1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARIMER. 



169 



The question as to what subjects are proper 

 for discussion at the farmers' club meetings, 

 has been well answered by Mr. Daniel F. 

 Rogers, of 111., at a meeting of the Farmers' 

 Institute in N. Y. He says : — "In my opin- 

 ion there is no subject of any considerable 

 importance to mankind, a liberal and intelli- 

 gent discussion of whicli is not within the proper 

 limits of any farmers' club. Many farmers 

 seem to think that farmers' talk should be only 

 of farm stock — pigs, poultry, ploughing and 

 manure. There is nothing in the occupation 

 of a farmer that makes it necessary that he 

 should grovel in the dirt. There is nothing in 

 the occupation of a farmer to prevent his be- 

 ing an educated man. Intelligence with them 

 should be as free and glowing as the sunshine 

 and air in which we live." 



This statement elicited warm applause and 

 brought out several other suggestions upon 

 the same subject. 



For the Kew England Farmer, 



IS IT PROFITABLE TO MILK COWS 

 IN THE WINTEH? 



A DiscusBion by the Irasburs; Farmers' Club, reported 

 exclusively for the Farmer, by the Secretary. 



E. P. Church claimed that to give cows ex- 

 tra feed, say meal and grain, to make them 

 continue to give milk in winter, is injurious, 

 causing them to be less thrifty the next sum- 

 mer, when kept only on grass. Prolonged 

 milking is also detrimental to the calf of a 

 stock cow. So he let them go dry three or 

 four months, to gain tlesh milked away through 

 the summer. Cows should be in good Hesh 

 when they come in in the spring, and would 

 feed meal to them at that time. Cows that 

 are milked are more affected by cold than 

 those that are dry. Then, a cow can give only 

 about a certain quantity of milk in a year, and 

 we can get it all in the summer, or be all the 

 year about it. Winter butter is usually of 

 poor quality, and it is a disagreeable job to 

 milk in cold weather. 



Mr. Tenny was inclined to agree with Mr. 

 Church. Young heifers should, perhaps, be 

 milked longer than old cows, to estabhsh milk- 

 ing habits. He believed it best to keep cows 

 fat; the fatter the better. He had known 

 cows to have four quarts of meal each, while 

 at grass. It may have been a damage to them, 

 but he doubted it. 



A stranger from Addison County said it was 

 the custom there to let the cows go dry three 

 or four months, and feed meal before they 

 calve and until they go to grass. If we give 

 extra feed before they are dried off, so as to 

 make them hold out their milk, they will not 

 do as well the next summer. 



Mr. Hines lived in Franklin County when 

 they first began to make cheese there to sell, 

 and now it is the greatest dairying section in 

 the State. There are some who still say, "I 

 would just as soon have my cattle come in 

 poor as not." He did not state the product of 

 such cows, but he said the class who are care- 

 ful to have them "come in fat," find no diflS- 

 culty in getting 300 pounds of cheese and 50 

 pounds of butter per cow. These are the 

 most successful dairymen. The reason why 

 many fail to i-ealize the benefit of extra feed, 

 is because they leave off too soon. The meal 

 should be fed until grass is large enough to 

 give a full supply. 



Mr. Tenny fully agreed with Mr. Hines as 

 to the importance of continuing the meal, and 

 said that a few miles north of Montpelier, he 

 saw a Mr. Wilson carrying in two pails of 

 milk, and learned that he had only two cows. 

 On inquiry he learned that Mr. W. fed corn 

 stalks cut by a machine, put into a very tight 

 plank box, wet with scalding water, then cov- 

 ered securely and left about twenty-four hours. 

 The stalks became tender and were eaten 

 greedily by the cows, and they continued in 

 milk until they came in again. If fed on hay 

 they would easily dry off. 



Mr. McClellan said he disliked to milk in 

 the stable, and therefore he let his cows ofi by 

 milking once a day, soon after he knew they 

 were with calf. He had milked cows quite 

 late that were fed extra, but the next season 

 they were a third less profitable. 



Z. E. Jameson believed that butter could be 

 made as profitably the first part of winter as 

 the last, for in fall the farmer has a greater 

 variety of fodder and more roots than in 

 spring. As to milking, the stable is the best 

 place, as the cow stands quietly, and can be • 

 kept clean. He believed the calf of a stock cow 

 will not be injured if the cow is milked until 

 within four weeks of calving. Those who 

 practice this method make more butter per 

 cow in a year, than those who milk two months 

 less. 



For the New Englamd Farmer. 

 CAPITAL AND LABOR. 



Many appear to think they have found a 

 solution of the vexed question of the rights 

 of capital and labor in the admission of the 

 laborer to a share in the profits and losses of 

 the business in which capital is invested. 



While admitting that success has attended 

 such arrangements, under peculiar circum- 

 stances, I am skeptical as to its being gen- 

 erally so ; and in fact think there are good 

 reasons for supposing it will not be, so long as 

 there exists so much real lack of foresight and 

 economy among the laboring classes. How 

 few of the many who are dependent on their 

 daily labor for their daily necessities, exer- 

 cise proper wisdom in husbanding their earn- 

 ings, especially when times are good and af- 



