32 ON MILCH COWS AND HEIFERS. 



SO thai t more than two thirds the moisture, which must be a 

 large c lonstituent in the secretion of milk, is lost in the process of 

 drying,. Do not such experiments, as well as common observa- 

 tion d(5monstrate, that our farmers do not provide a sufficiency of 

 green food ? We think it would be profitable to raise root crops, 

 such as mangold wurtzel, carrots, Swedish turnips and even 

 round turnips, to feed out to cows at the season when other suc- 

 culent: food is inaccessible. If a cow is suffered to become poor 

 in the winter, it will be difficult to restore her flesh, and her pro- 

 duct of milk, for that year will be gi'eatly diminished. Keep no 

 more stock than can be well fed both through winter and sum- 

 mer. It is more satisfactory and pleasant to obtain ten gallons 

 of milk from five well-conditioned, than from ten " ill favored 

 and lean fleshed kine." 



Neither very young, nor very old cows are considered so 

 valuable, for their annual product, as those of intermediate ages. 

 Unless of extraordinary properties, they should not be kept after 

 they are ten or twelve years old. Such cows require better 

 keeping, and are more liable to accidents and diseases. No 

 kind of stock better compensates for liberal feeding. If a supply 

 of roots has not been procured, a small quantity of meal or a k\v 

 ears of Indian corn daily, will cause a perceptible improvement. 

 A cow that is worth keeping is worthy of liberal feeding. On 

 short commons and poor fodder, her milk qualities and her pro- 

 geny will degenerate. Give her an abundance of nutritious 

 food, and in return, she will give you 



" New milk that, all the winter, never fails, 

 And, all the summer overflows the pails." 



* II. Eclogue of Virgil, 22d line. 



We think it unnecessary to extend our remarks, since this 

 subject was so fully and satisfactorily discussed by the Rev. 

 Henry Colman in his report, published in the last year's transac- 

 tions of this Society, and which is in the hands of every farmer 

 who feels an interest in such investigations. And we are doing 

 but common justice to that distinguished scientific and practical 

 cultivator, who has since removed to a distant part of the state, 



* " Lac mihi non testate novum, non frigoro defit." 



