113 



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The Committee likewise recommend a gratuity of three dollars 

 to J. C. Bachi of Dorchester, for a very promising young cow, 

 ■which he had not owned long enough to entitle liira to a premium. 



For milch cows only one person, in the opinion of the Commit- 

 tee, complied with the requisitions of the Society in making his 

 statement, namely, Mr. Charles H. Harmon of West Needham, 

 to whom they award a premium of $10.00. 



In the book containing the premiums and the rules for award- 

 ing them, there are two sections relating to cows. The jSrst oifcrs 

 a premium for the different breeds, without requiring any written 

 statement. The second, headed Milch Cotvs, requires a particular 

 description, in writing, of the expense of feeding, and the quantity 

 and quality of the milk at different times. At the late Exhibition, 

 nearly all the cows entered for premium might, with propriety, 

 have been called milch cows, many of them having calves with 

 them. The Committee considered the cow entered by Mrs. Gib- 

 bons of Quincy, the best one on the ground ; but they felt obliged 

 either to. violate the rules of the Society, or to exclude her from 

 receiving a premium as a milch cow. They would, therefore, re- 

 spectfully recommend that all competitors, for the future, be more 

 explicit in making their statements. 



The increasing demand for milk, the rise in the value of land, 

 and the present high price of labor and produce, in the vicinity of 

 our cities and villages, it would seem, ought to be a sufficient in- 

 ducement for farmers to pay more attention to the breed, expense 

 of keeping and manner of milking their cows. 



They should be fed and milked regularly, and if practicable, by 

 the same person ; and when the number of cows requires more 

 than one milker, each person should invariably milk the same, as 

 a cow will yield her milk more readily and freely to one with 

 whom she is acquainted, if kindly treated, than to a stranger. 



Yankee ingenuity has invented almost every thing to save labor, 

 but whether a machine better than the hands will ever be invented 

 to draw milk from the udder of a cow, remains to be seen. 



Probably, as a general rule, the most profitable age of a cow 

 is from six to twelve ; some, however, arrive at maturity and de- 

 cline at an earlier age than others. The writer of this Report 

 once owned a small Native that gave sixteen beer quarts per day 

 for several months, after having her second calf, and although 



