404 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
milk is the poorer. * * * Out of 33 samples 
taken in the morning and the evening of the 
same day, I found in 8 cases the morning milk 
poorer than that of the evening; in 4 cases, richer; 
whilst in 4 there was no perceptible difference." 
The fact is not mentioned, but the probabili- 
ties are that the cows were milked at the same 
hour morning and evening. Where, as in this 
country, they are milked later at night than in 
the morning, the "popular opinion" that the 
morning's milk is richer is correct, as shown by 
the above experiments quoted by Prof. Johnson. 
The composition of morning and evening 
milk, says Prof. J., " exhibits a constant, though 
slight difference, which, in general, consists 
simply in containing half a per cent more fat 
at night than in the morning'. In the morning 
milk this fit is replaced by almost precisely the 
same quantity of water." These cows were 
milked at 6*| s to 7'Ja A. M.,and 5'|, to6'|. P. ML 
In other words, an hour later iu the morning 
than at night, and consequently the night's milk 
was the richer in butter. That the milk contains 
a less percentage of butter when the milking 
is delayed an hour or two seems to lie proved. 
In the dairy districts, there is no difficulty in 
milking at the same hour night and morning. It 
is a regular and important part of the daily 
work; but where only a few cows are kept it 
is not so easy. During harvest, for instance, 
we have known cows not milked until 8 
o'clock in the evening. That this is an injury 
to the cow and a loss to the farmer cannot be 
doubted. Our own practice is to attend to the 
horses and feed the pigs, etc., before breakfast, 
and milk immediately after breakfast— say 6 
o'clock; and at night to milk as soon as the 
teams can be put in the stable and fed — say 6J. 
This makes only half an hour's difference. 
It is also essential to treat the cows with 
the greatest gentleness. Never suffer a harsh 
word to be used or permit loud talking. To 
kick a cow should be an indictable offence. 
A cow is susceptible to kindness, and will surely 
repay it. Women make the best milkers, and 
a cow will give more milk when habitually 
milked by a woman than by a man. If our 
barn-yards were kept as clean as they should 
be, we should see more farmers' wives and 
daughters drawing rapidly and gently the 
rich milk from our generous cows. Where 
dairying is not the special branch of farming, 
let the good wife have all the butter money, 
and do not borrow from her and forget to pay. 
■ ■ — ■ — » • » 
The Value of Grade Cattle. 
The author of "Walks and Talks" writes : 
"Our Agricultural Societies make a mistake in 
not offering more liberal prizes for grade ani- 
mals. It is all very well to offer prizes for the 
best Short-horns or Devons, but farmers have 
comparatively little interest in the matter. The 
raising of thoroughbred stock will be, and must 
be, confined to professional breeders. Farmers 
who keep cattle simply for meat or milk do not 
want a herd of pedigree animals. " If you raise 
Short-horns," said the herdsman of one of our 
well-known breeders, "you must raise them as 
Short-horns." In other words, give the calf the 
milk of at least one cow all summer, with what 
oil cake, grass, etc., it will eat in addition. Now 
this is all very well and perfectly proper. It is 
the only way in which to develope that tenden- 
cy to lay on flesh, for which the breed is cele- 
brated. Keep up the system from generation 
to generation, and the tendency to consume 
large quantities of food and convert it into large 
quantities of beef becomes established, and this 
desirable quality is imparted to the offspring. 
But we cannot afford to raise stock for ordinary 
purposes in this wa}\ It is the province of the 
breeder and not of the farmer. The value of 
the Short-horn consists in its ability to impart 
its qualities to common stock — to give us grades 
that have little offal, and that will convert a 
large quantity of food into beef or milk. It is 
the grades that we want, and it is the grades 
that should be shown. John Johnston once 
said to me, " I don't care for pedigree. Let me 
put my hand on an animal and that is all I ask." 
This is true in the sense in which he intended 
it. His own experience proves, however, all 
that the most enthusiastic advocates of thor- 
oughbred animals claim. He is a neighbor of 
Mr. James O. Sheldon, who has Short-horns 
second to none in the world, and Mr. S. allowed 
Mr. Johnston to send a favorite cow to one of 
his best pedigree animals. Mr. J. gave the calf 
the same treatment he would any other calf, 
and nothing more. He never starves any ani- 
mal, and did not starve this one. But it was 
not stuffed or forced. It had no grain and re- 
ceived only ordinary treatment. Perhaps I 
should take that back, for, as Mr. Cornell once 
remarked, "ordinary treatment" consists in 
keeping a calf so that it shall lose in the winter 
half what it gains in the summer. The calf re- 
ceived good, ordinary treatment, and nothing 
more — such treatment as any farmer can afford 
to give. Well, when I was there the calf had 
grown to be a steer, aud was 26 months old. A 
butcher came along aud offered Mr. Johnston 
10 cents a lb. live weight, and take him at 1,400 
lbs., or $140. He would not sell him, though 
thinking that he overestimated the weight Mr. 
