860 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



asking what are the elements of good milk. The question of 

 breeds will not be considered here, other than to state that the 

 breeders art and skill has given us breeds of dairy stock specially 

 adapted to butter, cheese, and a general-purpose cow, the latter 

 being of particular value for sale in villages and cities. 



Milk is at its best estate at the moment of milking, and 

 success in manufacture is based upon extending this period of 

 perfection, at least until the milk has been converted into the 

 practical use for which it was intended. Milk may be said to be 

 made up of butter-fats and caseine, with other minor elements, 

 like sugar and organic or mineral matter. The caseine in milk 

 does not vary to any considerable extent. So many pounds of 

 milk will contain as a rule about so large a per cent of caseine. 

 But the butter per cent varies very largely. Breed, feed, sur- 

 rounding conditions, all have an influence, so that the amount 

 of fatty matter in several samples of milk will vary, four per 

 cent of butter-fats making a very rich milk, while two and a 

 half per cent may be regarded as average quality. 



The cream may vary greatly in production of butter. Different 

 samples of cream, to the eye of similar appearance, will produce 

 butter varying in quantity as three to one. In this respect 

 the Jersey cow, well-fed, has her claim for superiority founded ; 

 for the best cream from native cows will only churn out from 

 forty-five to fifty per cent of butter, while Jersey cream will 

 give in return nearly sixty-five per cent of butter ; so that the 

 weight of cream is not a safe conclusion in respect to the butter 

 yield ; and, lastly, if a cow is not naturally a good milker and 

 butter-maker, no system of feeding can force her to become one; 

 though perhaps an increase may result, it will not overcome the 

 inherited or natural milking tendency. 



A Good Cow. What is a good cow? Taking the average, 

 the Ohio dairy cow may be said to give twenty pounds of milk 

 per day for two hundred days, or four hundred factory gallons 

 at ten pounds each, which at ten cents per gallon would repre- 

 sent an income of $40. To this should be added forty pounds 

 of butter made at the two extremes of the season, worth $10; a 

 calf, $2.50 more; total, $52.50. Many dairies go far above this 



