NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



157 



h ■ «;inie excellent stock. And when imported 

 li: re, the principle ot" " breeding in and in,'" 

 ar preserving' the stock hos been scrupulously 

 ladhcred to, with liii^hly beneticial elTects. 



" Before we quit this article, it miy be ad- 

 duced as a proof of the soundness of the modern 

 doctrine, as opposed to the old pr;ictice of cro.«v- 

 ing the breeds constantly, that, as to horses, the 

 interest in which is much greater m some conn- 

 iries on account of the rage for the plsiasures ol 

 the chace and of the turf, it is an established 

 law, that the race should be kept pure, and the 

 pedigree of a race-horse is as accurately pre- 

 served as that of a line of kings." 



It appears that the pedigrees of certain breeds 

 of cattle have been preserved in Great Britain 

 of late years with all possible care, and the same 

 practice is not without precedent in the United 

 Slates. See No. 17 — page 134 of the New 

 England Farmer. 



(OWS SHOUI.n NOT BE EXHAUSTED BY MILKING. 



The COW which is desired to remain in pei- 



i fectiou, either fur milking or breeding, should 



I not be exhausted by drawing her milk too long 



I after she becomes heavy with calf, it is to pay 



too dear for a present supply of milk. She 



should be sulTered to go dry, at least, two 



months before calving. 



ON THE LMPORTANCE OP PROCURING A GOOD BREED 



or cows. 

 The expense of keeping cows of a poor breed 

 ifa as great and sometimes greater than that of 

 keeping the best. If cows are poorly kept, the 

 diflference in breeds will scarcely be discernible 

 by the product in milk. Some have, therefore, 

 supposed that it is the food alone, which m.ike< 

 the odds in the quantity and quality of milk. — 

 This supposition is very incorrect, as may he 

 evinced by feeding two cows of a similar ag\ 

 size, &c. on the same food, the one of a goo) 

 breed for milk, and the other of a different 

 kind, and observing the difference in the milk 

 product. No farmer unless he is very rich cin 

 aiiord to keep poor milch cows. He might al- 

 most as well keep a breed of " naked sheep,'" 

 such as Swift tells of in his Gulliver's Travels. 

 The farmer who raises a heifer calf, that is 

 from a poor milker, of a bad or mongrel breed, 

 is as foolish as he would be, if in clearing land 

 he should burn on the ground the birch, maple 

 and walnut, and save white pine and hemlock 

 for fire wood. And yet many farmers sell the 

 hyifer calves of the best milch cows to the 

 buichers, because they are the fattest. Such 

 folks deserve to be poor, and may expect to 

 meet with their deserts. 



cows WHICH GIVE THE GREATEST QCANTrTY OF THIN 

 MILK, THE MOST PROPER FOR SUCKLING CALVES. 



Those COWS which give the greatest quaniuy 

 ©f milk are the most profitable for suckling 

 calves, for rich milk is said to be not so proper 

 food for calves as milk which is less valuable 

 for dsdry purposes. Milk which contains a large 

 proportion of cream is apt to clog the stomachs 

 of calves ; obstruction puts a stop to their thri- 

 ving, and sometimes proves fatal. For this rea- 

 son It is best that calves should be fed with the 

 milk which first comes from the cow, which is 

 not so rich as that which is last drawn. 



DIFFERENCE IN THE MILK OF COWS. 



Dr. AaderaoQ relates that a frieud of bis, who 



kept only a single cow for the use 

 fiimilv, bouiiht one from a person 

 from I'lftecn to twenty cows, chiefly for the pur- 

 pose of rearing cnlves, but in part lor the dairy. 

 This cow was recommended as one, which gave 

 a large quantity ol milk tor her size, and her 

 milk was said to be of an excello^it quality. — 

 This last was a circumstance of great conse- 

 quence to the gentleman, who proposed to buy 

 the cow, who therefore took care to taste the 

 milk and found it to be apparently very good. 

 But although the milk was Ihick and rich to the 

 taste if never coull be brought to >iiili an atom itj 

 hiilier^ though every method, which could be 

 devised, was tried for that purpose. This cow 

 had g.vin milk for three seasons nefore she was 

 sold, without its having been discovered that 

 her milk did not give as much butter as that of 

 anv other cow. This experiment proves that 

 there may be individual cows which j'ield milk 

 of qualities different from that which the eye 

 and tlw taste would seem to indicate. It would 

 therefore be well for every person, who wishes 

 to superintend a dairy with a proper attention 

 to economy, always to ascertain the qualities of 

 the milk of every cow individually, as soon as 

 she is turned into the dairy ; otherwise he may 

 proceed for years without knowing that he is 

 subjecting himself to a great expence without 

 deriving any advantrige from it. It may like- 

 wise happen, that from casual disease, or other 

 circumstances the milk of the cow may become 

 tainted at a particular time with a peculiar taste 

 or other quality, which may greatly injure the 

 whole stock if it be mixed with it, and occasion 

 loss to the owner. It is, therefore, recommend- 

 ed, as an invariable practice in every dairy, to 

 'veep each cow's milk separate, on the first day 

 of the month, at least, throughout the year, for 

 the purpose of ascertaining the quantity and 

 f|uality of the milk yielded by eveiy cow indi- 

 vidually. Were this practice strictly adhered to, 

 't would advance the practical knowledge of the 

 dairy more in the space of one year, than can 

 1)0 done in the random mode usually adopted in 

 a century. 



