94 



MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



MOKTHS. 



April, . 



May, . 



June, . 



July, . 



August, 



September, 



October, 



November, 



December, 



January, 



February, 



March, 



April, . 



May, . 



Total, 



Amount of Milk. 



Qts. 



345 

 427 

 395 

 334 

 357 

 296 

 310 

 326 

 295 

 270 

 169 

 41 



3,565 



QuAKTS PER Day. 



101 



9 



lOi 



96 



10 

 9 



8-2- 

 Z3 



I' 



3. 



18 



13| 



12| 



Hi 



Hi 



07 



10 



lOA 



lOi 



'J 



52 



Average amount per day during the whole time : No. 1, 6.2 ; 

 No. 2, 8.5 ; No. 3, 9.4. The milk was sold at wholesale, and 

 actually brought,— No. 1, I52.4T; No. 2, $79.71; No. 3, $97.57. 

 The keeping in each case was precisely alike, and consisted of a 

 few roots or shorts, with as much hay and other fodder as they 

 would eat. During the summer months, nothing but good 

 pasture. It was thought at the time that Cow No. 1 barely 

 paid the cost of keeping and a fair interest on her market 

 value. Taking this for granted, then No. 3 paid a profit over 

 cost of keeping, sufficient to buy a good cow at that time. 



Dr. Loomis, in a paper published in the Patent Office Report 

 of 1861, estimates the average annual amount of milk produced 

 over a large extent of territory, at only 1,800 quarts per cow. 

 If this is correct, or even if 2,100 quarts per year be the average, 

 then it follows that many farmers are making milk at little or 

 no profit. It also follows that with better stock, the same 

 expense in keeping Avill yield a larger return than in almost 

 any other branch of agriculture. Doubtless it is practically 

 impossible for all to obtain extra cows : but when farmers are 

 convinced that they cannot alTord to keep a medium cow, the 

 demand for better stock will increase, and the supply will 

 increase with the demand. Another important consideration is, 



