\ ». M). J. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



Hi 



ii!k, wliicli I iie»cr know to bu olhorwisie Uian 



;i;:r- oablo lii every pcracin cxccplinj; Willmiii 

 Joblirtt. »lu) bud ruts bs^ia gpftl lo oell, and so, 

 iprbap^ boiioslly, tluni^bl ihu flnvur and oilur plea- 

 laiit. A milkman of my ncqiiamtancc, however, 

 oiiKirknhle for bis cari-fiilnons, says bu finds no ob- 

 cctmn of ibis sorl lo th.e rnta bnja, if Ibcy ore 

 iveii lolbccows dircclly after and not before being 



Ikud. Before tbe next niilKinj; comes, bo says 

 bo ilisafrreeable odur is enlire'y got rid of. Tbe 

 )e8l nulkmon prefer c>'"d clover bay f^r cows in 

 iilk lo any olber. Potatoes and m'lnjel wnrtzel 

 ncreasc tbe <|uanlity without improving tbe qunli- 

 y of tbe milk. Carrots, parinips and sngar bccls 

 mprove tbo quality. A iiiilk larm, "ell silualod 

 nd «itb a good custom, is a profitable husbandry, 

 rhore the milk brings 5 cents in summer and (5 1-4 

 ents in winter. A good deal of milk is sold by 

 he farmers lo tho milkmen for three cents per 

 iiarl, of the profits of wbicb management to the 



rnicr I have strong doubts. If we suppose that 



rri|uire3 10 quarts of milk to iiinke one pound of 

 ull> r, this at ;{ cents per quart would be 30 cents. 

 uppose tbe milk to be made into butler — there is 



pound of butter worth 'J5 cents, and, if of superi- 

 r quality, 33; there arc the skiin-niilk and butter- 

 lilk remaining, worth certainly foryoungpigs 1 1-9 

 ent per quart — say 9 quarts, 13 cents ; and there 

 i the manure made by the Bwine kept, which is o! 

 oiisiderabic value. 



Tlie amount of milk furnished by a herd of cows 

 irough ihe year, is very dilFerently estimated by 

 ificrent persons. Rare individual cows may be 

 ccafionally met with, giving ten, and perhaps in 

 jnie remarkable case, even eleven quarts of milk 

 er day Uirou^h the year — that is, 3(1.1 times 11 

 uarU, or more than 4000 quarts per annum ; but 

 ich cases are very few in number. 



The most intelligent and careful milkmen whom 

 have consulted, are of opinion that their cows 

 verage nljout six quarts per day for 3b",5 days, and 



dry in that time from two to three months. A 

 3ry careliil milkman, who may be entirely relied 

 1, from ".iO cows produced 11,131 1-2 gallons of 

 ilk in a year. This was at the rale of (J 1-8 qts. 

 >r day for •lii.) days, or 7 1-2 quarts pi-r day for 

 }0 d:iy.«. These cows were native stock, extreme- 



ivell selected and well fed. Successive trials 



1 this same farm, give about the sumo result. 



On a milk establishment in iModford, under ex- 

 ^llent management for many years, with twenty 

 >ws in summer and more than thirty in winter, 

 c average product for 30.5 days is from five to six 

 larls lo a cow per day. The cows are fed in 

 inter upon clover bay, an allowance of a peck 

 id a half each of succulent vegetables, and some 

 idian or oil-meal cake. The summer feed is not 

 aled, but great ndvantago has been derived from 

 ■e>^n Indian corn fodder. Oil-meal cake is not 

 jnsidered of equal advantage with Indian. It is 

 jCMied loo dear if more than $^ per ton. Car- 

 ls are preferred to all other vegetables when the 

 lality of the milk and the conditicm of the animal 

 e regarded. Since the use of tbe most powerful 

 rdiostntic presses in extracting the oil from the 

 IX seed, tho cake is by no means so valuable as 

 rmi'rly, and tbe price should be proportional. 



In the case of a milk establishment in the vicin- 

 y of Sali'tn, on an average of thirtyfive cows in 

 ilk, the product in one year was 17,171 gallons 

 " milk, beer measure ; in another year it was 17,- 

 iO gallons. In the first case it would be about 



■"i 13 quarts to a cow ; in tbo latter, 5 l-'i to a cow 

 per day through ihc year. 



At Lowell, connected with tho manufnctnro of 

 printed goods, was an e^tablishinent of fifty cowa, 

 kept for the upocial purpose of obtaining their ma- 

 nure fi>r fixing some of the colors employed. The 

 milk of the cows was gold to persons concerned in 

 the factories at a low rale, and an exact account 

 kept of tbe yield, and the amount and cost of feed. 

 With this account I have been favored, and doom 

 it well worth preserving. Tirty cows liiive been 

 tho average number kept, and kept constantly in 

 the barn upon hay and green vegetables, such as 

 potatoes, &c. Tbe average nuiiibor of cows giv- 

 ing milk has been thirtyfive. The qnanlily of hay 

 spent for two years was 418 tons, at an average 

 cost of $18 .'lO per Ion ; and for green vegetables, 

 (tc, during the same time, were paid !*10I8. The 

 average yield of the cows was four quarts daily. 

