MILCH COWS. 279 



color, or external appearance, that would captivate any one. 

 From what we have seen of them when well fed, we should 

 think that if a flock of them were kept in our dry, bushy pas- 

 tures in summer, and then exposed to the severe cold of our 

 winter, fed on as poor fare as many of our native cows get, 

 they would be as ill-shaped, ghastly-looking animals as could 

 well be imagined ; and if he who, in his dream upon the banks 

 of the Nile, saw the ill-favored and lean kine rise up before 

 him, could, when he awoke, have seen a flock of these cows, he 

 would have said that it was no dream, but a living shadow. 

 But if upon a fair trial we find them giving better milk and 

 making more butter in a year than any other breed upon the 

 same expense of feeding, we shall learn to judge, not by the 

 outward appearance, but by their real merits. 



There are some objections which may be raised against them ; 

 they are not so valuable for beef, and their calves for veal will 

 not be so good as some other breeds. It is said by the im- 

 porters of this breed that they continue to give milk all the 

 year. It may be desirable for a family cow to have one that 

 will give milk all the year; but upon a farm, either for making 

 butter or selling milk, if we can have the same amount of milk 

 in eight months as in twelve, we should prefer the cow that 

 would give it in eight months, and go dry the other four months, 

 for the expense of feeding is less when dry. 



In the statements which we have of the cows exhibited, the 

 owners have said but little of the quality of the milk — a point 

 that needs more attention from those farmers who make butter. 



We have often heard the remark, that a cow gives good milk 

 because she had a fat calf. Our experience has led us to think 

 that the calf is no criterion by which we may judge of the 

 butter qualities of the cow, for we have known many cows that 

 had fat calves which made but little butter. If any one will 

 carefully notice the milk in a lactometer, he will find a great 

 difference in the appearance of the milk of different cows after 

 the cream has risen. One may have a thick, yellow cream, and 

 the milk at the bottom will be thin, and nearly as blue as the 

 sky j while another may give but little cream, and the niiLk will be 

 nearly the same color. Thus we see that the milk of a cow may- 

 be good for fattening the calf and for family use, and yet not 



