112 TALKS ON MANUUES. 



Bay 8,000 1I)S. of cheese. Increase the i)roiluctivc power of the 

 farm one half, (I liope the Deacon has not gone to sleep), and keep 

 20 cows thai will eat half as much again food, and we should then 

 get 21,G0O lbs. of cheese. If cheese is worth 15 cents per lb., 

 a farm of HO acres, jjroducing IJ tons of hay, or its equivalent, jht 

 acre, and siipporling 20 cows, would give us a, gross return of 

 $1,204.50. The same farm so improved as to produce 2^ tons of 

 hay or its etjuivalent, per acre — led to 20 (■«)ws c<tp.ibk of eating, 

 digesting, und itsst'iiiil it.ng it -would give u gross return of $3,240. 



Ill presenting these fii,'ures, I hope you will not think me a 

 visionary. I do not think it is possible to get a cow to produce 

 \i ll)s. <jf clieese a day tliroughout the whole year. But I do 

 tiiink it (juite possible to so breed and feed a cow that she will pro- 

 duce 3 lbs. of cheese per day, or its eqniviknt in veal, tleah, 

 or faU We freciuently have cows that produce 3 lbs. of 

 cheese a day for sever.d wt-eks; and a cow can be sr fed that the 

 will produce 3 ll>s. of cheese a day without losing weight. 

 And if she can extract this aincmnt of matter out of the food for a 

 part of the year, wiiy can not she do so for the w hole year? Are the 

 powers of digestion weaker in the fall and winter than in spring 

 anil summery If not, we unipiestionably sustain great loss by 

 allowing this digestive power to run to waste. Tins digestive 

 power costs us 20 lbs. of hay a day. We can ill affonl to let it 

 lie dormant. But the Deacon will tell me that the cows arc 

 allowed all the food they will eat, winter and summer. Tlien we 

 must, if they have digestive power to spare, endeavor to persamle 

 them tA eat more. If they eat as much hay or grass as their 

 stomachs ore capable of holding, we must endeavor to give them 

 richer hay or grass. Not one farmer in a thousand seems tr) appre- 

 ciate the advantage of having hay or grass containing a hi'.'h per- 

 centage of nutriment. I have endeavored to show that a cow eat- 

 ing six tons of hay, or its equivalent, in a year, w «ndd produce 400 

 lbs. of cheese, worth $00. While a cow capable of eating, 

 digesting, and turning to goo(' account, nine t(»n9 of hay, or its 

 ec|uivalent, would produce 1,090 lbs. of cheese, or its equivalent 

 Id other products, worth $102. 



" I am sorry to interrujit the gentleman," said the Deacon with 

 mock gravity. 



"Then pray don't," said I ; " I will not detain you long, and the 

 subject is one which ought to interest you and every othc r famior 

 who keeps his cows on ])Oor grass in summer, and coni-stalks and 

 straw in winter." 



1 was going to sav, u lit 11 ilie nia.dii interrupted me, that the 



