THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
PRESENTED BY
PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID
MILCH COWS
AND
DAIRY FARMING;
COMPRISING
THE BREEDS, BREEDING, AND MANAGEMENT, IN HEALTH AND DISEASE,
OF DAIRY AND OTHER STOCKY THE SELECTION OF MILCH COWS,
WITH A FULL EXPLANATION OF GUENON'S METHOD ;
THE CULTURE OF FORAGE PLANTS,
AXD-THK PRODUCTION OF
MILK, BUTTER, AND CHEESE:
EMBODYING THE MOST RECENT IMPROVEMENTS, AND ADAPTED TO
FARMING IN THE UNITED STATES AND BRITISH PROVINCES.
WITH A TREATI8B UPON THE
DAIRY HUSBANDRY OF HOLLAND;
TO WHICH 18 ADDED
HORSFALL'S SYSTEM OF DAIRY MANAGEMENT.
BY CHARLES L. FLINT,
SECRETARY OF THB MASSACHCSKTT3 STATE BOARD OK AGRICULTURK } AUTHOR Of " A TRKA-
Tl.SK ON CJKA33B3 AND FORAOK PLANTS," KTC.
LIBERALLY ILLUSTRATED.
BOSTON:
PHILLIPS, SAMPSON AND COMPANY,
13 WINTER STREET.
1859.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by
CHARLES L. FLINT,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
Stereotyped by
HOBART * ROBBIN8,
New England Type and Stereotype Foundery,
PRINTED BY K. M. EDWARDS.
Co
THE MASS. STATE BOARD OP AGRICULTURE,
THE
MASS. SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF AGRICULTURE,
AWD THE VARIOUS
AGRICULTURAL, SOCIETIES OF THE UNITED STATES,
\VHOSK EFFORTS II A V K CONTRIBUTED SO LARGELY TO IMPROVE THR
DAIRY STOCK OP OUR C O U N T B Y
DESIGNED TO ADVAXCK THAT HIGHLY IMPORTANT IKTBRE8T,
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,
BT
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
THIS work is designed to embody the most recent
information on the subject of dairy farming. My aim
has been to make a practically useful book. With this
view, I have treated of the several breeds of stock,
the diseases to which they are subject, the established
principles of breeding, the feeding and management of
milch cows, the raising of calves intended for the dairy,
and the culture of grasses and plants to be used as fodder.
For the chapter on the diseases of stock, I am largely
indebted to Dr. C. M. Wood, Professor^of the Theory
and Practice of Veterinary Medicine, and to Dr. Geo.
H. Dadd, Professor of Anatomy and Physiology, both
of the Boston Veterinary Institute. If this chapter
contributes anything to promote a more humane and
judicious treatment of cattle when suffering from dis-
ease, I shall feel amply repaid for the labor bestowed
upon the whole work.
The chapter on the Dutch dairy, which I have trans-
lated from the German, will be found to be of great
practical value, as suggesting much that is applicable
to our American dairies. This chapter has never before,
to my knowledge, appeared in English.
The full and complete explanation of Guenon's method
of judging and selecting milch cows, — a method origin-
ally regarded as theoretical, but now generally admitted
to be very useful in practice, — I have translated from
the last edition of the treatise of M. Magne, a very
sensible French writer, who has done good service to
the agricultural public by the clearness and simplicity
with which he has freed that system from its compli-
cated details.
Till PREFACE.
The work will be found to contain an account of the
most enlightened practice in this country, in the state-
ments of those actually engaged in dairy farming j the
details of the dairy husbandry of Holland, where this
branch of industry is made a specialty to greater extent,
and is consequently carried to a higher degree of per-
fection, than in any other part of the world j and the
most recent and productive modes of management in
English dairy farming, embracing a large amount of
practical and scientific information, not hitherto pre-
sented to the American public in an available form.
Nothing need be said of the usefulness of a treatise
on the dairy. The number of milch cows in the coun-
try, forming so large a part of our material wealth, and
serving as a basis for the future increase and improve-
ment of every class of neat stock, on which the pros-
perity of our agriculture mainly depends ; the intrinsic
value of milk as an article of internal commerce, and as
a most healthy and nutritious food ; the vast quantity
of it made into butter and cheese, and used in every
family ; the endless details of the management, feeding,
and treatment, of dairy stock, and the care and atten-
tion requisite to obtain from this branch of farming the
highest profit, all concur to make the want of such a
treatise, adapted to our climate and circumstances, felt
not only by practical farmers, but by a large class of
consumers, who can appreciate every improvement
which may be made in preparing the products of the
dairy for their use.
The writer has had some years of practical experi-
ence in the care of a cheese and butter dairy, to which
has been added a wide range of observation in some of
the best dairy districts of the country ; and it is hoped
that the work now submitted to the public will meet
that degree of favor usually accorded to an earnest
effort to do something to advance the cause of agricul-
ture.
DAIRY FARMING
CHAPTER I .
INTRODUCTORY. — THE VARIOUS RACES OF PURE-
BRED CATTLE IN THE UNITED STATES.
THE milking qualities of our domestic cows are, to
some extent, artificial, the result of care and breeding.
In the natural or wild state, the cow yields only
enough to nourish her offspring for a few weeks, and
then goes dry for several months, or during the greater
part of the year. There is, therefore, a constant tend-
ency to revert to that condition, which is prevented
only by judicious treatment, designed to develop and
increase the milking qualities so valuable to the human
race. If this judicious treatment is continued through
several generations of the same family or race of ani-
mals, the qualities which it is calculated to develop
become more or less fixed, and capable of transmission.
Instead of being exceptional, or peculiar to an indi-
vidual, they become the permanent characteristics of
a breed. Hence the origin of a great variety of
breeds or races, the characteristics of each being due
to local circumstances, such as climate, soil, and the
special objects of the breeder, which may be the pro-
duction of milk, butter and cheese, or the raising of
beef or working cattle.
A knowledge of the history of different breeds, and
10 INTRODUCTION.
especially of the dairy breeds, is of manifest import-
ance. Though very excellent milkers will sometimes
be found in all of them, and of a great variety of forms,
the most desirable dairy qualities will generally be
found to have become fixed and permanent character-
istics of some to a greater extent than of others ; but
it does not follow that a race whose milking qualities
have not been developed is of less value for other pur-
poses, and for qualities which have been brought out
with greater care. A brief sketch of the principal
breeds of American cattle, as well as of the grades or
the common stock of the country, will aid the farmer,
perhaps, in making an intelligent selection with refer-
ence to the special object of pursuit, whether it be the
dairy, the production of beef, or the raising of cattle for
work.
In a subsequent chapter on the selection of milch
cows, the standard of perfection will be discussed in
detail, and the characteristics of each of the races will
naturally be measured by that. In this connection, and
as preliminary to the following sketches, it may be
stated that, whatever breed may be selected, a full sup-
ply of food and proper shelter are absolutely essential
to the maintenance of any milking stock, the food of
which goes to supply not only the ordinary waste of
the system common to all animals, but also the milk
secretions, which are greater in some than in others.
A large animal on a poor pasture has to travel much
further to fill itself than a small one. A small or
medium-sized cow would return more milk in propor-
tion to the food consumed, under such circumstances,
than a large one.
In selecting any breed, therefore, regard should be
had to the circumstances of the farmer, and the object
to be pursued. The cow most profitable for the milk-
THE AYRSHIRES.
11
dairy may be very unprofitable in the butter and cheese
dairy, as well as for the production of beef; while for
either of the latter objects the cow which gave the
largest quantity of milk might prove very unprofitable.
It is desirable to secure a union and harmony of all good
qualities, so far as possible ; and the farmer wants a cow
that will milk well for some years, and then, when dry,
fatten readily, and sell to the butcher for the highest
price. These qualities, though often supposed to be
incompatible, will be found to be united in some breeds
to a greater extent than in others ; while some pecu-
liarities of form have been found, by observation, to be
better adapted to the production of milk and beef than
others. This will appear in the following pages.
Fig. 1. Ayrshire Cow, imported and owned by Dr. Geo. B. Loring, Salem, Mass.
THE AYRSHJRES are justly celebrated throughout
Great Britain and this country for their excellent dairy
qualities. Though the most recent in their origin, they
are pretty distinct from the other Scotch and English
races In color, the pure Ayrshires are generally red
12 POINTS. — OBIGIN.
and white, spotted or mottled, not roan like many of the
short-horns, but often presenting a bright contrast of
colors. They are sometimes, though rarely, nearly or
quite all red, and sometimes black and white ; but the
favorite color is red and white brightly contrasted, and
by some, strawberry-color is preferred. The head is
small, fine, and clean ; the face long, and narrow at the
muzzle, with a sprightly yet generally mild expression ;
eye small, smart, and lively ; the horns short, fine, and
slightly twisted upwards, set wide apart at the roots ;
the neck thin ; body enlarging from fore to hind quar-
ters ; the back straight and narrow, but broad across
the loin ; joints rather loose and open ; ribs rather flat ;
hind quarters rather thin ; bone fine ; tail long, fine and
bushy at the end ; hair generally thin and soft ; udder
light color and capacious, extending well forward under
the belly ; teats of the cow of medium size, generally
set regularly and wide apart ; milk-veins prominent and
well developed. The carcass of the pure-bred Ayrshire
is light, particularly the fore quarters, which is consid-
ered by good judges as an index of great milking qual-
ities ; but the pelvis is capacious and wide over the hips.
On the whole, the Ayrshire is good-looking, but
wants some of the symmetry and aptitude to fatten
which characterize the short-horn, which is supposed
to have contributed to build up this valuable breed
on the basis of the original stock of the county of
Ayr; a county extending along the eastern shore
of the Frith of Clyde, in the south-western part of
Scotland, and divided into three districts, known as
Carrick, Cunningham, and Kyle : the first famous as
the lordship of Robert Bruce, the last for the produc-
tion of this, one of the most remarkable dairy breeds
of cows in the world. The original stock of this
county, which undoubtedly formed the basis of the
HISTORY. — EARLY STOCK OF AYR. 13
present Ayrshire breed, are described by Aiton, in his
Treatise on the Dairy Breed of Cows, as of a diminu-
tive size, ill fed, ill shaped, and yielding but a scanty
return in milk. They were mostly of a black color,
with large stripes of white along the chine and ridge of
their backs, about the flanks, and on their faces. Their
horns were high and crooked, having deep ringlets at
the root, — the plainest proof that the cattle were but
scantily fed ; the chine of their backs stood up high and
narrow; their sides were lank, short, and thin; their
hides thick, and adhering to their bones ; their pile was
coarse and open ; and few of them yielded more than
six or eight quarts of milk a day when in their best
plight, or weighed when fat more than from twelve to
sixteen or twenty stones avoirdupois, at eight pounds
the stone, sinking offal.
" It was impossible," he continues, " that these cattle,
fed as they then were, could be of great weight, well
shaped, or yield much milk. Their only food in winter
and spring was oat-straw, and what they could pick up
in the fields, to which they were turned out almost
every day, with a mash of weak corn and chaff daily for
a few days after calving ; and their pasture in summer
was of the very worst quality, and eaten so bare that
the cattle were half starved, and had the aspect of
starvelings. A wonderful change has since been made
in the condition, aspect, and qualities, of the Ayrshire
dairy stock. They are not now the meagre, unshapely
animals they were about forty years ago ; but have
completely changed into something as different from
what they were then as any two breeds in the island
can be from each other. They are almost double the
size, and yield about four times the quantity of milk
that the Ayrshire cows then yielded. They were not
of any specific breed, nor uniformity of shapes or color ;
2
14 AITON'S RECOLLECTIONS.
neither was there any fixed standard by which they
could be judged."
Aiton wrote in 1815, and even then the Ayrshire cat-
tle had been completely changed from what they were
in 1770, and had, to a considerable extent, at least, set-
tled down into a breed with fixed characteristics, distin-
guished especially for an abundant flow and a rich qual-
ity of milk. A large part of the improvement then
manifested was due to better feeding and care, but
much, no doubt, to judicious crossing. Strange as it
may seem, considering the modern origin of this breed,
" all that is certainly known is that a century ago there
was no such breed as Cunningham or Ayrshire in Scot-
land. Did the Ayrshire cattle arise entirely from a
careful selection of the best native breed ? If they did,
it is a circumstance unparalleled in the history of agri-
culture. The native breed may be ameliorated by care-
ful selection ; its value may be incalculably increased ;
some good qualities, some of its best qualities, may be
for the first time developed ; but yet there will be some
resemblance to the original stock, and the more we
examine the animal the more clearly we can trace out
the characteristic points of the ancestor, although every
one of them is improved."
Aiton remembered well the time when some short-
horn or Dutch cattle, as they were then called, were
procured by some gentlemen in Scotland, and particu-
larly by one John Dunlop, of Cunningham, who brought
some Dutch cows — doubtless short-horns — to his
byres soon after the year 1760. As they were tnen
provided with the best of pasture, and the dairy was
the chief object of the neighborhood, these cattle soon
excited attention, and the small farmers began to raise
up crosses from them. This was in Cunningham, one
of the districts of Ayrshire, and Mr. Dunlop's were,
THE TEESWATER. — DUTCH. 15
without doubt, among the first of the stranger bieed
that reached that region. About 1750, a little previous
to the above date, the Earl of Marchruont bought of the
Bishop of Durham several cows and a bull of the Tees-
water breed, all of a brown color spotted with white,
and kept them some time at his seat in Berwickshire.
His lordship had extensive estates in Kyle, another dis-
trict of Ayrshire, and thither his factor, Bruce Camp-
bell, took some of the Teeswater breed and kept them
for some time, and their progeny spread over various
parts of Ayrshire. A bull, after serving many cows of
the estates already mentioned, was sold to a Mr. Hamil-
ton, in another quarter of Ayrshire, and raised a numer-
ous offspring.
About the year 1767, also, John Orr sent from Glas-
gow to his estate in Ayrshire some fine milch cows, of
a much larger size than any then in that region. One
of them cost six pounds, which was more than twice
the price of the best cow in that quarter. These cows
were well fed, and of course yielded a large return of
milk ; and the farmers, for miles around, were eager to
get their calves to raise.
About the same time, also, a few other noblemen and
gentlemen, stimulated by example, bought cattle of the
same appearance, in color brown spotted with white, all
of them larger than the native cattle of the county,
and when well fed yielding much larger quantities of
milk, and their calves were all raised. Bulls of their
breed and color were preferred to all others.
From the description given of these cattle, there is
no doubt that they were the old Teeswater, or Dutch ;
the foundation, also, according to the best authorities, of
the modern improved short-horns. With them and the
crosses obtained from them the whole county gradu-
ally became stocked, and supplied the neighboring
16 EFFECT OF INJUDICIOUS CROSSING.
counties, by degrees, till at present the whole region,
comprising the counties of Ayr, Renfrew, Lanark, Dum-
barton, and Stirling, and more than a fourth part of the
whole population of Scotland, a large proportion of
which is engaged in manufactures and commercial or
mechanical pursuits, furnishing a ready market for milk
and butter, is almost exclusively stocked with Ayrshires.
The cross with larger cattle and the natives of Ayr-
shire produced, for many years, an ugly-looking beast,
and the farmers were long in finding out that they had
violated one of the plain principles of breeding in
coupling a large and small breed so indiscriminately
together, especially in the use of bulls proportionately
larger than the cows to which they were put. They
did not then understand that no crosses could be made
in that way to increase the size of a race, without a
corresponding increase in the feed ; and many very
ill-shaped animals were the consequence of ignorance
of a natural law. They made large bones, but they
were never strong and vigorous in proportion to their
size. Trying to keep large animals on poor pasture
produced the same effect. The results of first crosses
were therefore very unsatisfactory ; but gradually bet-
ter feeding and a reduction in size came to their aid,
while in the course of years more enlightened views of
farming led to higher cultivation, and consequently to
higher and better care and attention to stock. The
effect of crosses with the larger Teeswater or short-
horn was not so disastrous in Ayrshire as in some of
the mountain breeds, whose feed was far less, while
their exposure on high and short pastures was greater.
The climate of Ayrshire is moist and mild, and the
soil rich, clayey, and well adapted to pasturage, but
difficult to till. The cattle are naturally hardy and
active, and capable of enduring severe winters, and
IMPROVEMENTS. — FORM OF THE BULL. 17
of easily regaining condition with the return of spring
and good feed. The pasture-land of the county is
devoted to dairy stock, — chiefly for making butter
and cheese, a small part only being used for fattening
cows when too old to keep for the dairy. The breed
has undergone very marked improvements since Aiton
wrote, in 1815. The local demand for fresh dairy prod-
ucts has very naturally taxed the skill and judgment of
the farmers and dairy-men to the utmost, through a
long course of years ; and thus the remarkable milking
qualities of the Ayrshires have been developed to such a
degree that they may be said to produce a larger quan-
tity of rich milk and butter in proportion to the food
consumed, or the cost of production, than any other of
the pure-bred races. The owners of dairies in the
county of Ayr and the neighborhood were generally
small tenants, who took charge of their stock them-
selves, saving and breeding from the offspring of good
milkers, and drying off and feeding such as were found
to be unprofitable for milk, for the butcher ; and thus the
production of milk and butter has for many years been
the leading object with the owners of this breed, and
symmetry of form and perfection of points for any other
object have been very much disregarded, or, if regarded
at all, only from this one point of view — the produc-
tion of the greatest quantity of rich milk.
The manner in which this result has been brought
about may further be seen in a remark of Aiton, who
says that the Ayrshire farmers prefer their dairy bulls
according to the feminine aspect of their heads and
necks, and wish them not round behind, but broad at
the hook-bones and hips, and full in the flanks. This
was more than forty years ago, and under such circum-
stances, and with such care in the selection of bulls and
cows with reference to one specific object, it is not
2* 2
18 YIELD. — QUANTITY. — QUALITY.
surprising that we find a breed now wholly unsurpassed
when the quantity and quality of their produce is con-
sidered with reference to their proportional size and
Fig. 2. Ayrshire Bull "ALBERT,"
Imported and owned by the Mass. Soc. for Promoting Agriculture.
the food they consume. The Ayrshire cow has been
known to produce over ten imperial gallons of good
milk a day.
A cow-feeder in Glasgow, selling fresh milk, is said
to have realized two hundred and fifty dollars in seven
months from one good cow ; and it is stated, on high
authority, that a dollar a day for six months of the year
is no uncommon income from good cows under similar
circumstances, and that seventy-five cents a day is be-
low the average. But this implies high and judicious
feeding, of course : the average yield, on ordinary feed,
would be considerably less.
Youatt estimates the daily yield of an Ayrshire cow,
for the first two or three months after calving, at five
gallons a day, on an average ; for the next three months,
at three gallons ; and for the next four months, at one
gallon and a half. This would be 850 gallons as the
YIELD INFLUENCED BY CLIMATE. 19
annual average of a cow ; but, allowing for some unpro-
ductive cows, he estimates the average of a dairy at GOO
gallons per annum for each cow. Three gallons and a
half of the Ayrshire cow's milk will yield one and a
half pounds of butter. He therefore reckons 257
pounds of butter, or 514 pounds of cheese, at the rate
of 24 pounds to 28 gallons of milk, as the yield of every
cow, at a fair and perhaps rather low average, in an
Ayrshire dairy, during the year. Aiton sets the yield
much higher, saying that " thousands of the best Ayr-
shire dairy-cows, when in prime condition and well fed,
produce 1000 gallons of milk per annum ; that in gene-
ral three and three quarters to four gallons of their milk
will yield a pound and a half of butter ; and that 27^
gallons of their milk will make 21 pounds of full-milk
cheese." Mr. Rankin puts it lower — at about 650 to
700 gallons to each cow ; on his own farm of inferior
soil, his dairy produced an average of 550 gallons only.
One of the four cows originally imported into this
country by John P. Gushing, Esq., of Massachusetts,
gave in one year 3864 quarts, beer measure, or about
966 gallons, at ten pounds to the gallon, being an aver-
age of over ten and a half beer quarts a day for the
whole year. It is asserted, on good authority, that the
first Ayrshire cow imported by the Massachusetts Soci-
ety for the Promotion of Agriculture, in 1837, yielded
sixteen pounds of butter a week, for several weeks in
succession, on grass feed only. These yields aro not
so large as those stated by Aiton ; but it should, per-
haps, be recollected that our climate is less favorable
to the production of milk than that of England and Scot-
land, and that no cow imported after arriving at matur-
ity could be expected to yield as much, under the same
circumstances, as one bred on the spot where the trial
is made, and perfectly acclimated.
20 COMPARATIVE TRIALS. — HARLEY.
In a series of experiments on the Earl of Chester-
field's dairy farm, at Bradley Hall, interesting as giving
positive data on which to form a judgment as to the
yield, it was found that, in the height of the season, the
Holderness cows gave 7 gallons 1 quart per diem ; the
long-horns and Alderneys, 4 gallons 3 quarts ; the Dev-
ons, 4 gallons 1 quart ; and that, when made into butter,
the above quantities gave, respectively, 38£ ounces, 28
ounces, and 25 ounces.
The Ayrshire, a cow far smaller than the Holderness,
at 5 gallons of milk and 34 ounces of butter per day,
gives a fair average as to yield of milk, and an enor-
mous production of butter, giving within 4£ ounces as
much from her 5 gallons as the Holderness from her 7
gallons 1 quart ; her rate being nearly 7 ounces to the
gallon, while that of the Holderness is considerably
under 6 ounces.
The evidence of a large and practical dairyman is cer-
tainly of the highest value ; and in this connection it
may be stated that Mr. Harley, the author of the Harle-
ian Dairy System, who established the celebrated Wil-
lowbank Dairy, in Glasgow, and who kept, at times,
from two hundred and sixty to three hundred cows,
always using the utmost care in selection, says that he
had cows, by way of experiment, from different parts
of the united kingdom. He purchased ten at one Edin-
burgh market, of the large short-horned breed, at
twenty pounds each, but these did not give more milk,
nor better in quality, than Ayrshire cows that were
bought at the same period for thirteen pounds a head;
and, on comparison, it was found that the latter were
much cheaper kept, and that they improved much more
in beef and fat in proportion to their size, than the
high-priced cows. A decided preference was therefore
given to the improved Ayrshire breed, from seven to
BUYING. — HARLEY'S RULES. 21
ten years old, and from eight to twenty pounds a head.
Prime young cows were too high-priced for stall feed-
ing ; old cows were generally the most profitable in the
long run, especially if they were not previously in good
keeping. The cows were generally bought when near
calving, which prevented the barbarous practice called
hafting, or allowing the milk to remain upon the cow
for a considerable time before she is brought to the
market. This base and cruel custom is always perni-
cious to the cow, and in consequence of it she seldom
recovers her milk for the season. The middling and
large sizes of cows were preferred, such as weighed
from thirty-five to fifty stone, or from five hundred to
eight hundred pounds.
According to Mr. Harley, the most approved shape
arid marks of a good dairy cow are as follows : Head
small, long, and narrow towards the muzzle ; horns
small, clear, bent, and placed at considerable distance
from each other ; eyes not large, but brisk and lively ;
neck slender and long, tapering towards the head, with
a little loose skin below ; shoulders and fore quarters
light and thin; hind quarters large and broad; back
straight, and joints slack and open ; carcass deep in the
rib ; tail small and long, reaching to the heels ; legs
small and short, with firm joints ; udder square, but a
little oblong, stretching forward, thin-skinned and capa-
cious, but not low hung ; teats or paps small, pointing
outwards, and at a considerable distance from each
other ; milk-veins capacious and prominent ; skin loose,
thin, and soft like a glove ; hair short, soft, and woolly ;
general figure, when in flesh, handsome and well pro-
portioned.
If this description of the Ayrshire cow be correct, it
will be seen that her head and neck are remarkably
clean and fine, the latter swelling gradually towards the
22 DOCILITY. — TREATMENT.
shoulders, both parts being unincumbered with superflu-
ous flesh. The same general form extends backwards,
the fore quarters being light, the shoulders thin, and the
carcass swelling out towards the hind quarters, so that
standing in front of her it has the form of a blunted
wedge. Such a structure indicates very fully devel-
oped digestive organs, which exert a powerful influence
on the exercise of all the functions of the body, and
especially on the secretion of the milky glands, accom-
panied with milk-veins and udder partaking of the same
character as the stomach and viscera, being large and
capacious, while the external skin and interior walls of
the milk-glands are thin and elastic, and all parts
arranged in a manner especially calculated for the pro-
duction of milk.
