5^ 



Sept. 30, two qts. of meal were given each cow, per day, and 

 in August and Sept. corn fodder was fed once daily. In Oct. 

 small potatoes were fed instead of the meal, 6 qts. each per 

 day. In Nov. the meal was again fed, with the addition of 

 2 qts. cottonseed meal, and this feed occasionally varied with 

 shorts, was fed through the season. After Dec. the meal was 

 cob-meal, and as far as I can judge it is equal, qt. for qt., 

 with the meal we buy for the production of milk. I should 

 have stated that this amount of grain was fed from April 1, 

 till May 20, instead of beginning the account with the 20th of 

 May, as I see I have done. In my method of feeding, I use 

 river meadow hay, largely, all through the season, and as the 

 result of several careful experiments I find that it will produce 

 as much milk when fed with the amount of grain mentioned^ 

 as English hay. It will not keep the cows in as full flesh as 

 English hay, but that can be done by a larger quantity of meal, 

 at less expense to farmers, in this section of the County, than 

 to feed the best hay to our cows. The farmers of Topsfield 

 cut about one thousand tons of meadow hay, per year ; at least 

 one half this amount is good fodder, and while its selling 

 price is not over $10 per ton, we can use it to good advantage 

 in making milk. I also feed three or four tons of corn-fodder, 

 in the course of the winter, using one feed per day, cut and 

 wet. 



The expense for each cow, for the year, is about sixty dol- 

 lars, divided thus ; pasture, 110, green corn fodder, $5, meal, 

 $10, meadow hay, $20, dry corn stalks and English hay, $15, 

 total, $60. The cows are watered twice a day, and in very 

 cold days, a spoonful of salt fed in the cut feed, will induce 

 tliem to drink more freely, and thus keep up the flow of milk. 

 I also think it important to pump the water just as it is wanted 

 as in freezing weather, water from the well is enough warmer 

 than that exposed to the air, in the trough, to exert a marked 

 effect on the amount of milk produced. 



These particulars embrace all that I can give of interest, as 



