The London DAreres. — ^The Yorkshire cow is tlie great favorite with the London dairyman, as she 

 answers all the purposes of his trade, being a good milker, and when accident or old age renders it 

 necessary to discard her, she is soon ready for the shambles. In Mr. Biggs' dairy, 31 Edgeware 

 Road, London, there are about 400 cows constantly kept ; of these, the greater proportion is com- 

 posed of the Yorkshire breed, of various degrees of affinity between the old Ilolderness and Durham 

 breeds. There are also some of his cows which are longer in the horn than those already mentioned, 

 and which are no doubt more allied to the original Ilolderness, or perhaps have long-horn blood in 

 them ; while there are others whose horns and general appearance indicate their close alliance with 

 the improved short-hoi-n or Durham breed. Of these, the most valuable is the cross between the 

 Ilolderness and Durham, as being good, both for the pail and the butcher ; on the other hand, the 

 Ilolderness and long-horns give the richest milk, run soon dry, and are more difficult to fatten, while 

 the pure short-horn gives least milk, but makes most beef in a given time. With these properties 

 to choose among, it is not difficult to decide which of these breeds is most profitable to the London 

 dairyman, whose trade is to sell as much milk as he can, and only to fiitteu his cows for the butcher 

 when necessity compels hira. 



A Yorkshire cow in a London dairy establishment is seldom calculated to give less than 20 quarts 

 of milk daily, for the first four months after dropping her calf, and many of this breed have been 

 known to give from 30 to 40 quarts of milk daily for a few weeks after calving. In Mr. Biggs' 

 dairy, 20 quarts a day is the average quantity of a great proportion of his best cows, and many of 

 them would continue in milk all the year round ; but as this would be injurious to the aninals, and 

 would diminish the yield in the succeeding yeai", they are intentionally run dry about six weeks 

 before the time of waiving. 



The whole quantity of milk produced in 12 months, by one of those Yorkshire cows, when fed 

 as in the London dairies, can not be less than 4000 quarts or 1000 gallons. The retail price of new 

 milk is IQd. per gallon, and when sold wholesale to the milkman, the price realized by the dairy- 

 man is not less than Is. per gallon ; so that from this data it appears that a cow, giving 1000 gallons 

 per annum, produces 50/. worth of milk during that period. Of course, the feeding is very liberal, 

 and fro.-n the high price of green food in the metropolis, is necessarily very expensive. The milking 

 and feeding in Mr. Biggs' dairy is as follows : 



4 A. M. milked. A good milker can milk 16 cows in 2}4 hours. 

 4 " 1 bushel basket of brcwerS' grains to every two cows. 



6 " 3 buslael of Swedes, or Mangold Wuxzel to every two cows. 



7 " 1 truss of hay to every 12 cows. 



9 " Water ; which is the only time they are allowed to drfnk during the 24 

 hours in winter, and each cow drinks about 24 quarts. In summer, 

 water is given twice. 

 11% " 1 bushel of grain to two cows. 



1 P. M., Milked again. 



2 " 8 bushels of roots to two cows. 

 8/^ " 1 tru58 of hay to every eight cows. 



In summer the green food consists of clover, Italian rye grass, or Vetches. 



The cows are milked twice a day, which occupies about 2i hours each time. Tlie cow-houses are 

 cleaned out five times every day, and the gutters kept sweet by allowing water to flow through 

 them. The cows are thoroughly cleaned and combed once a week. 



From the foregoing data, the following calculation of the annual expense of house-feeding a 

 London dairy cow may be deduced : 



Wini'er Food, from \st October to \st May (212 dayt.) 



212 bushels of grains, at M., £5 6 



13J^ tons of Swedes and Mangold, with the tops, at 20«., 13 5 



1 ton of hay, at 9U«., 4 10 



SujntiKr Food,fr&>n 1st May to Ist October (153 days.) 



\\}4 tons of grass, clover, or Vetches, at 2fls., 11 10 



753 bushels of grains (or an equivalent), at 6rf., 3 16 6 



Interest on capital, 16/., at 5 per cent.,! 16 



Hazardous insurance, or annual loss, 16 



Attendance, milking, &c., 1 6 



Total expense, i^l 4 6 



Produce per Cow. 



1000 gallons of mUk, at Is. £50 



Calf, 1 



Manure, a 4 



£65 

 Deduct expense, 41 4 6 



Profit, £13 15 6 



The daily expense is nearly 2s. Sd per cow, and the daily yield of milk throughout the year 

 nearly 2f gallons ; and no Loudon dairyman will long keep a cow that does not give 2i gallons per 

 day. In the above calculation no charge has been made for rent of premises ; but even although 

 \l. per cow be struck off for this item, the profit is still abundant 



In speaking thus highly of the Yorkshire, as in every way well adapted to the purposes of the 