A cow with these marks will generally be of a quiet
and docile temper, which greatly enhances her value.
A cow that is of a quiet and contented disposition feeds
at ease, is milked with ease, and yields more than one
of an opposite temperament; while after she is past her
usefulness as a milker she will easily take on fat, and
make fine beef and a good quantity of tallow, because
she feeds freely, and when dry the food which went to
make milk is converted into fat and flesh. But there is no
breed of cows with which gentleness of treatment is so
indispensable as with the Ayrshire, on account of her
naturally nervous temperament. If she receive other
than kind and gentle treatment, she will often resent it
with angry looks and gestures, and withhold her milk ;
and if such treatment is long continued, will dry up ;
but she willingly and easily yields it to the hand that
fondles her, and all her looks and movements towards
her friends are quiet and mild.
As already remarked, the Ayrshires in their native
country are generally bred for the dairy, and no other
CROSSES. — FATTENING QUALITIES. 23
object ; arid the cows have obtained a just and world-
wide reputation for this quality. The oxen are, however,
very fair as working cattle, though they cannot be said
to excel other breeds in this respect. The Ayrshire
steer may be fed and turned at three years old, but for
feeding purposes the Ayrshires are greatly improved
by a cross with the short-horns, provided regard is had
to the size of the animals. It is the opinion of good
breeders that a high-bred short-horn bull and a large-
sized Ayrshire cow will produce a calf which will come
to maturity earlier, and attain greater weight, and sell
for more money, than a pure-bred Ayrshire. This cross,
with feeding from the start, may be sold fat at two or
three years old, the improvement being especially seen
in the earlier maturity and the size. Even Youatt,
who maintains that the fattening properties of the Ayr-
shires have been somewhat exaggerated, admits that
they will fatten kindly and profitably, and that their
meat will be good; while he also asserts that they
unite, perhaps, to a greater degree than any other
breed, the supposed incompatible qualities of yielding
a great deal of milk and beef.
In the cross with the short-horn, the form becomes
ordinarily more symmetrical, while there is, perhaps,
little risk of lessening the milking qualities of the off-
spring, if sufficient regard is paid to the selection of the
individual animals to breed from. It is thought by
some that in the breeding of animals it is the male
which gives the external form, or the bony and muscu-
lar system of the young, while the female imparts the
respiratory organs, the circulation of the blood, the
mucous membranes, the organs of secretion, <fec.
If this principle is true, it follows that the milking
qualities come chiefly from the mother, and that the
bull can not materially alter the conditions which
24 SELECTIONS FOE BREEDING.
determine the transmission of these qualities, especially
when they are as strongly marked as they are in the
Ayrshire or the Jersey races. Others, however, main-
tain that it is more important to the perfection of their
dairy to make a good choice of bulls than of heifers,
because the property of giving much milk is more
surely transmitted by the male than the female. Others
etill maintain that both parents are represented in the
offspring, but that it is impossible to say beforehand
what parts of the derivative system are to be ascribed
to the one parent and what to the other, and that there
is a blending and interfusion of the qualities of both
which prevent the body of their progeny being mapped
out into distinct regions, or divided into separate sets
of organs, of which we can say, " This is from the
father, that from the mother."
Till this question is settled, it is safe, in breeding for
the dairy, to adhere to the rule of selecting only ani-
mals whose progenitors on both sides have been distin-
guished for their milking qualities. But where the his-
tory of either is unknown, a resort to a well-known
breed, remarkable for its dairy qualities, is of no small
importance ; since, though the immediate ancestors of
a male may not be known, if he belongs to a dairy
breed, it is fair to presume that his progenitors were
milkers. A study and comparison of the size and
form of the milk mirror, and other points, indicated by
Guenon, on a subsequent page, are worthy of careful
consideration in selecting animals to breed from for the
dairy, not only among pure-bred animals, but especially
in crossing. In the scale of points adopted in England
and this country as the standard of perfection for an
Ayrshire cow, the udder, on which Guenon placed so
much reliance, is valued at twelve times as much a?
SUPERIORITY OF AYRSHIRES. 25
that of the Devon, "because," as the judges affirm,
" the Ayrshires have been bred almost exclusively with
reference to their milking properties."
We must conclude, then, that " for purely dairy pur-
poses the Ayrshire cow deserves the first place. In
consequence of her small, symmetrical, and compact
body, combined with a well-formed chest and a capa-
cious stomach, there is little waste, comparatively
speaking, through the respiratory system ; while, at the
same time, there is very complete assimilation of the
food, and thus she converts a large proportion of her
food into milk. So remarkable is this fact, that all dairy
farmers who have any experience on the point agree in
stating that an Ayrshire cow generally gives a larger
return of milk for the food consumed than a cow of any
other breed. The absolute quantity may not be so
great, but it is obtained at a less cost ; and this is the
point upon which the question of profit depends."
I have dwelt thus at length upon this race for the
reason that it is preeminently a dairy breed, surpassing all
other pure breeds in the production of rich milk and but-
ter on soils of medium fertility, and admirably adapted,
in my opinion, to raise the character of our stock to a
higher standard of excellence. The best milkers I have
ever known, in the course of my own observations,
were grade Ayrshires, larger in size than the pure
bloods, but still sufficiently high grades to give certain
signs of their origin. I have owned several such, which
were all good cows. This grade would seem to possess
the advantage of combining, to some extent, the two
qualities of milking and adaptation to beef; and this
is no small recommendation of the stock to farmers
situated as American farmers are, who wish for milk for
some years and then to turn over to the butcher.
26
THE JERSEYS. — GENERAL ESTIMATE.
THE JERSEY cattle have now become widely known
in this country. Many of them have been imported
from an island of the same name in the British Channel,
near the coast of France, and they may now be con-
sidered, I think, as fully acclimated. They were first
introduced over thirty years ago, from the channel
islands Alderney, Guernsey, and Jersey.
Fig. 3. Jersey Cow.*
The opinions of practical men differ widely as to the
comparative merits of this race, and its adaptation to
our climate and to the wants of our farmers. The most
common decision, prevailing among many even of the
best judges of stock, appears to be, that, however desir-
able the cows may be on the lawn or in a gentleman's
park, they are wholly unsuited to the general wants of
the practical farmer. This may or may not be the case.
If the farmer keeps a dairy farm and sells only milk,
the quantity and not the quality of which is his chief
care, he can satisfy himself better with some other
breed. If otherwise situated, — if he devotes his time
* See page 30.
HAXTON'S OPINION. — FORM. 27
to the making of butter for the supply of customers
who are willing to pay for a good article, — he may
very properly consider whether a few Jerseys, or an
infusion of Jersey blood, may not be desirable. Hax-
ton calls the Jersey cow the cheese and butter dairy-
man's friend when her milk is diluted with that of
ten or a dozen ordinary cows, and his enemy if he
should attempt to make either cheese or butter solely
from her produce, as, from the excessive richness of the
milk, neither will keep long; and, finally, an ornament
to the rich man's lawn, yet in aspect altogether devoid
of those rounded outlines which constitute the crite-
rion of animal beauty.
The Jersey race is supposed to have been derived
originally from Normandy, in the northern part of
France. The cows have been long celebrated for the
production of very rich milk and cream, but till within
a quarter of a century they were comparatively coarse,
ugly, and ill-shaped. Improvements have been very
marked, but the form of the animal is still far from
satisfying the eye. The head of the pure Jersey is
fine and tapering, the cheek small, the throat clean,
the muzzle fine and encircled with a light stripe, the
nostril high and open ; the horns smooth, crumpled, not
very thick at the base, tapering, and tipped with black ;
ears small and thin, deep orange color inside ; eyes full
and placid ; neck straight and fine ; chest broad and
deep ; barrel hooped, broad and deep, well ribbed up ;
back straight from the withers to the hip, and from the
top of the hip to the setting on of the tail ; tail fine, at
right angles with the back, and hanging down to the
hocks ; skin thin, light color and mellow, covered with
fine soft hair ; fore legs short, straight and fine below
the knee, arm swelling and full above ; hind quarters
long and well filled ; hind legs short and straight below
28 CHARACTERISTICS. — BEAUTY.
the hocks, with bones rather fine, squarely placed, and
not too close together ; hoofs small ; udder full in size,
in line with the belly, extending well up behind ; teats
of medium size, squarely placed and wide apart, and
milk-veins very prominent. The color is generally
cream, dun, or yellow, with more or less white, and the
fine head and neck give the cows and heifers a fawn-
like appearance, and make them objects of attraction in
the park ; but the hind quarters are often too narrow
to look well, particularly to those who judge animals
from the amount of fat they carry. We should bear in
mind, however, that a good race of animals is not
always the most beautiful, as that term is commonly
understood. Beauty in- stock has no fixed standard.
In the estimation of some, it results mainly from fine
forms, small bones, and close, compact frames ; while
others consider that structure the most perfect, and
therefore the most beautiful, which is best adapted to
the use to which it is destined. According to the lat-
ter, beauty is relative. It is not the same in an animal
designed for beef and in one designed for the dairy or
for work. The beauty of a milch cow is the result of
her good qualities. Large milkers are very rarely
cows that please the eye of any but a skilful judge.
They are generally poor, because their food goes mainly
to the production of milk, and because they are selected
with less regard to form than to good milking qual-
ities. We meet with good milkers of all forms, from
the round, close-built Devon to the coarsest-boned
scrub ; but, with all their varieties of form and struc-
ture, good cows will usually possess certain points of
similarity and well-known marks by which they are
known to the eyes of the judge.
It is asserted by Colonel Le Couteur, of the island of
Jersey, that, contrary to the general opinion here, the
JERSEYS. — FATTENING. BULLS. 29
Jersey cow, when old and no longer wanted as a milker,
will, when dry and fed, fatten rapidly, and produce a
good quantity and excellent quality of butcher's meat.
An old cow, he says, was put up to fatten in October,
1850, weighing 1125 pounds, and when killed, the 6th
of January, 1851, she weighed 1330 pounds ; having
gained 205 pounds in ninety-eight days, on twenty
pounds of hay, a little wheat-straw, and thirty pounds
of roots, consisting of carrots, Swedes, and mangold
wurzel, a day. The prevailing opinion as to the beauty
of the Jersey is based on the general appearance of the
cow in milk, no experiments in feeding exclusively for
beef having been made, to my knowledge, and no
opportunity to form a correct judgment from actual
observation having been furnished ; and it must be con-
fessed that the general appearance would amply justify
the hasty conclusion.
Fig. 4. Jersey Bull.
The bulls are usually very different in character and
disposition from the cows, and are much inclined to
3*
30 PLACE FOB THE JERSEYS.
become restive and cross at the age of two or three
years, unless their treatment is uniformly gentle and
firm. The accompanying figure very accurately repre-
sents one of the best animals of the race in the vicinity
of Boston, which has been pronounced by good judges
a model of a bull for a dairy breed.
The beautiful Jersey cow " Flirt," figured on page
26, received the first prize at the Fair of the Massa-
chusetts State Board of Agriculture in 1857, which
brought together the largest and finest collection of
Jersey cattle ever made in this country. She is well-
shaped, and a very superior dairy cow. Her dam,
Flora, was very remarkable for the richness of her milk
and the quantity of her butter, having made no less
than five hundred and eleven pounds in one year, with-
out extra feeding.
From what has been said it is evident that the Jer-
sey is to be regarded as a dairy breed, and that almost
exclusively. It is evident, too, that it would not be
sought for large dairies kept for the supply of milk to
cities ; for, though the quality would gratify the cus-
tomer, the quantity would not satisfy the owner. The
place of the Jersey cow is rather in private establish-
ments, where the supply of cream and butter is a suffi-
cient object, or, in limited numbers, to add richness to
the milk of large butter dairies. Even one or two good
Jersey cows with a herd of fifteen or twenty, will make
a great difference in the quality of the milk and butter
of the whole establishment ; and they would probably
be profitable for this, if for no other object.
0
Other breeds are somewhat noted in Great Britain
for their excellent dairy qualities, and among them
might be named the Yorkshire and the Kerry ; but they
have never been introduced into this country to any
SHORT-HORNS. — ORIGIN.
31
extent ; or, if they ever were, no traces of them as a
distinct breed can now be found here.
THE SHORT-HORNS. — No breed of horned cattle has
commanded more universal admiration during the last
half-century than the improved Short-horns, whose ori-
gin can be traced back for nearly a hundred years.
According to the best authorities, the stock which
formed the basis of improvement existed equally in
Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Northumberland, and counties
adjoining ; and the preeminence was accorded to Dur-
ham, which gave its name to the race, from the more
correct principles of breeding which seem to have pro
vailed there.
There is a dispute among the most eminent breed-
ers as to how far it owes its origin to early importations
from Holland, whence many superior animals were
brought for the purpose of improving the old long-
horned breed. A large race of cattle had existed for
many years on the western shores of the continent of
Europe. At a very early date, as early as 1633, they
32 DUTCH. — HOLDERNESS. — HUBBACK.
were imported from Denmark into New England in con-
siderable numbers, and thus laid the foundation of a
valuable stock in this country. They extended along
the coast, it is said, through Holland to France. The
dairy formed a prominent branch of farming at a very
early date in Holland, and experience led to the great-
est care in the choice and breeding of dairy stock.
From these cattle many selections were made to cross
over to the counties of York and Durham. The pre-
vailing color of the large Dutch cattle was black and
white, beautifully contrasted.
The cattle produced by these crosses a century ago
were known under the name of " Dutch." The cows
selected for crossing with the early imported Dutch
bulls were generally long-horned, large-boned, coarse
animals, a fair type of which was found in the old " Hold-
erness" breed of Yorkshire, — slow feeders, strong in
the shoulder, defective in the fore quarter, and not very
profitable for the butcher, their meat being " coarse to
the palate and uninviting to the eye." Their milking
qualities were good, surpassing, probably, those of the
improved short-horns. Whatever may be the truth with
regard to these crosses, and however far they proved
effective in creating or laying the foundation of the
modern improved short-horns, the results of the efforts
made in Yorkshire and some of the adjoining counties
were never so satisfactory to the best judges as those
of the breeders along the Tees, who selected animals
with greater reference to fineness of bone and symme-
try of form, and the animals they bred soon took the
lead, and excited great emulation in improvement
The famous bull "Hubback," bred by Mr. Turner, of
Hurworth, and subsequently owned by Mr. Colling,
laid the foundation of the celebrity of the short-horns,
and it is the pride of short-horn breeders to trace back
COMET. — BREEDERS OF SHORT-HORNS. 33
to him. He was calved in 1777, and his descendants,
Foljambe, Bolingbroke, Favorite, and Comet, perma-
nently fixed the characteristics of the breed. Comet
was so highly esteemed among breeders, that he sold
at one thousand guineas, or over five thousand dollars.
Hubback is thought by some to have been a pure short-
horn, and by others a grade or mixture.
Many breeders had labored long previous to the
brothers Charles and Robert Colling, especially on the
old Teeswater short-horns; yet a large share of the
credit of improving and establishing the reputation of
the improved short-horns is generally accorded to the
Collings. Certain it is that the spirit and discrimination
with which they selected and bred soon became known,
and a general interest was awakened in the breed at
the time of the sale of Charles Colling's herd, October
11, 1810. It was then that Mr. Bates, of Kirkleaving-
ton, purchased the celebrated heifer Duchess I., whose
family sold, in 1850, after his decease, at an average of
one hundred and sixteen pounds five shillings per head,
including young calves. Many representatives of the
Duchess family, which laid the foundation of Mr. Bates'
success as a breeder, have been brought to this country.
They may, perhaps, be regarded as an exception to the
modern improved short-horns, their milking qualities
being generally very superior.
The sale referred to, and those of R. Colling's herd,
in 1818, and that of Lord Spencer, in 1846, as well as that
of the Kirkleavington herd, in 1850, and especially that
of the herd of Lord Ducie, two years later, are marked
eras in the history of improved short-horns; and
through these sales, and the universal enthusiasm awak-
ened by them, the short-horns have become more widely
spread over Great Britain, and more generally fashion-
able, than any other breed. They have also been largely
3
34
CREAMPOTS. C CELEBS. DENTON.
introduced into France by the government, for the
improvement of the various French breeds by crossing,
and into nearly every quarter of the civilized world.
Fig. 6. Short-horn Bull " DOUBLE DUKE," (1451 \ Am. II. Book,)
Owned by Harvest Club, Springfield.
Importations have been frequent and extensive intc
the United States within the last few years, and this
famous breed is now pretty generally diffused over the
country.
The use of the early-imported short-horn bulls and
native cows led to the formation of many families of
grades, some of them bred back to the sire, and others
crossed high up, which have attained a very consider-
able local reputation in many sections. As instances
of this, may be mentioned the Creampot stock, obtained
by Col. Jaques from a short-horn bull, Coelebs, and
a superior native cow. A family of fine milkers still
exists in Massachusetts, known by the name of the
" Sukey breed," supposed to have been derived from
" Denton," a very superior animal imported by Mr. Wil-
liams, of Northboro', some forty years ago. Many of
the best milkers of that section can be traced back to
EVILS OF OVERFEEDING. 35
him. The Pattern stock, originally imported ir to Mary-
land and Virginia, in 1783, and thence to Kentucky,
may be classed in the same category. A part of these
were at first known as the " milk breed," and others as
the "beef breed:" the first short-horns, at that time
good milkers, and the latter long-horns, of large size
and coarse in the bone. In Kentucky they were all
known as the Patton stock.
The high-bred short-horn is easily prepared for a
show, and, as fat will cover faults, the temptation is
often too great to be resisted ; and hence it is common
to see the finest animals rendered unfit for breeding
purposes by over-feeding. The race is susceptible of
breeding for the production of milk, as several families
show, and great milkers have often been known among
pure-bred animals ; but it is more common to find it
.bred mainly for the butcher, and kept accordingly. It
is, however, a well-known fact that the dairies of Lon-
don are stocked chiefly with short-horns and York-
shires, or high grades between them, which, after being
milked as long as profitable, feed equal, or nearly so,
to pure-bred short-horns.
It has been said, by very high authority, that " the
short-horns improve every breed they cross with."
The desirable characteristics of the short-horn bull
may be summed up, according to the judgment of the
best breeders, as follows: He should have a short but
fine head, very broad across the eyes, tapering to the
nose, with a nostril full and prominent ; the nose itself
should be of a rich flesh-color ; eyes bright and mild ;
ears somewhat large and thin ; horns slightly curved
and rather flat, well set on a long, broad, muscular
neck ; chest wide, deep, and projecting ; shoulders fine,
oblique, well formed into the chine ; fore legs short,
with upper arm large and powerful j barrel round, deep,
36 EARLY MATURITY. — QUALITY.
well ribbed home ; hips wide and level ; back straight
from the withers to the setting on of the tail, but short
from hip to chine ; skin soft and velvety to the touch ;
moderately thick hair, plentiful, soft, and mossy. The
cow has the same points in the main, but her head is
finer, longer, and more tapering, neck thinner and
lighter, and shoulders more narrow across the chine.
The astonishing precocity of the short-horns, their
remarkable aptitude to fatten, the perfection of their
forms, and the fineness of their bony structure, give
them an advantage over most other races when the
object of breeding is for the shambles. No animal of
any other breed can so rapidly transform the stock of
any section around him as the improved short-horn bull.
But it does not follow that the high-bred short-horns
are unexceptionable even for beef. The very exag-
geration, so to speak, of the qualities which make them
so valuable for the improvement of other and less per-
fect races, may become a fault when wanted for the
table. The very rapidity with which they increase in
size is thought by some to prevent their meat from
ripening up sufficiently before being hurried off to the
butcher. The disproportion of the fatty to the mus-
cular flesh, found in this to a greater extent than in
races coming slower to maturity, makes the meat of the
thorough-bred short-horn, in the estimation of some,
both less agreeable to the taste and less profitable to
the consumer, since the nitrogenous compounds, true
sources of nutriment, are found in less quantity than in
the meat of animals not so highly bred.
But the improved short-horn is justly unrivalled for
symmetry of form and beauty. I have never seen a
picture or an engraving of an animal which gave an
adequate idea of the beauty of many specimens of this
race, especially of the best bred in Kentucky and Ohio,
SYMMETRY. THE DUTCH RACE. 37
where many excellent breeders, favored by a climate
and pastures eminently adapted to bring the short-horn
to perfection, have not only imported extensively from
the best herds in England, but have themselves attained
a degree of knowledge and skill equalled only by that
of the most celebrated breeders in the native country
of this improved race.
In sections where the climate is moist and the food
abundant and rich, some families of the short-horns may
be valuable for the dairy ; but they are most frequently
bred exclusively for beef in this country, and in sec-
tions where they have attained the highest perfection
of form and beauty so little is thought of their milking
qualities that they are often not milked at all, the calf
being allowed to run with the dam.
Fig. 7. Imported Dutch Cow.
THE DUTCH is a short-horned race of cattle, which, in
the opinion of many, as I have already remarked, con-
tributed largely, about a century ago, to build tip the
Durham or Teeswater stock. It has been bred with
4
38 THE DUTCH RACE.
special reference to dairy qualities, and is eminently
adapted to supply the wants of the dairy farmer.
The cow, Fig. 7, was bred in North Holland, and im-
ported by Winthrop W. Chenery, Esq., of Watertown,
Fig. 8. Imported Dutch BulL
in 1857. The bull, Fig. 8, was also imported by Mr.
Chenery at the same time, from near the Beemster, in the
northerly part of Purmerend. Both animals are truth-
fully delineated, and give a correct idea of the points
of the North Dutch cattle. For a more detailed descrip-
tion of this celebrated dairy race, see pages 51 and 301.
HEREFORDS. — The Hereford cattle derive their name
from a county in the western part of England. Their
general characteristics are a white face, sometimes mot-
tled ; white throat, the white generally extending back
on the neck, and sometimes, though rarely, still further
along on the back. The color of the rest of the body
is red, generally dark, but sometimes light. Eighty
years ago the best Hereford cattle were mottled or
roan all over; and some of the best herds, down to a
THE HEREFORDS. THEIR POINTS.
39
comparatively recent period, were either all mottled,
or had the mottled or speckled face. The expression
Fig. 9. Hereford Cow.
of the face is mild and lively; the forehead open, broad,
and large ; the eyes bright and full of vivacity ; the
horns glossy, slender, and spreading ; the head small,
though larger and not quite so clean as that of the
Devons; the lower jaw fine; neck long and slender;
chest deep; breast-bone large, prominent, and very
muscular ; the shoulder-blade light ; shoulder full and
soft ; brisket and loins large ; hips well developed, and
on a level with the chine ; hind quarters long and well
filled in ; buttocks on a level with the back, neither
falling off nor raised above the hind quarters ; tail slen-
der, well set on ; hair fine and soft ; body round and
full ; carcass deep and well formed, or cylindrical ; bone
small; thigh short and well made; legs short and straight,
and slender below the knee ; as handlers very excel-
lent, especially mellow to the touch on the back, the
shoulder, and along the sides, the skin being soft, flex-
ible, of medium thickness, rolling on the neck and the
40 CHARACTERISTICS. — TOMKINS.
hips ; hair bright ; face almost bare, which is character-
istic of pure-bred Herefords. They belong to the
middle-horned division of the cattle of Great Britain,
to which they are indigenous. They have been im-
proved within the last century by careful selections,
the first step to this end having been taken by Benja-
min Tomkins, of Herefordshire, who began about 1766,
with two cows possessing a remarkable tendency to
take on fat. One of these was gray, and the other
dark red, with a mottled or spotted face.
Taking these as a foundation, Mr. Tomkins went on
to build up a large herd, from which he sold to
other breeders, from time to time, till at his decease, in
1819, the whole herd was disposed of at auction — fifty-
two animals, including twenty-two steers and two heif-
ers, varying in age from calves to two-year-olds, bring-
ing an aggregate of four thousand six hundred and
seventy-three pounds, fourteen shillings, or four hun-
dred and forty-five dollars, thirty-seven and a half cents,
a head. A bull was sold to Lord Talbot for five hun-
dred and eighty-eight pounds, while several cows
brought from a thousand to twelve hundred dollars a
head.
Hereford oxen are excellent animals, less active but
stronger than the Devons, and very free and docile.
The demand for Herefords for beef prevents their being
much used for work in their native county, and the
farmers there generally use horses instead of oxen. A
recent writer in the Farmer's Magazine makes the fol-
lowing remarks on this head: "It is allowed on all
hands, I believe, that the properties in which Herefords
stand preeminent among the middle-sized breeds are in
the production of oxen and their superiority of flesh.
