112 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



milkman would work advantageously for both. I do not 

 suppose there is a milk producer in the State who can really 

 afford to raise his own cows, or who would do it if he could 

 readily buy such as would suit him. 



The milk farmer has no milk which he can afford to feed to 

 his calves when young, and for rearing good, thrifty calves, 

 there has been nothing discovered or invented yet equal to 

 milk. The butter dairy affords an abundance of this, and I 

 can see no good reason why all the cows needed in the State 

 should not be raised on butter-producing farms within our 

 own borders. Such a disposition of the milk of a butter 

 dairy, I believe, would bring to the farmers of the State far 

 better returns than if fed, as at present, to swine. 



With a uniform breed of cows throughout the State, the 

 milk farmers could generally find a supply of good ones for 

 sale at all times, and butter-makers could be drawn upon, at 

 a day's notice, for any unusual demand in the milk market, 

 while at present they refuse to sell their rich milk at prices 

 which milkmen will pay. Under such a condition, the butter 

 would be made and the cows reared in the more remote dis- 

 tricts, where pasture-feed and hay would be cheaper than near 

 the cities. Here breeding animals and young stock could 

 have that exercise which is so necessary to health, growth, 

 and hardy constitutions. 



After reaching maturity, say at from five to seven years, 

 the cow could go to the milk farm nearer the city, and do 

 good service for a number of years under the soiling system ; 

 and then, while still thrifty and vigorous, be turned into good 

 beef for the city market. 



Now, a breed of cows suited to such a system, should be 

 of good size, should give milk, not thin and watery, but rich 

 in fat, caseine, and sugar, should be hearty feeders, so that 

 before they reach far towards the down-hill side of life they 

 may be made into good beef without incurring an unwarrant- 

 able expense. 



Have we such a breed ? Perhaps not, but we have plenty 

 of material for producing such. The Devons might perhaps 

 answer if they were a little larger. Undoubtedly they may 

 be increased in size by a judicious course of breeding and 

 feeding. The Shorthorns, which have been bred specially for 



