444 



NEAV ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 JERSEYS AND AYRSHIRES. 



I notice in the Boston Cultivator, of the 11th of 

 August, an article of great interest to our farm- 

 ers, on the "trial of Ayrshire cows" made in Scot- 

 land, in consequence of a prize offered by the 

 Duke of Athol, for the cow which should give the 

 largest quantity of milk in five days. Twelve cows 

 Avere offei-ed for premium, and the results of the 

 four best are given, as well as the richness of the 

 milk as tested by the lactometer. 



If I am right in my figures, the four cows pro- 

 duced an average of one hundred and ninety-two 

 pounds of milk in one day, and the average of the 

 richness of the cream is twelve per cent. This is 

 certainly a large yield, but the richness of the 

 milk is not as great as I should have expected. I 

 own four, and but four pure bred Jersey cows, 

 and their milk is carefully and separately weighed 

 at each milking, and tested by lactometers, hold- 

 ing a pint each, once during every month. I have 

 taken at hap hazard a day's milking, the last that 

 has been entered, from the slate, July 31. I find 

 on that day that they gave but seventy-seven 

 pounds of milk, against one hundred and ninety- 

 two pounds given by the Avrshire cows, but the 

 average richness of the milk was twenty-one per 

 cent., against twelve per cent, by the Ayrshires, 

 tested by the lactometer. My Jerseys giving but 

 seventy-seven pounds of milk, made over sixteen 

 pounds of cream, while the Ayrshire?, giving one 

 hundred and ninety-two pounds of milk, made 

 but twenty-two pounds of cream. 



It must be recollected in comparing the quantity 

 of milk, that we are in ignorance as to the mode 

 in w'hich the Ayrshires were fed — we only know 

 that they were all kept up and treated together — 

 nor do we know their condition as to the time of 

 calving ; but this we do know, that they were the 

 four best out of probably the twelve best cows in 

 the AjTshire district where the trial took place. 

 My Jerseys are not probably more than average 

 specimens of their size, and have no grain, shorts 

 or oil cake, feeding upon a rough, coarse pasture, 

 and only now getting in addition to their pasture, 

 the thinnings from my roots night and morning, 

 in very small quantity. One of thcra is but two 

 years old last winter, and dropped her first calf in 

 April, and another calves early in October. All 

 these considerations must be taken into account, 

 in making any comparison, and if they are fairly 

 weighed, it will, I think, satisfy almost any one 

 that the old idea that Jerseys are poor milkers 

 does not apply to them at the present time ; the 

 superior richness of their milk over all other 

 breeds has never been disputed. 



Now, Mr. Editor, I am not a rich, or a great 

 man, like the Duke of Athol, but I will place in 

 your hands fifty dollars, equal in value to the 

 prize off'ered by the Duke, to be given to the own- 

 er of a pure bred Jersey cow which shall give the 

 greatest quantity of milk in five consecutive days 

 in the same month and days of the month on 

 which the Ayrshii-e trial was made, the richness 

 of the milk to be tested by the same sized and 

 proportioned lactometer, provided you will un- 

 dertake the task of seeing that the trial is accu- 

 rately and fairly made, and provided twelve con- 

 testants can be found, willing to take a little pains 

 for the purpose of ascertaining the maximum 



product of milk that a good Jersey cow will pro- 

 duce. I do not think it necessary the cows should 

 be kept together, though it would be better that 

 they should be treated alike. If kept separately, 

 an accurate account should be given of the meth- 

 od of feeding, &c. Essex. 



Remarks. — The time when the trial of Ayr- 

 shire cows spoken of took place, was last April, 

 so that if any trial is desired here, there will be 

 ample time before that month comes round again 

 to make any necessary arrangements. The liber- 

 al proposition of our respected correspondent is in 

 keeping with his constant and well-directed zeal 

 in the cause. It will give us pleasure to second 

 his eff'orts by any means in our power. 



For the Neic England Farmer. 



SUPERPHOSPHATE OF LIME IW CORIf 

 HILLS. 



Compost of Superphosphate and Muck — A fine field of Corn — 

 Improvement of a tract of worn-out "plain land" — Benefits 

 of deep plowing and high manuring. 



I have to-day been looking at two or three corn- 

 fields which are worthy of notice. My neighbor, 

 R. Bradley, Esq., has a field of eight or nine acres 

 of corn, on which he is trying an interesting ex- 

 periment in the use of superphosphate of lime. 

 The land having been for several years in grassj 

 the sod had become too closely boimd to produce 

 well ; and although it Avas not convenient to ma- 

 nure the land much this year, yet it was deemec? 

 expedient to plow it up and cultivate it in corn, 

 preparatory to giving it a heavy dressing of ma- 

 nure next year. The field was broken up in No- 

 vember last, eight to nine inches deep, and in 

 May last harrowed, then marked out in rows three 

 and a half feet apart each way, a tablespoonful of 

 superphosphate dropped in each hill, and the piece 

 planted with corn, covering the superphosphate 

 an inch deep with earth before dropping the corn. 

 In one row, however, reaching through the mid- 

 dle of the field, a compost of superphosphate and 

 muck was used, putting about a pint of muck and 

 a tablespoonful of superphosphate in each hill. 

 The compost was made up several days prior to 

 use, so as to allow the strength of the superphos- 

 phate to become difi'used through, and thoroughly 

 absorbed by the muck. 



I have been several times to see this row of 

 corn, before to-day, that I might, at different 

 stages of its growth, observe the effects of the 

 mixture used in the hills. The corn in this row 

 came up more evenly and vigorously than that in 

 any other row in the field, and has maintained a 

 superiority over the rest in color and size, at all 

 times so apparent to the eye, that the row could 

 at once be picked out. Not only is the growth of 

 corn greater in this rov/ than in the other rows, 

 but the stalks are also more fully set with ears, 

 and those larger than elsewhere in the field. 



Where superphosphate is dropped raw into the 

 hills, and comes in near contact with the corn, it 

 is apt to eat off the young tender roots, and keep 

 the corn back awhile, or until the earth has in a 

 measure absorbed its strength, and thus more or 

 less of the crop is retarded at a time when it 



