26 tHE DAIRYMAN^S MANUAL. 



be kept with profit upon an acre of land under cultiva- 

 tion, and the clippiugs of a lawD, with the aid of the 

 surplus vegetables from the garden. This is entirely 

 possible, and it has been done for several years by the 

 author at his residence, a few miles distant from hi.^ 

 farm, where a family cow, chosen from the herd for its 

 docility and productiveness, has been kept to supply the 

 needs of the family. And in choosing a rural residence 

 the prospective owner should be careful to consider the 

 possibilities of his little farm for this desirable purpose. 



CHAPTER III. 

 COWS FOR THE DAIRY. 



Oi?"E notable source of ill-success in dairying is infe- 

 rior cows. It is said that even in the oldest and best 

 dairy districts of New York, one-third of the dairy stock 

 will not more than pay the cost of its keep. This is not 

 to the credit of good dairymen, and shows they do not 

 give proper attention to their account of profit and loss. 

 Poor milk-yielding cows are ''a crying evil," and the 

 annual loss from this cause keeps many dairymen in 

 straitened circumstances ; and so long as they persist 

 in retaining this kind of stock there is for them but little 

 hope of bettering their fortunes in the dairy. 



Inferior milkers are not wholly confined to the scrubs 

 and common cows of the country, for they are found 

 among all breeds of thoroughbred stock. Prof. Roberts, 

 in a recent address at a dairy convention, affirmed that 

 much of the thoroughbred stock of the country is a posi- 

 tive damage in the dairy. AVeak in constitution, with 

 the milking habit bred out, they transmit these charac- 

 teristics to their progeny, and thus become the source of 

 infinite mischief and loss to the dairyman who is trying 



