ON AGRICULTURE TO DENMARK 66 



black-board with a few cabalistic writings in chalk. It is here 

 that the farmer from this country begins to realise how careful and 

 painstaking the Danes are, and how far ahead of us they are in the 

 breeding and management of their cows. 



We here reproduce one of these blackboards : — 



The writings on it when properly interpreted give reliable 

 information at a glance on the following points : — 



1. The sire of the cow, and her number in the byre. 



2. The cow's number in the Herd Book or the Kontrol 



Society's Books. 



3. The cow's age. 



4. The quantity and quality of milk by the sire's dam, the 



percentage of butter fat which it contained, and the 

 quantity of butter, all in Danish pounds. 



5. The cow's yield of milk for the last season, the percentage 



of butter fat which it contained, and the quantity of 

 butter. 



6. When the cow calved, and when she is expected to calve 



again. 



7. The highest yield of milk the cow has given since she calved 



last — 49 lbs. in this case — and the date when this 

 maximum yield was obtained, and also the present 

 yield (36 lbs.). The latter on some. farms is ascertained 

 and recorded daily, on others periodically. 



8. The class into which the cow's present yield of milk entitles 



her to be placed. (The cows are fed according to the 

 class in which they are placed in, or, in other words, 

 according to their yield of milk.) 



Thus the Danish farmer has continually in view, for the guidance 

 of himself and his servants, information of great value in the 

 economic management of his stock. He always keeps his object 

 before him. Ask him about the breeding of his stock, and you 



