FEEDING OF DAIRY COWS. 173 



the milk which each cow gives for dairy purposes, 

 there is also her annual calf, the phosphates in the 

 bones of which must also come out of the pasture It 

 is certain that in the bones of the calf, and in the 

 milk, each cow would deprive the pasture* of at least 

 50 or 60 lbs. of bone earth, or phosphate of lime, in 

 each year. For these reasons it is, that bones, as has 

 been indicated, are most likely to prove of great ad- 

 vantage as a manure on worn out pastures, and also 

 on meadows that are used in the autumn for feeding 

 Applied as dust, or still better dissolved in sulphuric 

 acid, a few bushels per acre (in the latter case two is 

 enough) have been found to produce a most wonder- 

 ful effect J in many cases doubling and even tripling 

 the value of pastures, within a year or two after the 

 application. 



The different properties of milk which have been 

 noticed, suggest one or two hints relative to the feed- 

 ing of milch cows. We have seen that the quantity 

 of milk may be increased by feeding with watery suc- 

 culent food. There is no doubt but the quantity of 

 butter would be greatly augmented, by feeding in the 

 same manner as for fattening, with food rich in oily or 

 fatty substances. If cheese-making were the object, 

 varieties of food rich in nitrogen, as beans, peas, 

 clover, indian corn, etc., might be expected to produce 

 a good effect. 



In feeding with oily food, care is to be taken that 

 it is not of a nature to communicate any unpleasant 

 flavor to the butter. Linseed cake is an instance of 

 this; a small proportion of it, given with other food, 

 has an excellent influence, increasing the quantity of 

 butter in a marked degree: too much, however, gives 

 a very unpleasant taste. This effect is perfectly 

 natural; as every one knows that all strong tasting 

 food eaten by cows, as onions, leeks, cabbages, tur- 



15* 



