300 CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 



be taken away wholly, hence the amount obtained about equals the fat. 

 It is found that something less than 31 pounds of milk is required to 

 produce 1 pound of butter. At this rate, the Swiss hay-fed cows fur- 

 nishing milk to the Cham Condensing Company could produce, on an 

 average, say 175 pounds of butter to the cow for the season ; an aver- 

 age that would bear most favorable comparison with the average butter 

 of 0,000 high-fed cows of the State of New York. 



At the celebrated monastery of Einsiedeln, in Canton Schwytz, a 

 careful record is also kept of the product of the cows. 



One hundred and twelve head of cattle are kept at the monastery. 

 Of these, fifty- seven are Brown Schwytzer cows. They receive no feed 

 except grass and hay, the year through. The average of milk is 10 

 liters per cow, the whole year through. The highest quantity reached 

 is 20 liters daily, given by some twenty cows of the fifty-seven, in the 

 months of May, June, and July. 



The cows calve mostly in autumn and spring. The latter season is 

 preferred. At present, July 6, more than half the cows are herded on 

 the Upper Alps. They were taken up in May and will come down in 

 September. The milk, while up there, will average much less, but it 

 will be excessively rich, owing to the sweetness of the short and scarce 

 Alpine grass. Only the lighter cows are sent up on the Alpina slopes. 

 Their milk, while there, will be made into butter and cheese in the lit- 

 tle stone huts of the herdsmen, or " Senns,' 7 and these will be brought 

 down in the autumn, when there will be a village festival in their honor. 

 The cloister keeps five hands only for the one hundred and twelve head 

 of cattle. These do all the feeding, grass-cutting, milking, &c. The 

 wages paid them- are very low; in summer 6 francs a week only, and 

 board. Board is as follows: 



Breakfast: Coffee, milk, and bread. (No butter.) 



Dinner : Soup, wine, meat, vegetables, and bread. (No meat Fridays and fast days.) 



Slipper: Soup, potatoes, and bread. Potatoes changed for meat, half the evenings. 



They work from 4.30 in the morning till 7 in the evening. One man 

 can milk twelve cows in one and a half hours. In winter one man is 

 expected to attend to fifteen cows. 



Good cows of Einsiedelu sell readily at from $100 to $125. Even $150 

 to S200 is not so rare a price. These are not fancy prices. They are 

 given because the cows warrant the investment. Good young Schwyt- 

 zer bulls at Einsiedeln are worth about $150. One of the cloister bulls, 

 three years old, which took second premium at Lucerne cattle fair, is 

 valued at $200. He was worth $250 at two years old. At three to four 

 years old bulls are sold to the butcher. Most of the Bmsiedeln calves 

 are raised. The poorer ones are sold at two weeks old to the butchers, 

 and bring about $6. Only one opinion prevails at Einsiedeln as to feed 

 for milch cows. Quantity of milk may be. and is, increased by artificial 

 feed, but the quality they claim, as do most dairymen in the country, 

 is reduced. 



Farmer L , in the neighborhood of Einsiedelu, gave me the record 



of his herd of some twenty-five cows. He has been keeping milch cows 

 on this farm for fifty years. The average of result was not materially 

 different from the average of other small and select herds. His cows 

 give 10 liters of milk each daily, year in, year out. He has what is a 

 great exception, well-ventilated cow-stalls. He gives the usual allow- 

 ance of hay, viz, 30 pounds daily to the cow, and a spoonful of salt every 

 other day. He also adds bran and shorts to grass a rare exception. All 

 his milk goes to neighboring factories, and is paid for at the stalls when 

 milked at 4 cents a quart. His fine herd average about 1,300 to 1,400 



