1026 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



horned sort ; but it is not ascertained whether the neat balance is in favour of the short or long-horned; 

 {Lancashire Rep. 561.) The Guernsey breed is valued by some for the richness of the cream and butter 

 but, both for the dairy and butcher, it is very unprofitable. 



6865. Where butter is the principal object, such cows should always be chosen as are known to afford 

 the best milk and cream, and in the largest quantity, of whatever breed they may be. But the weight of" 

 butter to be made from a given number of cows must always depend on a variety of contingent circum- 

 stances : such as the size and goodness of the beasts ; the kind and quantity of the food ; and the distance 

 of time from calving. As to the first, it need scarcely be mentioned that a large cow will give greater 

 store of milk than one of a smaller size ; though cows of equal size differ as to the quantity of cream 

 produced from the milk of each : it is, therefore, on those cows whose milk is not only in large abundance, 

 but which, from a peculiar inherent richness, yields a thick cream, that the butter dairyman is to place 

 his chief dependence ; and where a cow is deficient in either of these, she should be parted with, and her 

 place supplied by one more proper for this use. As to the second particular, namely, the kind and quality 

 of the food, those who would wish to profit by a dairy ought to provide for their cows hay of a superior 

 goodness, to be given them in the depth of winter, and this in an unlimited degree, that they may always 

 feed till they are perfectly satisfied : and, when the weather will permit, the cows should be indulged with 

 an outlet to marshes or low meadow-grounds, where they may feed on such green vegetables as are pre. 

 sent; which is far preferable to the practice of confining them the whole day on dry meat, will enable 

 them to yield greater plenty of milk, and will give a fine yellow colour to the butter even in the winter 

 season. 



6866. In the vales of Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, very great numbers of cows are kept for the 

 purpose of butter. These fertile lands maintain a breed of large cows, which yield great store of milk ; 

 so that it is no uncommon circumstance for one farmer to keep a herd of fifty or sixty, and to collect a 

 quantity of cream sufficient to fill a barrel.churn of sixty gallons in a week. The butter made from this 

 cream is sold by the farmer or dairyman to persons who make it their business to purchase this article at 

 a stated price from Michaelmas to Lady-day, and at an inferior rate from Lady-day to Michaelmas. The 

 butter thus collected is sent to London every week in waggons. It is consigned to the dealers, who retail 

 it to the consumer ; and no small profit from this traffic accrues to the waggoner and the butter-merchant 

 This butter is mostly made up in lumps of two pounds each, and for that reason it has obtained the name 

 of lump-butter. Its flavour is peculiarly sweet and agreeable, which is chiefly owing to the goodness of 

 the pasture whereon the cows are fed ; for this intrinsic merit would in vain be sought for in butter made 

 from ordinary pastures, how great soever may be the skill of the dairy- woman. Though the grass should 

 be equally luxuriant, the cows of the same breed, and the cream in like abundance, yet would a decided 

 preference still remain in favour of the vale-fed cows ; for, as a fattening beast on ricli land will thrive 

 much quicker than on thin soils, though the herbage be shorter on the former than on the poor ground, 

 so will cows give a larger store of milk, and that of a more nutritious quality, when fed on deep fertile 

 meadows, than if depastured on those of inferior goodness or quality. 



6867. Epping butter has long been held in the highest estimation ; and great quantities are manufac- 

 tured in Cambridgeshire and the adjoining counties. The Cambridge butter is sent in small pans ; it has 

 an additional quantity of salt mixed with it, to insure its keeping for ten days or a fortnight ; and is gene- 

 rally perfectly free from any rancid taste. Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and other neighbouring counties, 

 where the land is rich and fertile, likewise supply large quantities of butter, which is salted and put into 

 tubs for the southern markets. 



6868. Where cheese is the principal object, the management in respect to the cows must be the same. 



6869. When the object is the suckling of calves, the farmer should provide himself with a breed of cows 

 suited to the quality of his land. Where the farm abounds with fertile pastures, watered with wholesome 

 streams, and not far distant from the yard, so that the cows may be turned immediately out of the suckling 

 house upon their feed, the benefit will be in every respect superior to what can be expected from an arable 

 farm, or where the green land is in a small proportion to the ploughed ; for, in this latter case, the cows 

 must depend for their sustenance chiefly on artificial fodder ; such as clover, rye-grass, turnips, and other 

 roots and herbage. 



6870. The cow-house should be of a size adapted to the number of the beasts. Each cow should be 

 driven into the house at suckling-time, and her head confined in a proper manner, having some fodder 

 lying constantly before her, and a space left between every beast. When they become accustomed to 

 this kind of restraint, they will without any trouble come into the places destined for them, when the 

 calves may be suckled with the greatest ease and facility. 



6871. The time cows should become dry before their caluitig is not agreed on, some contending that they 

 may be milked almost to the time of their dropping the calf without injury ; while others maintain that 

 it is absolutely necessary that they should be laid dry from one month to two, both for the advantage of 

 themselves and their calves. It is probable that much in this business must depend on the manner in 

 which they are kept ; as when well fed they may be continued in milk till within a week or two of their 

 calving, without sufifering any injury from it; but in the contrary circumstances it may be better to let 

 them run dry for a month, six weeks, or more, according to their condition, in order to their more fully 

 recruiting their strength. It appears not improbable, but that the longer the milking is continued, the 

 more free the cows will be from indurations and other afltections of the udder ; which is a circumstance 

 deserving of attention. Where only one or two cows are kept for the supply of a family, it is likewise 

 useful to know, that by good feeding they may be continued in milk without any bad consequences till 

 nearly the time of calving. 



6872. Cows sometimes slip their calves before they are sufficiently grown. W^here this occurs, it is 

 essentially necessary to remove such cows immediately from the cow-yards, or from mixing with the other 

 cattle, for a few days. But where cows are much subject to such accidents, it is the best method to get 

 quit of them as soon as possible, as they will seldom turn out profitable afterwards. 



6873. Cows should be kept comtantly in good condition ; as where they are ever suffered to become very 

 lean, and that in the winter season, it is impossible that they can be brought to afford a large quantity of 

 milk, by getting them into perfect condition in the summer months. Where cows are lean at the period 

 of calving, no management afterwards is ever capable of bringing them to afford for that season any 

 thing near the proportion of milk that they would have done if they had been supported in proper condi- 

 tion during the winter. Food of the most nourishing and succulent kinds should therefore be regularly 

 given in suitable proportions in the cold inclement months, and the animals should be kept warm, and well 

 supplied with pure water. Some advise their being cleaned by combing and other means ; but this is a 

 practice which, though useful in making them yield their milk more freely, can perhaps seldom be advan- 

 tageously employed on an extensive scale. 



6874. Where the herd of cows is extensive, an account should always be kept of the time when each cow 

 takes the bull, that she may be dried off at a reasonable distance of time before the expected term of 

 gestation be completed. The usual time when the cow is dried off" is two months before her calving, 

 when she ought to be suffered to lie quiet, and should not be brought up with the other cows at milking 

 or suckling-time. According to some, if a cow be continued in milk nearer to the time of calving than 

 the period above allotted, it will not only greatly injure her future progeny by rendering it weakly and 

 stunted, but will also have an ill effect on her own health : while others, as we have seen (6871.), consider 

 ten days or a fortnight as sufficient. When a cow is four months gone with calf, the fact may easily be 

 ascertained by pressing upon her off-flank, when the calf will be felt to kick against the hand. 



6875. Cows may be known to be near the time of calvi?ig, by springing at the udder or at the bearing. 

 By springing at the udder is meant the collection of liquid in the bag, which, a few weeks before the time 



