188 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. 



maker, therefore, whether his milk is skimmed at home or 

 sent to the factory, should endeavor to raise all his promis- 

 ing heifer calves, and I believe many of his steer calves too. 

 Until there is a decided change in the practice of the dairy- 

 men in general, the profits from winter dairying will be 

 greater than from summer dairying. The majority of butter 

 makers in the country have not yet learned that good butter 

 can be made in cold weather, so they continue to make poor 

 butter in summer. Fresh, sweet butter, for several years 

 past, has brought from twenty-five to thirty-three per cent, 

 more in winter than in summer, while the cost of the labor 

 of making is considerably less in winter. 



I would, therefore, advise having more of the cows come 

 in milk in the fall, and I would feed the calves liberally, in 

 warm stables, on milk and dry food until they are six or 

 eight months old. I would have them fed and cared for so 

 well that they would make good heifers for milk by the time 

 they are from twenty-four to thirty months old. 



Applying the same rules for finding the cost of raising a 

 cow that we did for determining the cost of raising a pair of 

 steers, and we ought to find that the expense of raising good 

 cows is less on butter-dairy farms than it will cost to buy 

 them and less than they are actually worth for service. He 

 who depends upon purchasing all his stock will generally 

 find that he will have to buy more than two cows to get one 

 good one, while he who raises his calves from good stock and 

 treats his young animals well opght to do much better than that. 

 If the right kind of stock is kept, there need be no loss if an 

 occasional heifer fails to make a first-class cow, for it can be 

 fattened during its third or fourth year and make excellent 

 beef, that will be worth, cither for home consumption or for 

 sale, more than it has actually cost. Farmers of Massachu- 

 setts patronize their own feeding stalls far too little and their 

 butcher's wagon far* too much, and pay a very large margin 

 for the privilege. No better meat was ever eaten than can 

 be made from a steer or heifer between ten and twenty 

 months old, nor can it ])e ever made at less cost. 



In heavily stocking a dairy form, I would let the young 

 cattle have the pastures chiefly, giving extra feed whenever 



