vol.. XVm. NO. 4j 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



M 



am quite ijjnaraiit of AinPricmi husbandry, know 

 ttlo of any othiT. and shall not, as I never have, 

 jnsnlt books on llie subject. I shall throw out 

 y crndo notions as th"y' occur; and if you print 

 lem, sir, I shall conclude Ihat you consider them 

 orth the ink, and that is what they cost me — for 

 y time is of nn value. 



Your ob't serv't, 



WM. FOSTER. 



N. B Should any one wish to try the syphon, 



ascribed above I will with pleasure give any far- 

 er information wanted, or even direct the work, if 



be in the way of my rambles. 



'"roni ' Transailinns of the Essex Agricultural Society.'] 



ON MILCH COWS AND HEIFERS. 



The Committee on Milch Cows and Heifers, beg 

 ave to off(!r the following report: 



A larger number of entries have been made this 

 ;ar than we have ever before seen. Seven cows 

 id ten heifers were in the pens, offered for piemi- 

 n,and several others, which did not come within 

 e rules of the Society. In respect to quality as 

 ell as number, the improvement was very con- 

 licuous, there being at the show last year but one 

 )W, and some ordinary heifers, all of second quali- 

 ; whereas the present year, both cows and heif- 

 3 were of superior quality, in beauty and excel- 

 nce. The cow offered by Mr Caldwell, of By- 

 Id, particularly attracted the attention of the 

 mmiltee and the public ; but as she did not come 

 ithin the rules of the S.jciety, we should not be 

 arranted in awarding a premium. The cpw of- 

 red by Mr Ebenezer Upton, of Danvers, was con- 

 dered an extra cow. 



Among the ten heifers offered, only one was in 

 ilk ; the others were yearlings. They were all 

 omising, and gave evidence of the increasing in- 

 restin the community, in raising a better kind of 

 ock, than has been heretofore manifestod, I he 

 eatly enhanced value of all kinds of stock for a 

 w years past, seeuis to have given an impetus to 

 8 farmers, and induced them to bestow inore par- 

 :ular attention to the subject; they seem to have 

 ;en more careful to select the best for raising, in- 

 cad of selling the best to the butcher. Fifty 

 )llars for a cow, till within a year or two, has been 

 ought to he a very great price. But within two 

 3ars, double, and iu some instances three times 

 lat sum, has been paid for cows in the county of 

 s^ex, and the-incouie has warranted the expendi- 

 re. If goodj:ows are worth fifty dollars, and su- 

 jrior cons from that to two hundred, as in one 



tance mentioned by the agricultural commission- 

 •, they certainly will repay the farmer for beslow- 

 ig his best attention in selecting and very nice 

 are in raising young stock. Of course when 

 3WS command such prices, corresponding good 

 eatnieut will be bestowed upon them in feeding 

 nd providing for them; and we cannot doubt for 



moment, but the farmer is always fully rcmunera- 

 ;d, for the good care he may give to his stock, and 

 specially to his cows. We believe that if some 

 ttention is given to have cows always supplied 

 ith green succulent food, the trouble and expense 



ill be fully reimbursed, in the increased quantity 

 nd improved quality of the milk which they will 

 ield. It is believed that nothing is better than 

 •cod sweet grass feed, when it can be had inabun- 

 ance. But in some parts of the season the grass 



.too much dried up. At these seasons some cul- 



tivated roots .should be in readiness to supply the 

 deficiency. Various kinds of roots aud cultivated 

 vegetables have been used ; carrots, ruta baga, 

 mangel wurtzel, sugar beet, and green corn fodder, 

 planted for the purpose, or top-stalks and pump- 

 kins, are all very good, a'nd we do not think there 

 is much difference. Turnips, though eagerly eaten 

 have not been thought to be quite as good. We 

 say that wo believe the fanner will be amply paid 

 for the extra trouble of providing some kind of suc- 

 culent food for his milch cows in dry seasons. We 

 have noticed that when only one cow has been 

 kept, by the individual offering for premium, they 

 have most generally obtained the Society's premi- 

 um, and wn attribute this to the more particular 

 attention given to feeding one cow, than is com- 

 monly given to many. 



My own experience is not much, but I have no- 

 ticed that when I kept only one cow we made as 

 much butter, twelve potinds a week, as when I have 

 kept two, and one of the cows being the same aud 

 running in the same pasture. If kV did not misun- 

 derstand the commissioner, MrColman, the cow for 

 which $800 was paid, yielded the year previous to 

 sale, within 25 quarts of 200 dollars' worth of milk, 

 at five cents a quart, sold at the door ; and the cost 

 of keeping the cow was eightyseven dollars for one 

 year. Now if such an e.xtraordinary produce may 

 be obtained from one cow only, may not cows in 

 general be made to yield much more than they now 

 do, and would it not be economy to give to the 

 subject more attention, by feeding as above propos- 

 ed, and sheltering from all cold and severe weather. 

