170 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



the time. If we were watering once or twice a day, I 

 should want to warm the water. 



Dr. J. B. LiNDSEY (of Amherst). Will the lecturer add 

 a word to his opinion of how the average cows are kept on 

 the average farm in Massachusetts, and how, in his judg- 

 ment, they can be improved? That is a subject I believe 

 should be especially dwelt upon. I believe we are behind 

 the times in our methods of producing dairy stock. 



Mr. Ellis. I thought the statistics (juoted spoke pretty 

 loudly. A diflerence of 50 per cent between good cows 

 and poor ones should answer that. We are answering the 

 question of how to improve in our own way by raising our 

 best calves by pure-bred bulls, and these bulls are bought 

 with reference to the purpose. We don't want to use Pro- 

 fessor Sanborn's scrub bulls, — I am as much opposed to 

 scrub registered stock as he is ; but in our case we want 

 large production as well as rich milk. AYe therefore breed 

 our pure-bred and grade cows to registered bulls of large 

 milking strains. 



Question. How about getting rid of the poor ones? 



Mr. Ellis. It takes sand to get rid of them ; and 3'et, 

 watch your figures and you will find you have missed it if 

 you have not used sand. 



Prof. F. S. CooLEY (of Amherst). How much milk or 

 butter must a cow produce in a year to be profitable ? 



Mr. Ellis. That depends upon what it costs to keep 

 her. Really, it depends very materially upon two things, 

 — the cost of keeping and the price obtained for milk. 



Professor Cooley. T observe that the lecturer has some 

 idea of what the minimum product of a cow should Be, and 

 below which she cannot fall without being sold. 



Mr. Ellis. My sand runs out once in a while, and I do 

 not sell a cow when I know I ought to. We ought not to 

 keep a cow that gives less than 5,000 pounds of milk. 



Professor Cooley. That answers the question. Now, 

 what is the difference in value, in your opinion, between a 

 cow that will produce 3,000 pounds of milk and one that 

 will produce 6,000 or 8,000 pounds? 



Mr. Ellis. Not allowing for the extra chance for loss, 