On these points there is little chance of their being
excelled. It should, however, be borne in mind that
HEREFORD OXEN. 41
the best oxen are not produced from the largest cows ;
nor is a superior quality of flesh, such as is considered
Fig. 10. Hereford Bull.
very soft to the touch, with thin skin. It is the union
of these two qualities which often characterizes the
short-horns ; but the Hereford breeders should endeavor
to maintain a higher standard of excellence, — that for
which the best of the breed have always been esteemed,
— a moderately thick, mellow hide, with a well-appor-
tioned combination of softness with elasticity. A suffi-
ciency of hair is.also desirable, and if accompanied with
a disposition to curl moderately it is more in esteem :
but that which has a harsh and wiry feel is objection-
able."
In point of symmetry and beauty of form, the well-
bred Herefords may be classed with the improved short-
horns, though they arrive somewhat slower at maturity,
and never attain such weight. Like the improved short-
horns, they are chiefly bred for beef, and their beef is
of the best quality in the English markets, command-
ing the highest price of any, except, perhaps, the West
Highlanders.
4*
42 COMPARED WITH SHORT-HORNS.
In an experiment carefully tried in 1828, for the pur-
pose of arriving at the comparative economy of the
short-horns and Herefords, the latter gained less by
nearly one fourth than the former, which had consumed
more food. The six animals, three of each breed, were
sold after being fed, in Smithfield market, the Herefords
bringing less by only about five dollars than the short-
horns, while the cost of food consumed by the latter
was greater, and the original purchase greater than that
of the former.
The short-horn produces more beef at the same age
than the Hereford, but consumes more food in propor-
tion. " In all the fairs of England/7 says Hillyard, " ex-
cept those of Herefordshire and the adjoining counties,
short-horn heifers are more sought after and sell at
higher prices than the Hereford ; but it is not so with
fat cattle, for, with the exception of Lincolnshire and
some of the northern counties, they much prefer the
Herefords. Then at Smithfield, where the quality of
the beef passes its final judgment, the pound of Here-
ford beef pays better than the pound of short-horn beef.
Short-horn beeves produce at the same age a greater
weight, it is true, but they also consume more food. I
can easily conceive why, in the magnificent pastures of
Lincolnshire, and some of the northern counties of
England, they may prefer the short-horns ; and that is,
that they may keep a less number on a given quantity
of land, and only the short-horn could, under these con-
ditions, produce a greater weight of beef per acre. It
is very difficult to decide which of the two races in
England (the two best in the world) is the most profit-
able for stock-raisers and for the community." There
are, even in Lincolnshire, many good feeders who pre-
fer the Herefords to the short-horns. One of these,
when visited the past season, had thirty head of cattle
A FARMER'S OPINION. 43
feeding for the butcher, and only one short-horn. When
asked the reason of this, he replied, " I am a farmer
myself, and have to pay high rent, and I must feed
the cattle that pay me best. Perhaps you think it
would be more in fashion to cover my fields with short-
horns ; but I must look to the net profit, and I get much
better with the Herefords. The short-horns are too full
of fat and make too little tallow, and they consequently
sell too low in the Smithfield market. Our Herefords
are better, and they sell better."
The Herefords are far less generally spread over
England than the improved short-horns. They have
seldom been bred for milk, as some families of the
short-horns have ; and it is not very unusual to find
pure-bred cows incapable of supplying milk sufficient
to nourish their calves. This system was pursued es-
pecially by Mr. Price, a skilful Hereford breeder, who
sacrified everything to form, disregarding milking prop-
erties, breeding often from near relations, and thus fix-
ing the fault incident to his system more or less perma-
nently in the descendants of his stock.
The Herefords have been brought to this country, to
some extent, and several fine herds exist in different
sections ; the earliest importations being those of Henry
Clay, of Kentucky, in 1817. The figures of the two
animals of this breed presented in this connection rep-
resent a bull and cow bred at the State Farm, in Massa-
chusetts, and are good specimens of the breed.
The want of care and attention to the udder, soon
after calving, especially if the cow be on luxuriant
grass, often injures her milking properties exceedingly.
The practice in the county of Hereford has generally
been to let the calves suckle from four to six months,
and bull-calves often run eight months with the cow.
But their dairy qualities are perhaps as good as those
44 THE NORTH DEVONS.
of any cattle whose fattening properties have been so
carefully developed; and, though it is probable that
they could be bred for milk by proper care and atten-
tion; yet, as this change would be at the sacrifice of
other qualities equally valuable, it would evidently be
W;«er to resort to other stock for the dairy.
Fig. 11 Devon Cow,
Owned by William Buckminster Esq., Framingham Mass.
THE NORTH DEVONS. — The last of the pure-bred races
which it will be necessary to describe as prominent
among our American cattle is the Devon, a middle-
horned breed, now very generally distributed in some
sections of the country.
This beautiful race of cattle dates further back than
any well-established breed among us. It goes gener-
ally under the simple name of Devon ; but the cattle of
the southern part of the county, from which the race
derives its name, differ somewhat from those of the
northern, having a larger and coarser frame, and far
less tendency to fatten, though their dairy qualities are
superior.
CHARACTERISTICS. — WORKING CATTLE. 45
The North Devons are remarkable for hardihood, sym-
metry, and beauty, and are generally bred for work and for
beef rather than for the dairy. The head is fine and well
set on; the horns of medium length, generally curved;
color usually bright blood-red, but sometimes inclining
to yellow ; skin thin and orange-yellow ; hair of medium
length, soft and silky, making the animals remarkable as
handlers ; muzzle of the nose white ; eyes full and mild ;
ears yellowish, or orange-color inside, of moderate size ;
neck rather long, with little dewlap ; shoulders oblique ;
legs small and straight, and feet in proportion ; chest of
good width ; ribs round and expanded ; loins of first-rate
quality, long, wide, and fleshy ; hips round, of medium
width ; rump level ; tail full near the setting on, taper-
ing to the tip ; thighs of the bull and ox muscular and
full, and high in the flank, though in the cow sometimes
thought to be too light ; the size medium, generally
called small. The proportion of meat on the valuable
parts is greater, and the offal less, than on most other
breeds, while it is well settled that they consume less
food in its production. The Devons are popular with
the Srnithfield butchers, and their beef is well marbled
or grained.
As working oxen, the Devons perhaps excel all other
races in quickness, docility, and beauty, and the ease
with which they are matched. With a reasonable load,
they are said to be equal to horses as walkers on the
road, and when they are no longer wanted for work
they fatten easily and turn well.
As milkers, they do not excel, perhaps they may be
said not to equal, the other breeds, and they have a
reputation of being decidedly below the average. In
their native country the general average of a dairy is
one pound of butter per day during the summer.
They are bred for beef and for work, and not for the
46
THE PATTERSON HERD.
dairy ; and their 'yield of milk is small, though of a rich
quality. I have, however, had occasion to examine
several animals from the celebrated Patterson herd,
which would have been remarkable as milkers even
among good milking stock. They had not, to be sure,
the beautiful symmetry of form and fineness of bone
which characterize most of the modern and highly im-
proved pure-bred North Devons, and had evidently
been bred for many years with special reference to the
development of the milking qualities, great care hav-
ing been taken to use bulls and cows as breeders from
the best milking stock, rather than of the finest forms.
The use of bulls distinguished only for symmetry of
form, and of a race deficient in milk-secreting quali-
ties, will be sure to deteriorate, instead of improving,
the stock for the dairy.
Fig. 12. Devon Bull.
On the whole, whatever may be our judgment of this
breed, the faults of the North Devon cow can hardly
be overlooked from our present point of view. The
rotundity of form and compactness of frame, though
contribute to her remarkable beauty, constitute an
YOUATT'S OPINION. — A FAIR TEST. 47
objection to her as a dairy cow, since it is generally
thought that the peculiarity of form which disposes an
animal to take on fat is somewhat incompatible with
good milking qualities, and hence Youatt says : " For
the dairy the North Devons must be acknowledged to be
inferior to several other breeds. The milk is good, and
yields more than the average proportion of cream and
butter ; but it is deficient in quantity." He also main-
tains that its property as a milker could not be im-
proved without probable or certain detriment to its
grazing qualities.
But the fairest test of its fitness for the dairy is to be
found in the estimation in which distinguished Devon
breeders themselves have held it in this respect. A
scale of points of excellence in this breed was estab-
lished, some time ago, by the best judges in England ;
and it has since been adopted, with but slight changes, in
this country. These judges, naturally prejudiced in
favor of the breed, if prejudiced at all, made this scale
to embrace one hundred points, no animal to be re-
garded as perfect unless it excelled in all of them.
Each part of the body was assigned its real value
in the scale : a faultless head, for instance, was esti-
mated at four ; a deep, round chest, at fifteen, &c.
If the animal was defective in any part, the number of
points which represented the value of that part in the
scale was to be deducted pro rata from the hundred, in
determining its merits. But in this scale the cow is so
lightly esteemed for the dairy, that the udder, the size
and shape of which is of the utmost consequence in
determining the capacity of the milch cow, is set down
as worth only one point, while, in the same scale, the
horns and ears are valued at two points each, and the
color o.' the nose, and the expression of the eye, are
valued at four points each. Supposing, therefore, that
48 ESTIMATION OF THE UDDER.
each of these points were valued at one dollar, and a
perfect North Devon cow was valued at one hundred
dollars ; then another cow of the same blood, and equal
to the first in every respect except in her udder, which
is such as to make it certain that she can never be
capable of giving milk enough to nourish her calf, must
be worth, according to the estimation of the best Devon
breeders, ninety-nine dollars ! It is safe, therefore, to
say that an animal whose udder and lacteal glands are
regarded, by those who best know her capacities and
her merits, as of only one quarter part as much conse-
quence as the color of her nose, or half as much as the
shape and size of her horns, cannot be recommended
for the dairy. The improved North Devon cow may
be classed, in this respect, with the Hereford, neither
of which has well-developed milk-vessels — a point of
the utmost consequence to the practical dairyman.
The list of pure-bred races in America may be said
to end here ; for, though other and well-established
breeds, like the long-horns, the Galloways, the Spanish,
<fcc., have, at times, been imported, and have had some
influence on our American stock, they have not been
kept distinct to such an extent as to have become the
prevailing stock of any particular section, so far as I
am aware, and hence a notice of them properly comes
in the next chapter.
CHAPTER II.
AMERICAN GRADE OR NATIVE CATTLE. — THE PRIN-
CIPLES OF BREEDING.
WE have dwelt thus far mainly upon the prominent
breeds of cattle known among us, and especially those
adapted to the dairy. But a large proportion — by far
the largest proportion, indeed — cannot be included
under any of the races alluded to.
The term breed, properly understood, applies only to
animals of the same species, possessing, besides the gen-
eral characteristics of that species, other characteristics
peculiar to themselves, which they owe to the influence
of soil, climate, nourishment, and habits of life to which
they are subjected, and which they transmit with cer-
tainty to their progeny. The characteristics of certain
breeds or families are so well marked, that if an individ-
ual supposed to belong to any one of them were to pro-
duce an offspring not possessing them, or possessing
them only in part, with others not belonging to the
breed, it would be just ground for suspecting a want
of purity of blood.
If this definition of the term breed be correct, no
grade animals, and no animals not possessing fixed pecu-
liarities or characteristics which they share with all
other animals of the class of which they are a type, and
which they are capable of transmitting with certainty
to their descendants, can be recognized by breeders as
belonging to any one distinct race, breed, or family.
5 4
50 "NATIVES" OR GRADES. — ORIGIN.
The term " native," or " scrub," is applied to a vast
majority of our American cattle, which, though born on
the soil, and thus in one sense natives, do not constitute
a breed, race, or family, as properly understood by
breeders. They do not possess characteristics peculiar
to them all, which they transmit with any certainty to
their offspring, either of form, size, color, milking or
working properties. But, though an animal may be
made up of a mixture of blood almost to infinity, it does
not follow that, for specific purposes, it may not, as an
individual animal, be one of the best of the species.
And for particular purposes individual animals might
be selected from among those commonly called natives
in New England, and scrubs at the West and South,
equal, and perhaps superior, to any among the races
produced by the most skilful breeding. There can be
no impropriety in the use of the term " native," there-
fore, when it is understood as descriptive of no known
breed, but only as applied to the common stock of the
country, which does not constitute a breed. But per-
haps the whole class of animals commonly called " na-
tives " would be better described as grades, since they
are well known to have sprung from a great variety of
cattle procured in different places and at different times
on the continent of Europe, in England, and in the
Spanish West Indies, brought together without any
regard to fixed principles of breeding, but only from
individual convenience, and by accident.
The first importations to this country were doubtless
those taken to Virginia previous to 1609, though the
exact date of their arrival is not known. Several cows
were carried there from the West Indies in 1610, and
the next year no less than one hundred arrived there
from abroad.
The earliest cattle imported into .the Plymouth col-
EARLY IMPORTATIONS. — DUTCH. 51
ony, and undoubtedly the earliest introduced into New
England, arrived in 1624. At the division of cattle
which took place in 1627, three years after, one or two
are distinctly described as black, or black and white,
others as brindle, showing that there was no uniformity
of color. Soon after this, a large number of cattle were
brought over from England for the settlers at Salem.
These importations formed the original stock of Massa-
chusetts.
In 1625 the first importation was made into New
York from Holland, by the Dutch West India Company,
and the foundation was then laid for an exceedingly
valuable race of animals, which subsequent importations
from the same country, as well as from England, have
greatly improved.
Dairy farming in some parts of Holland, it may be
remarked in passing, became a highly important branch
of industry at a very early date, and a large and
valuable race of dairy cattle existed there long before
the efforts of modern breeders began in England.
The attention of farmers there is at the present time
devoted especially to the dairy, and the manufacture of
butter and cheese. They support themselves, to a con-
siderable extent, upon this branch of farming; and
hence it is held in the highest respect, and carried to a
greater degree of exactness and perfection, perhaps,
than in any other part of the world. They are espe-
cially particular in the breeding, keeping, and care of
milch cows, as on them very much of their success
depends. The principles on which they practise, in
selecting a cow to breed from, are as follows: She
should have, they say, considerable size — not less than
four and a half or five feet girth, with a length of body cor-
responding; legs proportionally short; a finely-formed
head, with a forehead or face somewhat concave ; clear,
52 FORM OF THE DUTCH CUW.
large, mild, and sparkling eyes, yet with no expression
of wildness ; tolerably large and stout ears, standing out
from the head ; fine, well-curved horns ; a rather .short
than long, thick, broad neck, well set against the chest
and withers ; the front part of the breast and the shoul-
ders must be broad and fleshy ; the low-hanging dewlap
must be soft to the touch ; the back and loins must be
properly projected, somewhat broad, the bones not too
sharp, but well covered with flesh ; the animal should
have long, curved ribs, which form a broad breast-bone ;
the body must be round and deep, but not sunken into
a hanging belly ; the rump must not be uneven, the hip-
bones should not stand out too broad and spreading,
but all the parts should be level and well filled up ; a
fine tail, set moderately high up and tolerably long, but
slender, with a thick, bushy tuft of hair at the end,
hanging down below the hocks ; the legs must be short
and low, but strong in the bony structure ; the knees
broad, with flexible joints ; the muscles and sinews must
be firm and sound, the hoofs broad and flat, and the
position of the legs natural, not too close and crowded ;
the hide, covered with fine glossy hair, must be soft and
mellow to the touch, and set loose upon the body. A
large, rather long, white and loose udder, extending
well back, with four long teats, serves also as a char-
acteristic mark of a good milch cow. Large and prom-
inent milk-veins must extend from the navel back to
the udder ; the belly of a good milch cow should not be
too deep and hanging. The color of the North Dutch
cattle is mostly variegated. Cows with only one color
are no favorites. Red or black variegated, gray and
blue variegated, roan, spotted and white variegated
cows, are especially liked.
The annexed cut gives a correct idea of the cow most
esteemed in Holland ; the type of the race so noted for
THE DENMARKS.
53
the production of milk, and of the excellent round
Dutch cheeses.
In 1627, cattle were brought from Sweden to the set-
tlements on the Delaware by the Swedish West India
Company. In 1631, 1632, and 1633, several importa-
Fig. 13. Dutch Dairy Cow
tions were made into New Hampshire by Capt. John
Mason, who, with Gorges, procured the patent of large
tracts of land in the vicinity of Piscataqua River, and
immediately formed settlements there. The object of
Mason was to carry on the manufacture of potash.
For this purpose he employed the Danes ; and it was in
his voyages to and from Denmark that he procured
many Danish cattle and horses, which were subse-
quently diffused over that whole region, and large num-
bers of which were driven to the vicinity of Boston and
sold. These facts are authenticated by original doc-
uments and depositions now on file in the office of the
Secretary of State of New Hampshire. The Danish cat-
tle are there described as large and coarse, of a yellow
color ; and it is supposed that they were procured by
5*
54 WORKING AND MILKING QUALITIES.
Mason as being best capable of enduring the severity of
the climate and the hardships to which they were to be
subjected. However this may have been, they very
soon spread among the colonists of the Massachusetts
Bay, and have undoubtedly left their marks on the
stock of New England and the Middle States, which
exist to some extent even to the present day, mixed in
with an infinite multitude of crosses with the Dev-
ons, the Dutch cattle already alluded to, the black cattle
of Spain and Wales, and the long-horn and the short-
horn, most of which crosses were accidental, or due to
local circumstances or individual convenience. Many
of these cattle, the descendants of such crosses, are of
a very high order of merit, but to what particular cross
it is due it is impossible to say. They make generally
hardy, strong, and docile oxen, easily broken to the
yoke and quick to work, with a fair tendency to fatten
when well fed ; while the cows, though often ill-shaped,
are sometimes remarkably good milkers, especially as
regards the quantity they give.
I have very often heard the best judges of stock say
that if they desired to select a dairy of cows for milk
for sale, they would go around and select cows com-
monly called native, rather than resort to pure-bred ani-
mals of any of the established breeds, and that they be-
lieved they should find such a dairy the most profitable.
In color, the natives, made up as already indicated,
are exceedingly various. The old Denmarks, which to
a considerable extent laid the foundation of the stock
of Maine and New Hampshire, were light yellow. The
Dutch of New York and the Middle States were black
and white ; the Spanish and Welsh were generally
black ; the Devons, which are supposed to have laid the
foundation of the stock of some of the states, were red.
Crosses of the Denmark with the Spanish and Welsh
WANT OF UNIFORMITY. 55
naturally made a dark brindle. Crosses of the Denmark
and Devon often made a lighter or yellowish brindle,
while the more recent importations of Jerseys and
short-horns have generally produced a beautiful spotted
progeny. The deep red has long been a favorite color
in New England ; but the prejudice in its favor is fast
giving way to more variegated colors.
But, though we have already an exceedingly valua-
ble foundation for improvement, no one will pretend to
deny that our cattle, as a whole, are susceptible of it in
many respects. They possess neither the size, the sym-
metry, nor the early maturity, of the short-horns ; they
do not, as a general thing, possess the fineness of bone,
the beauty of form and color, nor the activity, of
the Devons or the Herefords; they do not possess
that uniform richness of milk, united with generous
quantity, of the Ayrshires, nor the surpassing richness
of milk of the Jerseys : but, above all, they do not pos-
sess the power of transmitting the many good qualities
which they often have to their offspring, which is a
characteristic of all well-established breeds.
Equally certain is it, in the opinion of many good
judges, that the dairy stock of New England has not
been improved in its intrinsic good qualities during the
last thirty or forty years. Cows of the very highest
order as milkers were as frequently met with, they say,
in 1825, as at the present time. Any increased product
of our dairies they ascribe to improved care and feed-
ing, rather than to improvement in the dairy qualities
of the stock.
This may not be true of some other sections of the
country, where the dairy has been a more special
object of pursuit, and where the custom of raising the
best male calves of the neighborhood, or those that
came from the best dairy cows, and then of using only
56 MILKING BY THE MOU7. — TREATMENT.
the best-formed bulls, has long prevailed. In this way
some progress has, doubtless, been made.
There is an old adage among the dairy farmers of
Ayrshire, that " The cow gives her milk by the mou',"
which was slightly varied from an old German proverb,
that " The cow milks only through the throat." It is
fortunate, indeed, that wiser and more humane ideas
prevail with regard to the care of stock of all kinds ;
for it is well known that the treatment the stock of
the country received for the first two centuries after
its settlement was often barbarous and cruel in the
extreme, and that thousands perished, in the early his-
tory of the colonies, from exposure and starvation.
Even within my own distinct recollection, it was
thought, for miles around my native place, that cows
and young stock should remain out of doors exposed
to the cold winter days, to " toughen ; " and that, too,
by men who styled themselves " practical " farmers.
Mr. Henry Colman truly asserted, in 1841, that the
general treatment of cows in New England would not
be an inapt subject of presentment by a grand jury.
There were, at that time, it is true, many honorable
exceptions ; but the assertion was strictly correct so
far as it applied to the section of which I then had a
personal knowledge. Judging from the anxiety mani-
fested by those who enter superior milch cows for the
premiums offered by agricultural societies to show that
they have had nothing, or next to nothing, to eat, it is evi-
dent that the false ideas with regard to the feeding and
treatment of this animal have not yet wholly disap-
peared. But, if little improvement has been made in
our dairy stock except that produced by more liberal
feeding, it simply shows that our efforts have not been
made in the right direction.
The raising of cattle has now become a source of
GREAT QUESTIONS. — ECONOMY. 57
profit in many sections to a greater extent, at least,
than formerly, and it becomes a matter of great practi-
cal importance to our farmers to take the proper steps
to improve them. Indeed, the questions, what is the
best breed, and what are the best crosses, and how
shall I improve my stock, are now almost daily asked ;
and their practical solution would add many thousand
dollars to the aggregate wealth of the farmers of the
country, if they would all study their own interests.
The time is gradually passing away when the intelli-
gent practical farmer will be willing to put his cows
to any mere " runt " of a bull, simply because his ser-
vice may be had for twenty-five cents ; for, even if the
progeny is to go to the butcher, the calf sired by a
pure-bred bull, particularly of a race distinguished for
fineness of bone, symmetry of form, and early maturity,
will bring a much higher price at the same age than the
calf sired by a scrub. Blood has a money value, which
will, sooner or later, be generally appreciated. The
first and most important object of the farmer is to
get the greatest money-return for his labor and his
produce; and it is for his interest to obtain an animal —
a calf, for instance — that will yield the largest profit on
the outlay. If a calf, for which the original outlay was
five dollars, will bring at the same age, and on the same
keep, more real net profit than another, the original out-
lay for which was but twenty-five cents, it is certainly
for the farmer's interest to pay the larger original out-
lay, and have the superior animal. Setting all fancj
aside, it is merely a question of dollars and cents ; but
one thing is certain, and that is, that the farmer cannot
afford to keep poor stock. It eats as much, and requires
nearly the same amount of care and attention, as stock
of the best quality; while it is equally certain that stock
of ever so good a quality, whether grade, " native," or
58 HOW TO IMPROVE. — DIFFICULTIES.
thorough-bred, will be sure to deteriorate and sink tu
the level of poor stock, by neglect and want of proper
attention.
How, then, are we to improve our stock ? Not, surely,
by that indiscriminate crossing, Avith a total disregard to
all well-established principles, which has thus far marked
our efforts generally with foreign stock, and which is
one prominent reason why so little improvement has
been made in our dairies ; nor by leaving all the results
to chance, when, by a careful and judicious selection, they
may be within our own control. Two modes of improve-
ment seem to suggest themselves to the mind of the
breeder, either of which, apparently, promises good
results. The first is, to select from among our native
cattle the most perfect animals not known or suspected
to be related to any of the well-established breeds, and
to use them as breeders. This is a mode of improve-
ment simple enough, if adopted and carried on with
animals of any known breed ; and, indeed, it is the onty
mode of improvement which preserves the purity of
blood ; but, to do it successfully, requires great expe-
rience, a good and eure eye for stock, a mind free from
prejudice, arid indefatigable patience and perseverance.
It is absolutely necessary, also, to pay special attention
to the calves thus produced; to furnish them at all times,
summer and winter, with an abundant supply of nutri-
tious food, and to regulate it according to their growth.
