32 
THE OX. 
THE DAIRY. 
gether animals near of blood for the purpose of giving prematurity of fatness, is inconsistent with the proper treatment of the dairy 
Cow. 
In the ordinary practice of the dairy in this country, the Cows are fed in summer in the fields; but they may likewise be 
kept continually in the cow-house, and fed on green forage during the season of active vegetation. There is economy in this prac¬ 
tice, and it is necessarily adopted in the dairies of towns; but it is scarcely so conducive to the permanent health of the animals as 
the more natural method of pasturing; nor is the milk so rich in cream, or agreeable in flavour, as when the Cows are suffered to 
collect their own food, and consume a greater variety of herbage-plants. Neither is the practice of raising green forage for their 
support so easy under the common management of farms as the other system. Nevertheless there are advantages attending it, in 
the greater economy of feeding, in preserving the manure of the animals, and in protecting them from the inclemency of the 
weather, and from the attacks of insects during the warm season. When circumstances, therefore, admit of this method of manage¬ 
ment, it will be found to be the most profitable to the dairyman, from the lesser expense of feeding, and the most beneficial to the 
country, from the smaller space of ground required to support a given number of animals. Even when the common practice of 
depasturing the ground is adopted, it will always be advantageous to bring home the Cows during the extreme heat of the day in 
summer, feeding them at that time on green forage, and turning them into the fields in the cool of the evening for the night. In 
winter, Cows are fed with the ordinary provender of the farm, receiving such a supply of green food as can be procured. The beet, 
the carrot, and the parsnip are each admirably suited to this purpose, causing the animals to yield abundant milk, and of good 
quality. Cabbages, too, are a suitable food, as well as potatoes, either raw, or prepared by boiling. Turnips also may be em¬ 
ployed, notwithstanding the unpleasant flavour which they communicate to milk, for the taste may be removed by simple means, 
and in all cases the effect may be obviated by boiling or steaming the roots. Further, it is an excellent practice to give the Cows 
of the dairy a meal daily of boiled or steamed food, seasoned with a little salt, as two or three ounces. This mess may consist of 
potatoes, or of turnips, or any other succulent root, mixed with bran or any farinaceous substance. In truth, no error can be 
committed in preparing this simple kind of diet, which is always relished by the animals, and eminently conducive to their health. 
A general rule to be observed in' all cases, in feeding the Cows of the dairy, is to supply them regularly, and in sufficient quan¬ 
tity, with good and nourishing food, and at no time, either when they are yielding milk, or after they have become dry, to suffer 
them to lose condition. The nature of the dairy, its products, and its importance, shall now form the subject of some remarks. 
THE DAIRY. 
Milk is the liquid food derived from the blood of mammiferous animals for the nourishment of their young. It is secreted in 
glandular sacs termed mamma?, the number and .disposition of which vary in different tribes of animals. Sometimes they consist of 
a single pair, as in the female of the Horse, the Sheep, the Goat; sometimes of more than one pair connected together, as in the Cow; 
and sometimes of several pairs, extending along the lower part of the abdomen, as in the Hog, the Dog, the Cat. These organs 
are filled with innumerable glandular lobes, from the size of a millet-seed upwards, through which the blood, circulating in myriads 
of vessels finer than the finest hair, gives off the milky secretion. From these lobes proceed little ducts or tubes, which, gradually 
uniting, form larger ducts, and then reservoirs or sinuses, which communicate with the papillae or nipples. The milk is secreted 
at the birth of the foetus, and continues to be supplied for a longer or shorter period, according to the wants of the young. It dif¬ 
fers somewhat in its composition in different species ; but in all of them it is a whitish liquid, opaque, and of a slightly saccharine 
taste. It consists essentially of water, holding in solution and suspension various substances, some of which can be readily 
separated from the rest. Of these the principal are, 1. An oily substance, which, from its lesser density, rises to the surface, and, 
being agitated, forms butter; 2. An albuminous matter, which, by the action of certain substances, coagulates and forms curd or 
cheese ; and, 3. A species of sugar, which can likewise be obtained separately from the other constituents. 
Man, deriving his first nourishment from the breast of his parent, must, in every age, have been taught by his reason to apply 
to his uses the milk of his flocks and herds. From the earliest times, accordingly, we read of the milk of Goats, and Sheep, and 
Kine as being the food of our species, either in its natural state, or separated into those bland and nutritive substances which, by 
the easiest arts, can be derived from it. When Abraham sat at the opening of his tent, in the heat of the day, in the plains of 
Mamre, “ He lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him : and, when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the 
tent-door, and bowed himself toward the ground, and said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I 
pray thee, from thy servant. Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree : 
and I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on; for therefore are ye come to your ser- 
