

 municating with a reservoir for the urine and washings of the floors, which are carefully 

 cleansed every day. The ventilation is so completely commanded that it caa be very 

 nearly regulated at all seasons, and is kept as nearly as possible at about 60° of 

 Fahrenheit. Stalls for every two cows are divided from each other by pillars nf cast 

 iron, having grooves into which the division boards are fixed ; but Mr. Aiton recom- 

 mends a flag-stone of about 4i feet high, and extending 6^ feet backwards from the 

 wall, as a proper division between every pair of cows, with a slider or rod of iron of 

 about twenty inches long fixed perpendicidarly to each side of the stone. The cows 

 are bound to these sliders with a slight iron chain round their necks, which moves up 

 and down with a ring as they raise or lower their heads; thus affording equal security 

 with more freedom than when they are secured in the customary mode between two 

 stakes ; and, when fed with potatoes, if a pin be put through a hole in the slide, it 

 prevents the cow from raising her head, and thereby incurring the risk of choking 

 herself. 