 The amount of hay required for a cow was 4 0-.50 

 tons, exclusive of vegetables. The quantity of 

 milk obtained in the two years from the whole 

 slock, was !.';t,705 <iuart8 ; or, rating the average 

 nuniber of cows in milk at 35, it would be, for 3l>5 

 days, 3 31-35 quarts per day to each cow. No 

 calves were raised. The whole sum expended in 

 this case for feed, exclusive of attendance, milk- 

 ing, &c., was $8751. The value of the milk ob- 

 tained, at five cents per quart, was ,$4965 25 — 

 leaving a balance ag:iiiist the eslablishmcrit of 

 $3705 7.5. This would be a serious result to any 

 common farmer. The keeping of the cows through 

 the year upon dry feed, and the high cost of the 

 hay, go largely to swell the expense. Tho large 

 nuniber of dry cows kept, averaging fifteen through 

 the year, is a heavy drawback upon the returns. 

 In the New York city milk cslablisluiienls, as soon 

 as a cow ceases lo give milk more than sufficient 

 to balance her cost of keeping, she is sold. It is 

 the aim of the cow-keepers to keep their cows so 

 well, and in so good condition, that, after a few 

 weeks extra feeding, they may be fit for the butch- 

 er. Their pl.Tco ia then immediately supplied with 

 new milch cows. In tho Lowell estabiishuient, as 

 the object was not milk, cows were probably kept 

 long after they had ceased to give milk cnougli to 

 pay for their keeping. To whatever it may be as- 

 cribed, that the balance was so heavy on the 

 wrong side of tiio page, the experiment is a highly 

 instructive one, and may induce farmers engaged 

 in the milk business, to look more carefully into 

 their own results. 



From the Farmer's Cabinet. 



COMPOST -MAKING. 



Mr. Editvor, — At length it would appear that 

 the making of compost is beginning to command 

 attention ; I see several experiments going for- 

 ward around me, but what ia more to the purpose 

 I have one in progress which I attend and watch 

 with very great interest — it is, the mixing bank 

 earth with lime, hot from the kiln, the earth being 

 the opening of a deep cut through a msrsliy hol- 

 low, where it had lain for the past age and become 

 covered with grass and weeds and tufts of herb- 

 age, &c., all which I turned down with the plow, 

 after covering them with a coat of lime, using the 

 subsoil plow at the same time ; and upon this, I 

 have again thrown earth and lime in alternate lay- 

 ers, as directed at page 31(i of the last nuniber of 

 the Cabinet, expecting to reap a rich harvest in ic- 

 turn for my labor. -And 1 now begin to perceive 



how tbo making of coinpoau operates j it in. by the 

 absorption of the gnse«, liboroled by rcrmcntation, 

 which alwayii taken place nn bringing two Hub- 

 Hlanccs into contact, bo they never mo dissimilar in 

 their nature and propnrlie-i, particularly when tboy 

 are composed uf piilrid niiitltr, wheiher Bnininl or 

 vegetable, being acidulous, is iimnedialely neutral- 

 ized by tho alkali of tho lime, ami the gases friend- 

 ly to vegetation, liberated by the process, are im- 

 mediately absorbed by tho earth in composition, in 

 which stale it is carried abroad on the land lo be 

 operated upon by the rain and dews, which carry 

 tho carbonic acid to the roots of the plants by ila 

 power of density. And I perceive that the bank 

 of earth in question sends forth a smell, as liaa 

 elsewhere been observed, somewhiit like soap-boil- 

 ers' ashes. 



The absorbing quality of fresh-turned earth calls 

 to notice a very wise ordination of nature; for 

 were it not for this arrangement, the abodes in the 

 vicinity of cemeteries would not bo habitable to 

 human beings; the exhalations arising from the 

 decomposing bodies by which they are so thickly 

 tenanted, would so contaminate tho air as to breed 

 a pestilence : a very slight covering of earth, how- 

 ever, is found all-sufticient for the purpose of ab- 

 sorbing all the malaria that is engendered, and 

 teaches us at the same time the mode in which 

 these putrid gases may be preserved to give life 

 to a future generation — according to the "Gem" 

 from Liebig — see page 3,30 of the 5th vol. of the 

 Cabinet. In confirmation of this view of the sub- 

 ject, it is stated, that a garment which has been 

 contaminated by the filth of a skunk, may be ren- 

 dered perfectly inodorous in a stiort time, merely 

 by burying it in fresh earth, so that the parts de- 

 filed come in immediate contact with it. 



Here then is the rationale of the whole matter — 

 the earth in our compost heaps absorbs the gages 

 that arise on fermentation, fixing those that are 

 triendly to vegetation, and permitting ihose of a 

 contrary nature to pass off into the atmosphere, 

 there to form other combinations, by which they 

 might be prepared for other purposes ! After this, 

 may it not be expected that we shall carry our 

 dung from the baru-yard during winter, and de- 

 posit it in the fields where it will be required the 

 next springer autumn, turning it up, and mixing it 

 with muck or hank earth, in the proportion of one 

 of the former to three or fourofthe latter, and thus 

 add to our resources without llie purchase in town 

 of a commodity that we can better supply at home ; 

 remembering, the oftener it is turned, the more it 

 is enriched by atmospherical and other influences, 

 and rendered at last a bank of gold ? I guess it 

 might. P. 



May 24, 1842. 



PROSPECT FOR CROPS. 



From almost every section of the country, ac- 

 counts come to us with the cheering intelligence 

 that crops generally promise well. In parts of 

 Maine, where there was little snow in the winter, 

 grass is said to be thin, and the crop probably will 

 be light. Tbe same is true of Massachusetts. 

 The weather for the last fifteen days, however, has 

 been very favorable to the growth of grass, and 

 prospects are better than they were two or three 

 weeks ago. Corn is rather backward, but will be 

 none llie less productive for that, if the remainder 

 of the season is favorable. The frosts have done 

 no general horm in this vicinity. — Ed. N. E. F. 



