764 



CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK AND COMPLETE STOCK DOCTOR. 



niadiiiie violates that principle he is at once punished for it. This is jnst 

 as true of the living Machines we employ in converting our feed into ani- 

 mal products. 



Dairy farming may be considered under the following heads: (1) 

 Dairy cattle, their breeding, care, housing and feeding; (2) Birildings, 

 stables, etc., and their proper construction and sanitation; (3) A knowl- 

 edge of the soil and the up-keep of fertility; (4) The proper organizfition 

 of all these forces into an economic relation to each other so as to insure 

 the highest profit; (5) The growing of proper crops and how to cure and 

 preserve them in their highest nutritive condition for the production of 

 milk; (6) Last, but not least, how to make an intelligent man of the far- 

 mer who shall take all these considerations and administer them to theii 

 best purpose and profit. 



As will be seen from the foregoing, dairy farming is not the place for a 

 narrow or ignorant man. It is emphatically a work of brains and wide 

 comprehension. It is for that reason so nmny men make a poor success 

 of it. They will not give it the thought and judgment it must have if it 

 answers back in a profitable manner. 



There are four distinct breeds of cattle which have been developed in 

 their milking functions by long years of breeding and evolution. These 

 are the Holstein-Friesian and Dutch Belted, which are somewhat closely 

 allied; the Jersey, the Guernsey and the Ayrshire. All of these breeds 

 have been specially bred for milk. The Brown Swiss are coming into notice 

 but as yet have not been extensively bred in this country. They are as yet 

 of rather a beefy build but some of the cows show most excellent milk- 

 ing qualities. The Holstein-Friesian, Dutch Belted and Ayrshire breeds 

 are noted for the production of a large amount of milk of a lower percent- 

 age of butter fat and a smaller butter fat globule. These characteristics 

 have led very greatly to their adoption for the purpose of supplying milk 

 to the cities where only a moderately rich milk is wanted. They are also 

 extensively used in this country and Europe for cheese making. Some 

 of the cows of the Holstein breed have been phenomenal producers of milk 

 and butter fat when considered from the standpoint of a year's production. 

 The Ayrshire cow yields a milk of fair average richness. She is an animal 

 of great hardihood and average healthfulness, and is rapidly claiming in- 

 creased attention as a cow of decided merit and desirability. One peculiar 

 feature of the Ayrshire is the harmonious "nick" with the Jersey or 

 Guernsey. We have known of several very fine business herds that have 

 been built u\) by taking grade Ayrshire cows and breeding them to pure 

 bred Jersey or Guernsey bulls. The heifei-s from this combination proved 

 to be cows of high merit. As a rule we do not advocate cross breeding, 

 but we must make an exception in the case of the grade Ayrshire cow and 

 Jersey or Guernsey sires. It is evident that the two currents of blood and 



