110 TALKS ON MANURES. 



Can not it be avoided ? Good beef is relatively much higher in 

 this State than good cheese. Some of the dairy authorities tell us 

 that cheese is the cheapest animal food in the world, while beef is 

 the dearest. Why, then, should our dairymen confine their atten- 

 tion to the production of the cheapest of farm products, and neg- 

 lect almost entirely the production of the dearest? If beef is high 

 and cheese low, why not raise more beef ? On low-priced land it 

 may be profitable to raise and keep cows solely for the production 

 of cheese, and when the cows are no longer profitable for this pur- 

 pose, to sacrifice them to throw them aside as we do a worn-out 

 machine. And in similar circumstances we may be able to keep 

 sheep solely for their wool, but on high-priced land we can not 

 afford to keep sheep merely for their wool. We must adopt a 

 higher system of farming and feeding, and keep sheep that will 

 give us wool, lambs, and mutton. In parts of South America, 

 where land costs nothing, cattle can be kept for their bones, tallow, 

 and hides, but where food is costly we must make better use 

 of it. A cow is a machine for converting vegetable food into veal, 

 butter, cheese, and beef. The first cost of the machine, if a good 

 one, is considerable say $100. This machine has to be kept run- 

 ning night and day, summer and winter, week days and Sundays. 

 If we were running a steam-flouring mill that could never be 

 allowed to stop, we should be careful to lay in a good supply of 

 coal and also have plenty of grain on hand to grind, so that the 

 mill would never have to run empty. No sensible man would 

 keep up steam merely to run the mill. He would want to grind 

 all the time, and as much as possible ; and yet coal is a much 

 cheaper source of power than the hay and corn with which we 

 run our milk-producing machine. How often is the latter allowed 

 to run empty ? The machine is running night and day must run, 

 but is it always running to advantage? Do we furnish fuel 

 enough to enable it to do full work, or only little more than enough 

 to run the machinery ? 



" What has all this to do with making manure on dairy farms? " 

 asked the Deacon; "you are wandering from the point." 



" I hope not ; I am trying to show that good feeding will pay 

 better than poor feeding and better food means better manure." 



I estimate that it takes from 15 to 18 Ibs. of ordinary hay per 

 day to run this cow-machine, which we have been talking about, 

 even when kept warm and comfortable ; and if exposed to cold 

 storms, probably not less than 20 Ibs. of hay a day, or its 

 equivalent, and this merely to keep the machine running, without 

 doing any work. It requires this to keep the cow alive, and to pre- 