Few men are to be found willing to undertake the
herculean task of building up a new breed in this way
from grade stock. An objection meets us at the very
outset, which is that it would require a long series of
years to arrive at any satisfactory results, from the fact
that no two animals, made up, as our " native " cattle
are, of such a variety of elements and crosses, could
be found sufficiently alike to produce their kind. The
SECOND METHOD. — CHANCE ANIMALS. 59
principle that like produces like may be perfectly true,
and in the well-known breeds it is not difficult to find
two animals that will be sure to transmit their own
characteristics to their offspring ; but, with two animals
which cannot be classed with any breed, the defects of
an ill-bred ancestry will be liable to appear through sev-
eral generations, and thus thwart and disappoint the
expectations of the breeder. The objection of time, and
expense, and disappointment, attending this method,
should have no weight, if there were no more speedy
method of accomplishing equally desirable results.
The second mode is somewhat more feasible ; and
that is, to select animals from races already improved
and well-nigh perfected, to cross with our cattle, using
none but good specimens of pure-bred males, and select-
ing, if our object is to improve stock for the dairy, only
such as belong to a race distinguished for dairy qual-
ities; or, if resort is had to other breeds less remarkable
for such qualities, such only as are descended from large
and generous milkers. And here it may be remarked
that these qualities do not belong to any one breed ex-
clusively, though, as they depend mainly on structure
and temperament, which are hereditary to a considerable
extent, they are themselves transmissible. In almost
every breed we can find individual good milkers which
greatly surpass the average of the cows of the same
race or family, and from such many suppose that good
crosses may be expected. How often do we see farm-
ers raising the calves of their best milking-cows simply
because they are the best cows, without regard to the
qualities of the bull, or to the progenitors of either
parent ; and how often are they disappointed, at the end
of three or four years of labor and expense 1 Now,
though a cow of a bad milking family, or of a breed not
at all distinguished for dairy qualities, may turn out to
60 EXCEPTIONAL QUALITIES.
be an excellent milker, and all else that may be desirable
in a cow, yet these qualities in her are accidental. They
are not supposed to be transmissible with anything like
the certainty which exists where they are the fixed
and constant characteristics of the family. She is an
exception to the rule of her race. A good calf from
her, though not, of course, an impossibility, would be
very much the result of chance. The resort to any
but a distinguished breed of milkers cannot, therefore,
be recommended, nor can we expect to improve our
dairies by it. A disregard of this important matter has
led to endless disappointment, and has done much to
raise up unjust prejudices against the use of all im-
proved stock on our native cows. As if we could
expect nature to go out of her regular course to give
us a good animal, when we have violated her laws !
The offspring of these crosses will be grades ; but
grades are often better for the practical purposes of
the farmer than pure-bred animals. The skill of the
breeder is especially manifest in the selection of animals
to breed from, since both parents undoubtedly have a
great influence in transmitting the milking qualities of the
race. But this method of improvement requires less
exact and critical knowledge than the first, from the fact
that it is easier to appreciate the good points of an ani-
mal already perfected, or greatly improved, than to dis-
cover them in animals which it is our desire to improve,
and which are inferior in form, possessing only the ele-
ments of a better stock. It has also an immense advan-
tage, since results may be far more rapidly attained, and
improvements effected which, by the first method, — that
of creating or building up a race from the so-called
natives, by judicious selections, — would be looked for
in vain in the ordinary life of man. All grades are pro-
duced by this second method ; but all grades are not
SPECIAL OBJECTS. — GOOD POINTS. 61
equally good, nor equally well adapted to meet the
farmer's wants. It is desirable to know, then, what,
on the whole, are the best and most profitable to the
practical farmer.
We want cattle for distinct purposes, as for milk,
beef, or labor. In a large majority of cases, — espe-
cially in the dairy districts, comprising the Middle and
Eastern States, at least, — the farmer cares more for
the milking qualities of his cows, especially for the
quantity they give, than for their fitness for grazing, or
aptness to fatten. These latter points become more
important in the Western and some of the Southern
States, where far greater attention is paid to breeding
and to feeding, and where comparatively little attention
is given to the productions of the dairy. A stock of
cattle that might suit one farmer might be wholly
unsuited to another ; and in each particular case the
breeder should have some special object in view, and
select his animals with reference to it. But there
are some general principles that apply to breeding
everywhere, and which, in many cases, are not well
understood.
It would not be desirable, even if it were possible, by
crossing, to breed out all the general characteristics of
many of out native cattle. They have many valuable
qualities adapted to our climate and soil, and to the
geological structure of the country ; and these should
be preserved, while we improve the points in which
many of them are deficient, such as a want of precocity
and aptitude to fatten, where it is an object to attain
this quality, coarseness of bone, and lack of symmetry,
which is often apparent, especially when the form of
the animal does not indicate a near relation to some of
the established breeds.
It 's a well-known fact that, in crossing, the produce
6
62 INFLUENCE OF MALE AND FEMALE.
most frequently takes after the male parent, especially,
it is thought, in exterior form, in its organs of locomo-
tion, such as the bones, the muscles, &c. Particularly
is this the case when the male belongs to an old and
well-established breed, and the female belongs to no
known breed, and has no strongly-marked and fixed
points. Put a Galloway bull, for instance, to a native
cow, and the calf will, as a general rule, be hornless.
Put a ram without horns to ewes with horns, and most
of the lambs will be destitute of horns ; that is, they
take the characteristics of the father rather than the
dam ; and this rule holds good generally in breeding,
though, like all other rules, it has, of course, its excep-
tions. Hence, if this position be correct, the first
principle which the good sense of the farmer would
dictate would be to select a bull from a breed most
noted for the qualities he wishes to obtain in their
greatest perfection, and especially if the cow is defi-
cient in those qualities. A bull, for instance, of fine
bone, and other good points in perfection, will make
up for the deficiency of some of these points in the
cow.
On the other hand, say the advocates of this doctrine,
in the physiology of breeding the internal structure
of the offspring, the organs of secretion, the mucous
membranes, the respiratory organs, &c., are imparted
chiefly by the dam. Hence it has sometimes been
found that by taking a cow remarkable for milking
properties, though deficient in many other points, as in
the coarseness of bone and in early maturity, and put-
ting to her a bull remarkable for symmetry of form and
fineness oi bone, the offspring has been superior to the
cow in beauty of form and proportions, and has still
retained the milking qualities of the dam. This prin-
ciple, as already intimated, is questioned by some, who
PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. 63
say that the milking qualities, as well as the external
form, &c., are transmitted through the male offspring.
Mr. James Dickson, an experienced breeder and
drover, who views the subject from his own standpoint,
says : " A great part of the art of breeding lies in the
principle of judicious crossing ; for it is only by attend-
ing properly to this that success is to be attained, and
animals produced that shall yield the greatest amount
of profit for the food they consume. All eminent
breeders know full well that ill-bred animals are un-
profitable both to the breeder and feeder. To carry
out the system of crossing judiciously, certain breeds
of cattle, sheep, pigs, &c., must be kept pure of their
kind — males especially ; indeed, as a general rule, no
animal possessing spurious blood, or admixture with
other breeds, should be used. The produce in almost
all cases assimilates to the male parent ; and I should
say that in crossing the use of any males not pure-bred
is injudicious, and ought to be avoided."
If, therefore, a cross is effected with satisfactory results,
it should be continued by resorting to pure-bred bulls,
and not by the use of any grade bulls thus obtained ;
for, though a grade bull may be a very fine animal, it
has been found that he does not transmit his good
qualities with anything like the certainty of a pure-
bred one. The more desirable qualities are united in
the bull, the better ; but the special reason for the use
of a pure-bred male in crossing is not so much that the
particular individual selected has these qualities most
perfectly developed in himself, as that they are hered-
itary in the breed to which he belongs. The moment
the line is crossed, and the pedigree broken, uncer-
tainty commences. Although the form of the grade
bull may, in individual cases, be even superior to that
of his pure-bred sire, yet there is less likelihood of his
64 GUENON'S METHOD. — MARKS OF A MILKER.
transmitting the qualities for which his breed is most
noted ; and when it is considered that during his life
he may scatter his progeny over a considerable section
of country, and thus affect the cattle of his whole
neighborhood, attention to this becomes a matter of
no small public importance.
This principle, so far as its application to breeding
for the shambles is concerned, seems to me to be sound,
and fully established by long experience and practice.
Perhaps it is equally so, also, in breeding for the
dairy. But it may be well to consider whether there
are not other rational modes of judgment in the selec-
tion of animals for breeding with this specific object
in view.
There is a difference of opinion with regard to the
practical value of the system of classification and judg-
ment of milch cows discovered and developed by
Guenon: some being inclined to ridicule it, as absurd ;
others to adopt it implicitly, and follow it out in all
its details ; and others still — and among this class I gen-
erally find a very large number of the most sensible
practical judges of stock — to admit that in the main it
is correct, though they discredit the practicability of
carrying it so far, and so minutely into detail, as its
author did.
It may be remarked, at the outset, that the fact that
the best of the signs of a great and good milker
adopted by Guenon are generally found united with tho
best forms and marks almost universally admitted and
practised upon by good judges, gives, at least, some
plausibility to the system, while the importance of it,
if it be correct, is sufficient to demand a careful exam-
ination. Every good judge of a milch cow, for instance,
wants to see in her a small, fine head, with short and
yellowish horns : a soft, delicate, and close coat of hair ;
THE MILK-MIRROR.— EXPLANATION. 65
a skin soft and flexible over the rump ; broad, well-
spread ribs, covered with a loose skin of medium thick-
ness j a broad chest ; a long, slender tail ; straight
hind legs ; a large, regularly-formed udder, covered with
short, close, silky hair ; four teats of equal size and
length, set wide apart ; large, projecting lacteal veins,
which run along under the belly from the udder tow-
ards the fore legs, forming a fork at the end, and
finally losing themselves in a round cavity ; and when
these points, or any considerable number of them, are
found united in a cow, she would be pronounced a
good milker. An animal in which these signs are
found would rarely fail of having a good " milk-mirror,"
or escutcheon; on which Guenon, after many years of
careful observation and experiment, came to lay par-
ticular stress ; and on the basis of which he built up a
system or theory so complicated as to be of little prac-
tical value compared with what it might have been had
he seen fit to simplify it so as to bring it within the
easy comprehension of the farmer. As one means of
forming a judgment of the milking qualities, however,
it must be regarded as very important, since it is un-
questionably sustained by facts in a very large majority
of cases.
The milk-mirror, or escutcheon, is formed by the hair
above the udder, extending upwards between the
thighs, growing in an opposite direction from that of
other parts of the body. In well-formed mirrors, found
only in cows which have the arteries which supply the
milky glands large and fully developed, it ordinarily be-
gins between the four teats in the middle, and ascends
to the vulva, and sometimes even higher, the hair grow-
ing upwards. The direction of the hair is subordinate
to that of the arteries ; for the relation existing between
the direction of the hair above the udder and the
6* 5
66 CORRESPONDENCE OF THE MIRRORS.
activity of the milky glands is apparent on a careful
examination of all the cases. When the lower part
of the mirror is large and broad, with the hair grow-
ing from below upwards, and extending well out on the
thighs, it indicates that the arteries which supply the
milky glands, and which are situated just behind it,
are large and capable of conveying much blood, and
of giving great activity to the functions of secretion.
Now, in the bull, the arteries which correspond to
the mammary or lacteal arteries of the cow are not
so fully developed ; and the escutcheons are smaller,
shorter, and narrower. Guenon applied the same name,
milk-mirror, to these marks in the bull ; and the natural
inference was, that there should exist a correspondence
or similarity in the mirror of the bull and the cow which
are coupled for the purpose of producing an offspring
fit for the dairy, — that the mirror in the bull should be
of the same class, or of a better class than that of the cow.
It is confidently asserted by the advocates of Gue-
non's method, and with much show of reason, that
the very large proportion of cows of bad or indiiferent
milking qualities, compared with the good, is owing to
the mistakes in selecting bulls without reference to the
proper marks or points. As to the transmission of the
milk-mirror, it has been found in many cases that bulls
sprung from cows with good mirrors had smaller and
more heart-shaped mirrors, spreading out pretty broad
upon the thighs. Pabst, a successful German breeder,
says that he has used such bulls for three years, and
that the milk-mirrors were transmitted in the majority
of the male progeny, and in nearly every case very
large and beautiful mirrors were given to the heifer-
calves. A son of the bull with which he began was
serving at the time of which he speaks, having a mir-
ror more highly developed than his sire, and the
TRANSMISSION OP MILK-MIRROR. 67
first calves of his get had also very large milk-mir-
rors. The female offspring of the first bull of good milk-
mirror promised first rate, though they had not then
come in. His inference is, that in breeding from cows
noted as milkers regard should be had to the form
of the mirror on the bull, and the chance of his
transmitting it. If any credit is due to this inge-
nious method, it may be laid down, as a principle in
the selection of a bull to get dairy stock, that the one
possessing the largest and best-developed milk-mirror
is the best for the purpose, and will be most likely to
get milkers of large quantity and continued flow. This
method will be more fully developed in the chapter on
the Selection of Milch Cows.
But, however careful we may be to select good
milkers, and to breed from them with the hope of im-
provement, it is by no means easy to select such as are
capable of transmitting their qualities to their off-
spring. This is rendered still more difficult by the
fact that there is no known mark to indicate it, and we
are left to use our own judgment ; for, in the case of
bulls, we are often obliged to give them up before their
progeny have arrived at an age to show their qualities
by actual trial. We are thrown back, therefore, upon
their external marks. But, as M. Magne, a very sensible
French writer, justly observes in his admirable little
work (Clioix des Vaches Latieres, p. 86, Paris, 1857),
the fixed characteristics which have existed in races
for several generations will be transmitted with most
certainty. Hence the importance, he says, of selecting
milch cows from good breeds and good families, and
especially, in breeding stock, of selecting carefully both
male and female. The male designed to get dairy stock
ought to possess the structure which, in the cow, indi-
cates the greatest activity of the mammary glands, as
68 CHOICE OF THE BULL.
fineness of form, mellowness of skin, large hind quarters,
large and well-developed veins and escutcheon.
A cow of a race or family not noted as milkers may
chance to be an excellent milker, and this is enough,
if we do not desire to breed from her ; but she would
not transmit her exceptional qualities like a cow of
which these qualities were the fixed characteristics,
constant and transmissible in the breed. These con-
siderations apply also, as already said, in the choice of
a bull. The attention of practical men has been so
much directed to the best points of good cows, of late
years, that it becomes necessary to study to propagate
these, if the breeder desires to find buyers for his stock.
The buyer judges more from external signs than from
the intrinsic qualities of the cow, with which he may not
be acquainted.
To explain the variations in the transmission of
milking qualities, we should bear in mind that these
qualities are not found in wild cows, and that they are
developed only when man can, by a particular course of
treatment, as by the act of milking, the separation of
the sexes, etc., cause certain natural powers to act with
greater strength than others ; that they incline to dis-
appear as soon as these powers, the nature of the soil,
the peculiarities of climate, the properties of plants,
and the temperament of the cows, are permitted to act
according to the original plan of creation ; so that the
variations which we consider as sports of nature are
incontestible proofs of the uniformity of her works.
It is only by observing animals carefully, by noting -
accurately their good qualities and their faults, by
watching the circumstances in which individuals are
produced, raised, and kept, that we can account for
what seems to us a sport or caprice of nature. We can
then tell, first, how the same bull and cow have pro-
PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. 69
dnced three calves with different properties ; and,
secondly, trace out the rules which we are to follow, to
be almost uniformly successful in obtaining stock of the
best quality.
Experience shows that the qualities which are trans-
mitted with most certainty depend on the most import-
ant organs of life ; and so, in the forms of the viscera
and the skeleton, variations are rare, not only in breeds
of the same species, but in different species of the same
genera.
Moreover, in cases where the transmission of proper-
ties is so uncertain as to seem the result of caprice in
nature, these properties are formed by superficial
organs, — by the skin, the horns, the state of the hair,
etc.
But it is in qualities which are, in a measure, arti-
ficial, qualities produced by domestication, and often
more injurious than useful to the health of animals, that
variations most commonly occur. These change not
only with the breed of one species, but with the dif-
ferent individuals of the same breed, of the same half-
breed, and often of the same family.
Bearing these elementary principles of natural his-
tory and physiology in mind, we shall comprehend how
cows and bulls well marked in regard to escutcheons
have produced stock which did not resemble them. M.
Lefebvre Sainte Marie asserts that the influence of the
escutcheons is very feeble in the act of reproduction.
In this view, the escutcheon is almost nothing in
itself. It depends on the state of the hair, on one of
the most fleeting of peculiarities, on that which is least
hereditary in animals. It has no value as a mark of
good getters of stock, unless it is supported by marks
superior to it from their stability, — a larger skeleton,
double loins, ? wide rump, highly-developed blood-
70 RELATIVE SIZE OF MALE AND FEMALE.
vessels, — unless it is united with a spacious chest,
round ribs, large lungs, and a strong constitution.
The more complete the correspondence between
these marks, the more the milking quality is connected
with the general condition of the animal, the greater
the chances of transmission ; and when, with a view to
breeding, we shall choose only animals having the two-
fold character of general vigor of constitution and
activity of the mammary system, and place the progeny
under favorable circumstances, the qualities will rarely
prove defective. Thus far the conclusions of Magne.
Another well-known fact in natural history is, that
the size of animals depends very much upon the fer-
tility of the region they inhabit. Where food is abun-
dant and nutritious, they increase in size in proportion
to the quantity and quality ; and this size, under the
same circumstances, will run through generations, unless
interrupted by artificial means. So, if the food is
more difficult to obtain, and the pastures are short, the
pliancy of the animal organization is such that it
naturally becomes adapted to it, and the animal is of
smaller size ; and hence* Mr. Cline observes that " the
general mistake in crossing has arisen from an attempt
to increase the size of a native race of animals, being a
fruitless effort to counteract the laws of nature." Mr.
Cline also says, in his treatise " On the Form of Ani-
mals : " " Experience has proved that crossing has only
succeeded in an eminent degree in those instances ill
which the females were larger than the usual propor-
tion of females to males ; and that it has generally failed
when the males were disproportionally large. When
the male is much larger than the female, the offspring
is generally of an imperfect form j if the female be
proportionally larger than the male, the offspring is
generally of an improved form. For instance, if a
OPINIONS DIFFER. 71
well-formed large ram be put to ewes proportionally
smaller, the lambs will not be so well shaped as their
parents ; but, if a small ram be put to larger ewes, the
lambs will be of an improved form." " The improve-
ment depends on the principle that the power of the
female to supply her offspring with nourishment is in
proportion to her size, and to the power of nourishing
herself from the excellence of her constitution : as
larger animals eat more, the larger female may afford
most nourishment to her young."
This should, I am inclined to think, be regarded as
another principle of breeding, — that, when improvement
in form is desired, the size of the female selected
should be proportionally larger than the male ; though
Lord Spencer, a successful breeder, strongly contested
it, and Mr. Dickson, an excellent judge of stock, advised
the attempt to build up a new breed by selecting some
Zetland cows, a very diminutive breed of Scotch cattle,
of good symmetry, points, arid handling, and a high-bred
West Highland bull to put to them. " The produce
would probably be/' says he, " a neat, handsome little
animal, of a medium size, between the two breeds. The
shaggy hide, long horns, symmetry, and fine points, of
the West Highlanders, would be imparted to this cross,
which would not only be a good feeder and very hardy,
but the beef of superior quality. The great point
would, of course, be the proper selection of breeding ani-
mals. The next step towards improving this would be
the crossing of these crosses with a pure Hereford bull,
which would improve the size, and impart still finer
points, more substance, with greater aptitude to fatten.
By combining these favorite breeds, the produce would,
in all probability, be very superior, not only attaining
to good weights, but feeding well, and arriving at
maturity at an early age. The breeder must not be
72 THE OAKES COW.
satisfied and rest here, but go a point further, and
cross the heifers of the third cross with a short-horn
bull." These successive steps imply the use of a bull
of larger breed, though not necessarily, perhaps, pro-
portionally larger than the cow, in any individual case.
This, it will be perceived, is a case of breeding with
less reference to the milking or dairy qualities than the
grazing. Great milkers are found of all shapes, and
the chief object of improving their form is to improve
their feeding qualities, or, in other words, to unite, as
far as possible, the somewhat incompatible properties
of grazing and milking. Graceful, well-rounded, and
compact forms, which constitute beauty in the eyes of
the grazier, as well as in the estimation of those not
accustomed to consider the intrinsic qualities of an
animal, or not capable of appreciating them in a milch
cow, will very rarely be found united, to any consider-
able extent, with active mammary glands or milk vessels.
The best milkers often look coarse and flabby; for,
even if their bony structure is good and symmetrical,
they will appear, especially when in milk, to have
large, raw bones and sharp points, particularly if they
are largely developed in the hind quarters, which is
most frequently the case, as is strikingly seen in the
form of the Oakes cow, a native animal, the most cele-
brated of her time, in Massachusetts, and winner of the
first premium at the State Fair of 1816.
She yielded in that year no less than four hundred
and sixty-seven and a quarter pounds of butter from
May 15th to December 20th, at which time she was
giving over eight quarts of milk, beer measure, a day.
The weight of her milk in the height of the season,
in June, was but forty-four and a half pounds ; not so
great as that of some cows of the present day, on far
less feed in proportion to their size. Many cows can
HANDSOME IS THAT HANDSOME DOES.
73
be named in New England, at the present time, whose
yield, under the most favorable circumstances, exceeds
fifty pounds a day, and some, whose yield will be fifty-
five pounds, on less feed than the Oakes cow had.
Fig. 14. Oakes Cow.
The flesh on the hind quarters of most large milkers
bears little proportion to the bone ; the hips protrude,
the pelvis is broad, the legs far apart, giving great
space for the receptacle of large milk-vessels ; whilst
great flow of blood to the milky glands, incident to this
peculiar structure, keeps them in more constant and
greater activity than any other organs, so that the
muscles develop less than they otherwise would,
remain slender, and leave the buttocks and thighs
small and narrow. Such animals will seldom acquire
the reputation of being beautiful in form, and if they
are not decidedly ugly, the owner may console himself
with the adage that " handsome is that handsome does.''
But, though it is to the influence of the male that we
are chiefly to look for improvements in the form, size,
7
74 CROSSES MOST DESIRABLE.
muscular development, and general appearance, of our
stock, and for transmitting their milking qualities, to a
considerable extent, the influence of the female is no
less important ; and undoubtedly the safest course to
pursue, to obtain improved animals, is to select the
best-formed animals, on both sides, from the greatest
milking families.
With regard to the particular breeds to select for
crossing with our natives, opinions will naturally differ
widely. Those who are favored with luxuriant pastures
and abundance of winter feed will have no objection
to large-sized animals, and will naturally wish to obtain
or possess grade short-horns. There is no breed in
the world to which, it is more desirable to resort, under
such circumstances, particularly where improvement in
form, early maturity, and general symmetry, are sought,
in union with other qualities. It is well known that
some families of short-horns have been bred for the
pail, while most others have been bred chiefly for
beef. If resort is had to this breed, therefore, great
care and caution should be observed to select bulls
from the milking families only ; and, unless this is done
we shall run the risk of losing the milking qualities of
our stock, for which the improvement in form and
early maturity can be little compensation, when breed-
ing for the dairy.
It is a remarkable and significant fact that the large
dairies of London are nearly filled with the short-horns,
or short-horn and Yorkshire grades ; and the fact that
this breed is selected in such circumstances for the
production of milk to supply the milk-market speaks
volumes in favor of this cross. It is found that grade
short-horns, after yielding extraordinary quantities of
milk, during which they very naturally present the
most ungainly appearance, will, when dried off and fed,
THE LONDON DAIRIES. 75
take on flesh very rapidly, and yield large weights of
beef. This is one prominent reason for keeping them ;
and another is, that they occupy less space than would
be required to produce the same quantity of milk from
smaller animals, which might give even more milk per
cow in proportion to size and food consumed.
The cross of the well-bred short-horn and the native
or Dutch cows of the dairy districts of New York is
very highly esteemed ; arid six hundred pounds of
cheese a year is no uncommon yield for such grades in
Herkimer and adjacent counties.
The Ayrshirea have been tried in the London dairies,
but it was found that they were too difficult to obtain
in sufficient numbers, and at sufficiently low prices;
and that where quantity was the chief object, as in a
milk-dairy, and space a matter of great importance,
they could not compete with the short-horn and the
Yorkshire cows, and crosses between these races.
