DAIRY. 



DAIRY. 



jret, we have not had, by any means, a suffi- 

 ciently fair trial of their dairy properties so as 

 10 determine fully, either for or against them ; 

 and it has been found here, in repeated in- 

 stances, as it has proved abroad, that a cow, 

 from a cross of an improved Durham, with 

 the Devon, has gi 'en a valuable animal for 

 thr ihiiry. Bui armng the great advantages 

 whii-h is lo result from the introduction of this 

 ed and beautiful stock, is this : to give 

 our farmers a knowledge of what can be done 

 by skill, intelligence, care, selection, and per- 

 severance in the art of breeding animals for 

 any purpose; in obviating defects of form, 

 constitution, and habit; and in perpetuating 

 and transmitting excellent and desirable pro- 

 perties. In the Ayrshire stock, and in the 

 improved short-horns, the most shrewd and 

 persevering efforts have been exerted, and the 

 highest practical skill and philosophy have 

 been taxed to carry this race to as great a de- 

 gree of perfection as any thing of the kind can 

 be; and the success has been decisive and 

 wonderful. Excepting in one instance, to 

 which I shall hereafter refer at large, perhaps 

 there cannot be found in the whole of New 

 England, a single instance of any enlightened, 

 determined, and systematic attempt to form a 

 race of animals of particular and desirable 

 properties. It is most important that this 

 should be attempted in different parts of our 

 country, with what are called our native stock, 

 which have become, in various ways, so crossed 

 and mixed up, that there is in truth no par- 

 ticular race among them. A large portion of 

 them are as ungainly, unthrifty, and unpro- 

 ductive as can well be represented or imagined. 

 Yet there are among them so many extraordi- 

 nary animals, extraordinary for their produce 

 in milk, butter, and cheese, that a few years 

 of careful and intelligent selection from the 

 materials already to our hand, and a strict 

 observance of those philosophical principles 

 of breeding which are well ascertained and 

 understood, would undoubtedly give us a breed 

 of animals, a stock or race of animals, greatly 

 superior to that which now exists among us. 

 This has been attempted in one instance by 

 a highly intelligent breeder; and he is now 

 able to show three generations of animals 

 of as extraordinary character for the creamy 

 or butyraceous quality of their milk as has 

 ever been known. Two quarts of what is 

 called the stoppings, the last part drawn off 

 of the milk of one of these cows, having re- 

 peatedly produced one pound of butter; and 

 the cream, as it came from the pans, as I have 

 seen myself, becoming by churning converted 

 into butter of the finest description in less than 

 one minute by the watch ; and this process 

 repeated at pleasure. 



'Let us now compare the amount of cheese 

 made by the English dairies, with some in this 

 county of which I have given here an ac- 

 count. 



" An Ayrshire cow, it is said by the English 

 authorities, will yield 257 Ibs. of butter per 

 annum, or about 5 Ibs. per week, all the year 

 round, besides raising the calf; or of new milk 

 cheese, about 514 Ibs. These returns are cer- 

 \aiuly large ; but they rest upon a calculation 

 390 



:," the quantity of milk which the cow is sup* 

 posed to yield, rather than upon any account 

 cf an actual yield. None at least is given. 

 This, therefore, is not so satisfactory as it 

 would be, if it were a precisely ascertained 

 result One of the best authorities says, that 

 in England, 'a well-fed cow of a good breed 

 will produce, upon an average, 180 Ibs. of 

 butter in the season. The common calculation 

 is indeed 150 Ibs.; but this is made upon 

 mixed stock, which affords no certain data. 

 In the Epping district, where there is an indis- 

 criminate mixture of Devon, Suffolk, Leicester, 

 Holderness, and Scotch, the calculation, in a 

 well-managed dairy amounts to 212 Ibs.; that 

 is, 6 Ibs. per week during 26 weeks, and 4 Ibs, 

 per week, during 14 weeks. The average pro- 

 duct of cheese in the best dairies, where the 

 whole milk and crea,m are used, cannot be 

 estimated at more than 4 cwt. that is, 448 Ibs. 

 On deep grazing soils, that carry a heavy stock, 

 a well-managed cow is reckoned to make from 

 360 Ibs. to 600 Ibs. In Somersetshire, the 

 average is 4 cwt., or 540 Ibs. ; in Essex not so 

 high, and in the midland counties something 

 more than 3 cwt.' It will be seen, in looking 

 back upon the dairy returns in some parts of 

 this country, that they are inferior to these, not 

 frequently passing beyond 250 or 300 Ibs. of 

 new milk cheese. On the other hand, the re- 

 turns of some of the dairies in Cheshire show 

 an actual amount of annual produce of more 

 than 500 Ibs. to a cow, and in some cases 627 

 and 632 Ibs. It may be said that this is owing 

 to the fine pasturage which is to be found in 

 Cheshire and its vicinity ; to the particular care 

 which is taken of the cows ; and the system 

 of high feeding adopted. But it shows con- 

 clusively that the cows are capable of being 

 brought to this productive yield ; and the feed 

 and management are matters which can be 

 adopted anywhere. 



"A farmer in Sandisfield has a dairy of 

 24 cows ; and they produce a cheese per 

 day, weighing about 100 Ibs. Supposing that 

 it requires a gallon of milk to produce one 

 pound of cheese, this would give 400 quarts 

 of milk per day, or at the rate of 16-J of a quart 

 to a cow. These cows are all of native stock; 

 most of them raised by himself. His average 

 product of new milk cheese to a cow in a 

 season, is between 500 and 600 Ibs. Last 

 year the actual yield was 598 Ibs. to a cow. 

 Of his 24 cows last year, two were heifers of 

 two years old, just come in. Four years since 

 he was the owner of a cow, whose milk in the 

 best season amounted by actual weight to 70 

 Ibs. per day. During the time of her greatest 

 yield, she was fed with four pails of cheese 

 whey, and some rye-meal. She was of native 

 stock. This farmer has a heifer from her, 

 which gives, as he supposes, 60 Ibs. of milk 

 per day. He gives an opinion, which from his 

 successful experience certainly deserves at- 

 tention ; that heifers which 'come in' with 

 their first calf at two years old, do better thau 

 when their coming in is delayed until three 

 5 r ears old. Their milking properties are in 

 this way improved. Probably he is right in 

 this matter ; but the general experience of the 

 best farmers recommends that, if a heifer 



