BOOK THE SECOND. 



ON THE ECONOMY AND MANAGEMENT OF THE DAIRY. 



CHAPTEE I. 

 OF MILCH KING. 



npHE value of the respective breeds of milch kine having been already 

 J_ stated, 1 it will rest with the farmer to make his selection, according 

 to the nature of the soil, and the particular branch of dairying which 

 he means to pursue. If his object is to sell milk, quantity must be 

 the leading consideration ; and quality, if he means to produce butter 

 and cheese. Quality must not, however, be wholly sacrificed to quan- 

 tity, in breeding cows for the milk-trade, for the law demands that 

 milk supplied to the public shall have a minimum standard quality 

 indicated by 8 per cent, of solids not fat, and 2| per cent, of fat, 

 together, 11 per cent, of solids. There are no breeds of cows in the 

 British Islands whose milk, under ordinary conditions, will not yield 

 upon analysis more than 11 per cent, of solids, even in early summer, 

 when the grass is young, soft, and very succulent ; though perhaps 

 individual cows might be found whose milk would fall below that 

 standard. 



It is now admitted that the Channel Islands cattle the Jerseys and 

 Guernseys yield richer milk that any other breed of cattle in the 

 country, and this is equivalent to saying that they yield richer milk 

 than any other breed in the world. 'Probably the little black Kerry 

 cows of Ireland will be found to come next to them in quality of milk, 

 closely followed by the blood-red cows of Devonshire and by the 

 docile and picturesque Red Polls of Norfolk and Suffolk. Of Scottish 

 breeds, the Aberdeen-Angus, the Galloway, and the Highland cows 

 stand before the parti-coloured, hardy, energetic little Ayrshires, 

 but the last-named more than compensate in quantity what their milk 

 lacks in quality. The idea once persistently entertained by many 

 people, that red cattle yielded the richest milk, may now be regarded 



1 See Book i. chap. L 