It often happens, particularly in milk-dairies, that the
farmer is so situated as not to desire to raise his
calves, but disposes of them at the highest price to
the butcher. He will obtain the greatest weight and
the highest quality of veal from the use of a pure-
bred short-horn or Hereford bull. But, on poorer
pastures, where there is too little feed to bring young
stock to their most perfect development, the pure-bred
short-horns and high grades of the short-horn are
thought, by some, to be too large, and consequently
unprofitable. How far this objection to them might be
obviated by stall feeding or soiling, and the use of roots,
is for each one to consider who has these facilities at
command. For most parts of New England they are
unquestionably too large to be well maintained.
As to the Herefords, they cannot be recommended
for the dairy, either as pure bloods or grades ; but in
76 HEREFORD AND DEVON GRADES.
grazing districts, devoted to raising beef or working
cattle, they are highly and justly prized.
The same may be said of the North Devons. The
pure-bred Devon bull, put to a good, young native
cow, produces a beautiful and valuable cross, either
for the yoke or the shambles ; and if the cow is a
remarkably good milker to begin with, and the bull
from a milking family, there would be no fear of mate-
rially lessening the quantity in the offspring, while its
form, and other qualities, would probably be greatly
improved.
Grade Devons are very much sought for working
oxen, and high prices are readily obtained for them,
while as beef cattle they are by some highly esteemed.
But, unfortunately, very few herds are to be found
where attention has been paid to breeding for milk; and
great milkers are the exception, and very rarely met
with among the pure breeds. In their native country
they are bred almost exclusively for beef. The estima-
tion in which they are held as dairy stock, even by
Devon breeders themselves, both in England and in this
country, has been shown in the low value placed upon
the development of the udder in the establishment of
the scale of points spoken of on a preceding page ; from
which it is evident that, in judging of them, it was not
contemplated that their milking qualities should be
taken into consideration. As cows for the dairy, there-
fore, they possess no advantages over our common
stock, and we should hardly look for improvement from
them in this respect.
The Jerseys, as already seen, are justly celebrated for
the richness of their milk and the butter made from it.
In this respect no pure breed can excel them. They
are, therefore, as a dairy breed, worthy of attention.
On farms where the making of butter is an object of
JERSEY AND AYRSHIRE GRADES. T(
pursuit and profit, an infusion of Jersey blood will be
likely to secure richness of milk, and high-flavored,
delicious butter. Many good judges of stock recom-
mend this cross for dairy purposes; and the chief objec-
tion that can be urged against them is that they are, as
a breed, very deficient in quantity, which in a milk-
dairy would be fatal to them, while, at the same time,
they have little to recommend them, as the Devons
have, on the score of beautiful forms and symmetrical
proportions. Put upon a large and roomy native cow,
remarkable as a milker, the produce would be likely
to be a very superior animal.
The Ayrshires, as already seen, have been bred with
reference both to quality and quantity of milk, and the
grades are usually of a very high order. The best
milkers I have ever known, in proportion to their size
and food, have been grade Ayrshires ; and this is also
the experience of many who keep dairies for the manu
facture of butter and cheese, as well as for the sale of
milk. A cross obtained from an Ayrshire bull of good
size and a pure-bred short-horn cow will produce a
stock which it will be hard to beat at the pail, espe-
cially if the cow belong to any of the families of short-
horns which have been bred with reference to their
milking qualities, as some of them have. I have taken
great pains to inquire of dairymen as to the breed or
grade of their best cows, and what they consider the
best cows for milk for their purposes ; and the answer
has almost invariably been the Ayrshire and the native.
The Ayrshires have by no means been a failure in this
country, although I do not think that, as a general
thing, we have been so fortunate hitherto as to import
the best specimens of them. If any improvement has
been made in our dairy stock apart from that effected
by a higher and more liberal course of feeding, it has
7*
78 GALLOWAYS. — SUFFOLKS.
come, in a great measure, from the Ayrshires ; and,
nad the facilities been offered to cross our common
stock with them to greater extent, there can be little
doubt that the improvement would have been greater
and more perceptible.
It should, however, be said, that in sections where
the feed is naturally luxuriant, and adapted to grazing
large animals, some families of the short-horns crossed
with our natives have produced an equally good stock
for cheese and milk dairies.
Before closing this part of the subject, it is proper to
observe that among the earlier importations were sev-
eral varieties of hornless cattle, and that they have been
kept distinct in some sections, or where they have been
crossed with the common stock there has been a tend-
ency to produce hornless grades. These are not unfre-
quently known under the name of buffalo cattle. They
were, in many cases, supposed to have belonged to the
Galloway breed ; or, which is more likely, to the Suffolk
dun, a variety of the Galloway, and a far better milking-
stock than the Galloways, from which it sprung. The
polled, or hornless cattle, vary in color and qualities,
but they are usually very good milkers when well
kept, and many of them fatten well, and attain good
weights.
The Hungarian cattle have also been imported, to
some extent, into different parts of the country, and
have been crossed upon the natives with some success.
Many other strains of blood from different breeds have
contributed to build up the common stock of the coun-
try of the present day ; and there can be no question
that its appearance and value have been largely im-
proved during the last quarter of a century, nor that
improvements are still in progress which will lead to
sat is fact or}T results in future.
CHAPTER III.
THE SELECTION OP MILCH COWS.
WE have now reviewed the prominent races of cattle
found in American dairy herds, and devoted some space
to an examination of the principles to be followed in
the breeding of dairy stock ; and this has involved, to
some extent, the choice of breeds, and the selection of
individual animals, with special reference, however, to
transmitting and improving their milking properties.
But the selection of cows for the dairy is of such im-
portance as to demand the most careful consideration.
The objects of a dairy are three-fold: the production of
milk for sale, mainly confined to milk-dairies, and to small-
er farms in the vicinity of large towns, where a mixed
husbandry is followed; the production of butter, chiefly
confined to farms at a distance from cities and large
towns, which furnish a ready market for milk ; and the
fabrication of cheese, carried on under circumstances
somewhat similar to the manufacture of butter, and some-
times united with it as an object of pursuit, on the farm.
These different objects should, therefore, be kept in
view, in the selection of cows ; for animals which would
be most profitable for the milk-dairy might be very
unprofitable in the butter-dairy — a fact of almost daily
experience. The productiveness of the cow does not
depend on her breed so much as upon her food and
management, her temperament and health, and the activ-
ity and energy of the organs of digestion and secretion.
80 JUDGING OF STOCK.
These latter, it is true, depending upon the structure of
the chest and other parts, are far better developed, and
more permanently fixed, in some races than in others,
and are derived more or less by descent, and capable
of being transmitted. The breed, therefore, cannot be
wholly disregarded, inasmuch as it is an element in
forming a judgment of the merits of a milch cow.
Cows, of whatever breed, having the best developed
external marks of good milkers, will very rarely disap-
point the practised eye or the skilful hand ; while cows
of breeds in highest repute for the dairy, and which do
not show these marks, will as certainly fail to answer
the expectations of those who select them simply for
the breed. Those who would obtain skill in judging of
these marks, and by means of them be able to estimate
the value of a cow, need not expect to attain this end
without long study and practical observation, for which
some men have far greater talent than others ; being
able, while examining a particular mark or favorite
characteristic of a milker, to take in ail others at a
glance, and so, while appearing to form their opinion
from one or two important points, actually to estimate
the whole development of the animal, while others
must examine in detail each point by itself. Long prac-
tice is required, therefore, to become an adept in the
judgment and selection of milch cows ; but still much
assistance may, unquestionably, be derived by careful
attention to the external signs which have been long
observed to indicate the milking qualities.
It is important, in the first place, to be able to judge
of the age of the cow. Few farmers wish to pur-
chase a cow for the dairy after she has passed her
prime, which will ordinarily be at the age of nine or
ten years, varying, of course, according to care, feed-
ing, &c j in the earlier part of her life.
RINGS ON THE HORNS.
81
The most usual mode of forming air estimate of the
age of cattle is by an examination of the horn. At
three years old, as a general rule, the horns are per-
fectly smooth ; after this, a ring appears near the root,
and annually afterward a new one is formed ; so that;
by adding two years to the first ring, the age is calcu-
lated. This is a very uncertain mode of judging. The
rings are distinct only in the cow ; and it is well known
that, -if a heifer goes to bull when she is two years old,
or a little before or after that time, a change takes place
in the horn, and the first ring appears ; so that a real
three-year-old would carry the mark of a four-year-old.
The rings on the horns of a bull are either not seen
until five, or they cannot be traced at all ; while in the
ox they do not appear till he is five years old, and then
are often very indistinct. In addition to this, it is by no
means an uncommon practice to file the horns, so as to
make them smoolh, and to give the animal the appear-
ance of being much younger than it really is. This is,
therefore, an exceedingly fallacious guide, and we can-
not rely on it without being subject to imposition.
Fig. 15. Teeth at birth. Fig. 16. Second week.
The surest indication of the age is given by the teeth.
6
82 THE TEETH AT VARIOUS AGES.
The calf, at birth, will usually have two incisor or front
teeth : in some cases just appearing through the gums ;
in others, fully set, varying as the cow falls short or
exceeds her regular time of calving. If she overruns
several days, the teeth will have set and attained con-
siderable size, as appears in Fig. 15. During the sec-
ond week, a tooth will usually be added on each side,
and the mouth will generally appear as in Fig. 16 ; and,
before the end of the third week, the animal will gener-
ally have six incisor teeth, as shown in Fig. 17 ; and
in a week from that time the full number of incisors
will have appeared, as seen in Fig. 18.
Fig. 17. Third week. Fig. 18. Month.
These teeth are temporary, and are often called milk-
teeth. Their edge is very sharp; and, as the animal
begins to live upon more solid food, this edge becomes
worn, showing the bony part of the tooth beneath, and
indicates, with considerable precision, the length of
time they have been used. The centre or oldest teeth
show the marks of age first, and often become some-
what worn before the corner teeth appear. At eight
weeks, the four inner teeth are nearlv as sharp as be-
WEARING AWAY.
83
fore. They appear worn not so much on the outer
edge or line of the tooth, as inside this line ; but, after
this, the edge begins gradually to lose its sharpness,
and to present a more flattened surface ; while the next
Pig. 19. Five to eight months. Fig. 20. Ten months.
outer teeth wear down like the four central ones ; and
at three months this wearing off is very apparent, till
at four months all the incisor teeth appear worn, but
Fig. 21. Twelve months. Fig. 22. Fifteen months.
the inner ones the most. Now the teeth begin slowly
to diminish in size by a kind of contraction, as well as
84
THE PERMANENT INCISORS.
\\earing down, and the distance apart becomes more and
more apparent.
From the fifth to the eighth month the inner teeth
will usually appear as in Fig. 19 ; and at ten months
this change shows more clearly, as in Fig. 20, and the
spaces between them begin to show very plainly, till
at a year old they ordinarily present the appearance
of Fig. 21 ; and at the age of fifteen months that shown
in Fig. 22, where the corner teeth are not more than
half the original size, and the centre ones still smaller.
The permanent teeth are now rapidly growing, and
preparing to take the place of the milk-teeth, which
are gradually absorbed till they disappear, or are pushed
out to give place to the two permanent central incisors,
which, at a year and a half, will generally present the
appearance indicated in Fig. 23, which shows the inter-
nal structure of the lower jaw at this time, with the
cells of the teeth, the two central ones protruding into
the mouth, the two next pushing up, but not quite
Fig. 23. Eighteen months.
Fig. 24. Two years past
grown to the surface, with the third pair just percep-
tible. These changes require time ; and at two years
past the jaw will usually appear as in Fig. 24, where
THE UNCERTAIN PERIOD.
85
four of the permanent central incisors are seen. After
this the other milk-teeth decrease rapidly, but are slow
to disappear ; and at three years old the third pair of
permanent teeth are but formed, as in Fig. 25 ; and at
four years the last pair of incisors will be up, as in
Fig. 26 ; but the outside ones are not yet fully grown,
Fig. 25. Three years past.
Fig. 26. Four years past
and the beast can hardly be said to be full-mouthed till
the age of five years. But before this age, or at the age
of four years, the two inner pairs of permanent teeth
are beginning to wear at the edges, as shown in Fig.
26, while at five years old the whole set becomes some-
what worn down at the top, and on the two centre ones
a darker line appears in the middle, along a line of
harder bone, as appears in Fig. 27.
Now will come a year or two, and sometimes three,
when the teeth do not so clearly indicate the exact age,
and the judgment must be guided by the extent to
which the dark middle lines are worn. This will de-
pend somewhat upon the exposure and feeding of the
animal ; but at seven years these lines extend over
all the teeth. At eight years another change begins,
8
86
•SOUNDNESS OF CONSTITUTION.
which cannot be mistaken. A kind of absorption begins
with the two central incisors, slow, at first, but percep-
tible, and these two teeth become smaller than the rest,
while the dark lines are worn into one in all but the
Fig. 27. Five years past.
Fig. 28. Ten years past.
corner teeth, till at ten years four of the central incisors
have become smaller in size, with a smaller and fainter
mark, as seen in Fig. 28. At eleven the six inner teeth
are smaller than the corner ones ; and at twelve all
become smaller than they were, while the dark lines
are nearly gone, except in the corner teeth, and the
inner edge is worn to the gum.
After being satisfied with regard to the age of a cow,
we should examine her with reference to her soundness
of constitution. A good constitution is indicated by
large lungs, which are found in a deep, broad, and promi-
nent chest, broad and well-spread ribs, a respiration some-
what slow and regular, a good appetite, and if in milk a
strong inclination to drink, which a large secretion of
milk almost invariably stimulates. In such cows the
digestive organs are active and energetic, and they make
an abundance of good blood, which in turn stimulates
UNION TO BE RELIED ON. 87
the activity of the nervous system, and furnishes the
milky glands with the means of abundant secretion.
Such cows, when dry, readily take on fat. When activ-
ity of the milk-glands is found united with close ribs,
small and feeble lungs, and a slow appetite, often
attended by great thirst, the cow will generally possess
only a weak and feeble constitution ; and if the milk is
plentiful, it will generally be of bad quality, while the
animal, if she does not die of diseased lungs, will not
take on fat readily when dry and fed.
Other external marks of great milkers have already
been given in part. They should be found united, as
far as possible ; for, though no one of them, however
well developed, can be taken as a sure indication of
extraordinary milking powers, several of them united
may, as a general rule, be implicitly relied on.
In order to have no superfluous flesh, the cow should
have a small, clean, and rather long head, tapering tow-
ards the muzzle. A cow with a large, coarse head will
seldom fatten readily, or give a large quantity of milk.
A coarse head increases the proportion of weight of the
least, valuable parts, while it is a sure indication that the
whole bony structure is too heavy. The mouth should
be large and broad ; the eye bright and sparkling, but
of a peculiar placidness of expression, with no indica-
tion of wildness, but rather a mild and feminine look.
These points will indicate gentleness of disposition,
Such cows seem to like to be milked, are fond of
being caressed, and often return caresses. The horna
should be small, short, tapering, yellowish, and glisten-
ing. The neck should be small, thin, and tapering tow-
ards the head, but thickening when it approaches the
shoulder ; the dewlaps small. The fore quarters should
be rather small when compared with the hind quarters.
The form of the barrel will be large, and each rib
88 GOOD SIGNS. — THE MILK-VEINS.
should project further than the preceding one, up to the
loins. She should be well formed across the hips and
in the rump.
The spine or back-bone should be straight and long,
rather loosely hung, or open along the middle part, the
result of the distance between the dorsal vertebrae,
which sometimes causes a slight depression, or sway
back. By some good judges this mark is regarded as
of great importance, especially when the bones of the
hind quarters are also rather loosely put together, leav-
ing the rump of great width, and the pelvis large, and
the organs and milk-vessels lodged in the cavities
largely developed. The skin over the rump should be
loose and flexible. This point is of great importance ;
and as, when the cow is in low condition, or very poor,
it will appear somewhat harder and closer than it other-
wise would, some practice and close observation are
required to judge well of this mark. The skin, indeed,
all over the body, should be soft and mellow to the
touch, with soft and glossy hair. The tail, if thick at
the setting on, should taper and be fine below.
But the udder is of special importance. It should be
large in proportion to the size of the animal, and the skin
thin, with soft, loose folds extending well back, capable
of great distension when filled, but shrinking to a small
compass when entirely empty. It must be free from
lumps in every part, and provided with four teats set
well apart, and of medium size. Nor are the milk-veins
less important to be carefully observed. The principal
ones under the belly should be large and prominent,
and extend forward to the navel, losing themselves, ap-
parent!}7, in the very best milkers, in a large cavity in
the flesh, into which the end of the finger can be insert-
ed ; but, when the cow is not in full milk, the milk-
vein, at other times very prominent, is not so distinctly
THE NETWORK OF VEINS. 89
traced; and hence, to judge of its size when the cow is
dry, or nearly so, this vein may be pressed near its end,
or at its entrance into the body, when it will immedi-
ately fill up to its full size. This vein does not carry
the milk to the udder, as some suppose, but is the chan-
nel by which the blood returns ; and its contents ccnsist
of the refuse of the secretion, or what has not been
taken up in forming milk. There are, also, veins in the
udder, and the perineum, or the space above the udder,
and between that and the buttocks, which it is of spe-
cial importance to observe. These veins should be
largely developed, and irregular or knotted, especially
those of the udder. They may be seen in Figs. 29,
30, 31, &c. They are largest in great milkers.
The knotted veins of the perineum, extending from
above downwards in a winding line, are not readily
seen in young heifers, and are very difficult to find in
poor cows, or cows of only a medium quality. They
are easily found in very good milkers, and, if not
at first apparent, they are made so by pressing upon
them at the base of the perineum, when they swell up,
and send the blood back towards the vulva. They form
a kind of thick network under the skin of the perineum,
raising it up somewhat, in some cases near the vulva,
in others lower down and nearer to the udder. It is
important to look for these veins, as they often form a
very important guide, and by some they would be con-
sidered as furnishing the surest indications of the milk-
ing qualities of the cow. Their full development almost
always indicates an abundant secretion of milk; but
they are far better developed after the cow has had two
or three calves, when two or three years' milking has
given full activity to the milky glands, and attracted a
large flow of blood. The larger and more prominent
these veins, the better. It is needless to say that in
8*
90 GUENON'S METHOD.
observing them some regard should be had to the con-
dition of the cow, the thickness of skin and fat by which
they may be surrounded, and the general activity and
food of the animal. Food calculated to stimulate the
greatest flow of milk will naturally increase these veins,
and give them more than usual prominence.
We come now to an examination of the system of
Guenon, whose discovery, whatever may be said of it,
has proved of immense importance to agriculture. Gue-
non was a man of remarkable practical sagacity, a close
observer of stock, and an excellent judge. This gave
him a great advantage in securing the respect of those
with whom he came in contact, and assisted him vastly
in introducing his ideas to the knowledge of intelligent
men. Born in France, in the vicinity of Bordeaux, in
humble circumstances, he early had the care of cows,
and spent his whole life with them. His discovery, for
which a gold medal was awarded by the agricultural
society of Bordeaux, on the 4th of July, 1837, consisted
in the connection between the milking qualities of the
cow and certain external marks on the udder, and on
the space above it, called the perineum, extending to
the buttocks. To these marks he gave the name of
milk-mirror, or escutcheon, which consists in certain
perceptible spots rising up from the udder in different
directions, forms, and sizes, on which the hair grows
upwards, whilst the hair on other parts of the body
grows downwards. To these spots various names have
Leen given, according to their size and position, as tufts,
fringes, figures or escutcheons, which last is the most
common term used. The reduction of these marks into
a system, explaining the value of particular forms and
sizes of the milk-mirror, belongs, so far as I know, ex-
clusively to Guenon, though the connection of the milk-
ing qualities of the cow and the size of the ovals with
1' ROVING TOO MUCH. 91
downward-growing hair on the back part of the udder
above the teats was observed and known in Massachu-
setts more than forty years ago, and some of the old
farmers of that day were accustomed to say that when
these spots were large and well developed the cow
would be a good milker.
Guenon divided the milk-mirror into eight classes,
and each class into eight orders, making in all no less
than sixty-four divisions, which he afterwards increased
by sub-divisions, making the whole system complicated
in the extreme, especially as he professed to be able to
judge with accuracy, by means of the milk-mirror, not
only of the exact quantity a cow would give, but also
the quality of the milk and the length of time it would
continue. He tried to prove too much, and the conse-
quence was that he was himself frequently at fault,
notwithstanding his excellent knowledge of other gene-
ral characteristics of milch cows, while others, of lesa
knowledge, and far more liable to err in judgment, were
inclined to view the whole system with distrust.
My own attention was called to Gu^non's method of
judging of cows some eight or ten years ago, and since
that time 1 have examined many hundreds, with a
view to ascertain the correctness of its main features,
inquiring, at the same time, after the views and opinions
of the best breeders and judges of stock, with regard
to their experience and judgment of its merits; and the
result of my observation has been, that cows with tho
most perfectly-developed milk-mirrors, or escutcheons,
are, with rare exceptions, the best milkers of their
breed, and that cows with small and slightly-developed
mirrors are, in the majority of cases, bad milkers.
I say the best milkers of their breed ; for I do not
believe that precisely the same sized and formed milk-
mirrors on a Hereford or a Devon, and an Ayrshire or a
92 REGARD TO THE BREED. — EXCEPTIONS.
native, will indicate anything like the same or equal
milking properties. It will not do, in my opinion, to
disregard the general and well-known characteristics of
the breed, and rely wholly on the milk-mirror. But I
think it may be safely said that, as a general rulo the
best-marked Hereford will turn out to be the best
milker among the Herefords, all of which are poor
milkers ; the best-marked Devon the best among the
Devons, and the best-marked Ayrshire the best among
the Ayrshires ; that is, it will not do to compare two
animals of entirely distinct breeds, by the milk-mirrors
alone, without regard to the fixed habits and education,
so to speak, of the breed or family to which they
belong.
There are cows with very small mirrors, which are,
nevertheless, very fair in the yield of milk ; and among
those with middling quality of mirrors instances of
rather more than ordinary milkers often occur, while at
the same time it is true that now and then cases occur
where the very best marked and developed mirrors are
found on very poor milkers. I once owned a cow of
most extraordinary marks, the milk-mirror extending
out broadly upon the thighs, and rising broad and very
distinctly marked to the buttocks, giving every indica-
tion, to good judges, of being as great a milker as ever
stood over a pail ; and yet, when she calved, the calf
was feeble and half nourished, and she actually gave too
little to feed it. But I believe that this exception, and
most others which appear to be direct contradictions,
could be clearly explained by the fact, of which I was
not aware at the time, that she had been largely over-
fed before she came into my possession. I mention
this case simply to show how impossible it is to esti-
mate with mathematical accuracy either the quantity,
the quality, or the duration of the milk, since it is
APPARENT CONTRADICTION. 93
affected by so many chance circumstances, which cannot
always be known or estimated by even the most skilful
judge; as the food, the treatment, the temperament,
accidental diseases, inflammation of the udder, premature
calving, the climate and season, the manner in which
she has been milked, and a thousand other things which
interrupt or influence the flow of milk, without materi-
ally changing the size or the shape of the milk-mirror.
M. Magne, who appears to me to have simplified and
explained the system of Guenon, and to have freed it
from many of the useless details with which it is en-
cumbered in the original work, while he has preserved
all that is of practical value, very justly observes that
we often see cows, equally well formed, with precisely
the same milk-mirror, and kept in the same circum-
stances, yet giving neither equal quantities nor similar
qualities of milk. Nor could it be otherwise ; for,
assuming a particular tuft on two cows to be of equal
value at birth, it could not be the same in the course
of years, since innumerable circumstances occur to
change the activity of the milky glands without chang-
ing the form or size of the tuft ; or, in other words, the
action of the organs depends not merely on their size
and form, but, to a great extent, on the general con-
dition of each individual.
To give a more distinct idea of the milk-mirror, it will
be necessary to refer to the figures, and the explana-
tions of these I translate literally from the little work
already referred to, the Choix des Vaches Latieres, or,
the Choice of Milch Cows.
The different forms of milk-mirrors are represented
by the shaded part of figures 29, 30, 31, etc.; but it is
necessary to premise that upon the cows themselves
they are always partly concealed by the thighs, the
udder, arid the folds of the skin, which are not shown,
94 VARIATION IN SIZE.
and so they are not always so uniform in nature as they
appear in the cuts.
