MILK OF SPAYED COWS. 215 



cost not exceeding twenty-five cents a quart, calling the 

 milk five cents a quart, and the eggs a cent apiece, and 

 including the cost of labor. It is quite equal to that 

 commonly furnished by the confectioners at seventy- 

 five cents a quart. The arrow-root may be dispensed 

 with. The freezer is a cheap and simple machine. 



After the cream has frozen in the machine, it should 

 stand an hour or two to harden before it is used. 



To secure a more uniform flow and a richer quality 

 of milk, cows are sometimes spayed, or castrated. The 

 milk of spayed cows is pretty uniform in quantity, 

 and this quantity will be, on an average, a little more 

 than before the operation was performed. But few 

 instances have come under my observation, and those 

 few have resulted satisfactorily, the quality of the milk 

 having been greatly improved, the yield becoming 

 regular for some years, and varying only by the differ- 

 ence in the succulence of the food. The proper time 

 for spaying is about five or six weeks after calving, or 

 at the time when the largest quantity of milk is given. 

 There seem to be some advantages in spaying for milk 

 and butter dairies, where the raising of stock is not 

 attended to. The cows are more quiet, never being 

 liable to returns of seasons of heat, which always more 

 or less affect the milk both in quantity and quality. 

 They give milk nearly uniform in these respects, for 

 several years, provided the food is uniformly succulent 

 and nutritious. Their milk is influenced like that of 

 other cows, though to less extent, by the quality and 

 quantity of food ; so that in winter, unless the animal is 

 properly attended to, the yield will decrease somewhat, 

 but will rise again as good feed returns. This uniform- 

 ity for the milk-dairy is of immense advantage. Besides, 

 the cow, when old, and inclined to dry up, takes on fat 



