172 
Manaijement of Dairy Cous. 
Cows, when they are in season and require the service of the 
bull, should never be turned out with the other cows, as it upsets 
the whole herd. I have known 3 or 4 lbs. of butter lost in the day 
by this injudicious act. The cow should be put into a loose-box and 
kept very quiet for a day and night. There is another point in the 
management of cows which specially deserves mention, viz., their treat- 
ment for three weeks before calving, and the necessity of paying strict 
attention to the state of the udder. For my experience on these two 
points I have paid very dearly : I used to lose a cow or two most 
years from milk-fever after calving — and it was generally one of the 
best — until I was recommended to try the following plan, since which 
time I have never lost one. Three weeks before the time is up for 
calving the cow should be put into a loose-box and given nothing but 
dry hay (of only medium quality) and water, and twice during the 
time she should be drenched with |lb. of Glauber’s salts and |lb. of 
flowers of sulphur. Especial attention should be paid to the state of 
the udder ; as the milk begins to flow it should be eased at times, 
and, if any hard knobs or substance can be perceived, it should be 
frequently fomented with warm water and flannel, and some liniment 
rubbed well in each time. 
I will here remark that the cowman should always have a man 
or lad whom he can call upon to do his work, or to help him when 
anything is wrong with a cow’s udder — many a cow has lost either 
one or two quarters of the udder from the cowman not having time 
to devote to it. Provided he is always allowed to do this, he could 
often, by giving his whole day to fomenting and attending to the 
cow’s udder, save it, and that at the very moderate cost of 2s. 6cf. 
or 3s. I have sometimes made a man devote two whole days to this 
in obstinate cases, with most satisfactory results ; in fact, I think I 
may go so far as to say there is no excuse for losing a part of a cow’s 
udder if the formation is right — and where it is not, the cow ought 
not to have been selected for breeding purposes. 
The cost of the purchased food as recommended in the above 
course will not exceed 5s. or 5s. &cl. per week, but many dairy farmers 
go far beyond this outlay. 
To the foregoing I may add that I have always considered that 
one ton of hay would winter a dairy cow or a full-grown beast from 
November 1 to May 1, and that one yearling fron\ eighteen to 
twenty-two months old, and one calf from nine to fifteen months old, 
are together equal to one cow or full-grown beast. I arrived at 
this conclusion from having adopted the following allowance for tw o 
successive years on a small farm. I had 1 5 cwt. of hay trussed each 
week and weighed. 
Ter half roar Per week 
10 COWS at 1^ truss per week each, or 84 lbs. for 2C 
weeks (allowing for waste) . . . .10 tons 71 cwt. 
10 yearlings from 18 to 22 months old, at 56 lbs, per 
week each for 26 weeks Oi » ^ » 
10 calves from 9 to 16 months old, at 28 lbs. per week 
each for 26 weeks 3^ „ 2^ „ 
