4-1-4 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
ness to the Parisian public. The price was again 
increased, this time to 14 cents per litre (the pres¬ 
ent price); but its value is now well understood, 
and the demand, still steadily increasing, has 
crowned the undertaking with success. Others 
have since entered the same field, and bottled milk 
of absolute purity is now sold in Paris in large 
Fig. 6.—BASKET BOB MILK-JARS. 
quantities, and an English Company is preparing 
to supply London with milk after the same system. 
There are 117 cows in the Arcy stables, all of 
Normandy stock. Mr. Nicolas seeks to feed them 
in 6uch a manner that the milk shall be of unsur¬ 
passed excellence, making quality rather than 
quantity his aim. The following table shows the 
kind and amount of food given to the cows during 
the month of April last; also an analysis of the 
milk, at a temperature of 40.28° Fahrenheit; and 
at a specific gravity of 1.33 : 
enths to wheat; two-sevenths to oats, rye, and bar¬ 
ley ; and one-seventh to lucern and clover. 
As on nearly all French farms, considerable atten¬ 
tion is paid to the cultivation of lucern, a relative 
of clover highly prized as feed for cattle. It bears 
much larger crops than clover, growing two to 
three feet high, and two or three crops are cut each 
year. The harvested wheat is stacked and not 
thrashed until required for use or market. The 
thrashing is done by steam power, which is also 
utilized, iii connection with improved machinery, 
for sorting the grain into different grades, accord¬ 
ing to size and weight of the kernels, aDd prepar¬ 
ing food for the pigs and sheep.—The sheep house 
is substantial and convenient, and contains about 
1,000 head of French and English breeds.—The 
most improved farm tools are used, including 
several of American make ; and in every department 
Mr. Nicolas has taken advantage of all the facili¬ 
ties which modern science offers. By these, with 
his native ingenuity and good sense, he has, in six 
years, converted a most unpromising farm into one 
that is a model in every respect, and that is, with fine 
future prospects, more than self-supporting now. 
Paris, August 18,1878. G. W. W. H. 
Among the Farmers.—No. 34. 
BY ONB OF THEM. 
breeding pure stock for milk, as well as in not breed¬ 
ing at all, so to speak,—but in simply raising milchi 
cows in the come-by-chance way of most farmers— 
that is, in breeding “scrubs.” The influence of 
the sire in breeding for milk is, however, by no- 
means to be neglected or lightly regarded. It is so 
large that many writers regard it as greater than 
that of the dam. In the production of grade cows, 
it is quite likely that the influence of the sire is the 
more potent in respect to milk production; but 
how it would be were cows of milk-giving breeds 
bred to scrub bulls, it would be hard to tell, for 
experiments are very few, and it is to be hoped 
that they will not be multiplied. 
The Form of a Milch Cow. 
A good sized udder and milk veins are invariably 
essential. The shape of the udder and teats is not 
imperative, but they must be capable of producing, 
storing, and delivering the milk. We all look for a 
well-quartered udder, for nothing is more annoying 
to the milker than to have one hand finish its work 
long before the other, which will be the case unless- 
the quarters hold about the same quantity of milk, 
and the teats are about equal in size and delivery. 
The teats are to be squarely placed, tapering, large 
enough to fill a man’s hand, and not fleshy. Be¬ 
sides this, the perfect milch cow should be capa¬ 
cious in body, indicating feeding capacity, thin and 
light before, with thin neck and shoulders, sharp 
withers, light head, etc. She should be lower in 
front than behind, because she needs room for her 
large udder, and length of leg to keep it from hang¬ 
ing too low, while it is an advantage to have short 
fore-legs, which brings her head nearer to business. 
This gives the general idea of the “ wedge 
shape ” in milch cows so much talked about, but 
only in respect to the side view. The view from 
above would be similar, that is, broad behind, the 
broadest point being at the hips and thighs, and the 
lines converging toward the head. This matter of 
form is important, and it is valuable in bulls, also, 
as being likely to be transmitted to their daughters. 
The milch cow must have bone enough in the leg 
to carry a capacious and heavy body. In this point 
they rarely fail, yet occasionally, upon rough pas¬ 
tures, we find that more bone and stronger joints 
would be of service. The head, horn, and tail, can 
hardly be too light, and happily we are taught to re¬ 
gard these, when small, as points of special beauty. 
In Guernsey the proverb runs “ that a long head 
indicates much milk” ; and on that island I 
found especial value placed upon a broad muzzle 
and big mouth, on the ground that with such a 
mouth the animal could and would quicker fill her¬ 
self and lie down, and it is quite true that then 
more of her food will go to milk production, and 
not to supplying the wastes of the muscular sys¬ 
tem, increased by prolonged exercise. 
The thighs should be thin through the muscular 
portion above the hocks, for this gives room for the 
udder, and thick thighs occasion irritation in walk¬ 
ing when the udder is distended. A thin neck and 
shoulders are usually found accompanying thin 
thighs, but not always. Meaty withers and a thick 
neck are a bad indication, and rarely if ever are 
found on a first rate milker. 
