1S38] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



421 



From tlic Farmers' Cabinet. 

 MILCH COWS. 



TIiR attention of fiirmers is invited to the 

 considemtion oC the character and condition o( 

 our niilcli cows. 



Ilow much onfjht a cow to yield to be worth 

 her keeping ? What i? the averaire time that our 

 cows are in mili\ ? Is there mucli il' any waste of 

 fodder anionof us by keepino; cattle that yield little 

 or no return of profit ? Qiiesiions like these, and 

 there are many such, ouirht to be put and an- 

 swered : it may turn out that our dairy stock is 

 extremely low in character, and its management 

 wastelul. 



It'somethin^ like an averasje quality of milch 

 cows could be settled to afford a standard, and 

 it should be understood that no jrood (firmer would 

 keep an animal for milk that fell below it, all the 

 cows in the country would soon come up to the 

 standard and go beyond it. 



A milch cow of medium quality, in this state, 

 •will give, it is supposed, 12 quarts of milk per day 

 for two months after calvinij, and 7 quarts per day 

 on grass for the next 4 months, and 4 quarts per 

 day for the following 2 months, and perhaps two 

 quarts 1 month longer. Altogether L500 quarts, 

 in a year. 



It "takes 9 quarts of mill: to make a pound of 

 butter, and 4 quarts to yield a pound of chee.se. 

 The skim milk and dairy whey may be valued 

 at !S3 a cow per annum. 



Now a cow that gives 1500 quarts of milk in a 

 year, produces 166 pounds of butter, worth 16 

 cents per pound, ^26 5.5 



Skim milk say 3 44 



^29 99 



Or 1500 quarts of milk will give at four quarts 



to the pound of cheese, 374 pounds, which at 8 



cents per pound will be ^30 20 



Whey, say 3 00 



$33 00 



Nothing is said of the worth of the calf, as all 

 the milk the cow gives is credited. A milch cow's 

 keeping one year cannot be short of ^25 in the 

 interior. 



Suppose a farmer to resolve that he would keep 

 no cow that did not hold out a good milker, 9 

 months in the year — and that did not give 16 

 quarts of milk per day for two months afler calv- 

 ing, and 12 quarts per day the next (bur months, 

 and six quarts per day the next three months, and 

 two quarts per day the month following. Such 

 a cow would yield per annum 3000 quarts of milk. 



Here it may be remarked, that with the addition 

 of five dollars per annum to the cost of food esti- 

 mated for a cow, the net profit would probably be 

 Ibur-fold. 



Is it not practicable to have throughout the 

 country, as common dairy stock, animals as good 

 as the last described? 



This question is submitted to farmers for con- 

 sideration. The probability is, that in taking some 

 pains to get stock as good, they would get even 

 better. 



If the various modes of obtaining this object 

 were resorted to at once with zeal throughout the 

 country, there would be a prodigious improvement 



in a very short time. No young animal of pro- 

 mising appearance for milk would go to the but- 

 cher. JNlore care would be taken of young stock. 

 More young slock would be retained to insure n 

 better selection for milch cows. Farmers would 

 think more of the advantages ol'employing bulls ol" 

 the improved breed. Heiler.? would be milked with 

 great care and very thoroughly, to get them inta 

 the habit of holding out longer as milker?. If they 

 once dry early, no care and keeping will after- 

 wards correct this fiiult. Heifers with the first 

 calf will be fed well, and with some additional 

 care, the last three months they are in niilk, to 

 make them hold out. 



The profit of a milch cow is not generally un- 

 derstood. JVIilk is not only the most nutrilious;^ 

 but the cheapest article of food. The food neces- 

 sary for a cow in full milk, does not exceed in price^ 

 one-third of what is necessary in feeding for the 

 butcher. 



These few remarks are hastily made lo draw 

 out farmers on this subject. I'here is a great 

 deal to be said upon it, and a great many facts 

 to the purpose, which should come to light. 



MEMORANDA OF LIMING. PROPOSED LEGIS- 

 LATIVK PREMIUM. 



To tlie Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Cliarles-cUy County, August 15, 1838, 

 In my memorandum book I find the following- 

 sentences, which, if they will be of any use to 

 those who are using calcareous manure, or begin- 

 ning to do so, they are very welcome to them. 



I commenced the use of lime in the year 1825 

 at Weyanoke; put on at the rate of half a b'jshel 

 of burned shells to every 18 feet square,- do not 

 think I ever had any increase of the corn crop the 

 first year; have observed it always looked greener. 

 Never fidled in a crop of clover on limed land, no 

 matter how poor, or how much galled or gullied. 

 The most benefit ever received from liming, was 

 on a broom-straw old field; first burned (the straw) 

 then limed before ploughing, at the usual rate. 

 Suffered to grow up again in broom-straw; plough- 

 ed in the spring and sufiered lo remain till the 

 fall; fiillowed and put in wheat; (a poor worn-out 

 reddish soil, rather sandy;) it produced 15 bushels 

 of wheat; a fine crop of clover succeeded — then 

 wheat (lost by rust) — corn, a fine crop, about 6|^ 

 barrels; (wheat entirely destroyed by the previous 

 winter;) clover, a fine crop; wheat, 26 bushels to 

 the acre; now in corn of an unusual large growth, 

 much afiecled by the present drought, but will, f 

 venture to say, produce between 5 and 6 barrels 

 of corn; a good season Avould produce over ten; 

 has never been manured; plastered once in the 

 spring, the year after it was limed. Have been 

 in the habit every year of mixing lime with ma- 

 nure, always with increased benefit. For the last 

 four years have used marl in that way. I believe 

 one hundred bushels of marl, such as is got from 

 Cabin Point, or Cogcin's Point, will do as much 

 permanent good as 300 put on alone; it ensures a 

 great growth of clover, and I think the sooner the 

 vegetable matter is applied afler the application of 

 the calcareous matter, the greater, quicker, and 

 the more permanent the advantage to be derived. 

 On an acre of land, in a field I have limed of 

 150 acres, I put one peck of lime or burned shells 



