"92 THE CATTLE, OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



of central buildings, commands onr warmest approval — there 

 can be no difficulty in supplying each animal with the quantity 

 of food proportioned to her capacity as a milker. In this way 

 all have their proper allowance, which would not be the case 

 if fed in troughs or cribs in the field. Moreover, there is a 

 saving of labour and of loss to the food from exposure to 

 weather. 



In the next place we have to consider the arrangements of 

 the dairy and details of management. 



A regular and easily regulated temperature is of greatest 

 importance in the milk room ; hence the dairy should face 

 north, and be sheltered from the south. It must also be well 

 ventilated. This can be secui'ed by introducing air passages in 

 the walls near the floor, carrying the walls up, introducing 

 under the ceiling a row of ventilating bricks, and having every 

 space occupied by a movable casement covered with perforated 

 ■zinc. We thus keep the temperature equable in summer, while 

 in winter a hot-water apparatus, with circulating pipes, secures 

 the requisite warmth. This plan is seldom adopted in England, 

 •although it is the most commendable of any in existence. A 

 •dry atmosphere is desirable ; hence, sinking the dairy beneath 

 the surface, thereby insuring dampness, is not recommended, 

 though often practised. We should prefer taking the ground 

 level, building the walls with a damp course, and laying the 

 floor in concrete. A good drain round the building is desirable, 

 but there should be no drain within. An open gutter to carry 

 off water to the outside is all that is necessary. If the bricks 

 are machine-made, and sufficiently even to make a good face, 

 we should make the walls at least 14in. wide, with a hollow 

 space of 4|in. inside (the bottom ventilators may pass diagonally 

 through this space), and cover with the finest cement, finished 

 off with a steel float. Paint, although it makes a good finish, 

 should never be seen inside a dairy. It should always be 

 remembered that milk is subject to fermentation, and that it 

 turns sour rapidly ; hence, both in the dairy fittings and 

 utensils, we should have surfaces into which moisture cannot 

 soak ; hence the objection to bricks, soft stone, and even wood, 

 although this may be used with greater safety. Where outlay 

 is no object, the walls are often covered with glazed tiles, which 