Their size varies as the skin is more or less folded or
stretched, while we have supposed in the figures that
the skin is uniform or free from folds, but not stretched
out. In order to understand the differences which the
milk-mirrors present in respect to size, according to the
state of the skin, the milk-mirror is shown in two ways
in Figs. 52 and 53. In Fig. 53 the proportions are
preserved the same as in the other mirrors represented,
but an effort is made to represent the folds of the skin ;
while in Fig. 52 the mirror is just as it would have
been had the folds of the udder been smoothed out, and
the skin between the udder and the thighs stretched
out ; or, in other words, as if the skin, covered with up-
growing hair, had been fully extended.
This mirror, but little developed, just as shown in
Fig. 53, was observed on a very large Norman cow.
It is usually very easy to distinguish the milk-mirrors
by the upward direction of the hair which forms them.
They are sometimes marked by a line of bristly hair
growing in the opposite direction, which surrounds
them, forming a sort of outline by the upward and
downward growing hair. Yet, when the hair is very
fine and short, mixed with longer hairs, and the skin
much folded, and the udder voluminous and pressed by
the thighs, it is necessary, in order to distinguish the
part enclosed between the udder and the legs, and
examine the full size of the mirrors, to observe them
attentively, and to place the legs wide apart, and to
sniuoth out the skin, in order to avoid the folds.
The mirrors may also be observed by holding the
back of the hand against the perineum, and drawing it
from above downwards, when the nails rubbing against
GUENON EXPLAINED. 95
the up-growing hair; make the parts covered by it very
perceptible.
As the hair of the milk-mirror has not the same direc-
tion as the hair which surrounds it, it may often be dis-
tinguished by a difference in the shade reflected by it.
It is then sufficient to place it properly to the light to
see the difference in shade, and to make out the part
covered by the upward-growing hair. Most frequently,
however, the hair of the milk-mirror is thin and fine,
and the color of the skin can easily be seen. If we
trust alone to the eye, we shall often be deceived.
Thus, in Figs. 52 and 53, the shaded part, which
extends from the vulva to the mirror E, represents a
strip of hair of a brownish tint, which covered the peri-
neum, and which might easily have been taken for a
part of the milk-mirror.
In some countries cattle-dealers shave the back part
of the cows. Just after this operation the mirrors can
neither be seen nor felt ; but this inconvenience ceases
in a few days. It may be added that the shaving,
designed, as the dealers say, to beautify the cow, is
generally intended simply to destroy the milk-mirror,
and to deprive buyers of one means of judging of the
milking qualities of the cows.
It is not necessary to add that the cows most care-
fully shaven are those which are badly marked, and that
it is prudent to take it for granted that cows so shorn
are bad milkers.
Milk-mirrors vary in position, extent, and the figure
they represent. They may be divided, according to
their position, into mirrors or escutcheons, properly so
called, or into lower and upper tufts, or escutcheons. The
hitter are very small in comparison with the former, and
are situated in close proximity to the vulva, as seen at S
in Figs. 38, 39, 40, etc. They are very common on cows
96 GUENON EXPLAINED.
of bad milking races, but are very rarely seen on the
best milch cows. They consist of one or two ovals, or
small bands of up-growing hair, and serve to indicate
the continuance of the flow of milk. The period is
short in proportion as the tufts are large. They must
not be confounded with the escutcheon proper, which
is often extended up to the vulva. They are separated
from it by bands of hair, more or less large, as in Figs.
40, 42, &c.
The mirrors shown in Figs. 38 to 42, and 29 to 35,
<fcc., exist, more or less developed, on nearly all cows,
and indicate the quantity of milk, which will be in pro-
portion to their size. Sometimes they form only a
small plate on the posterior surface of the udder, as in
Fig. 49. In other cases they cover the udder, the inner
surface of the legs and the thighs, the perineum, and
a part of the buttocks, as in Figs. 29, 30, 31, &c.
Two parts may be distinguished in the lower tufts :
one situated on the udder, the legs, and the thighs, as at
M M, Fig. 30 ; and the other on the perineum, extend-
ing sometimes more or less out upon the thighs, as at
P P, in the same figure.
The first part is represented by itself, in Figs. 37 and
49. We shall call the former mammary, and the latter
perinean. The former is sometimes large, extending
over the milky glands, the thighs, and the legs, as shown
in Figs. 29 to 37; and sometimes circumscribed, or more
or less checked over with tufts of downward-growing
hair, as in Figs. 43 to 52. It is sometimes terminated
towards the upper part of the udder by a horizontal
line, straight, as in Fig. 37, or angular, as in Fig. 49 ;
but more frequently it continues without interruption
over the perineum, and constitutes the perinean part.
This presents a large band, Fig. 30, straight, as in
Fig. 43, and bounded on the sides by two parallel lines,
FORMS OP THE MILK-MIRROR.
97
M
98 GUENON EXPLAINED.
as seen in the same figures, or by curved lines, as in Fig.
34. It sometimes rises scarcely a fourth part up the
perineum, as in Fig. 38 ; at others, it reaches or passes
beyond that part, forming a straight band, as in Figs.
35 and 43, or is folded into squares, as in Figs. 31 and 36,
or truncated, Fig. 38, or terminated by one or several
points, Figs. 32, 33, 41, 50. In some cows this band
extends as far as the base of the vulva, Figs. 40 and
48 ; in others, it embraces more or less of the lower
part of the vulva, Figs. 29, 30, 39, and 47.
Milk-mirrors are sometimes symmetrical, as in Figs.
29, 30, 34, 35, 37, and 38 ; sometimes without sym-
metry, as in Figs. 42, 45, and 50. When there is a great
difference in the extent of the two halves, it almost
always happens that the teats on the side where the
mirror is best developed give, as we shall see, more
milk than those of the opposite side. We will remark
here that the left half of the mirror is almost always
the largest ; arid so, when the perinean part is folded
into a square, it is on this side of the body that it un-
folds, as in Figs. 31, 36, and 42. Of three thousand cows
in Denmark, M. Andersen found only a single one whose
escutcheon varied even a little from this rule. We have
observed the contrary only in a single case, and that
was on a bull. The perinean part of the mirror
formed a band of an inch to an inch and a half in
breadth, irregular, but situated, in great measure, on
the right side of the body. Stretching towards the
upper part of the perineum, it formed a kind of
square, with a small projecting point on the right,
Pig. 51.
The mirrors having a value in proportion to tb*.
space they occupy, it is of great importance to at-
tend to all the rows of down-growing hairs, which
diminish its extent of surface, whether these tufts are
FORMS OF THE MILK-MIRROR.
99
LJT . 37 .
100 HEAL EXTENT OP THE MIRROR.
in the midst of the mirror, Figs. 45, 46, and 47, or form
indentations on its edges, as in Figs. 42, 44, 45, 46,
and 48.
These indentations, concealed in part by the folds of
the skin, are sometimes seen with difficulty ; but it is
important to take them into account, since in a great
many cows they materially lessen the size of the mir-
ror. We often find cows whose milk-mirror at first'
sight appears very large, but which are only medium
milkers; and it will usually be found that lateral indent-
ations greatly diminish the surface of up-growing hair.
Many errors are committed in estimating the value of
such cows, from a want of attention to the real extent
of the milk-mirror.
All the interruptions in the surface of the mirror
indicate a diminution of the quantity of milk, with the
exception, however, of small oval or elliptical plates
which are found in the mirror, on the back part of the
udders of the best cows, as in Figs. 29, 30, 32, 34, 35,
36, and 40. These ovals have a peculiar tint, which
is occasioned by the downward direction of the hair
which forms them. In the best cows these ovals exist
with the lower mirrors very well developed, as in Figs.
29, 30, and 32.
In fine, we should state that in order to determine
the extent and significance of a mirror it is necessary
to consider the state of the perineum as to fat, and of
the fulness of the udder. In a fat cow, with an in-
flated udder, the mirror would appear larger than it
really is; whilst in a lean cow, with a loose and wrinkled
udder, it appears smaller. Fat will cover faults, a fact
to be kept in mind in selecting a cow.
In bulls, Fig. 51, the mirrors present the same pecu-
liarities as in cows ; but they are less varied in their
form, and especially much less in size. This will easily
FORMS OF THE MILK-MIRROR,
101
i- 40.
Jig. 42.
102 MILK-MIRRORS ON CALVES.
be understood from the explanation of mirrors given
on a preceding page.
In calves the mirrors show the shapes they are after-
wards to have, only they are more contracted, because
the parts which they cover are but slightly developed.
They are easily seen after birth ; but the hair which
then covers them is long, coarse, and stiff; and when
this hair falls off, the calf's mirror will resemble that of
the cow, but be of less size.
With calves, however, it should be stated, in addition
to what has already been said, that the milk-mirrors are
more distinctly recognized on those from cows that are
well kept, and that they will generally be fully devel-
oped at two years old. Some changes take place in
the course of years, but the outlines of the mirror
appear prominent at the time of advanced pregnancy,
or, in the case of cows giving milk, at the times when
the udder is more distended with milk than at others.
The classification adopted by Magne appears still
further to simplify the whole method, and to bring it
within the easy reach and comprehension of every one
who will examine the figures and the explanations con-
nected with them. He divides cows, according to the
quantity they give, into four classes : First, the very
good; second, the good; third, the medium; and
fourth, the bad.
In the first class he places cows both parts of whose
milk-mirror, the mammary and the perinean, are large,
continuous, uniform, covering at least a great part of
the perineum, the udder, the inner surface of the
thighs, and extending more or less out upon the legs,
as in Figs. 29 to 33, with no interruptions, or, if any,
small ones, oval in form, and situated on the posterior
face of the udder, Figs. 29, 30, and 32.
Such mirrors are found on most very good cows.
FORMS OF THE MILK-MIRROR
103
Fig. 45.
Tig. 46
. 47.
104 FIRST-KATE COWS.
but may also be found on cows which can scarcely be
called good, and which should be ranked in the next
class. But cows, whether having very well-developed
mirrors or not, may be reckoned as very good, and as
giving as much milk as is to be expected from their
size, feed, and the hygienic circumstances in which they
are kept, if they present the following characteristics :
Yeins of the perineum large, as if swollen, and visible
on the exterior, as in Figs. 29 — 32, or which can be
easily made' to appear by pressing upon the base of the
perineum ; veins of the udder large and knotted, milk-
veins large, often double, equal on both sides, and
forming zig-zags under the belly.
To the signs furnished by the veins and by the mir-
ror may be added also the following marks : A uniform,
very large and yielding udder, shrinking much in milk-
ing, and covered with soft skin and fine hair; good
constitution, full chest, regular appetite, and great pro-
pensity to drink. Cows rather inclining to be poor than
fat. Soft, yielding skin, short, fine hair, small head, fine
horns, bright, sparkling eye, mild expression, feminine
look, with a fine neck.
Cows of this first class are very rare. They give,
even when small in size, from ten to fourteen quarts of
milk a day, and the largest sized from eighteen to
twenty-six quarts a day, and even more. Just after
calving, if arrived at maturity and fed with good,
wholesome, moist food in sufficient quantity and
quality, adapted to promote the secretion of milk,
they can give about a pint of milk for every ten
ounces of hay, or its equivalent, which they eat.
They continue in milk for a long period. The best
never go dry, and may be milked even up to the time
of calving, giving from eight to twelve quarts of milk
a day. The Dutch cow, Fig. 54, was giving daily
FORMS OF THE MILK-MIRROR. 105
Eg.53.
106 SECOND-RATE COWS.
twenty-two quarts of milk, a year after calving. But
even the best cows often fall short of the quantity of
milk they are able to give, from being fed on food that
is too dry, or not sufficiently varied, or not rich enough
in nutritive qualities, or deficient in quantity.
The second class is that of good cows ; and to this
belong the best commonly found in the market and
among the cow-feeders of cities.
They have the mammary part of the milk-mirror
well developed, but the perinean part contracted or
wholly wanting, as in Figs. 34 and 37 ; or both parts of
the mirror are moderately developed, or slightly
indented, as Figs. 35 and 36. Figs. 38, 39, 40, and 41,
belong also to this class, in the lower part ; but they
denote cows which, as the upper mirrors, s s s, indi-
cate, dry up sooner when again in calf.
These marks, though often seen on many good cows,
should be considered as certain only when the veins of
the perineum form, under the skin, a kind of network,
which, without being very apparent, may be felt by a
pressure on them ; when the milk-veins on the belly are
well developed, though less knotted and less prominent
than in cows of the first class ; in fine, when the udder
is well developed, and presents veins which are suffi-
ciently numerous, though not very large.
It is necessary, then, as in the preceding class, to
have a mistrust of cows in which the mirror is not
accompanied by large veins. This remark applies
especially to cows which have had several calves, and
are in full milk. They are medium or bad, let the milk-
mirror be what it may, if the veins of the belly are not
large, and those of the udder apparent.
' The general characteristics which depend on form
and constitution combine less than in cows of the pre-
,
A COW OF THE FIRST CLASS. 107
Fig. 54. A Good MUch Coir.
ceding class the marks of good health and excellent
constitution with those of a gentle and feminine look.
Small cows of this class give from seven to ten or
eleven quarts of milk a day, and the largest from
thirteen to seventeen quarts. They can be made to
give three fourths of a pint of milk, just after calving,
108 THIRD CLASS. — BAD COWS.
for every ten ounces of hay consumed, if well cared for,
and fed in a manner favorable to the secretion of milk.
They hold out long in milk when they have no uppor
mirrors or tufts. At seven or eight months in calf,
they may give from five to eight quarts a day.
T!HJ third class consists of middling cows. When the
milk-mirror really presents only the lower or mammary
part slightly developed or indented, and the perinean
part contracted, narrow, and irregular, as in Figs. 42
to 47, the cows are middling. The udder is slightly
developed or hard, arid shrinks very little after milking.
The veins of the perineum are not apparent, and those
which run along the lower sides of the abdomen are
small, straight, and sometimes unequal. In this case
the mirror is not symmetrical, and the cow gives more
milk on the side where the vein is largest.
These cows often have large heads, and a thick and
hard skin. Being ordinarily in good condition, and
even fat, they are beautiful to look at, and seem to be
well formed. Many of them are nervous and restive,
and not easily approached.
Cows of this class give, according to size, from three
or four to ten quarts of milk. They very rarely give,
even in the most favorable circumstances, half a pint
for every ten ounces of hay which they consume.
The milk diminishes rapidly, and dries up wholly the
fourth or fifth month in calf.
The fourth class is composed of bad cows. As they
are ordinarily in good condition, these cows are often the
most beautiful of the herd and in the markets. They
have fleshy thighs, thick and hard skin, a large and
coarse neck and head, and horns large at the base.
w The udder is hard, small, and fleshy, with a skin
covered with long, rough hair. No veins are to be
&een either on the perineum or the udder, while those
ANOTHER CLASSIFICATION. 109
of the belly are very slightly developed, and the mir-
rors are ordinarily small, as in Figs. 48, 49, and 50.
With these characteristics, cowg give only a few
quarts of rriilk a day, and dry up a short time after
calving. Some such can scarcely nourish their calves,
even when they are well cared for and well fed.
Sickly habits, chronic affections of the digestive
organs, the chest, the womb, and the lacteal system,
sometimes greatly affect the milk secretions, arid cause
cows troubled with them to fall from the first or
second to the third, and sometimes to the fourth class.
The above classification is very similar to that of
Pabst, a German farmer of large experience and obser-
vation of stock, who, with a view to simplify the
method of Gu£non, and render it of greater practical
value to the farmer, made five divisions or classes, con-
sisting of, 1st, Very good or extraordinary ; 2d, Good
or good middling ; 3d, Middling and little below mid-
dling ; 4th, Small ; and, 5th, Very bad milkers.
These classifications, adopted by Magne, Pabst, and
other good breeders and judges of cows, appear to me
to be far more simple and satisfactory than the more
extended and complicated classification of Gu6non him-
self. Without pretending to be able to judge with any
accuracy of the quantity, the quality, or the duration,
which any particular size or form of the mirror will
indicate, they give to Guenon the full credit of his
important discovery of the escutcheon, or milk-mirror,
as a new and very valuable element in forming our
judgment of the milking qualities of a cow ; and simply
assert, with respect to the duration or continuance of
the flow of milk, that the mirror that indicates the
greatest quantity will also indicate the longest dura-
tion. The mirror forms, in other words, an important
additional mark or point for distinguishing good milk-
10
110 SPECIAL CASES.
ers ; and it is safe to lay it down as a rule that, in the
selection of milch cows, as well as in the choice of
young animals as breeders, we should, by all means,
examine and consider the milk-mirror, but not limit or
confine ourselves exclusively to it, and that other and
long-known marks should be equally regarded.
But there are cases where a knowledge and careful
examination of the form and size of the mirror becomes
of the greatest importance. It is well known that cer-
tain signs or marks of great milkers are developed only
as the capacities of the animal herself are fully and
completely developed by age. The milk-veins, for
instance, are never so large and prominent in heifers
and young cows as in old ones, and the same may be
said of the udder, and the veins of the udder and per-
ineum; all of which it is of great importance to observe
in the selection of milch cows. Those signs, then, which
in cows arrived at maturity are almost sufficient in
themselves to warrant a conclusion as to their merits
as milkers, are, to a great extent, wanting in younger
animals, and altogether in calves, of which there is
often doubt whether they shall be raised j and here a
knowledge of the form of the mirror is of immense
advantage, since it gives, at the outset, and before any
expense is incurred, a somewhat reliable means of
judging of the future milking capacities of the animal
or, if a male, of the probability of his transmitting
milking qualities to his offspring.
It will be seen, from an examination of the points of
a good milch cow, that, though the same marks which
indicate the greatest milking qualities may not indicate
any great aptitude to fatten, yet that the signs which
indicate good fattening qualities are included among
the signs favorable to the production of milk, such as
soundness of constitution, indicated by good organs of
BUYING DAIRY STOCK. Ill
digestion and respiration, fineness and mellowness of
the skin and hair, quietness of disposition, which
inclines the animal to rest and lie down in chewing the
cud, and other marks which are relied on by graziers
in selecting animals to fatten.
In buying dairy stock the farmer generally finds it
for his interest to select young heifers. They give
the promise of longer usefulness. But it is often the
case that older cows are selected with the design of
using them for the dairy for a limited period, and then
feeding them for the butcher. In either case, it is ad-
visable, as a rule, to choose animals in low or medium
condition. The farmer cannot ordinarily afford to buy
fat ; it is more properly his business to make it, and to
have it to sell. Good and well-marked cows in poor
condition will rapidly gain in flesh and products when
removed to better pastures and higher keeping, and
they cost less in the original purchase.
It is unnecessary to say that regard should be had to
the quality of the pasturage and keeping which a cow has
previously had, as compared with that to which she is to
be subjected. The size of the animal should also be con-
sidered with reference to the fertility of the pastures
into which she is to be put. Small or medium-sized
animals accommodate themselves to ordinary pastures
far better than large ones. Where a very large cow
will do well, two small ones will usually do better ,
while the large animal might fail entirely where two
small ones would do well. It is better to have the
whole herd, so far as may be, uniform in size ; for, if
they vary greatly, some may get more than they need,
and others will not have enough. This, however, can-
not always be brought about.
112
A GOOD DAIRY COW.
CHAPTER IV.
FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT OF DAIRY COWS.
No branch of dairy farming can compare in import-
ance with the management of cows. The highest
success will depend very much upon it, whatever breed
be selected, and whatever amount of care and attention
be given to the points of the animals ; for experience
will show that very little milk comes out of the bag
that is not first put into the throat. It is poor econ-
omy, therefore, to attempt to keep too many cows for
the amount of feed we have ; for it will generally be
found that one good cow well bred and well fed will
yield as much as two ordinary cows kept in the ordi-
nary way, while a saving is effected both in labor and
room required, and in the risks on the capital invested.
If the larger number on poorer feed is urged for the
sake of the manure, which is the only ground on which
it can be put, it is sufficient to remark that it is a very
expensive way of making manure. It is not too much
to say that a proper regard to profit and economy
would require many an American farmer to sell off
nearly half his cows, and to feed the whole of his hay
and roots hitherto used into the remainder.
A certain German farmer was visited, one day, by
some Swiss from over the border, who desired to buy
of him all the milk of his cows for the purpose of
making cheese. Not being able to agree upon tho
10* 8
114 CAUSES AND EFFECTS.
terms, he finally proposed to let them take the entire
charge of his cows, and agreed to furnish feed amply
sufficient, the Swiss assuming the whole care of feeding
it out, and paying a fixed price by measure for all tlio
milk. "I found myself, at once," says he, "under the
necessity of selling almost half my cows, because the
Swiss required nearly double the quantity of fodder
which the cows had previously had, and I was well sat-
isfied that all the produce I could raise on my farm
would be far from sufficient to feed in that way the
number of cows I had kept. I was in despair at find-
ing them using such a quantity of the best quality of
feed, though it was according to the strict letter of the
contract, especially as I knew that I had given my cows
rather more than the quantity of food recommended by
men in whom I had perfect confidence. Thus, while
Thaei names twenty-three pounds of hay, or its equiv-
alent, as food sufficient for a good-sized cow, I gave mine
full twenty-seven pounds. But, if the change effected
in the management of my cows was great, the result
was still more striking. The quantity of milk kept
increasing, and it reached the highest point when the
cows attained the condition of the fat kine of Pharaoh's
dream. The quantity of milk became double, triple,
and even quadruple, what it had been before ; so that,
if I should compare the product with that previously
obtained, a hundred pounds of hay produced three
times more milk than it had produced with my old
mode of feeding. Such results, of course, attracted my
attention to this branch of my farming. It became a
matter of pleasure ; and my observations were followed
up with great care, and during several years I devoted
a large part of my time to it. I even went so far as to
procure scales for weighing the food and the animals, in
order to establish .exact data on the most positive basis."
A FARMER'S CONCLUSIONS. 115
The conclusions to which he arrived were, that an
animal, to be fully fed and satisfied, requires a quantity
of food in proportion to its live weight ; that no feed
could be complete that did not contain a sufficient
amount of nutritive elements ; hay, for example, being
more nutritive than straw, and grains than roots. He
found, too. that the f6od must possess a bulk sufficient
to fill up to a certain degree the organs of digestion or
the stomach ; and that, to receive the full benefit of
its food, the animal must be wholly satisfied, as, if the
stomach is not sufficiently distended, the food cannot
be properly digested, and of course many of the nutri
tive principles it contains would not be perfectly assim-
ilated. An animal regularly fed eats till it is satisfied,
and no more than is requisite. A part of the nutritive
elements in hay and other forage-plants is needed to
keep an animal on its feet, — that is, to keep up its con-
dition,— and if the nutrition of its food is not sufficient
for this the weight decreases, and if it is more than
sufficient the weight increases, or else this excess is
consumed in the production of milk or in labor. About
one sixtieth of their live weight in hay, or its equiva-
lent, will keep horned cattle on their feet ; but, in order
to be completely nourished, they require about one
thirtieth in dry substances, and four thirtieths in water,
or other liquid contained in their food. The excess of
nutritive food over and above what is required to sus-
tain life will go in milch cows generally to the produc-
tion of milk, or to the growth of the foetus, but not in
all cows to an equal extent ; the tendency to the secre-
tion of milk being far more developed in some than in
others.
With regard to the consumption of food in propor-
tion to the live weight of the animal, however far it
may apply as a general principle, it should, I think/
116 NUTRITIVE ELEMENTS OF FOOD.
be taken with some qualifications. The proportion is
probably not uniform as applied to all breeds indiscrim-
inately, though it may be more so as applied to animals
of the same breed. BakewelPs idea was that the quan-
tity of food required depended much on the shape of
the barrel ; and it is well known that an animal of a
close, compact, well-rounded barrel will consume less
than one of an opposite make.
The variations in the yield of milch cows are caused
more by the variations in the nutritive elements of their
food than by a change of the form in which it is given.
" A cow, kept through the winter on mere straw," says a
practical writer on this subject, " will cease to give
milk ; and, when fed in spring on green forage, will give
a fair quantity of milk. But she owes the cessation
and restoration of the secretion to respectively the
diminution and the increase of her nourishment, and
not at all to the change of form, or of outward sub-
stance, in which the nourishment is administered. Let
cows receive through winter nearly as large a propor-
tion of nutritive matter as is contained in the clover,
lucerne, and fresh grasses, which they eat in summer,
and, no matter in what precise substance or mixture
that matter may be contained, they will yield a winter's
produce of milk quite as rich in caseine and butyr-
aceous ingredients as the summer's produce, and far
more ample in quantity than almost any dairyman with
old-fashioned notions would imagine to be possible.