The Value of the Guenon Milk Mirror. 
Taken with a good udder and milk veins, good 
digestive functions, and capacity for food, good 
health, and thrift, the Guenon Milk Mirror is a 
valuable indication of both the quantity and dura¬ 
tion of the flow of milk. This seems to be dem¬ 
onstrated by the experience of thousands who have 
given the subject careful study, and I have never 
yet met the man who ridiculed it, and called it 
“ folly,” who was able intelligently even to outline 
the prominent types.—The number of calves which 
do well or ill as milkers, very nearly as indicated 
by their milk mirror, is so large, that one of the 
principal practical uses to which a knowledge of 
the Guenon system can be applied is in selecting 
calves to raise—and of course to those who buy 
cows it comes equally well in use. 
The enormous exports of dairy products which 
are now leaving the country, and for which a steady 
flow of gold is coming in, make it worth while for 
Food For Cows. 
Per Head. 
Lbs. 
Sugar-beets_77X 
Cotton Seed¬ 
cake.6X 
Lucern.20 
Oat Straw.18 
Salt.IX oz. 
Analysis of Milk. 
In the Milk. I In the Ash. 
Butter.42.2;Phos. Acid_2.529 
Albumen. 11.7 Sul’huric Acid .103 
Casein. 23.5 Potassa.1.736 
Sugar. 55.2! Soda.725 
Ash._L7 
Total of solid 
matter per 
litre.140.3 
Wate-.892.7 
Lime.1.852 
Magnesia.108 
Silica, Oxide of 
Iron, etc.597 
Total.7A16 
The cows are milked in the morning between 2 
and 3 o’clock ; by 6 o’clock all has been bottled and 
boxed ; at 6 j o’clock it leaves the neighboring rail¬ 
way station for Paris, and at 9 A. M. reaches the 
city. The second milking is at 3 p. m., which 
reaches Paris at 10 p. m., ready for early morning 
Fig. 7.— THE PACKING-ROOM OF ARCY FARM MILK DAIRY. 
delivery. The daily average of sales, at this mid¬ 
summer season of the year, is 840 litres (8871 quarts). 
A secondary advantage of great importance has 
followed this new departure in the management of 
Arcy Farm,—the production of stable-manure has 
increased very largely, and at the present time very 
nearly equals the demand. A large manure pit, 
walled around with stone, will be noticed at the 
center of the court-yard (fig. 1), and near it is a 
reservoir into which the liquid manure is conducted 
by underground pipes. The improved cultivation 
of the fields has been pushed forward with unabated 
activity, and at the time of our visit, when the har¬ 
vests were being gathered, the vast fields of wheat, 
oats, and lucern, presented an appearance of re¬ 
markable thrift. Mr. Nicolas now has 815 acres 
capable of cultivation, which are divided as follows : 
one-seventh devoted to beets, potatoes, buckwheat, 
and carrots ; one-seventh, fallow ground ; two-sev- 
Influence of Early Breeding on Milk. 
Well fed heifers, not too fat, incline to breed at 
about 7 to 10 months old. This is too young to 
tax the young things with the cares and trials 
of maternity, and if persevered in, will certainly 
lessen the quantity of milk a herd is capable of 
producing, primarily by reducing the size of the 
mature cows. However, as we generally desire a 
fair size to accompany great milking qualities, we 
must plan accordingly, and allow heifers to breed 
early enough to be making their strongest, and 
best growth, just when they come to calving and 
milk. This time, with some breeds, is at about two 
years old, with others, six months to a year later. 
A distinguished breeder 
of Princess Shorthorns 
not long ago remarked, 
that milking qualities 
were the easiest possi¬ 
ble points to breed in 
Shorthorns, as is shown 
by the certainty,almost, 
of Shorthorn grades be¬ 
ing large milkers, if put 
early to breeding, and 
by the fact, that in New 
England where they are 
bred and treated like 
cows of any other breed, 
or of no breed, they are 
all milkers. My friend 
was defending, or ex¬ 
tenuating the practice 
of so many breeders of 
Shorthorns, who breed 
only for beef points,that 
is, perfection of form, 
early maturity, quick 
growth, early and quick 
fattening, good handling, etc.—points more diffi¬ 
cult to secure, and to maintain, than milk giving. 
Influence of the Dam and Sire. 
It behooves a man who is himself a tyro in breed¬ 
ing, and a learner in all things, to state his own 
views modestly, especially when they clash with 
those of wise men and teachers. I have seen so 
many good cows that had good daughters, and 
daughters’ daughters to half a dozen generations, all 
by nameless and fameless sires, that I am hardly wil¬ 
ling to accept the view that milking qualities are 
more likely to be inherited from the sire’s dam than 
from the dam herself. We can of course all remem¬ 
ber many good cows whose calves were not worth 
raising, and we know but too well that very extraor¬ 
dinary cows rarely have daughters which equal 
themselves. Nevertheless, I am inclined to place 
the influence of the dam above that of the sire in 
