42 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



not hesitate becimse it may help others more than yon, as is 

 quite likely. The man who will refuse to benefit himself 

 and his family from fear of helping others, and the one who 

 remains inactive waitinjj for others to do work which will 

 benefit him, must both be near akin to the individual who is 

 said to have bitten off his own nose to spite his face. 



In short, if interested in the milk question, be not con- 

 tent to let things remain in their present unsatisfactory state. 

 Be active and earnest ; organize ■ — organize ! Do some- 

 thing, when so many Avays are open. It is work, and not 

 growling, — ivork for your own interests and those of your 

 fellows, — that is needed to settle the milk question. 



Mr. West of West Hadle3^ I would like to ask the 

 lecturer the most proper feed for a butter cow. 



Mr. Alvord. You ask me too much. " A combina- 

 tion of feeds " would be my answer to that. 



Mr. West. What combination? 



Mr. Alvord. It might be any one of several combina- 

 tions. I should say, corn meal and oats to start with, with 

 perhaps a little cotton seed. Then, if the oats were left out, 

 increase the cotton seed and add wheat refuse of some sort. 

 But I would stick to the corn meal as the basis, and would 

 not allow cotton seed to be omitted, if it was possible to 

 get it, unless oats could be used economically and in abun- 

 dance. 



Mr. Sessions. Will cotton seed fed to milch cows make 

 good butter? 



Mr. Alvord. It will, if properly fed, and not too much 

 of it. The quantity depends entirely upon the cow. It may 

 stand nothing at all, or may run up to five pounds without 

 any efi*ect upon the butter, or but a very slight eft'ect upon 

 the liutter. 



Mr. Warner. What has been the average return per 

 quart to the producer of milk through the system of butter 

 factories ? 



Mr. Alvord. The factories have no means of keeping a 

 record of the quantity of milk which their different patrons 

 make. The only record which can be obtained from the 

 books of the factory is the number of inches of cream which 



