344 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



the reports of many agricultural societies, as well as from the 

 opinions, and especially the practice of numerous individuals, 

 it seems that they expect that it is enough if they import, or 

 procure in any other way, animals famed for any particular 

 quality, and that they (the animals) should exhibit that quality 

 in its greatest possible perfection, under any system of feeding 

 and treatment, which may suit the convenience or purse of their 

 owner, although it may be the very opposite of that which is 

 best calculated to produce the desired effect. Notwithstand- 

 ing, if that effect is not produced, then state that the animals 

 have not " satisfied expectation." No reasonable man expects 

 unnatural results. Earners should adopt a system of feeding 

 and treatment suited to the nature of the animals which they 

 have. If such were always the case, we would hear much less 

 about the disappointment of well founded expectations. 



In Ayrshire, (Scotland,) where great attention is paid to the 

 breeding of dairy stock, and also to the management of the 

 dairy, their method of feeding is as follows : during the winter 

 months, the cows are fed with cooked food, (boiled or steamed,) 

 twice a day, morning and evening — and this is the case, whether 

 they are giving milk or dry. It is composed of chaff or cut 

 hay or straw, and roots of some kind, potatoes, turnips, or car- 

 rots. The roots are broken very fine and thoroughly mixed 

 with the chaff or hay, and frequently bean meal (Indian meal 

 is equally good) is added during the mixing process ; water 

 is put in when necessary, and the whole is seasoned with salt. 

 Their fodder, when dry, is generally oat straw, but when giving 

 milk, it is English hay. They are kept comfortably warm and 

 well littered with straw, and combed or carded daily. In sum- 

 mer, they are turned out to pasture, in fields well cultivated 

 on the rotation system. And the cows that run largely to 

 milk, and would become lean in consequence, get a portion of 

 bean meal, oil, or rape cake, to keep them in good condition 

 and improve the quality of their milk. 



It will be seen, from the above statement, that the farmers ' 

 of Ayrshire, in order to realize their " expectations," depend 

 much on the feeding and treatment they give the cows, as well 

 as on their peculiar organization which tends to convert their 

 food into milk. 