The great practical error on this subject consists not
in giving wrong kinds of food, but in not so propor-
tioning and preparing it as to render an average ration
of it equally rich in the elements of nutrition, and es-
pecially in nitrogenous elements, as an average ration
of the green and succulent food of summer."
We keep too much stock for the quantity of good
MOIST FEED. — DAIRYMAN'S MOTTO. 117
and nutritious food which we have for it ; and the con-
sequence is cows are, in nine cases out of ten, poorly
wintered, and come out in the spring weakened, if not,*
indeed, positively diseased, and a long time is required
to bring them into a condition to yield a generous
quantity of milk.
It is a hard struggle for a cow reduced in flesh and
in blood to fill up the wasted system with the food
which would otherwise have gone to the secretion of
milk ; but, if she is well fed, well housed, well littered,
and well supplied with pure, fresh water, and with
roots, or other moist food, and properly treated to the
luxury of a frequent carding, and constant kindness,
she comes out ready to commence the manufacture of
milk under favorable circumstances.
Keep the cows constantly in good condition, ought,
therefore, to be the motto of every dairy farmer, posted
up over the barn-door, and over the stalls, and over the
milk-room, and repeated to the boys whenever there is
danger of forgetting it. It is the great secret of suc-
cess, and the difference between success and failure
turns upon it. Cows in milk require more food in pro-
portion to their size and weight than either oxen or
young cattle.
In order to keep cows in milk well and economically,
regularity is next in importance to a full supply of
wholesome and nutritious food. The healthy animal
stomach is a very nice chronometer, and it is of the
utmost importance to observe regular hours in feeding,
cleaning, and milking. This is a point, also, in which
very many farmers are at fault — feeding whenever it
happens to be convenient. The cattle are thus kept in
a restless condition, constantly expecting food when
the keeper enters the barn, while, if regular hours are
strictly adhered to, they know exactly when they are
118 COURSE OF FEEDING.
to be fed, and they rest quietly till the time arrives. Go
into a well-regulated dairy establishment an hour before
•the time of feeding, and scarcely an animal will rise to
its feet ; while, if it happens to be the hour of feeding,
the whole herd will be likely to rise and seize their
food with an avidity and relish not to be mistaken.
With respect to the exact routine to be pursued, no
rule could be prescribed which would apply to all cases ;
and each individual must be governed much by circum-
stances, both in respect to the particular kinds of feed
at different seasons of the year, and the system of feed-
ing. I have found in my own practice, and in the prac-
tice of the most successful dairymen, that, in order to
encourage the largest secretion of milk in stalled cows,
one of the best courses is, to feed in the morning,
either at the time of milking — which I prefer — or imme-
diately after, with cut feed, consisting of hay, oats,
millet, or corn-stalks, mixed with shorts, and Indian, lin-
seed, or cotton-seed meal, thoroughly moistened with
water. If in winter, hot or warm water is far better
than cold. If given at milking-time, the cows will gen-
erally give down the milk more readily. The stalls and
mangers ought always to be well cleaned out first.
Roots and long hay may be given during the day; and
at the evening milking, or directly after, another gen-
erous meal of cut feed, well moistened and mixed,
as in the morning. No very concentrated food, like
grains alone or oil-cakes, should, it seems to me, be fed
early in the morning on an empty stomach, though it is
sanctioned by the practice in the London milk-dairies.
The processes of digestion go on best when the stom-
ach is sufficiently distended ; and for this purpose the
bulk of food is almost as important as the nutritive
qualities. The flavor of some roots, as cabbages and
turnips, is more apt to be imparted to the flesh and
ECONOMY IN WARMTH. 119
milk when fed on an empty stomach than otherwise.
After the cows have been milked, and have finished
their cut feed, they are carded and curried down, in
well-managed dairies, and then either watered in the
stall, which in very cold or stormy weather is far pref-
erable, or turned out to water in the yard. When they
are out, if they are let out at all, the stables are put in
order ; and, after tying them up, they are fed with long
hay, and left to themselves till the time of next feed-
ing. This may consist of roots, such as cabbages,
beets, carrots, or turnips, sliced, or of potatoes, a peck,
or, if the cows are very large, a half-bushel each, and
cut feed again at the evening milking, as in the morn-
ing, after which water in the stall, if possible.
The less cows are exposed to the cold of winter, the
better. They eat less, thrive better, and give more milk,
when kept housed all the time, than when exposed to
the cold. Caird mentions a case where a herd of cows,
which had been usually supplied from troughs and
pipes in the stalls, were, on account of an obstruction
in the pipes, obliged to be turned out twice a day
to be watered in the yard. The quantity of milk
instantly decreased, and in three days the falling off
became very considerable. After the pipes were mended,
and the cows again watered as before, in their stalls, the
flow of milk returned. This, however, will te gov-
erned much by the weather; for in very mild, warm
days it may be judicious not only to let them out, but
to allow them to remain out for a short time, to ex-
ercise.
Anyone can arrange the hour for the several process-
es named above, to suit himself; but, when once fixed,
let it be rigidly and regularly followed. If the regular
and full feeding be neglected for even a day, the yield
of milk will immediately decline, and it will be very
120 REGULARITY. — CHANGE.
difficult to restore it. It may safely be asserted, as the
result of many trials and long practice, that a larger
flow of milk follows a complete system of regularity in
this respect than from a higher feeding where this sys-
tem is not adhered to.
One prime object which the dairyman should keep
constantly in view is, to maintain the animal in a sound
and healthy condition. Without this, no profit can be
expected from a milch cow for any considerable length
of time ; and, with a view to this, there should be an
occasional change of food. But, in making changes,
great care is required to supply an equal amount of
nourishment, or the cow falls off in flesh, and eventu-
ally in milk. We should therefore bear in mind that
the food consumed goes not alone to the secretion of
milk, but also to the growth and maintenance of the
bony structure, the flesh, the blood, the fat, the skin,
and the hair, and in exhalations from the body. These
parts of the body consist of different organic con-
stituents. Some are rich in nitrogen, as the fibrin of the
blood, albumen, &c. ; others destitute of it, as fat ; some
abound in inorganic salts, phosphate of lime, salts of pot-
ash, &c. To explain how the constant waste of these
substances may be supplied, Dr. Voelcker observes that
the albumen, gluten, caseine, and other nitrogenized
principles of food, supply the animal with materials
required for the formation of muscle and cartilage ; they
are, therefore, called flesh-forming principles.
"Fats, or oily matters of the food," says he, " are used
to lay on fat, or for the purpose of sustaining respiration.
" Starch, sugar, gum, and a few other non-nitrogenized
substances, consisting of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen,
supply the carbon given off in respiration, or they are
used for the production of fat.
"Phosphates of lime and magnesia in food principally
FEEDING FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES. 121
furnish the animal with the materials of which the bony
skeleton of its body consists.
"Saline substances — chlorides of sodium and pota&-
sium, sulphate and phosphate of potash and soda, and
some other mineral matters occurring in food — supply
the blood, juice of flesh, and various animal juices, with
the necessary mineral constituents.
" The healthy state of an animal can thus only be pre-
served by a mixed food; that is, food which contains all
the proximate principles just noticed. Starch or sugar
alone cannot sustain the animal body, because neither of
them furnishes the materials to build up the fleshy parts
of the animal. When fed on substances in which an in-
sufficient quantity of phosphates occurs, the animal will
become weak, because it does not find any bone-pro-
ducing principles in its food. Due attention, therefore,
ought to be paid by the feeder to the selection of food
which contains all the kinds of matter required, nitro-
genized as well as non-nitrogenized, and mineral sub-
stances ; and these should be mixed together in the
proportion which experience points out as best for the
different kinds of animals, or the particular purpose for
which they are kept."
"On the nutrition of cows for dairy purposes," Dr.
Voelcker still further observes that "milk may be re-
garded as a material for the manufacture of butter or
of cheese ; and, according to the purpose for which the
milk is intended to be employed, whether for the manu-
facture of butter or the production of cheese, the cow
should be differently fed.
" Butter contains carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and
no nitrogen. Cheese, on the contrary, is rich in nitro-
gen. Food which contains much fatty matter, or sub-
stances which in the animal system are readily con-
verged into fat, will tend to increase the proportion of
11
122 FOR MILK, BUTTER, AND CHEESE.
cream in milk. On the other hand, the proportion of
caseine or cheesy matter in milk is increased by the use
of highly nitrogenized food. Those, therefore, who
desire much cream, or who produce milk for the manu-
facture of butter, select food likely to increase the pro-
portion of butter in the milk. On the contrary, where
the principal object is the production of milk rich ir.
curd, — that is, where cheese is the object of the farmer,
— clover, peas, and bean-meal, and other plants which
abound in legumine, — a nitrogenized organic com-
pound, almost identical in properties and composition
with caseine, or the substance which forms the curd of
milk, — will be selected." And so the quality, as well as
the quantity, of butter in the milk, depends on the kind
of food consumed, and on the general health of the
animal. Cows fed on turnips in the stall always pro-
duce butter inferior to that of cows living upon the
fresh and aromatic grasses of the pastures.
Succulent food in which water abounds — the green
grass of irrigated meadows, green clover, brewers'
refuse, distillers' refuse, etc. — increases the quantity,
rather than the quality, of the milk ; and by feeding
these substances the milk-dairyman studies his own
interest, and makes thin milk, without diluting it with
water, though, in the opinion of some, this may be no
more legitimate than watering the milk.
But, though the yield of milk may be increased by
succulent or watery food, it should be given so as not
to interfere with the health of the cow.
Food rich in starch, gum, or sugar, which are the
'respiratory elements, an excess of which goes to the
production of fatty matters, increases the butter in milk.
Quietness promotes the secretion of fat in animals and
increases the butter. Cheese will be increased by food
rich in albumen, such as the leguminous plants.
SUMMER FOOD FOR COWS.
123
The most natural, and of course the healthiest food
for milch cows in summer, is the green grass of the
pastures ; and when these fail from drought, or over-
stocking, the complement of nourishment may be made
up with green clover, green oats, barley, millet, or corn-
fodder, and cabbage-leaves, or other succulent vegeta-
bles ; and if these are wanting, their place may be
partly supplied with shorts, Indian-meal, linseed or cot-
ton-seed meal. Green grass is more nutritious than
hay, which always loses more or less of its nutritive
qualities in curing ; the amount of the loss depending
chiefly on the mode of curing, and the length of ex-
posure to sun and rain. But, apart from this, grass is
more easily and completely digested than hay, though
the digestion of hay may be greatly aided by cutting
and moistening, or steaming ; and by this means it is
rendered more readily available, and hence far better
adapted to promote a large secretion of milk — a fact
too often overlooked by many even intelligent farmers.
That green grass is better adapted than most other
kinds of food to promote a large flow of milk, may be
be seen from the following table, from which it will
appear that greater attention should be given to the
proper constituents of food for milch cows. Two
cows were taken in the experiment.
Food of two cows.
Milk in
fire days.
Butter in
five days.
Nitrogen in
food in
five days.
1. Grass,
114 Ibs.
3.501bs.
2.321bs.
2. Barley and hay, . . .
107
3.43
3.89
3. Malt and hay, . . .
, 102
3.20
3.34
4. Barley, molasses, and)
hay, . . . . J
106
3.44
3.82
5. Barley, linseed, and\
I 108
»3.48
4.14
hay, ....]"
6. Beans and hay, .
-108
3.72
5.27
124 AUTUMN FOOD FOR COWS.
Here grass produced the largest flow of milk, but of
a quality less rich than bean-meal and hay, which pro-
duced the richest quality ; one hundred and eight
pounds making more butter than one hundred and four-
teen pounds of grass-made milk.
In autumn, the best fe'ed will be the grasses of the
pastures, so far as they are available, green-corn fod-
der, cabbage, carrot and turnip leaves, and an addition
of meal or shorts. Towards the middle of autumn, the
cows fed in the pastures will require to be housed reg-
ularly nights, especially in the more northern latitudes,
and put, in part at least, upon hay. But every farmer
knows that it is not judicious to feed out the best part
of his hay when his cattle are first put into the barn,
and that he should not feed so well in the early part of
winter that he cannot feed better as it advances.
At the same time, it should always be borne in mind
that the change from grass to a poor quality of hay or
straw, for cows in milk, should not be too sudden. A
poor quality of dry hay is far less palatable in the early
part of winter, after the cows are taken from grass,
than at a later period ; and, if it is resorted to with
milch cows, will inevitably lead to a falling off in the
milk, which no good feed can afterwards wholly restore.
It is desirable, therefore, to know what can be used
instead of his best English or upland meadow hay, and
yet not suffer any greater loss in the flow of milk, or
condition, than is absolutely necessary. In some sec-
tions of New England, the best quality of swale hay
will be used ; and the composition of that is as variable
as possible, depending on the varieties of grasses of
which it was made, and the manner of curing. But,
in other sections., many will find it necessary to use
straw, and other substitutes ; and it may be desirable to
know how much is required to form an equivalent in
NUTRITIVE EQUIVALENTS,
125
nutrition to good meadow or English hay. The follow-
ing brief table of nutritive equivalents will be conve-
nient for reference :
Nutritive
equivalent.
Percentage of Nitrogen*
' Dried.
Undried.
100
75
479
383
426
460
64
1.34
1.70
0.30
0.36
0.36
0.30
1.45
1.15
1.54
0.24
0.30
0.27
0.25
1.79
The following is the composition of these several
substances, in which their relative value will more
distinctly appear :
Water.
Woody fibre.
Starch, Gum,
Sugar.
Gluten, Albu-
men, etc.
Fatty matter.
Saline
matter.
14
14
12 to 15
12
12 to 15
12 to 15
10 to 15
30
25
45
45
50
50
25
40
40
38
35
30
30
45
7.1
9.3
1.3
1.3
1.3
1.3
12.3
2to5
3 to 5
0.8
2 to 3
1.5
5 to 10
9
4
6
5
5
4 to 6
From these tables it will be seen that, taking good
English or meadow hay as the standard of comparison,
and calling that one, 4.79 times the weight of rye-straw,
or 3.83 times the weight of oat-straw, contains the same
amount of nutritive matter; that is, it would take 4.79
times as much rye-straw to produce the same result
as good meadow hay.
The more elaborate nutritive equivalents of Boussin-
gault will be found to be very valuable and suggestive,
and the following table is given in this connection for
the sake of convenient reference.
126
TABLE OF EQUIVALENTS.
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WINTER FOOD FOR COWS. 127
The reader will find no difficulty in making this table
of practical value in deciding upon the proper course
of feeding to be pursued.
In winter the best food for cows in milk will be good
sweet meadow hay, a part of which should be cut a^d
moistened with water, as all inferior hay or straw should
be. with an addition of root-crops, such as turnips, car-
rots, parsnips, potatoes, mangold wurzel, with shorts,
oil-cake, Indian-meal, or bean-meal.
It is the opinion of most successful dairymen that
the feeding of moist food cannot be too highly recom-
mended for cows in milk, especially to those who desire
to obtain the largest quantity. Hay cut and thoroughly
moistened becomes more succulent and nutritive, and
partakes more of the nature of green grass.
As a substitute for the oil-cake, hitherto known as an
exceedingly valuable article for feeding stock, there is
probably nothing better than cotton-seed meal, now to
be had in large quantities in the market. This- is an
article whose economic value has been but recently
made known, but which, from practical trials already
made, has proved eminently successful as food for milch
cows. An average specimen of this was submitted for
analysis to Professor Johnson, who reported that its
composition is not inferior to that of the best flax-seed
cake, and that in some respects its agricultural value
surpasses that of any other kind of oil-cake, as is shown
in the following table, containing in column first the
analysis of cotton-seed meal made by himself; in column
second, some of the results obtained by Dr. C. T. Jack-
son on cake prepared by himself from hulled cotton-seed;
in column third, an analysis of cotton-seed cake, made by
Dr. Anderson, of Edinburgh ; in column fourth, the aver-
age composition of eight samples of American linseed-
cake ; and in column fifth, an analysis of meadow hay,
128 ON WHAT THE VALUE OF FOOD DEPENDS
obtained by Dr. Wolff in Saxony, given as a means of
comparison.
ir.
in.
iv.
v.
Water,
6.82
11.19
9 23
16.94
Oil,
16 47
9 08
12 96
Albuminous bodies, .
44.41
48.82
25.16
28.28
10.69
Mucilaginous and Saccha-
rine matters, ....
} 12.74
!•••
48.93
34.22
40.11
Fibre,
11 76
9 00
27 16
Ash,
7 80
8 96
5 64
6 21
5 04
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
7 05
7 75
3 95
447
Phosphoric acid in ash, .
2.36
2.45
_
Sand, .
.94
_
1.32
_
_
Johnson also remarks, in this connection, that the
great value of linseed-cake, as an adjunct to hay for fat
cattle and milch cows, has long been recognized ; and
is undeniably traceable in the main to three ingredients
of the seeds of the oil-yielding plants. The value of
food depends upon the quantity of matters it contains
which may be appropriated by the animal which con-
sumes the food. Now, it is proved that the fat of ani-
mals is derivable from the starch, gum, and sugar, and
more directly and easily from the oil of the food.
These four substances are, then, the fat-formers. The
muscles, nerves, and tendons of animals, the fibrine of
their blood, and the curd of their milk, are almost iden-
tical in composition, and strongly similar in many of
their properties with matters found in all vegetables,
but chiefly in such as form the most concentrated food.
These blood (and muscle) formers are characterized by
containing about fifteen and a half per cent, of nitrogen ;
and hence are called nitrogenous substances. They are
also often designated as the albuminous bodies.
The bony framework of the animal owes its solidity
to phosphate of lime, and this substance must be fur-
COTTON-SEED CAKE. 129
nished by the food. A perfect food must supply the
animal with these three classes of bodies, and in proper
proportions. The addition of a small quantity of a food
rich in oil and albuminous substances to the ordinary
kinds of feed, which contain a large quantity of vegeta-
ble fibre or woody matter, more or less indigestible, but
nevertheless indispensable to the herbivorous animals,
their digestive organs being adapted to a bulky food,
has been found highly advantageous in practice. Nei-
ther hay alone nor concentrated food alone gives the
best results. A certain combination of the two pre-
sents the most advantages.
A Bavarian farmer has recently announced that heif-
ers fed, for three months before calving, with a little
linseed-cake, in addition to their other fodder, acquire
a larger development of the milk-vessels, and yield
more milk afterwards, than similar animals fed as usual.
Cotton-seed cake must have an equally good effect.
Some of those who have used cotton-seed cake have
found difficulty in inducing cattle to eat it. By giving
it at first in small doses, mixed with other palatable
food, they soon learn to eat it with relish.
On comparing the analyses II. and I. with the aver-
age composition of linseed-cake IV., it will be seen that
the cotton-seed cake is much richer in oil and albumi-
nous matters than the linseed-cake. A correspondingly
less quantity will therefore be required. Three pounds
of this cotton-seed cake are equivalent to four of linseed-
cake of average quality.
During the winter season, as already remarked, a fre-
quent change of food is especially necessary, both as
contributing to the general health of animals, and as a
means of stimulating the digestive organs, and thus
increasing the secretion of milk. A mixture used as
cut feed, and well moistened, is now especially benefi-
130 BULK AS AN ELEMENT OF FOOD.
cial, since concentrated food, which would otherwise
be given in small quantities, may -be united with larger
quantities of coarser and less nutritive food, and the
complete assimilation of the whole be better secured.
On this subject Dr. Voelcker truly observes that the
most nutritious kinds of food produce little or no effect
when they are not digested by the stomach, or if the
digested food is not absorbed by the lymphatic vessels,
and not assimilated by the various parts of the body.
Now, the normal functions of the digestive organs not
only depend on the composition of the food, but also1
on its volume. The volume or bulk of the food con-
tributes to the healthy activity of the digestive organs,
by exercising a stimulating effect on the nerves which
govern them. Thus the whole organization of ruminat-
ing animals necessitates the supply of bulky food, to
keep the animal in good condition.
Feed sweet and nutritious food, therefore, regu-
larly, frequently, and in small quantities, and change it
often, and the best results may be confidently expected.
If the cows are not in milk, but are to come in in the
spring, the difference in feeding should be rather in the
quantity than the quality, if the highest yield is to be
expected from them the coming season.
The most common feeding is hay alone, and oftentimes
very poor hay, at that. The main point is to keep the
animal in a healthy and thriving condition, and not to
suli'er her to fail in flesh ; and with this object some
change and variety of food is highly important. And
here it may be remarked that cows in calf should not,
as a general rule, be milked the last month or six weeks
before calving, and many prefer to have them run dry
as many as eight or ten weeks. The yield of milk is
better the coming season, and holds out better, than if
they are milked up to the time of calving.
PARTURITION OF THE COW. 131
There are exceptions, however, and it is often very
difficult to dry off a cow sufficiently to make it judicious
to cease milking much, if any, before the time of calving.
Some even prefer to milk quite up to this time ; but the
weight of authority among the best practical farmers is
BO decidedly against it, that there can be no question
of its bad economy. Towards the close of winter, a
herd of cows will begin to come in, or approach their
time of calving. Care should then be taken not to feed
too rich or stimulating food for the last week or two
before this event, as it is often attended with ill conse-
quences. A plenty of hay, a few potatoes or shorts,
and pure water, will be sufficient.
As the time of calving approaches, the cow should be
removed from the rest of the herd, to a pen with a level
floor, by herself. Nothing is needed, usually, but to
supply her regularly with food and drink, and leave her
quietly to herself. In most cases the parturition will
be natural and easy, and the less the cow is disturbed
or meddled with, the better. She will do better with-
out help than with ; but she should be watched, in order
to see that no difficulty occurs which may require aid
and attention. In cases of difficult parturition the
aid of a skilful veterinary surgeon may be required.
For those who may desire to make themselves familiar
with the details of such cases so far as to be able to act
for themselves, Skellett's "Practical Treatise on the
Parturition of the Cow, or the Extraction of the Calf,"
an elaborate work, published in London in 1844, will be
an important guide.
In spring the best feeding for dairy cows will be
much the same as that for winter ; the roots in store
over winter, such as carrots, mangold wurzel, turnips,
and parsnips, furnishing very valuable aid in increasing
the quantity and improving the quality of milk. Tow-
132 FEEDING FOR QUANTITY.
ards the close of this season, and before the grass of
the pastures is sufficiently grown to make it judicious
to turn out the cows, the best dairymen provide a sup-
ply of green fodder in the shape of winter rye, which,
if cut while it is tender and succulent, and before it is
half grown, will be greatly relished. Unless cut young,
however, its stalk soon becomes hard and unpalatable.
Having stated briefly the general principles of feed-
ing cows for the dairy, it is proper to give the state-
ments of successful practical dairymen, both as corrob-
orating what has already been said, and as showing the
difference in practice in feeding and managing with
reference to the specific objects of dairy farming. And
first, a farmer of Massachusetts, supplying milk for the
Boston market, and feeding for that object, says : " For
thirty cows, cut with a machine thirty bushels for one
feed ; one third common English hay, one third salt hay,
and one third rye or barley straw ; add thirty quarts of
wheat bran or shorts, and ten quarts of oat and corn
meal moistened with water. One bushel of this mixture
is given to each cow in the morning, and the same
quantity at noon and in the evening. In addition to
this, a peck of mangold wurzel is given to each cow
per day. This mode of feeding has been found to pro-
duce nearly as much milk as the best grass feed in sum-
mer. When no wheat-bran or any kind of meal is given,
the hay is fed without cutting."
Another excellent farmer, of the western part of toe
same state, devoting his attention to the manufacture
of cheese, and the successful competitor for the first
prize of the state society for dairies, says of his feeding:
" My pastures are upland, and yield sweet feed. I fed,
in the month of June, all the whey from the milk made
into cheese, without any meal. In September, my pas-
tures being very much dried up, I fed all the whey,
FEEDING FOR QUALITY. 133
with one quart of meal to each cow, and also ten pounds
of corn fodder to each cow per day.
" I commence feeding my cows in the spring, before
calving, with three quarts of meal each per day, until
the feed in the pasture is good.
" I consider the best mixture of grain, ground into
meal, for milk, is equal quantities of rye, buckwheat,
and oats. For the last ten years I have not made less
than five hundred pounds of cheese and twenty pounds
of butter to each cow ; and one year I made six hundred
and forty pounds of cheese and twenty pounds of butter
to each cow.
" A cow will give more milk on good fresh grass than
any other feed. When the grass begins to fail, I make
up the deficiency by extra feed of meal and corn fodder.
I feed all my whey to my cows. I let them run dry
four months, and during this time I give them no extra
feed, always keeping salt before them."
