290 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF MILCH 



COWS. 



BY GEO. L. CLEMENCE OF SOUTHBRIDGE. 



The milch cow is the basis of New England agriculture. 

 She is the essential factor by means of which the farmer is 

 enabled to convert the products of his fields and meadows 

 into an available commodity of exchange, and in addition 

 she furnishes, to a very material extent, those elements 

 which enable him to carry on his farm operations and main- 

 tain the fertility of his lands. She is the delicate, living 

 mechanism by which we seek above all things else to perpet • 

 uate and make profitable a New England rural economy. 

 The occupation and cultivation of the broad and cheap areas 

 in the West preclude the possibility of producing in Massa- 

 chusetts beef and the more important cereals, at a profit. 

 Fortunately the growth of population in cities and towns 

 has created an ever-enlarging market for those products of 

 our farms which do not come into so direct competition with 

 the production of the inexpensive and virgin acres of the 

 West, as would the less perishable products. 



To-day milk is the staple article produced upon the farms 

 of Massachusetts ; and, whether this is sold whole or in the 

 form of cream or butter, the great majority of farmers are 

 dependent upon it for whatever measure of success they 

 secure in their calling. To obtain the greatest amount of 

 this, of a standard quality, and at the least possible expense, 

 is the aim of the dairy farmer. To this end he directs his 

 thoughts and efforts, and, realizing that dairy or milk farm- 

 ing will not permit of that freedom or indifference possible 

 in stock or grain raising, he looks more carefully and with a 

 greater diligence to the farm and its buildings, and to the 

 cultivation of his fields. He ploughs and manures, sows his 



