THE DAIRY. 28j 



made much finer by running through the mill again, and it will 

 hardly improve the quality. In the third place, I came here 

 yesterday to attend your meeting without any expectation 

 of taking any prominent part in the proceedings, and there- 

 fore I am not properly prepared to present this subject to 

 you as I would like to do. I do not like to rely altogether 

 on my memory for facts and figures on any such subject ; 

 but it is one of very great interest to me, has been for 

 years, and I claim to be so far familiar with the general 

 subject as to be ready to do what I can towards giving facts in 

 connection with it, especially in the way of answering ques- 

 tions. This morning I received a request to say something 

 on this subject, understanding that it was desired by some 

 of those present that I should do so ; but I was not given, 

 perhaps, as full an idea of what was wanted as I should like, 

 and I think probably the better way would be simply to 

 open the subject, and then to allow those interested in the 

 matter to ask questions of me, and others who are, no doubt, 

 more competent in many respects to answer them. 



I must go over somewhat old ground and give some of 

 the reasons for my belief in the economy, profit and desira- 

 bility of butter making as a specialty in farming. In this 

 region, as a rule, we have lands which need to be improved 

 in fertility, which we cannot afibrd to draw upon and reduce 

 their fertility any more. In order to do this we must have 

 manure in some form. While a firm believer in commercial 

 manures to supplement the home supply, and in their 

 economy under certain circumstances, I believe that they 

 should not be used, as a rule, until every effort has been made 

 to produce the greatest possible quantity of manure upon 

 the farm, especially through a full stock of domestic animals ; 

 and when we come to look over the various classes of domes- 

 tic animals, while those which have been presented to us yes- 

 terday and to-day — sheep and swine —have a good many 

 desirable qualities, yet I think we must generally admit that 

 the milch cow, when well handled, is the best domestic ani- 

 mal in the way of profit, both as a producer of milk and a 

 maker of manure. Of course the better a cow is handled 

 the better the profit from both these sources, — the milk pro- 

 duced and the manure made. We find a home market with- 