CALVES SHOULD HAVE ROOM, LIGHT AND AIR. 



An English writer of high authority, says " I 

 have heard and read much of calf-coops for 

 calves which were fatting, where the animals 

 had no room for turning themselves, and where 

 the light is excluded ; but I have no conception 

 of the necessity of such measures in order to 

 make good veal. I have made, with despatch, 

 as good and as fat veal, as Leadenhall market 

 can exhibit, in common pens without the small- 

 est obligation to any of the aforesaid extraordi- 

 nary precautions, which, in truth, I disapprove, 

 as equally probable to induce disease as to ac- 

 celerate the fattening of calves." It has been 

 recommended to cram hogs and poultry also in 

 dark and confined places without allowing the 

 poor animals either light, fresh air, or exercise. 

 But these should seem requisite for health in 

 the animals, and the meat of unhealthy ones 

 would not seem to be a very wholesome article 

 of diet. 



of his own i ken into the stomach, it ought to be generally 

 who kept known that these oxides, even in a state of so- 

 lution, as well as the oxides of copper, may be 

 rendered innoxious, by the exhibition of a lar^o 

 dose of common sugar, or sirup. — Sec Dr. Ure's 

 Chemical Dictionunj. 



WINE TESTS, OR METHODS OF ASCERTAINING WHETHER 

 THERE BE ANY LEAD IN WI.SE OR CIDER. 



We are told that fraudulent »vine merchants 

 have sweetened their wines and ciders by the 

 I addition of lead. Dr. Watson relates that it was 

 at one time a common practice at Paris. lie 

 directs how it may be detected — Chemical Es- 

 says, vol. 111. page 3G9. Methods of detecting 

 this and other adulterations oi wine may also be 

 seen in Dr. Willich's Lectures on Ilict and 

 Regimen, pages r357 to 362. The following is 

 ea.sy of application, and will be found effectual : 

 Equal parts of oyster shells and sulphur may bo. 

 heated together, kept in a white heat for 15 

 minutes, and when cold, mixed with an equal 

 quantity of cream of tartar : These are put in- 

 to a strong bottle with common water to boil for 

 an hour ; and then decanted into ounce phials, 

 adding 20 drops of muriatic acid to each. This 

 liquor precipitates the least quantity of lead, 

 copper, &c. from wines, in a very sensible black 

 precipitate. As iron might accidentally be con- 

 tained in the same wine, the muriatic acid is 

 added to prevent its precipitation, and its being 

 mistaken for the precipitate of lead. 



REMEDY FOR POISON BY THE OXIDES* OF LEAD OR 

 COPPER. 



As the oxides of lead are poisonous, when ta- 



FAP..MER S ACCOUNTS. 



Regular accounts, says a celebrated agricul- 

 turist, are not so common among farmers as 

 they ought to be, and in this respect, persons 

 employed in other professions, are much more 

 attentive and correct. The accounts of a far- 

 mer, occupving even a large estate, and conse- 

 quently employing a great capital, are seldom 

 deemed of sufficient importance to merit a share 

 of attention, equal to that bestowed by a trades- 

 man, on a concern of not one twentieth part of 

 the value. There is certainly some difficulty 

 iu keeping accurate accounts respecting the 

 profit and loss of so uncertain and complicated a 

 business as the one carried on by a farmer, 

 which depends so much on the weather, the 

 state of markets, and other circumstances not 

 under his control ; but the great bulk of farming 

 transactions is settled at the moment, that is to 

 say, the article is delivered, and the money at 

 once paid ; so that little more is necessary than 

 to record these properly. In regard to expen- 

 ses laid out on the farm, an accurate account 

 of them is perfectly practicable, and ought to 

 be kept by every prudent and industrious far* 

 mer. 



The advantage to be derived from regular 

 accounts, cannot be doubted. By examining 

 them, a farmer is enabled to ascertain the na- 

 ture and the extent of the expense he has in- 

 curred, in the various operations of agriculture ; 

 and to discover what particular measures, or 

 what general system contributes to profit, or 

 occasions loss. The principle of economy may 

 thus be introduced into the management of a 

 farm ; and the lessening of expense effected, 

 which is every day becoming of greater im- 

 portance, bearing a higher proportiop to the 

 produce of the farm. 



* An oxide is a metal combined with oxygen [vital 

 air] extracted either from the atmosphere [when it is 



called rust"] or from some acid sutstance, tucb as viae* 

 gar, sour jnilk, cider, wine, &c. 