J. wanted me to see him weighed, and I did so 
the next morning. After fasting all night, he 
weighed 1,360 lbs. So much for pedigree. Now 
it is just such animals that I want to see exhib- 
ited. I cannot go into raising thoroughbreds; 
I have not money enough. But I can afford to 
raise good grades. All that we need is thorough- 
bred bulls. And it is so with sheep, and with 
pigs, and I presume with poultry also. Let us 
see what the use of thoroughbred males will do 
when crossed on common stock. Let us have 
a good show of grade animals at our fairs. 
" I have some thoroughbred Essex pigs. And 
I have also some grade Essex. That is to say, 
pigs from a common sow, crossed with a thor- 
oughbred Essex. The thoroughbreds and the 
grades have the same treatment, but the grades, 
of the same age, are decidedly ahead. The 
grades have all the symmetry, fineness of bone, 
and tendency to fatten, of the thoroughbreds, 
and have the vigor and hardiness of the sow. 
To exhibit the thoroughbreds does little good ; 
but an exhibition of grades, fat for the butcher, 
would show farmers the advantage of using 
thoroughbred males, even with common sows." 
A Settled Policy on the Farm. 
The whole secret of the successful farmer 
often lies in his having a fixed plan of opera- 
tions. Multitudes have no plan but to meet 
their immediate necessities and make money 
by the easiest and seemingly shortest methods. 
If wool brings high prices, they will gradually 
give up dairying and work into sheep, with the 
expectation of making their fortunes. If wool 
and mutton raising for a time does not pay, 
they sell their flocks at a great sacrifice. If 
hops are sixty cents a pound, they invest in hop 
poles aud kilns for drying, and expect sudden 
wealth. If, when their yards come into full 
bearing, the prices fall off one-half or more, 
the)' are disgusted, and ready to plow np their 
yards, concluding the business will not pay. 
There are men who are always taking up a 
good thing a little too late to make money by it. 
The farmer cannot afford this continual change. 
His business is less speculative than any other, 
and, after providing for the wants of his family 
and stock, he should give his attention steadily 
to the production of a few animals, crops, or 
other products, on which he can rely to raise 
money. Any branch of farm industry, steadily 
followed, will be found profitable. Dairying, 
in a year of short grass, might not pay very 
well. But the years of drought are exceptions, 
and the man who makes first-rate butter or 
cheese will find them a reliable source of in- 
come. Where a specialty is made of some one 
crop, it is particularly important that be should 
follow it steadily. The raising of hops or 
of tobacco requires fixtures that are useless 
in any other branch of fanning, and the 
change of crops involves a considerable loss of 
capital. Besides, we are always learning in a 
business to which we give habitual attention, 
and this knowledge is as much a part of our 
capital as the money invested iu tools and 
buildings. If a man should make potatoes his 
leading crop, he would study to lessen the cost 
of production, and would resort to devices in 
the preparation of the se«d and the soil, in the 
use of manures, and in cultivation, quite un- 
known to the farmer who pursues a careless 
style of husbandry. He could raise potatoes 
cheaper than his neighbors, by means of his 
improved methods, and if lie sold at the same 
price, make more money. Whatever branch of 
farming you follow, stick to it, if it is moder- 
ately profitable. Lay your plans far ahead, and 
be prepared for the exceptional years, when 
large profits come from high prices, or losses 
from unfavorable seasons. A mixed husbandry 
is always the safest, and is not at all inconsist- 
ent with the cultivation of commercial crops, 
as tobacco, hops, flax, onion seed, or vegetable 
seed of any kind, garden vegetables for market, 
fruits, etc. The introduction of these requires 
close calculation, definite plans, and thorough 
business management, if success be attained. 
Burning Straw at the West. 
This practice, which prevails so generally in 
the new settlements, is exceedingly wasteful. 
No sight is more common than immense piles 
of straw left to rot in the fields, orgivtn to the 
torch, as the quickest method of riddance. 
The ashes, indeed, are restored to the earth, but 
not to the soil. The few square rods on which 
they lie are scarcely benefited. All the organic 
part of the plant is dissipated and lost by the 
burning. It will be said, in justification of the 
practice, that there is no market for the straw, 
and it is an incumbrance upon the soil, and per- 
haps, also, that the land is rich enough without 
it. Every farm should have a good home market 
for straw. Great use is made of a portion of it 
for fodder by our best farmers, and the manure 
from the extra stock thus kept is returned to 
the soil. It is largely used for bedding, and the 
cattle yards are kept thickly covered with it. 
It would pay better to spread it upon the soil 
where it grows, and plow it in, than to burn it. 
It helps make a cheap and warm hovel for 
cattle, before the settler has time to build his 
burn. Save the straw, for even the virgin 
soil will soon need it to keep up its fertility. 
