136 BOARD OF AGRICULTUEE. [Pub. Doc. 



I must not forget to say, in this connection, that in hand- 

 ling cows it is possible to develop the milk glands, the udder, 

 in a large measure by treatment previous to the time when a 

 cow begins to give milk. We had one remarkable heifer 

 in our stable last winter, who was giving about three tea- 

 cups full of milk a day a full year before -she had her first 

 calf. The udders of our heifers are rubbed systematically 

 for three months before they come in ; and that develops 

 the milk-secreting cells, so that heifers will give more milk 

 the first year ; and if they give more milk the first year, you 

 can enlarge production from that foundation just as well as 

 you can enlarge from a smaller one. The rubbing of the 

 udder of the heifer makes a remarkable difference in her 

 milking capacity. It should l)e done every day, only a few 

 minutes at a time. When our heifers come in the first time 

 they have a tendency to dry up after milking about six 

 months ; but l)y persevering and insisting on the heifer giv- 

 ing milk for ten months the first year, j^ou will fix the habit 

 in that animal, to which she will afterwards adhere. 



I pass on to say a few words on the preparation for sum- 

 mer feeding, and I may very well omit a good deal I had 

 thought of saying on this suli^ject, because I learn that you 

 feed your cows here mostly in the stable in summer and 

 in winter. I agree with those who said in the discussion 

 yesterday that herds grass or timothy is one of the poorest 

 kinds of hay for the production of milk. I would rather 

 give the common salt marsh hay, so called, ton for ton, than 

 pure timothy or herds grass. 



Then we find that in seeding for hay and pastures it pays 

 to add a large proportion of clover to the grass seed, and we 

 sow it to the extent of eight pounds per acre. We find that 

 alfalfa is one of the excellent clovers. Grass is a model food 

 for cows, but since you do not generally practise pasturing 

 here, I will pass over that part of the subject with only a 

 few remarks. Grass is a model food for cows in regard to 

 composition and in regard to the condition of constituents ; 

 and when it fails you should try to supplement it with a crop 

 of mixed cereals, such as oats, barley, wheat, peas and horse 

 beans, because you cannot get more than five months of good 

 pasturing in the year in this latitude. In seeding down for 



