MILCH COWS. 321 



present condition, or to supply the daily want of their bodies. 

 All over this may be converted into bone, muscle or milk. If, 

 therefore, we have a given quantity of food, say thirty pounds of 

 good hay, or its equivalent, to convert into milk, and feed it to 

 a cow weighing ten hundred pounds, she will, after using two 

 per cent, of her weight, or twenty pounds of the hay, to support 

 her daily natural want, have ten pounds to convert into milk, 

 bone or muscle. But if we feed the thirty pounds of hay to a 

 cow weighing fifteen hundred pounds, she requiring two per 

 cent, of her weight, or thirty pounds of hay to supply her daily 

 want, or to keep her in present condition, she will have none 

 remaining to convert into either milk, bone, or muscle, and 

 instead of yielding a profit, will be nearly worthless for the 

 dairy, and valuable only as a machine to convert her food into 

 manure. Hence the fact so generally observed, that small cows 

 give the richest milk. They waste less of their food in sustain- 

 ing their own bodies. Good dairy cows convert less of their 

 food into flesh and more into milk, which gives that lean and 

 long appearance so generally observed in our best milking 

 stock. The external marks characteristic of a good dairy cow 

 have been so often and so well described, the committee will 

 not name any of their own. They, however, beg leave to 

 recommend to their brother farmers the study of M. Guenon's 

 work on milch cows, believing that if they will make themselves 

 familiar with the marks therein described they will never be 

 disappointed in the purchase or rearing of a cow for the dairy. 



The cows exhibited and coming under the inspection of the 

 committee, were five in number, all of which were creditable to 

 the show, as well as to their owners. For the best lot of dairy 

 cows of not less than nine in number, owned and kept together 

 from June first to September tenth, one of which shall be ex- 

 hibited, the committee award the society's premium to William 

 Robinson, Jr., of Barre. Mr. Robinson's whole dairy consists 

 of twenty cows, of half Durham breed, all kept together and 

 alike. The twenty gave, on the second day of June, 702 pounds 

 of milk, averaging 35.1 pounds each. This milk made seventy- 

 eight pounds of "cheese, or one pound of cheese to nine pounds 

 of milk. 



The nine cows ofi'ered by Mr. Robinson for premium, gave, 

 41* 



