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MILCH COWS. 93 



become less and the quantity of milk raised for market greater. 

 This change in dairy farming calls for a change in the kind of 

 stock, and in its management. Cows that are profitable for 

 butter, will, perhaps, hardly pay the expense of keeping at the 

 ■wholesale price of milk ; and the reverse is equally true. 



We need careful and repeated experiments to show us what 

 breed is best for our purpose^ and how cows should be kept to 

 secure the largest return at the least outlay. In old butter- 

 making times, but little butter was made in the winter, and the 

 cows would thrive better that season on the hay* and other 

 fodder produced by the farmer. But the milk-producer must 

 keep his quantity of milk in winter nearly equal to that of 

 summer; consequently he must bestow extra care, and must 

 use considerable extra feed. The kind, quantity, and manner 

 of using this extra feed is unsettled, and opinions among prac- 

 tical farmers vary much. The only way to settle these matters . 

 is by careful, patient experiment. And then how little is 

 known of the amount of milk our cows produce. One man 

 tells you cows generally do not average more than five quarts 

 per day; another thinks a cow very poor if she will not average 

 eiglit on like keeping. Perhaps it may not be out of place here 

 to state the result of a trial made by the chairman of your 

 committee a year or two since. . 



The object was to ascertain how much an average cow 

 would give, on fair keeping, and how much difference there 

 was between such a cow and the best. Accordingly three cows 

 were selected which had been kept upon the place several 

 seasons, and whose qualities were therefore known, and which 

 calved, as nearly as possible, at the same time. No. 1 was a 

 cow that had always been considered a fair milker ; No. 2 was 

 one of the best, — both natives ; No. 3 was a grade Ayrshire. 



No. 1 calved April 12th, and the 22d of the next March. 



No. 2 calved April 25th, and the 19th of the next April. 



No. 3 calved June 10th. and the 21st of the next June. 



The milk was measured carefully every Wednesday, and the 

 amount reckoned an average for the week. The following was 

 the result : 



