Sko. 3.] COWS— DIEECTIONS FOR SPAYING. 



If there is anything wrong about her, it ■will appear in the milk, as that is 

 an effective source of casting it from her organism. 



Tlicse facts should at all times be ■well impressed upon the minds of dairy- 

 men, but more especially in the cold season of the year. Closely confined in 

 their narrow stalls through the long winter, where the air is not always 

 fresh and pure, nor water tmd exercise always had when desired, nor their 

 food alwaj's free from foul medicinal weeds, as thistles, daisies, white top, 

 etc., cows are very likely to vary from a perfectly healthy condition ; sprino- 

 cheese will be faulty enough, do the best we can — that every dairyman 

 knows. The health of the cows should not, at any rate, be allowed to 

 become a cause of deterioration. Green food should now, if it has not been 

 before, alternated as often as possible with the dry ; for this purpose, beets, 

 carrots, turnips, potatoes, cabbages, parsneps, and apples are valuable. 



Ventilation and watering should be promptly attended to, and salt and 

 meal, made by pulferizing burned bones, should be kept where daily access 

 can be had to them, if desired, nor should their strength and flesh be allowed 

 to fail for the want of a suiiiciently nutritious diet. The best flavored butter 

 and cheese can not be made from cows that are badly fed, or ailing, or poor. 



As bad health in parents transmits a tendency to disease in the oflspring, 

 it is important that every kind of animal we desire to continue on our farms 

 should be kept vigorous and healthy. 



As an unhealthy animal can not consume food to as good advantage as a 

 well one, it is again economical to avdid disease. 



29. The Amount ^of Hay required for (ows— The Cost of Milk.— Otis Brig- 

 ham, of "Westborough, Mass., after seventy years' experience in farmin"-, 

 says, in the New Entjland Farinei\ that good cows will eat, on an average, 

 2olbs. of hay per day when giving milk, and 15 lbs. when dry — not by 

 guess-work, but tested by actual weighing, for months at a time. Then it 

 is easy to calculate the cost of milk. In the neighborhood of New York, 

 the average value of hay is one cent a pound, and the quantity of milk not 

 over six quarts. At three and a half cents a quart, it will pay the hay bill, 

 and one cent a day over. If other feed is given, the increase of milk must 

 pay for that. The manure will be worth at least the cost of attendance and 

 niiiking. If the milk is worth more than three and a half cents, it gives a 

 profit; and if less, a loss. 



3(t. For Kickin;^ f ows. — Take a short strap, and fasten the ends together. 

 Next prepare a pin of some soft wood, about six or eight inches long, one 

 and a half inches in diameter. Take the cow by the off fore-leg, and double 

 it at the knee-joint close; pass the strap or looj^ over the knee, pressing it 

 back until you can insert the pin between that and the knee-joint, and she 

 can not kick. 



31. Directions for Spayin? Cows. — Dr. Dadd, veterinary surgeon, in the 

 American Stock Journal, says that the milk of spayed cows gives more cream 

 than ordinary milk, and that the butter made from it is more delicious in 

 taste. The milk is also invaluable for nursing infants. He thiidcs there is 



