DAIRY STOCK. 149 



they came, for other animals to fill their places ; but as we 

 look over the territory which we had before gleaned, do we 

 find the progeny of these fine animals to select from ? Not at 

 all. These fine animals, of which we were justly proud, have 

 passed away on our own dairy farms, together with their 

 progenjs and we are left to glean from the progeny of the 

 animals which we had culled and rejected before, aud this only 

 to be repeated as each animal shall fulfil its mission and pass 

 away. 



And here the question very naturally presents itself, — 

 What is the remedy ? 



Your Committee would first mention some of the objections 

 farmers make to raising stock : And first, they say it does 

 not pay, — we can buy our cows cheaper than we can raise 

 them. We want to economize our barn-room ; a young heifer 

 occupies as much standing-room in my barn as a milch cow, 

 and although she may be improving in size, and increasing in 

 value, a milch cow will pay better, and so we are content to 

 look quietly on and see our dairy stock degenerate from year 

 to year, congratulating ourselves with the gratifying thought 

 that we have saved a few dollars on the first cost of each 

 animal. 



And now let us look to some of the reasons why we cannot 

 afford to raise our own cows ; and your Committee verily 

 believe that the man who shall demonstrate that it will pay to 

 raise dairy cows on our milk-producing farms, will be as great a 

 benefactor to the farmer as the man who invented the mowing- 

 machine or horse-rake. 



The calf is generally taken from the cow when three or four 

 days old, and if milk is bringing from five to seven cents 

 per quart, it seems a waste to allow a calf to drink it ; and 

 so hay tea, milk and water, porridge, oatmeal, etc., is resorted 

 to, to take the place of milk. The result is, as we ought 

 naturally to expect : the calf, instead of thriving, drags out a 

 miserable existence for the first six months of its life, and we 

 find it at that time small of its age, poor, and perhaps more 

 or less diseased, and in every way in an unfavorable condition 

 to pass the first winter of its life, and with a flattering pros- 

 pect of its taking the next two years and a half, at least, to 

 develop an animal suitable for a milch cow ; and yet there are 



