DAIRY BUSINESS IN NEW YORK. 



perforated with holes burnt liy a hot iron, are intro- 

 oneed into a cask, as at a, b. Over each partition is 

 placed a piece of woolen cloth, and between them 

 layers of coarse and 

 fine sand, and of char- 

 co:d; c is a pipe from 

 the roof, the water from 

 ■which passes through 

 the tiitering materi:ds 

 and may be drawn ofl' 

 at b. ]>y placing an- 

 other cistern on a hiu-h- 

 er leTcl, asd, to receive 

 the v.ater fii'st, it will 

 descend through the 

 pipe c, enter the cask 

 at i, and by the pres- 

 sure of the water in d will ascend through the filter- 

 ing materials to a, and tlius be doubly filtered and 

 more completely purified. By placing a funnel at 

 / water may be poured into and filtered through the 

 cask, independent of any supply from the roof 

 When the sand requires cleaning, it must be taken 

 out and washed. 



DAIRY BUSINESS IN NEW YOSK. 



The State census, now ia progress in tliis State, 

 will present data of great interest to the intelligent 

 dairymen of New York, indicating the degree of im- 

 provement made since the census of 1850 and that 

 of la4.5. We will not attempt to anticipate the 

 official figures by any guesses or predictions, but con- 

 tent ourselves with copying and commending to the 

 reader's attention the following remarks of one who 

 has devoted much time and study to this branch of 

 rural industry, as Secretary of the State Agricultural 

 Society. Mr. Jooxston has our thanks for proof 

 sheets of several articles to appear in the volume of 

 Transactions of the State Society for 1855, not yet 

 published: 



\[r. JoHNSox, Secretary of the State Agricultural 

 Society, remarked — That the dau-y interest was one 

 of very great importance in our State, and that in 

 this department of Agriculture perhaps as marked 

 improvement had been made as in any other. The 

 Society had at an early day directed attention to this 

 subject, as it was manifest that the quaUty both of 

 butter and cheese was far lower than it should be — 

 while the quantity from the dairies of the State was 

 much less than could be realized under a proper sys- 

 tem of management. 



By the state census of 184."i it appeared that there 

 were 999,400 cows employed in the dairy; of which 

 number it was estimated that 333,103 were devoted 

 to the manufacture of cheese, giving 36,744,976 lbs., 

 or about 110 B)s. each cow. The number employed 

 in the InUter dairies was estimated at 606,237, yield- 

 ing 79,501,733 lbs. per cow. 



It was apparent tliat this was far less than should 

 be realized from well-managed dairies. Prom an ex- 

 amination of the returns from the different counties, 



it was ascertained that in the county of Herkimer, 

 then, as now, one of the first cheese districts in the 

 United States, the average of cheese per cow was 

 226 Ifjs.; in Fairfield, in that county, 350 lbs. pcT 

 cow; and one dairy, that of A. L. Fisn, Esq., I>itch- 

 field, had given an average for three years of 680 

 lbs. This induced the society to make efforts to 

 remedy this <k'ficiency. 



In 1847, and subseciuent years, experiments were 

 made and reports obtained from practical dairymen, 

 which showed practically the reason why the returns 

 were so small from the dairies of the Slate. It was 

 ascertained by accurate trial that one cow would 

 produce as much as three others in the same dairy — 

 but until the experiment was carefully made, the 

 dairyman was not aware of any difference in his herd, 

 except the different quantities of milk given. And 

 this was no test, for the best butter cows usually 

 were not the largest nnlkers. This led our dairymen 

 to test their cows, and the result has been a very 

 marked improvement in the quantity oi both butter 

 and cheese \>eT cow. 



In Oneida Co., some years since, a bull of the Hol- 

 derness breed was introduced, and a large number of 

 heifer calves were dropped, and when arrived at ma- 

 turity, pi-ovi'd g.merally extraordinary good milkers. 

 One of these cows, which gave from twenty-five to 

 thirty-two quarts of milk per day, was kept with a 

 small Cow of the Mohawk breed, so-called, which 

 yielded only from twelve to feurteen quarts ; the 

 milk was placed together and butter made, but the 

 yield was not satisfactory; a separation took place, 

 and the milk of the Mohawk cow produced the finest 

 of butter, and very nearly equal in quantity to that 

 of both combined, while from the milk of the IIoI- 

 derness it was impracticable to obtain good butter. 

 The latter was placed with cows used for the cheese 

 dairy, and proved valuable. This led also to a care- 

 ful examiiuition of other cows as to their individual 

 qualities, and was productive of good. 



The Lactometer, a very simple arrangement of 

 long glass tubes in a frame, which are graduated, will 

 enable a dairyman very readily to test the quantity 

 of cream each cow will give from a given amount 

 of milk. These are frequently used for the purpose. 



By the returns of the census of 1850, it is found 

 that the number of milch cows has diminished — be- 

 ing only 930,967;— 58,433 less than in 1845. Still, 

 the increase in cheese was 12,991,437 fts. — 160 lbs. 

 to each cow; and the increase in butter was 204,361 

 lbs. — 128 lbs. to each cow; against 110 lbs. of cheese 

 and 116 lbs. of butter in 1845. This increase alone 

 was worth, at the market prices of butter and cheese 

 in the dairy districts, ^1,202,580 27 ; and to this is 

 to be added the value of the 58,433 cows and their 

 keep, wliich has been saved to the dairymen of New 

 York. It is believed that a very considerable poi- 

 •tion.of this increase may be fairly traced to the ef- 

 forts which the Society has made to advance this 

 great interest of our country — a sum more than suf- 

 ficient to endow an institution for all time to come 

 for the education and elevation of the farmers of our 

 State. 



That much more should be done is admitted; and 

 we do not intend to relax our efforts until we can 

 secui-e at least 200 lbs. of butter and 400 lbs. of 