 Such advice we know has been often given by ag- 

 ricultural writers, but it needs to be often repeated. 



The Committee have, with no little difficulty, 

 awarded the premiums as follows: 



On Milch Cows. 

 To Franklin Bartlett, of Newburyport, 1st pre- 

 mium, $]0 

 " Nathan Tapley, Danvers, 2d prem. 7 

 " Geo. Spofford, Georgetown, 3d " 5 



Heifers in Milk. 

 To Joseph Danforth, of West Newbury, 1st 

 premium, $7 



Yearlings. 

 To Ebenezer Upton, Danvers, 1st premium, $3 



" P. f>l. Dole, Newburyport, 2d " 2 



R. A. Mkrriam, ^ 



Nathaniel Bekry, j 

 Samuel Perlet, Jr. 

 Matthew Hooper, 

 Joshua L. Nf.whall, j 

 Samuel Dodge, \ 



Ceorgdown, Sept. 2G, 1839. 



Franklin BartletVs Slalement. 

 To the Cominitlee on Milch Cows and Heifers : 



Gkntleme.v — i he cow which I offer for the So- 

 ciety's premium was bought June 8th, 1839,' her 

 calf then four days old. Tue calf was sold when 

 twentyfour days old, for .fO 00 



Thirtythree gallons of milk sold while the 



calf was with the cow, for 5 33 



Milk sold from the cow from June BOth, to 



July 30th, was 112 gallons, amounting to J7 92 

 From July 30th to August 30th, 109 galls. 



amounting to IG 44 



From August 30lh to Sept. 24th, 80 gallons, 



amounting to J6 00 



Milk used during the time, IG J-4 gallons, 2 GO 



)• Coinmitlte. 



Estimated value of the milk, !f.M 29 



The feed of tlie cow was a common pasture, 



without any provender or extra keeping, whatever. 

 FRANKLIN BARTLETT. 

 .Yewbunjport, Sept. 2.G, 1839. 



JVallmn Tapley\i Statement. 

 To the Commiilee of tlie Essex Agrieultural Sociely : 

 , Gentlemen — The milch cow which I have of- 

 fered for exhibition this day, is seven years cdd. I 

 have owned her three years. I purchased her in 

 the spring, with her second calf. I believe she 

 came into Danvers, in a drove from the country. 

 She calved the last of March. We think her more 

 remarkable for quality, than the quantity of her 

 milk, and having always considered her an extra 

 cow, we were induced this season to keep an ac- 

 count of the butter her njilk would produce. The 

 following is the result during eight weeks: 

 The week ending May 25th, she 

 gave 228 1-4 lbs. milk, which 

 produced 12 1-2 lbs. butter. 



The week ending June 1st, 12 1-4 " 

 " 8th, 12 1-2 

 « " l.5th, 12 3-4 



" 22d, 12 

 " " 29th, 10 3-4 



July 6th, 12 1-4 

 " 13th, 13 



98 1-4 



18 1-4 life, of her milk produced about one lb. of 

 butter. 



It was ilbt convenient to reserve all her milk af- 

 ter this tifrie, but we are satisfied from the quantity 

 she gave, tha-t she would have made as tnucli but- 

 ter for several weeks after, and still continues to 

 do well. 



She has fed in a common clay-land pasture, 

 through the season. On the 22d of June, I com- 

 menced giving her a quart of meal in the morning, 

 and a quart at night; but did not perceive any ma- 

 terial difference, either in the quantity or quality 

 of her milk. Her butter is of fine color and flavor. 

 Respectfully, yours, 



NATHAN TAPLEY. 



Danvers, Sept. 2^, 1839. 



George Spofford's Stute7nent. 

 To the Commiilee on Mileh Cows : 



GENTLEMEiN — Mv COW calved the 3d day of May 

 last. The calf was kept on the cow six weeks, and 

 at nine weeks of age was sold for twenty dollars. 

 The greatest quantity of milk given in any day 

 was 19 quarts and 1 1-2 pint; averaging for a month 

 after the calf was taken oft' 18 quarts per day. She 

 has averaged for the last four weeks, 12 quarts per 

 day. I have sold and used during this time 3 qts. 

 of milk per day, and made 32 lbs. of butter. Her 

 keeping has been common pasture, till the last four 

 weeks, which has been fiesh feed, with four quarts 

 of oatmeal per day mixed with a pail of water. 

 Very respectfullv, yours, 



GEORGE SPOFFORD. 

 Georgetown, Sept. 26, 1839. 



Joseph Danfoi-tli's Statement. 

 To the Commiilee on Milch Cows: 



Gentlemen — Tliis heifer was raised by Joseph 

 Danforth, in West Newbury. She was two years 



