MILCH COWS. 307 



the prudent and thrifty housewives of the yeomanry of New 

 England may derive a profit from the labors of the household, 

 in their manufacture, which no other occupation will afford. 

 There is health and satisfaction, too, in the business of the 

 dairy. It necessarily exacts exercise and industry, and in- 

 duces to habits of order, neatness, and regularity in the fam- 

 ily. There is no domestic service more remunerative for 

 the time it occupies, and none less objectionable in the char- 

 acter of the employment. The committee cannot feel that 

 they discharge their duty without adding an urgent recommen- 

 dation that these trials be encouraged, either under the good 

 auspices of the state or of the county societies. 



The chemical constitution of milk shows the same properties 

 in very different proportions in different milking animals. The 

 butteraceous principle prevails largely in the yield of some 

 cows, while the caseous and serous predominate in others. 

 It is obvious, then, that the particular purpose of the dairy, 

 whether for the making of butter or cheese, should be primari- 

 ly regarded in the selection of the stock best adapted to the 

 object to be pursued. But has this consideration been suf- 

 ficiently attended to, or indeed at all understood, by our pro- 

 fessed dairymen ? It is generally known that the milk of some 

 cows will give little or no butter ; but is it as well known that 

 the same milk will produce plentifully the curd of cheese ? 

 And what farmer knows how to adapt his dairy to its appro- 

 priate productiveness, or can answer the question, from any 

 experiments made by himself or others, of which of the races, 

 Durham, Devon, Ayrshire, or Alderney, come the best dairy 

 stock, or by what distinctive marks to select the best individ- 

 uals from either race ? On these most interesting subjects 

 there is a lamentable want of practical information ; and it is 

 surely through the encouragement and intelligent direction of 

 appropriate associated public bodies that such knowledge can 

 best be obtained. The committee are well assured that, with 

 the interest excited by these premiums, and the publication of 

 the reports, and by an earlier and more extended previous no- 

 tice another year, with more precise regulations and require- 

 ments as to the time and manner of conduct and trial, and de- 

 tail of results, a much greater and closer competition would be 



