292 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



living near a large city this custom may not be practicable, 

 for it presupposes the possession of cheap, outlying pastures, 

 where the young stock can be fed in the summer months. 



The ideal cow for a milk farm is, in my opinion, a grade. 

 I do not believe that any one breed possesses so many good 

 points as two or three breeds combined. I keep a pure-bred 

 sire, alternating, as nearly as practicable, every three years, 

 with one of a different breed. To illustrate, if I were start- 

 ing a herd, I would keep a Shorthorn bull of a well-estab- 

 lished milk strain ; during the second three years I would 

 keep an Ayrshire ; and in the third three years I would keep 

 a Jersey. From the Shorthorn sire would come size, and 

 capacity to eat and digest a large amount of feed ; from the 

 Ayrshire I secure a predisposition to a large yield of milk, 

 and a cow peculiarly adapted to our hilly and rocky pastures 

 and their short feed ; from the Jersey would come the requi- 

 site richness and solidity of the milk. I have never kept a 

 pure-bred Devon or Holstein sire ; still, I would not hesitate 

 to take a Devon, instead of a Jersey, because of the richness 

 of their milk, their rugged constitution and their adaptability 

 to our climate and lands. Neither would I object to a 

 Guernsey ; and, if my milk tested well above the legal stan- 

 dard, I might possibly be induced to use a Holstein. 



In breeding, I aim to secure as large a cow as possible, 

 and retain the milk form and characteristics. The larger 

 the cow, the more she can eat ; and the more she eats, the 

 more milk will she produce. A small cow with small 

 digestive capacity cannot, in the nature of things, make so 

 much milk as a larger cow with a greater digestive capacity. 

 This on the supposition that both are proportionately equal 

 in a milk-yielding point of view. 



The milch cow should have a warm, clean and wholesome 

 stable, well lighted and well ventilated ; and I have come 

 to the conclusion that it is a wise economy that this stable 

 should be separated from the main barn, and constructed 

 with especial reference to her welfare and convenience. I 

 believe this plan has much to commend it. Its construction 

 we can so plan as to economize in the labor of feeding ; 

 secure far greater safety from danger of loss of cattle from 

 fire ; provide more light and better ventilation ; and can 



