rviuYrKEDiKO.] CATTLE, AND TIIEIK VAliiETlES. [daiiiy fkeuino. 



, 1 H couple of hinges, may bo fitted to close 

 •openings, in ease of very severe weather; 

 lut I have never required it. Tlio iloor on 

 which tlio cows slanil slioulil bo uiado of 

 well-beaten soil, and behind them a kerb- 

 s'.. me, about three inches thick and twelve 

 •hes wide, to raise them above the channel, 

 M uieh should have a slight fall, to carry oil" the 

 \v:;ter at once. jNly cows arc tied up in pairs; 

 h pair having a space of eight feet by six 

 .c six inches, which is suflicieut room ibr 

 y beasts under sixty stones' weight. They 

 have a crib before them, nine inches deep by 

 twenty inches wide, raised upon twelve inches 

 of brickwork. Tiie advantage of the crib being 

 raised is, that the cows are less liable to get 

 turnips into their throats than when they have 

 to put their heads down to the ground for their 

 food. A rack I consider of little moment, as 

 hay is all given as chop. It is a good plan 

 It) take up cows as soon as the nights become 

 cold — say the middle of October — as the white 

 frosts, which occur about that time, cause them 

 to run oil' their milk. They are turned out 

 during the day until the middle of November, 

 if the weather keep fine. Erom that period, 

 until May-day, they are kept entirely in the 

 house, except being turned out a few minutes 

 every afternoon to water. They are milked at 

 half-past five o'clock, morning and evening. 

 As soon as the man who feeds them comes in 

 the morning, the dung is all removed, and each 

 w has a feed of 28 lbs. of roots : — 



"At 7 o'clock . 7 lbs. chopped hay. 

 „ 9 „ . . A pail of water, with i lb. of 

 bean-meal stirred into it. 

 „ 10 ,, . . 2 lbs. of linseed cake. 

 „ 1 „ (r.:.l.) 7 lbs. chopped hay. 

 „ 2 „ „ Turned out to water, and then 



2 lbs. of linseed cake. 

 „ 5 „ „ 28 lbs. roots. 

 „ 8 „ „ 7 lbs. chopped hay." 



One of the first requisites, in a successful 

 dairy cow-house, is cleanliness. AVithout this, 

 a dairy is anything but what it should be. 

 It must be kept free from smells of" all descrip- 

 tions ; frequently washed and whitewashed ; 

 and the animals diligently rubbed, and even 

 curried. A thriving cow, out of doors, is known 

 by her having the marks of her tongue upon 

 her skin. It' she is not at liberty to lick her 

 own skin, she should, at least, have it done for 



her. Her litter should bo removed the first 

 thing in the morning, and ro|)lacud by fresh 

 clean straw. Above all, HJie cannot have too 

 njuch air, if tho cold blast bo jin^t ahiflded off. 

 Bad as exposure is, tho crowding of co.vs in 

 close places is considerably wor.-i*. Tliero 

 should bo ventilators at tho top of the cow- 

 house, in tlie Louvro stylo; 0[)L'n fronts to 

 tho south, capable of shutting up in snow or 

 southern rain ; and capacious ventilators at tho 

 bottom, by grates or ventilating bricks, are 

 indispensable to the health of the animals. If 

 these be neglected there can bo no hope of 

 health or success in tho dairy. 



llesj)ccting the iniluenco of the food on the 

 character and quantity of the milk, to which, in 

 the opening paragraph of this chapter, we 

 have alluded, several experiments have been 

 made. Among tiiese, a scientific agriculturist 

 furnished Mr. Milburn with one, which showed 

 that the increase of milk, within certain limits, 

 was almost in the power of the farmer, by an 

 addition of bean-meal to the ordinary root 

 food and hay. Although, as a general rule, 

 milk may be produced by these costly and 

 stimulative kinds of food at too great au ex- 

 pense, yet it is of great importance, in a par- 

 ticular season, or under special circumstances, 

 to know the means of increasing the supply 

 beyond the ordinary quantity. Two Ayrshire 

 cows were selected by Professor Thomson, 

 and fed with malt in various combinations, 

 when it was found that 100 lbs. of barley, hay, 

 and grass, produced 8*17 lbs. of milk; and 

 that the same quantity of malt and hay, pro- 

 duced 795 lbs. of milk; the former yielding 

 1-95 lbs. of butter, and the latter 1-92. Al- 

 though this was not at all satisfactory as to 

 the value, or otherwise, of malt for milk cows, 

 still, it shows how food may influence the 

 quantity and quality of the milk. Messrs. 

 Dumas and Boussingault also experimented 

 upon this subject. They made a number of 

 very careful and interesting investigations re- 

 garding the quantity of milk and its products 

 which would be given by cows fed on different 

 kinds of food. They tried nearly all the com«- 

 binations usually given, except, perhaps, bean- 

 meal ; and the result was, that, in every case, 

 the greatest quantity was produced when the 

 cow had green clover ; thus proving that, in 

 each instance, this yielded the greatest quantity 



G71 



