306 BOARD OP AGRICULTURE. 



one calved April, 1868, time out March, 1869; one calved No- 

 vember, 1867, and again January, 1869, time out next calving, 

 October, 1869 ; one calved July, 1868, time, August, 1869. 

 The butter made from them in the last week is thirty pounds. 

 You will see that they have much passed their best flow, and 

 one is within two months of next calving, and one has been 

 one month in full flow, but not equal to what she would have 

 been in June. Their food has been one bushel, six pounds corn 

 stover, poor hay, &c., as before has been stated, with one quart 

 meal, all steamed together, in the morning ; at 7 or 8 o'clock, 

 hay, five pounds ; then watered in stalls ; at noon six pounds 

 straw or rowen, to vary the feed ; at 4 o'clock watered in stalls ; 

 two quarts fine feed and one peck roots and hay, seven pounds, 

 for the last feed. Their solid excrement has been 2,576 pounds, 

 or 73| pounds daily from each, if the liquid or urine is equal or 

 more valuable than the solid, and the whole saved on a cemented 

 floor and absorbed by a plentiful supply of peat, seaweeds and 

 mould, we liave a large deposit, which is not a bad investment. 



Prof. Dana fed to his cows, or one cow in seven days, water, 

 611 pounds ; potatoes, 87 pounds ; hay, 167 pounds. The aver- 

 age solid excrement daily in nine and a half years, fifty cows, 

 kept up the year round, was 56 pounds each. He says that 

 well-cured hay and grain give one-half their weight in solid and 

 liquid, and potatoes, roots and green grass return one-tenth. 

 His estimate is low for solid manure, but it may be accounted 

 for as the cattle or cows being in milk, and not taking so much 

 water as in other ways of care and feeding. Some statements 

 are eighty pounds and over of solid dung from each cow, which 

 led me to ascertain for my own satisfaction. 



As the dairy cows on a farm are the machines through which 

 is run much of the produce raised, and from which most of the 

 profit is derived, it behooves us to make much of every sort of 

 fodder that we can grow ; and as very many farms have not the 

 desired amount of upland to grow all good English hay, we 

 cannot too strongly urge all farmers to raise roots that keep 

 horses, cows, sheep and hogs. In fact, all farm stock devour 

 them wlien properly prepared to suit each. Roots and cabbage 

 are like barn manure, when compared with concentrated fertil- 

 izers by their bulk, as to the nutritive and fertilizing value of 

 each ; but when they are used in practise we all know the 



