31 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I. 



aud comfort of all domeslic animals, and upon none is it more marked than 

 upon the most valuable of all, the cow. Every judicious farmer, who has 

 an eye only to his jjurse, will see that his cows are bountifully supplied with 

 proper food to produce the largest flow of milk, and rich in cream, and that 

 his meadows and pastures are free from noxious weeds, that will impart a 

 disagreeable taste to tlio milk and butter. A mi.\ture of timothy and white 

 clover is the most desirable pasture for the dairy ; and the best aud sweetest 

 butter is generally produced in M.ay and June ; for then kind Nature sends 

 up a Bpontaiicous supply of rich, juicy food, and the air is cool and pure, 

 and all things combine to render the dairyman's task easy and delightful. 

 But when the sun has scorched the vegetation and imisaired its nutritive 

 l)roperties, and the temperature of the atmosphere is like an oven, then there 

 is need of skill to counteract the opposing influences of nature ; and the task, 

 though diflicult, can be accomplished, and a cool atmosphere created in the 

 milk-room, and proper food supplied, as the reward of well-directed labor. 



Every farmer should practice, at least on a small scale, growing extra feed 

 for his cows, when pasture lails. One of the easiest things gi'own for fall 

 feed is cabbage. It gives an immense amount of food per acre. 



27. Feeding Cows for Butter-Making. — A writer in the Farmer and Gar- 

 Jeiur (Phila.) says: "The use of corn and cob-meal in my practice has 

 produced more fat than butter. The best feed I have tried is two bushels of 

 ship-stuS" to one bushel of ground corn. In the use of corn fodder, I have 

 lound great advantage in not only cutting, but steaming it. Many cows 

 will not eat it^ without its being steamed. Turnips are good enough, if the 

 taste they impart to the butter is not objectionable. Pumpkins add largely 

 to the quantity of uiilk, but the cream, in churning, is always frothy, and 

 j'equircs a longer time to be converted into butter. 



" My plan of feeding is as follows : I always let my cows go diy about 

 the flrst of the new year, giving them, by this plan, a rest of some two 

 months. During this period of rest I feed them on hay, corn-fodder, and 

 straw. As soon as they begin to spring, I add four quarts of meal to each 

 cow, which, after being mixed with the long straw and fodder, is steamed, 

 and fed a little waiin. Until tiie calves are separated from the cows, this 

 amount of food is given once a day, after which time I feed them three times 

 a day." 



28. Health of Co«"s. — A sickly cow not only yields a diminished profit, 

 but she yields sickly milk, and sickly in a higher degree than her flesh. 



If a cow eats anything that has a strong or disagreeable odor, it appears 

 in her milk. 



If she eats anything medicinal, it comes out in her milk. 



If she is feverish, her milk shows it. 



If she has sores about her, pus may be found in her milk. 



If she is fed upon decayed or diseased food, her milk, since it is derived 

 from her food, will be unhealthy. It is as impossible to make good milk 

 from bad food, as to make a good building from rotten timber. 



