120 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



and I milked them at noon, and I did not get more than 

 half the amount of milk, and I supposed that I should lose 

 half the butter product of the cows. Come to skim that 

 milk, I found, to my surprise, that I got as much cream, or 

 nearly as much, as I would if I had let them go until night. 



Ex-Governor Hoard. There is one thing I want to say 

 to all students of the cow. A cow that gives you rich 

 milk, very rich milk, is correspondingly more liable to gar- 

 get and disease of the udder, more liable to danger from 

 blows, hurts of any kind. A clear indication of a cow that 

 gives rich milk is the construction of the udder. If you 

 have a cow giving very rich milk, be exceedingly careful 

 that she is not exposed by lying on the cold ground in the 

 fall of the year. If you are looking for a cow that gives 

 thin milk, look for a cow that milks down to a thin udder 

 which has less cellular formation. 



Mr. Stetson. Do you think quicklime is a disinfectant? 

 Will it take the place of land plaster ? 



Ex-Governor Hoard. No, sir. It is an excellent ab- 

 sorbent of moisture, but you need to save the ammonia in 

 your stable. You go to Xew York and pay 16 cents per 

 pound or thereabouts for it. That ammonia in your stable 

 is worth to you all that you would have to pay for it. 

 Land plaster is an excellent absorbent of this form of nitro- 

 gen. You need that on your soils, and you want your 

 stables clean and free from the irritating effects of ammonia 

 on the luno-s of vour cows and horses. 



Mr. Stetson. How much land plaster do you use per 

 cow? 



Ex-Governor Hoard. I use about a barrel of land 

 plaster to nine animals each three months. It costs me 

 $1.G0 per barrel. It is worth more than it costs as fertil- 

 izer. It is also an excellent thing on stable floors ; it pre- 

 vents them from becoming slippery. 



Mr. J. C. Newhall (of Conway). We have a great 

 deal of milk fever in our section. 



Ex-Governor Hoard. I have lost but one cow from 

 milk fever, and then I was off playing politics with the 

 State of Wisconsin. 



