cows FOR THE DAIRY. 29 



two hundred and forty-three gallons of milk each, which 

 at eleven and a half cents per gallon amounted to twenty- 

 seven dollars and ninety-hve cents each, or seven dollars 

 and six cents less than the cost of keep. As a result of 

 this test, it is needless to say the poor cows were not kept 

 over the second season. If this result was obtained hy 

 one of the best dairymen, what could be expected from 

 the herd of the average dairyman ? 



There are cheese dairymen who are keeping dairies 

 averaging from twenty-five to thirty cows, who obtain, 

 one year with another, a yield of six hundred pounds of 

 cheese per cow and often more, while other dairies in the 

 vicinity do not get a yield of much more than half that 

 amount per cow. It must be evident that herds like the 

 latter are not rapidly bettering the fortunes of their own- 

 ers. And yet this thing goes on from year to year with- 

 out the proper effort to get out of the rut. 



The statistics of the cheese factories in the State of 

 New York -show many inferior herds that do not yield 

 on an average much above three thousand five hundred 

 pounds of milk per head during the year, whereas the 

 average should be at least five thousand pounds. The 

 milk of every cow should be tested as to quantity and 

 quality, and inferior cows discarded. It is better to pay 

 a good round price for a superior milker than to take a 

 poor one at any price, since the cost of keep on the latter 

 will most likely insure loss. There are instruments which 

 will determine quickly and easily the percentage of butter 

 in any sample of milk, and with sufficient accuracy for 

 all practical purposes, so that by weighing the milk, from 

 time to time, the real value of a cow as a milk producer 

 may be known ; and such tests are imperative if the best 

 results in dairying are to be obtained. 



Dairymen should breed their own stock as the surest 

 way to get superior milkers at moderate cost ; but in 

 breeding dairy stock care should be taken that calves be 



