No. 4.] LIVE STOCK IN MASSACHUSETTS. 289 



heat before being fed to calves, pigs or other animals, and care must 

 be taken that calves do not suckle their dams at any time. The 

 process of breeding a healthy herd from an infected one involves a 

 good deal of care and detail, but it can be accomplished in a shorter 

 time and at less expense than is usually supposed. The result is worth 

 the effort. Mention should here be made of the fact that unscrupulous 

 dealers have learned how to prevent the usual reaction of tuberculin, 

 thus again placing the dairyman who buys his cows at a disadvantage. 

 To the man who breeds his own stock, however, the test is just as 

 valuable as ever, because he has them under his own control. 



In the improvement or grading up of a herd of milch cows one of 

 the first steps is to weigh and record the amount of milk produced 

 each day. While this seems like quite an undertaking, when proper 

 arrangements are provided the amount of time required is very small, 

 and the returns from such work are such that the writer has yet to 

 hear of a progressive dairyman who has discontinued the work after 

 beginning it with proper utensils and arrangements. The influence 

 upon the milkers, and the ease with which the owner or herdsman 

 can detect a lessened flow as soon as it' occurs, are worth the cost. 

 Hanging spring balances, with adjustable hand that can be set back 

 for the weight of the pail, may be obtained at any good hardware 

 store. It is only necessary then to make the pails used by the different 

 milkers weigh the same by the addition of a little solder on the bottom 

 of the outside of the pail; the weight of milk can then be read directly 

 from the scales. 



The data thus obtained of the work actually done by the cows will 

 contain some surprises but are the best criterion in judging of their 

 value. Too much stress should not be put upon one year's work, but 

 after the dairyman has weighed the milk from his herd for two or three 

 years, a fairly correct estimate of the producing ability of the indi- 

 vidual cows of the herd may be obtained. 



To make the record complete, and especially if cream, or milk with 

 a high per cent of fat, is desired, samples of the milk of each cow 

 should be tested by the Babcock test. These samples may be obtained 

 in several different ways: (1) by taking a small amount of milk from 

 both a night and morning milking, and testing such a sample once or 

 twice a month, or, better, once a week ; (2) by taking a small amount 

 (less than one-half ounce) of milk from each milking for a week. 

 These samples may be kept from souring by the use of corrosive sub- 

 limate. This preservative may be obtained in small tablets ready for 

 use from most dairy supply houses. As corrosive sublimate is a poison 

 the tablets contain some coloring matter, to guard against the acci- 

 dental use of the milk. Samples should be kept out of reach of children 

 and small animals, and if the composite samples are used they should 

 be covered with a tiglit stopper, to prevent evaporation. Evaporation, 

 by decreasing the amount of water, will slightly increase the per cent 



