r4 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



AUGUST 10,1336. 



Taults, &<;. whirl, furni.-^l. un :il>imanii.-L- .1 loul 

 matter to the s|.r-m;,'» ami vv.-l:s. I lH)|ie that 

 ineasui-es will I.e s|K-edily taken to l.nn- pure 

 water into the city, so as to siipp'y the wants ot 

 every tarnilv, while the excess may be used for 

 ornarnentalVountains, which will rool the huni- 

 ing breath of iniilsiiinm-r, ah.l furmsh a ready 

 and abundant source Irom whence our enguies 

 may draw water to quench the ravage*of the ■ re. 

 The amount of capital which niny thus be saved is 

 incalculable, while the proposed measure wdl fur- 

 nish health and comfoit to tliousands, and be a 

 most efficient method of secnriu,^' to our city the 

 blessings of terajierance. — Zion's Htrall. 



THE UAIRV-ITS PROFITS, 



The first object of a farmer in cultivatiu? the soil 

 is profit ; and next to this is the desire of secur- 

 in-' the first with as little expeiMlitnre of labor and 

 means as is possible. To do this the cp.ahty ot 

 the soil, its condition, and the size of the ftr:n must 

 he taken into consideration, lis very situation 

 will in a great measure determine the lirst; its 

 condition will of course be depeiuling on the ju- 

 dicious or injudicious treatment it has rec ived ; 

 and as to the number of acres, it is evident that 

 without a certain quantity of them, some kuids ol 

 farming, such as grain raising, or wool growing, 

 cannot be profitably undertaken. Perhaps there 

 is no one branch of farming that can be so readily 

 adapted to all farms, great or small, as the dairy ; 

 and while it is clear that to raise grain extensive- 

 ly a larg.-. farm must be required, and much labor 

 and money expended, a medium farm, one of 

 eighty or a hunilred acres will be found b st cal- | 

 ciriated for the dairy, as the hiring of assistants 

 can usually be dispensed with in such cases. For 

 a man with but forty acres to attempt the raising 

 of grain for sale, and at the same time to keep the 

 necessary horses, cows and sheep reciuired to cul- 

 tivate the farm' and supply the family, would be 

 an unprofitable nndertating; but on such a farm 

 a dairy may be kept that will l>e a source of great 

 profit, when compared with the cajiital invested. 

 To make this matter (dear, it may be best, to 

 make a finv eslimates, in all cases getting as near 

 well established results as ) ossible, and where 

 anything must be left to conjecture, always being 

 careful to err on the safe sid.! nf the calculat on. 

 A farmer wishes to commeiiee the dairy with ten 

 good cows, not herd book stock, but goorl native 

 animals. The price of cows lijr several years 

 past in the sprinu' of the year has varied from 18 

 to 22 dollars — we will call it 20 — thus making 

 the cows cost 200 dollars. For pasturing cows it 

 is generally estimated that two acres to each one 

 will be required ; and it may be so as pastures are 

 generally laid down, but where thi> turf is clean 

 and close and the soil in good heart, we are con- 

 fident something less will be sufficient to give them 

 every advantage. 'Ihe interest on the twenty 

 acres required, iiir six months, the time the dairy 

 will be in operation, at 30 dollars per acre, will bi- 

 •21 dollars. The interest on the money invested 

 in cows will be 7 ilollars. A dairy maid, if one is 

 required, for 6 mouths, at a dollar per week, twen- 

 tysix dodars. The expense will stand thus: 

 10 cows, at $20 each, $200 00 



Interest on do. 6 months, 7 00 



Interest on 2 acres to each cow, 21 00 



Dairy maid 6 months, 26 00 



If a dairy is a cheese dairy, nuich will be de- 

 I) •ndius as to the receipts, on th ■ qualities of the 

 milk produced, and the skill shown in making. 

 The quantity of cheese producd varies much in 

 different dairies, anil in estimating profits a medi- 

 um rate must be selected. Mr Brown, ot Otsego 

 county, made from thirteen cows 4700 lbs. of 

 cheese, or 361 lbs. to each cow Mr E. Perkins, 

 of Trenton, Onei.-la county, fioiii 7S cows, made 

 from 32,000 lbs. or 410 lbs. to each cow ; and in 

 the same co lununication he states, that the dairies 

 in that cheese making region vary fl-om 200 to 

 500 lbs. of cheese to a cow. Some experience m 

 the dairy business, and an acquaintance with a 

 ilairy district, leads ns to suppose that 350 lbs. to 

 each cow would not be an cxtravag; nt estimate. 

 The average price of good cheese when sufficient- 

 ly ripe lor sale, for several years past, has not 

 been less than eight cents per pound, and many 

 dairies fini! their sales have averaged 9 or $9,50 

 per cut. Making our estimate at 8 cents per lb., 

 the receipt of the dairy often cows would stand 

 as follows : 



3500 lbs. cheese, 8 eta. per lb. $280 00 



100 lbs. butter, 15 cts. per lb. 15 00 



Whey for swine, $2 per cow, 20 00 



the liiilter rendered of an inferior qualily. In 

 making butter, more is depending on the quality 

 aiul rielines- of the milk, than in making cheese, 

 as some cows from the same quantity of mi k will 

 give iloiible the amount of cream that otliers will; 

 and hence the selection of animals must be made 

 will) reference to this very point. This fact ac- 

 cuimts for the disercj ancy shown in the quantity 

 of butter produced in diffi;rent dairies, and the 

 varying estimntes consequently made of the butter 

 ea(-h cow will |)roduce in a season. There are 

 some cows that will make a pound of buttera day 

 for seven or eight months, with good kee| ing, and 

 there are others, that if they give half a pound a 

 day may be considered as doing well. 



