No. 10. 



Report of the Jigricuiture of Massachusetts. 



301 



improper liberty, or of interniptinnr that free- 

 dom of communication, which I wish should 

 subsist between myself and the farmers, and 

 which seems indispensable to the success of 

 the survey, induces me to withhold them, 

 save where permission has been explicitly 

 g^ranted, or the nature of the case renders it 

 obviously proper. The statements, which [ 

 give, rest upon undoubted authority. 



2. In Oils. — Twenty cows gave 5,()(K) lbs. 

 new milk cheese, for sale; each averagiog 

 also 2.5 lbs. of butter ; 600 lbs. of cheese were 

 also used in the family. 



Cow, Cr, 



280 lbs. cheese, at ? cents $22 40 



25 " butter, at 20 cents, 5 00 



Calf, 4 00 



Pork, 20 lbs., at G cents I 50 



$32 UG 



Cow, Dr. 



Winter! ng $12 00 



Pasturing, 5 nO 



Interest on cost of cow, $15—10 per cent.,.l 50 



Labor and attendance, 2 16 



$20 66 



Balance in favor of cow $12 24 



3. Lanesboro\ — Sales from 12 cows: — 

 cheese at 12 cents ; butter at 25 cents ; pross 

 amount, .$600. No account in this case is 

 made of supplies in the family. 



4. Sandisjield. — The average yield of a 

 cow in ordinary seasons is rated at 250 lbs., 

 with common keeping. By extra keeping, 

 the quantity is increased to 350 or 400 lbs. 

 The quantity of butter in addition, to each 

 cow, is supposed to be from 40 to 50 lbs,, 

 where new milk cheese is made. 



The amount of cheese made in Sandisfield, 

 in 1837, was estimated by a most competent 

 authority, at 300,000 lbs. 



Another farmer, with a dairy of 15 cows, 

 states the average product of a cow, if she 

 raises her calf, at 2.50 lbs.; if otherwise, at 

 300 lbs.; and 25 lbs. butter also, from each 

 cow. Four hogs may be kept to 20 cows. — 

 In this way, weighing 100 lbs. in the spring, 

 they will weigh 300 lbs. in the fall. 140 lbs. 

 of pork is to be credited to .5 cows. 



The cost of wintering a cow here, is rated 

 at ,$10; pasturage, $4. A good dairy wo- 

 man will take charge of thirty cows, with as- 

 sistance in milking and in handling cheese. 

 Her wages will be $1 .50 per week, with 

 board. 



5. In Tyringham, the average yield of a 

 cow is reckoned at new milk cheese, 283 

 lbs., and butter at the same time, .57 lbs. A 

 dairy of 28 cows gave 7,912 lbs. new milk 

 cheese, and 1,60() lbs. butter. A large amount 

 of pork was fatted on this farm ; but it is diffi- 

 cult to say what portion of it is to be credited 

 to the dairy. 



6. In Sheffield, the average product of 28 



cows was .394 lbs. new milk cheese, and 50 

 lbs. of butter each. 



Tiie product of a cow is thus stated by this 

 excellent manager: 



Cow, Cr. 



400 lbs. new milk cheese, at 8 cents $.32 00 



Calf, (killinl at :ulays' old,) 1 00 



.50 lbs. butter, at l(i| 8 :i3 



AVhey and butter-milk, make 100 lbs. pork, 8 00 



•40 33 



Supra, Dr. 



Winter keepin^r, $12 00 



One acre of land costing $50 will pasture the 



cow, 3 50 



Salt 25 cents, 3 bs. bran $.3 3 25 



Int. on the value of cow at $25, 10 per cent 2 50 



Labor of milking, making butter, cheese, &.c.,. . . -4 00 



$25 25 



Balance in favor of the cow, $24 03 



The quantity of land estimated for pasturage 

 in thii case seems small. It must be small 

 for a general rule; another farmer in the 

 .same town assured me that he kept one yoke 

 of o.xen all the season, and one horse half the 

 sea.son, on two and a half acres of land, which 

 he showed me. The land had been greatly 

 benefited by plaster. 



EXTRAORDINAKY COWS. 



I shall give an account of some remarkable 

 animals which have been found among what 

 are called our native cattle. It is not pre- 

 tended that they constitute a distinct race or 

 characterize a particular cla.ss of animals; but 

 they show at least what materials are within 

 our reach, upon which to build a stock of 

 high character. 



A cow of Samuel D. Colt, of Pittsfield, from 

 1st December to 27th April, 148 days, pro- 

 duced 193 lbs. of butter. 



A cow owned by R. Campbell, of Pittsfield, 

 has yielded 26 beer quarts of milk per day. 



A cow owned by Hosea Merrill, gave 30 

 beer quarts of milk per day. 



A cow owned by D. Fenn, of Stockbridge, 

 8 years old, produced in one week 12 lbs. 9 

 oz. butter. During the same time, 10 quarts 

 of the milk were sold, and in addition cream 

 and milk were used freely in the family. 



A cow owned by Calvin Davis, 4 years old 

 in the spring of 1839, in 172 days produced 

 225 lbs. butter, and fatted a calf. An acci- 

 dental injury to the cow, prevented a continu- 

 ance of making butter. 



Two cows of Wm. Dewey, of Alford, in 

 good season, averaged, for a length of time, 

 14 pounds of butter each per week. 



A cow belonging to the late Dr. Hyde, of 

 Stockbridfre, for some time produced fourteen 

 pounds of butter per week. 



Two cows in Vandeusenville, produced 14 

 lbs. of butter each per week. 



