40 ON MILCH COWS. 



as interesting as any communications that can be submit- 

 ted to the Society; the Committee regret that the state- 

 ments are so often vague and imperfect. Few farmers 

 are aware of the great difference in the quantity and 

 quality of the milk yielded by different cows of the same 

 general appearance. By actual weight and measure, it 

 has been made certain, that some cows in Massachusetts 

 have given fifty or sixty pounds of milk per day. In S. 

 Adams, in Berkshire county, there was a few years ago 

 a cow which gave seventy pounds per day. Her extra 

 feed was four pails of cheese whey, and some rye 

 meal. A heifer in the same town is said to have given 

 sixty pounds per day. Our own county has furnished 

 many instances of extraordinary yield. It may be inter- 

 esting to mention some of them. The Oakes cow made 

 in the year 1813, 180 lbs of butter ; in 1814, 300 lbs ; 

 in 1815, more than 400 lbs, 1 quart per day being re- 

 served for family use, and a calf being suckled for four 

 weeks in each of the years. In one week, 19 1-4 lbs 

 of butter were made, and the average for three months 

 was 16 lbs. The Nourse cow, owned in Salem, produced 

 20 lbs, in one week, and the average for four months 

 was 14 lbs. The Barr cow gave in 268 days 7517 lbs 

 of milk. The sales, including the calf, amounted to 

 $151.15. The Putnam cow in 14 weeks, gave 3370 lbs 

 of milk, making 139 lbs. of butter. The Osborne cow, 

 in 77 days gave 3127 lbs of milk. A cow in Andover, 

 in 1836, besides suckling her calf till sold to the butcher 

 for $8, and supplying a family w^ith milk and cream, 

 made 166 lbs of butter. 



The cow of Mr. Albert Johnson, of Lynn, which re- 

 ceived last year one of the Society's premiums, gave in 

 184 days, 6840 lbs of milk. The sales from this cow, 

 including her calf, amounted to $142.80, in six months. 

 The cow of Mr. Charles F. Putnam, of Salem, yielded 

 in one year, 4214 c[uarts, which at five and six cents per 

 quart, gave him $244.03; estimated expense of keeping 

 and milking $91.53, leaving a clear profit of $152.50; 

 more than some who call themselves farmers realize from 

 a dairy of six or eight animals, which are denominated 



