470 Transactions of the American Institute. 



put away in the dark as usual. Now, I think I did not give eighteen 

 years of close attention to the dairy business in St. Lawrence county, 

 New York, without learning something about the business, and I do 

 not know but I am in error, but I think I am about master of the 

 complaint above mentioned, so much so that I am confident that I 

 can take a dairy of forty or sixty cows, and carry ninety-five per cent 

 of them through the year free from the complaint, and I have 

 no secret about my management either ; but I fear that if I should 

 put on paper my experience, investigations, and the reasons why I 

 have arrived at these conclusions, my paper would find its way into 

 the waste basket on account of its length ; but for your correspond- 

 ent's benefit (Philip ~W. Lawrence, of Spring Mills, N. Y.) I will 

 offer a few suggestions or give him a little of my advice : 1st. Never 

 allow your cows to be driven or disturbed by dogs ; 2d. Never keep a 

 man or woman in your employ to attend to your cows who is 

 passionate or quick-tempered, and will be likely to break a milking 

 stool to slivers over the small of the cow's back while milking, 

 because she moved a little to frighten off a fly or for some other cause ; 

 3d. Be sure your stables are prepared with sufficient ventilation, and 

 it is used when needed ; this is very essential. If you cannot trust 

 your own sense of feeling, put a thermometer in your stables, and 

 keep the mercury as near the freezing point as possible, if you have to 

 take off the siding in some place to do it. Be sure and not keep your 

 cows too close and warm ; 4th. Never feed your cows with mouldy 

 corn fodder, straw or hay that is badly mow-burnt, or fodder of any 

 kind that is in bad condition, and give them water, at least every 

 twenty^four hours, that is pure ; 5th. Never allow an animal 

 to run with your cows that have sharp horns ; 6th. See that 

 your cows are provided, when it is icy, with a chance to get 

 out to water, etc., without sprawling and straining themselves ; 

 7th. Feed salt with a sparing hand. I suppose many members 

 of the Farmers' Club will say — at least, I expect they will — that 

 they cannot believe salt will cause abortion when fed to cows ; but I 

 am in possession of unmistakable evidence that it will, and that is 

 enough for me. Never feed more than one table-spoonful per head 

 each week, except from May 1 to August 1 ; then give the above 

 quantity once in four days. I might write more upon this subject ; 

 but I fear that I have written too much now. 



This letter having been referred to Mr. Harris Lewis, of Herkimer, 

 he replied : 



I like friend Emerson's rules up to rule seven. The first six have 