The breed of cows has a great influence in de- 

 termining the quantity or (piality of the milk. The 

 Earl of Chesterfield a short time since, instituted 

 a series of experiments on some favorite cows of 

 different bieed.s, the result of which was as fol- 

 lows : " In the height of the season the 



Qts. milk. 



$315 00 

 ■ Making the receipts from each cow for six months 

 <J31,50 — or if we deduct the buttera- being most 

 of it necessary in the dairy room, it will leave the 

 sum of 30 dollars per cow. In some of the best 

 dairy .listricts of New England, it has been com- 

 mon to dispose of the cows to drovers after the 

 dairy season has closed, hut little feeding being 

 Tpnerally required to make them good beef. Cows 

 are not so high in the fall as in the spring, by about 

 20 per cent., an<l if our fiu-mer deiermines to sell 

 his cows in preference to keeping them over the 

 winter, thev will bring him about 160 dollars. '1 his 

 sum must be added to the receipt of the year, 

 making a total of 475 dollars. The whole will 

 then stand thus : 



Receipts, 475 00 



Expenses, 254 00 



29 

 19 

 19 

 17 

 20 



Oz. baiter. 



38i 



25 



25 



28 



34" 



Total expense, 



$254 00 



$221 00 

 Giving to the farmer a clear profit of c'even 

 dollars upon each of the twenty acres used for 

 the dairy. It must be remarked, however, that to 

 produce this result, the cows must be in good or- 

 der on the first of May, and have good feed for 

 the summer. Cows tiiat "shirked " through th« 

 winter, or pasture on daises, j.d.nswort, and this- 

 tles, through the summer, will not reach thealiovr 

 mark, and the owners may think themselves for- 

 tunate if the "summing up" sliou'd not show a 

 ba'ance ihi^ other way. 



If the dairy is to be devoted to making butter, 

 there will be but little difference in the result ; 

 though if conducted under favorable circumstan- 

 ces, we think making butter riitber more profita- 

 ble than i-heese. Slany persons, however, con- 

 nected with the dairy, think otherwise, and the 

 odds at any rate cannot be very great. To make 

 better through the summer, the dairy must be so 

 situated and constructed, that a uniform | roper 

 temperatnte may be maintained, as it is well 

 known if the temperature is ti o low, ths cre.am 

 will be so long in rising as to become bitter ; and 

 if TOO high, as is usually the case in the summer, 

 the milk sours before the cream has time to sep- 

 I aiate, bv which much of the cream is lost, and 



Holdeniess gave i)er day. 

 Long Horn, 

 Ahlerney, 

 Devonshire, 

 Ayrshire 



That there are few if any cows of our native 

 breeds that will a])| roach this quantity of milk or 

 butter, most must be wi'ling to admit: indeed ail 

 able writer on rattle in the Farmer, thinks that few 

 dairies, or cows, in this country, will average more 

 than 160 to 170 pounds a year. From some ex- 

 periments we have maile, and the reports of some 

 few ordinary dairies for butter, we are disposed to 

 dissent from this writer, and believe that with or- 

 diiinrv care in the selection of cows and the iiian- 

 agementof the dairy, 200 lbs. may easily be reach- 

 ed. Mr Curtis, of Marblehead, from common 

 cows and ordinal y pasture, for three years, made 

 butter as follows : 



1827 — 8 cows, 1272 lbs. butter. 



1829 — 7 " 1175 " 



1S30 — 6 " 1090 



which last is at the rate of 181 pounds to a cow, 

 and that umler unfavmable circumstances to make 

 the most of the milk. We know of cows that 

 produce a pound a day for at least three months 

 in the height of the season, and that without e-Xtra 

 care or i'cl(\ ; still, a native cow, to do this, must 

 be good. For three years past, butter, taking the 

 whole season, will average 15 cts. per lb., and 

 calling the aiuount produced from a cow 200 lbs., 

 Ilie balance would stand thu; : 



i'.iiitcr from 10 cows, 2,000 lbs. $300 00 



Skimmed milk, .$3 | er cow, 30 00 



S330 00 

 Making a difference of fifteen dollars in favor of 

 butter ovir.heese making. Where the milk is 

 churned new from the cows, the quantity of but- 

 ter will (d'romse be gnater, but we have never 

 made it in that way, and have no authentic infor- 

 mation by which tiie difference, and of course the 

 protits, can be correctly estimated. 



Various estimates have been made of the ex- 

 ])ense of getting in a crop of wheat or corn ; but 

 where wlnat is put in after a summer fallow, as is 

 usually the case, the expen.se of the ploiighings, 

 harronings, seed, interist, and wear of unplements 

 and the land, cannot lie estimated at less than ten 

 dollars per acre. Admitting the average crop of 



