206 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



opportunity to turn lalior into a cash form, and for that rea- 

 son is especially desirable. Whatever of money advantage 

 comes from doing this work is saved by the farm and be- 

 comes a part of its income. Aside from the better product 

 and the higher price, there is the advantage from prit'^ate 

 work, that the farm gets the benefit of the whole operation, 

 — the cost of making and the net value of the milk. It is 

 said there is an out to every good thing ; there seems to be 

 no out here, for this kind of dairying work can only be 

 recommended where there is available labor. 



Summer Milk. 

 One great advantage going with the cheese-making busi- 

 ness, whether associated or private, is, that cheese is made 

 on summer milk. All country dairymen in possession of 

 low-priced pasture lands realize fully that summer milk does 

 not cost as much as winter milk, and that a business that can 

 turn summer milk to profitable account, without necessitat- 

 ing attention to winter milk, is an advantage. In this work 

 there is no call for all-the-year-round milk. The object is 

 to get summer milk, and all the work is shaped to that end. 

 All the cows are arranged to come fresh in milk in spring- 

 time, when all nature aids them in doing their best ; and 

 to take their rest in winter, when the obstacles to cheap 

 production are the most formidable. The cost of keep for 

 cows run in this way is much less than when kept for winter 

 milk, as they must be in case of milk selling. In my own 

 herd, the cost of keep for a good cow run for winter 

 milk, with feed reckoned at market values, is fifty to fifty- 

 five dollars a year. The same cow, run for summer milk 

 and giving a like quantity of milk per year, but doing it in 

 less time, is kept at a cost of ten to fifteen dollars less. 

 This leaves quite a margin for difference in the income for 

 the year, without interfering with the profits, and is an im- 

 portant matter in connection with cheese-making. 



Butter. 

 The making of butter is a business that may well engage 

 the attention of any individual farmer or any community of 

 farmers, wherever located. It is a pleasant line of work. 