Another, with one of the best butter dairies in the
same state, explains his mode of management of cows
in the stall as follows : " In the management of my stock
the utmost gentleness is observed, and exact regularity
in the hours of feeding while confined to the stable, and
of milking throughout the year.
" The stock is fed regularly three times a day.
" In the morning, as soon as the milking is over, each
cow (having been previously fed, and her bag cleaned
by washing, if necessary) is thoroughly cleaned and
groomed, if the expression may be used, with a curry-
comb, from head to foot, and, when cleaned, turned out
to drink. The stable is now cleaned out, the mangers
swept, and the floors sprinkled with plaster ; and as the
cows return, which they do as soon as inclined, they
are tied up and left undisturbed until the next hour of
feeding, which is at noon,
12
134 A PRACTICAL STATEMENT.
"The cattle at this time are again turned out to
drink, and, after being tied up on their return again,
fed. Of course the stable is at this time again thor-
oughly cleansed. And so again at night the same
course is pursued. At this time a good bedding is
spread for each cow, and, after all are in, they are fed.
" At six o'clock the milking commences, and at its
termination, after removing from the floor whatever
manure may have been dropped, the stable is closed for
the night. If carrots are fed, which is the only root
allowed to my cows in milk, they are given at the time
of the evening milking.
" Whatever material is taken for bedding (as corn-
stalks, husks, &c.) is passed through a cutting-machine,
and composes the noon feed, such portions as are not
consumed by the cows being used for bedding. The
additional labor of cutting up is amply compensated by
the reduced amount of labor in working (loading) and
ploughing under the manure.
" While I consider it highly desirable that the cows,
during the period they are stabled, should be kept warm
and dry, I regard it as indispensable that they should
be perfectly clean ; and, although the stock is stabled
the whole time, care is taken that there is a sufficient
degree of ventilation."
In Herkimer county, New York, one of the best dairy
districts in the country, a dairy farmer who kept twenty-
five cows for the manufacture of cheese, making in ono
year nearly seven hundred pounds per cow, states his
mode of feeding as follows : " When the ground is set-
tled, and grass is grown so that cows can get their fill
without too much toil, they are allowed to graze an
hour, only, the first day ; the second day a little longer,
and so on, till they get accustomed to the change of
feed before they are allowed to have full range of pas-
CHANGE OP PASTURE. — CORN FODDER. 135
ture. Shift of pasture is frequently made to keep feed
fresh and a good bite. About one acre per cow affords
plenty of feed till the first of August. If enough land
was turned to pasture to feed the cows through the
season, it would get a start of them about this time, and
be hard and dry the balance of the season. To avoid
turning on my meadows in the fall, I take one acre to
every ten cows, plough and prepare it the fore part
of June for sowing ; I commence sowing corn broadcast,
about half an acre at a time (for twenty-five cows), so
that it may grow eighty or ninety days before it is cut
and fed. I have found, by experiment, that it then con
tains the most saccharine juice, and will produce the
most milk. If the ground is strong, I sow two bushels
per acre ; more if the ground is not manured.
" The common yield is from fifteen to twenty tons (of
green feed) per acre. About the first of August, when
heat and flies are too oppressive for cows to feed quietly
in the day-time, I commence feeding them with what
corn they will eat in the morning, daily, which is cut up
with a grass-scythe, and drawn on a sled or wagon to
the milk-barn and fed to them in the stalls, which is
one hour's work for a man at each feeding. When thus
plentifully fed, my cows have their knitting-work, on
hand for the day, which they can do up by lying quietly
under artificial shades, erected in such places as need
manuring most, and are most airy, by setting posts and
putting poles and bushes on top, the sides being left
open. These shades may be made and removed annu-
ally, to enrich other portions of soil, if desired, at the
small expense of one dollar for each ten cows. At
evening, my cows are fed whey only, because they can
feed more quietly, with less rambling, and will give
more milk by feeding most when the dew is on the
grass.
136 AIR AND WARMTH.
" The capacity of cows for giving milk is varied
much by habit. In fall, after the season of feeding is
past, I feed four quarts of wheat bran or shorts made
into slop with whey, or a peck of roots to each cow, till
milking season closes (about the first of December).
When confined in stables and fed hay and milked, they
are fed each one pail full of thin slop at morning before
foddering, and also at evening, to render their food
more succulent, and they will not drink so much cold
water when let out in the middle of the day. In cold
weather cows are kept well attended in warm stables.
No foddering is done on the ground. Thus a supply
of milk is kept up, and the cows get in good flesh,
while their blood and bags are left in a healthy con-
dition when dried off.
" This flesh they hold till milk season in spring, with-
out other feed than good hay. They will not get
fleshy bags, but come into milk at once. About the
first of April they are carded daily, till they are turned
to grass. Wheat-bran in milk or whey, slops, or
roots, are daily fed, as they are found best adapted to
the nature of different cows, and most likely to estab-
lish a regular flow of milk till grass comes."
All practical dairymen concur in saying that a warm
and well-ventilated barn is indispensable to the promo-
tion of the highest yield of milk in winter ; and most
agree that cows in milk should not be turned out even
to drink in cold weather, all exposure to cold tending
to lessen the yield of milk.
In the London dairies, where, of course, the cows
are fed so as to produce the largest flow of milk, the
treatment is as follows : The cows are kept at night in
stalls. About three A. M. each has half a bushel of
grains. When milking is finished, each receives a
bushel of turnips (or mangolds), and shortly afterwards
THE WILLOWBANK DAIRY. 137
one tenth of a truss of hay of the best quality. This
feeding occurs before eight A. M., when the animals are
turned into the yard. Four hours after, they are again
tied up in their stalls, and have another feed of grains.
When the afternoon milking is over (about three P. M.),
they are fed with a bushel of turnips, and after the
lapse of an hour, hay is given them as before. This
mode of feeding usually continues throughout the root
season, or from November to March. During the
remaining months they are fed with grains, tares, and
cabbages, and a proportion of rowen or second-cut hay.
They are supplied regularly until they are turned out
to grass, when they pass the whole of the night in the
field. The yield is about six hundred and fifty gallons
a year for each cow.
Mr. Harley, whose admirable dairy establishment has
been already alluded to, as erected for the purpose of
supplying the city of Glasgow with a good quality of
milk, and which contributed more than anything else to
improve the quality of milk furnished to all the cities
of Great Britain, adopted the following system of feed-
ing with the greatest profit: In the early part of
summer, young grass and green barley, the first cut-
ting especially, mixed with a large proportion of old
hay or straw, and a good quantity of salt to prevent
swelling, were used. As summer advanced less hay
and straw were given, and as the grass approached
ripeness they were discontinued altogether, but young
and wet clover was never given without an admixture
of dry provender. When grass became scarce, young
turnips and turnip-leaves were steamed with hay, and
formed a good substitute. As grass decreased the
turnips were increased, and at length became a com-
plete substitute. As the season advanced a large pro-
portion of distillers' grains and wash was given with
12*
138 MR. HORSFALL'S COURSE OF FEEDING.
other food, but these were found to be apt to make the
cattle grain-sick ; and if this feeding were long con-
tinued, the health of the cows became affected. Boiled
linseed and short-cut wheat-straw mixed with the
grains were found to prevent the cows from turning
sick. As spring approached, Swedish turnips, when
cheap, were substituted for yellow turnips. These two
roots, steamed with hay and other mixtures, afforded
soft food till grass was again in season. When any of
the cows were surfeited, the food was withheld till the
appetite returned, when a small quantity was given,
and increased gradually to the full allowance.
But the most elaborate and valuable experiments in
the feeding and management of milch cows are those
recently made by Mr. T. Horsfall, of England, and pub-
lished in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society.
His practice, though adapted, perhaps, more especially
to his own section, is nevertheless of such general
application and importance as to be worthy of attention.
By his course of treatment he found that he could pro-
duce as much and as rich butter in winter as in
'summer.
His first object was to afford a full supply of the ele-
ments of food adapted to the maintenance and also to
the produce of the animal ; and this could not be effected
by the ordinary food and methods of feeding, since it is
impossible to induce a cow to consume a quantity of
hay requisite to supply the waste of the system, and
keep up, at the same time, a full yield of the best
quality of milk. He used, to some extent, cabbages,
kohl rabi, mangolds, shorts, and other substances, rich
in the constituents of cheese and butter. " My food for
milch cows," says he, " after having undergone various
modifications, has for two seasons consisted of rape-cake
five pounds and bran two pounds, for each cow, mixed
A NEW KIND OP FOOD. 139
with a sufficient quantity of bean-straw, oat-straw, and
shells of oats, in equal proportions, to supply them
three times a day with as much as they will eat. The
whole of the materials are moistened and blended
together, and, after being well steamed, are given to
the animals in a warm state. The attendant is allowed
one pound to one and a half pounds per cow, according
to circumstances, of bean-meal, which he is charged to
give to each cow in proportion to the yield of milk ;
those in full milk getting two pounds each per day,
others but little. It is dry, and mixed with the steamed
food on its being dealt out separately. When this is
eaten up, green food is given, consisting of cabbages
from October to December, kohl rabi till February, and
mangold till grass time. With a view to nicety of
flavor, I limit the supply of green food to thirty or
thirty-five pounds per day for each. After each feed,
four pounds of meadow hay, or twelve pounds per day,
is given to each cow. They are allowed water twice
a day to the extent they will drink."
Bean-straw uncooked being found to be hard and
unpalatable, it was steamed to make it soft and pulpy,
when it possessed an agreeable odor, and imparted its
flavor to the whole mess. It was cut for this purpose
just before ripening, but after the bean was fully
grown, and in this state was found to possess nearly
double the amount of albuminous matter, so valuable to
milch cows, of good meadow or upland hay. Bean or
shorts is also vastly improved by steaming or soaking
with hot water, when its nutriment is more readily
assimilated. It contains about fourteen per cent, of
albumen, and is rich in phosphoric acid. Rape-cake was
found to be exceedingly valuable. Linseed and cotton-
seed cake may probably be substituted for it in this
country. Mr. Horsfall is accustomed to turn his cows
140 \ STIMULATING THE APPETITE.
in May into a rich pasture, housing them at night: and
giving them a mess of the steamed mixture and some
hay morning and night; and from June to October they
have cut grass in the stall, besides what they get in the
pasture, and two feeds of the steamed mixture a day.
After the beginning of October the cows are kept
housed. With such management, his cows generally
yield from twelve to sixteen quarts of milk (wine
measure) a day, for about eight months after calving,
when they fall off in milk, but gain in flesh, up to calv-
ing-time. In this course of treatment the manure is
far better than the average, and his pastures are con-
stantly improved. The average amount of butter from
every sixteen quarts of milk is twenty-five ounces, a
proportion far larger than the average. His investi-
gations are very full and complete. — See Appendix.
How widely does this course of practice differ from
that of most farmers ! The object with many seems
to be to see with how little food they can keep the
cow alive. Now, it appears to me that the milch cow
should be regarded as an instrument of transformation.
With so much hay, so much grain, so many roots, how
can the most milk, or butter, or cheese, be made ? The
conduct of a manufacturer who owned good machinery,
and an abundance of raw material, and had the labor at
hand, would be considered as very absurd, if he hesi-
tated to supply the material, and keep the machinery at
work at least so long as he could run it with profit.
Stimulate the appetite, then, and induce the cow to
eat, by a frequent change of diet, not merely enough to
supply the constant waste of her system, but enough
and to spare, of a food adapted to the production of
milk of the quality desired.
SOILING. — Of the advantages of soiling milch cows,
or feeding exclusively in the barn, there are still many
THE SOILING SYSTEM. 141
conflicting opinions. As to its economy of land and
feed there is no question, it being generally admitted
that a given number of animals may be abundantly fed
on a less space ; nor is there much question as to the
increased quantity of milk yielded in stall feeding. Its
economy in this country turns rather upon the cost of
labor and land ; and the question asked by the dairy
man is whether it will pay — whether its advantages
are sufficient to balance the extra expense of cutting
and feeding over and above cropping on the pasture.
The importance of this subject has been strongly im-
pressed upon the attention of farmers in many sections
of the country, by a growing conviction that something
must be done to improve the pastures, or that they
must be abandoned altogether.
Thousands of acres of neglected pasture-land in the
older states are so poor and worn out that from four to
eight acres furnish but a miserable subsistence for a
good-sized cow. No animal can flourish under such cir-
cumstances. The labor and exertion of feeding is too
great, to say nothing of the vastly inferior quality
of the grasses in such pastures to those on more
recently seeded lands. True economy would dictate
that such pastures should either be allowed to run up
to wood, or be devoted to sheep-walks, or ploughed and
improved. Cows, to be able to yield well, must have
plenty of food of a sweet and nutritious quality ; and
unless they find it, they wander over a large space, if
at liberty, and deprive themselves of rest.
If a farmer or dairyman is the unfortunate owner of
such pastures, there can be no question that, as a mat-
ter of real economy, he had better resort to the soiling
system for his milch cows, by which means he will
largely increase his annual supply of good manure, and
thus have the means of improving, and bringing his
142 THE TRUE TEST.
land to a higher state of cultivation. A very success-
ful instance of this management occurs in the report of
the visiting committee of an agricultural society in
Massachusetts, in which they say : " We have now in
mind a farmer in this county who keeps seven or eight
cows in the stable through the summer, and feeds them
on green fodder, chiefly Indian-corn. We asked him
the reasons for it. His answer was : 1. That he gets
more milk than he can by any other method. 2. That
he gets more manure, especially liquid manure. 3.
That he saves it all, by keeping a supply of mould or
mud under the stable, to be taken out and renewed as
often as necessary. 4. That it is less troublesome than
to drive his cows to pasture ; that they are less vexed
by flies, and have equally good health. 5. That his
mowing-land is every year growing more productive,
without the expense of artificial manure. He estimates
that on an acre of good land twenty tons of green fod-
der may be raised. That which is dried is cut fine, and
mixed with meal or shorts, and fed with profit. He-
believes that a reduced and partially worn-out farm —
supposing the land to be naturally good — could be
brought into prime order in five years, without extra
outlay of money for manure, by the use of green fod-
der in connection with the raising and keeping of pigs;
not fattening them, but selling at the age of four or five
months." He keeps most of his land in grass, improv-
ing its quality and productiveness by means of top-
dressing, and putting money in his pocket, — which is,
after all, the true test both for theory and practice.
Another practical case in hand on this point is that
of a gentleman in the same state, who had four cows,
but not a rod of land to pasture them on. They were,
therefore, never out of the barn, — or, at least, not
out of the yard/ — and were fed with grass, regularly
ECONOMY OF LAND. 143
mown for them ; with green Indian-corn fodder, which
had been sown broadcast for the purpose ; and with
about three pints of meal a day. Their produce in but-
ter was kept for thirteen weeks. Two of them were
but two years old, having calved the same spring. All
the milk of one of them was taken by her calf six
weeks out of the thirteen, and some of the milk of the
other was taken for family use, the quantity of which
was not measured. These heifers could not be esti-
mated, therefore, as more than equal to one cow in full
milk. And yet from these cows no less than three
hundred and eighty-nine pounds of butter were made in
the thirteen weeks. Another pound would have made
an average of thirty pounds a week for the whole time.
It appears from these, and other similar instances of
successful soiling, or stall-feeding in summer on green
crops cut for the purpose, that the largely increased
quantity of the yield fully counterbalances the slightly
deteriorated quality. And not only is the quantity
yielded by each cow increased, but the same extent of
land, under good culture, will carry double or treble the
number of ordinary pastures, and keep them in better
condition. There is also a saving of manure. But with
us the economy of soiling is the exception, and not the
rule.
In adopting this system of feeding, regularity is
required as much as in any other, and a proper variety
of food. A succession of green crops should be
provided, as near as convenient to the stable. The
first will naturally be winter rye, in the Northern
States, as that shoots up with great luxuriance. Win-
ter rape would probably be an exceedingly valuable
addition to the plants usually cultivated for soiling
in this country, in sections where it withstands the
severity of the winter. Cabbages kept in the cellar, or
144 STILL-SLOPS. — SWILL-MILK.
pit, and transplanted early, will also come in here to
advantage, and clover will very soon follow them ;
oats, millet, and green Indian-corn, as the season ad-
vances: and, a little later still, perhaps, the Chinese
sugar-cane, which should not be cut till headed out.
These plants, in addition to other cultivated grasses, will
furnish an unfailing succession of succulent and tender
fodder; while the addition of a little Indian, linseed,
or cotton-seed meal will be found economical.
In the vicinity of large towns and cities, where the
object is too often to feed for the largest quantity,
without reference to quality, an article known as dis-
tillers' swill, or still-slop, is extensively used. This, if
properly fed in limited quantities, in combination Avith
other and more bulky food, may be a valuable article
for the dairyman ; but, if given, as it too often is, with-
out the addition of other kinds of food, it soon affects
the health and constitution of the animals fed on it.
This swill contains a considerable quantity of water,
some nitrogenous compounds, and some inorganic mat-
ter, in the shape of phosphates and alkaline salts found
in the different kinds of grain of which it is made up,
as Indian corn, wheat, barley, rye, &c. Where this
forms the principal food of milch cows, the milk is of a
very poor quality — blue in color, and requiring the
addition of coloring substances to make it salable. It
contains, often, less than one per cent, of butter, and
seldom over one and three tenths or one and a half per
cent., while good, salable milk ought to contain from
three to five per cent. It will not coagulate, it is said,
in less than five or six hours, while good milk will
invariably coagulate in one hour or less, under the
same conditions. Its effect on the system of young
children is therefore very destructive, causing diseases
of various kinds, and, if continued, certain death.
STRUCTURE OF THE UDDER. 145
MILKING. — The manner of milking exerts a more
powerful and lasting influence on the productiveness of
the cow than most farmers are aware of. That a slow
and careless milker soon dries up the best of cows,
every practical farmer and dairyman knows ; but a care-
ful examination of the beautiful structure of the udder
will serve further to explain the proper mode of milking,
to obtain and keep up the largest yield. " The udder
of a cow," says a writer in the Rural Cyclopaedia, " is a
unique mass, composed of two symmetrical parts, simply
united to each other by a cellular tissue, lax, "and very
abundant ; and each of these parts comprises two
divisions or quarters, which consist of many small
granules, and are connected together by a compact
laminous tissue; and from each quarter proceed systems
of ducts, which form successive unions and confluences,
somewhat in the manner of the many affluents of a
large river, until they terminate in one grand excretory
canal, which passes down through the elongated mam-
millary body called the teat. Its lactiferous or milk
tubes, however, do not, as might be supposed, proceed
exactly from smaller to larger ducts by a gradual and
regular enlargement, because it would not have been
proper that the secretion of milk should escape as it
was formed; and therefore we find an apparatus adapted
for the purpose of retaining it for a proper time. This
apparatus is to be found both in the teat and in the in-
ternal construction of the udder. The teat resembles a
funnel in shape, and somewhat in office ; and it is pos-
sessed of a considerable degree of elasticity. It seems
formed principally of the cutis, with some muscular
fibres, and it is covered on the outside by cuticle, like
every other part of the body ; but the cuticle here not
only covers the exterior, but also turns upwards, and
lines the inside of the extremity of the teat, as far as it
13 10
146 MANNER OF MILKING.
is contracted, and there terminates by a frilled edge/
the rest of the interior of the teats and ducts being
lined by mucous membrane. But, as the udder in most
animals is attached in a pendulous manner to the body,
and as the weight of the column of fluid would press
with a force which would, in every case, overcome the
resistance of the contractions of the extremity, or
prove oppressive to the teat, there is in the internal
arrangement of the udder a provision made to obviate
this difficulty. The various ducts, as they are united,
do not become gradually enlarged so as to admit the
ready flow of milk in a continual stream to the teat,
but are so arranged as to take off, in a great measure,
the extreme pressure to which the teat would be other-
wise exposed. Each main duct, as it enters into another,
has a contraction produced, by which a kind of valvular
apparatus is formed in such a manner as to become
pouches or sacks, capable of containing the great body
of the milk. In consequence of this arrangement, it is
necessary that a kind of movement upwards, or lift,
should be given to the udder before the teat is drawn,
to force out the milk ; and by this lift the milk is dis-
placed from these pouches, and escapes into the teat,
and is then easily squeezed out ; while the contractions,
or pouches, at the same time resist, in a certain degree,
the return or reflux of the displaced milk."
The first requisite of a good milker is, of course,
the utmost cleanliness. Without this, the milk is unen-
durable. The udder should, therefore, be carefully
cleaned before the milking commences. The milker
may begin gradually and gently, but should steadily
increase the rapidity of the operation till the udder is
emptied, using a pail sufficiently large to hold all, with-
out the necessity of changing. Cows are very sensi-
tivc3 and the pail cannot be changed, nor can the
EFFECT OF CARELESS MILKING. 147
milker stop or rise during the process of milking, with-
out leading the cow more or less to withhold her milk.
The utmost care should be taken to strip to the last drop,
and to do it rapidly, and not in a slow and negligent
manner, which is sure to have its effect on the yield of
the cow. If any milk is left, it is reabsorbed into the
system, or else becomes caked, and diminishes the tend-
ency to secrete a full quantity afterwards. Milking as
dry as possible is especially necessary with young cows
with their first calf, as the mode of milking, and the
length of time to which they can be made to hold out,
will have very much to do with their milking qualities
as long as they live.
At the age of two or three years the milky glands
have not become fully developed, and their largest
development will depend very greatly upon the man-
agement after the first calf. Cows should have,
therefore, the most milk-producing food ; be treated
with constant gentleness ; never struck, or spoken
harshly to, but coaxed and caressed ; and in ninety-nine
cases out of a hundred they will grow up gentle and
quiet. But harshness is worse than useless. Nothing
does so much to dry a cow up, especially a young cow.
The longer the young cow, with her first and sec-
ond calf, can be made to hold out, the more surely
will this habit be fixed upon her. Stop milking her
four months before the next calf, and it will be dif-
ficult to make her hold out to within four or six
weeks of the time of calving afterwards. Induce her,
if possible, by moist and succulent food, and by care-
ful milking, to hold out even up to the time of calv-
ing, if you desire to milk her so long, and this habit
will be likely to be fixed upon her for life. But do
not expect to obtain the full yield of a cow the first
year after calving. Some of the very best cows are
148 GENTLE TREATMENT.
slow to develop their best qualities ; and no cow reaches
her prime till the age of five or six years.
The extreme importance of care and attention to
these points cannot be over-estimated. The wild cows
grazing on the plains of South America are said to give
only about three or four quarts a day at the height of
the flow ; and many an owner of large herds in Texas, it
is said, has too little milk for family use, and sometimes
receives his supply of butter from the New York
market. There is, therefore, a constant tendency to dry
up in milch cows ; and it must be guarded against with
special care, till the habit of yielding a large quantity,
and yielding it long, becomes fixed in the young animal,
when, with proper care, it may easily be kept up.
If gentle and mild treatment is observed and perse-
vered in, the operation of milking appears to be one of
pleasure to the animal, as it undoubtedly is ; but if an
opposite course is pursued, — if, at every restless move-
ment, caused, perhaps, by pressing a sore teat, the animal
is harshly spoken to, — she will be likely to learn to kick
as a habit, and it will be difficult to overcome it ever
afterwards. To induce quiet and readiness to give
down the milk freely, it is better that the cow should
be fed at milking-time with cut feed, or roots, placed
within her easy reach.
I have never practised milking more than twice a
day, because in spring and summer other farm-work
was too pressing to allow of it; but there is no doubt
that, for some weeks after calving, and in the height
of the flow, the cows ought, if possible, to be milked
regularly three times a day — at early morning, noon, and
night. Every practical dairyman knows that cows thus
milked give a larger quantity of milk than if milked
only twice, though it may not be quite so rich ; and in
young cows, no doubt, it has a tendency to promote the
DAIRY-MAIDS. WARM BARN. 149
development of the udder and milk-veins. A frequent
milking stimulates an increased secretion, therefore, and
ought never to be neglected in the milk-dairy, either
in the case of young cows or very large milkers, at the
height of the flow, which will ordinarily be for two or
three months after calving.
The charge of this branch of the dairy should gen-
erally be intrusted to women. They are more gentle
and winning than men. The same person should milk
the same cow regularly, and not change from one to
another, unless there are special reasons for it.
There being a wide difference in the quality as well
as in the quantity of milk of different cows, no dairy-
man should neglect to test the milk of each new addi-
tion to his dairy stock, whether it be an animal of his
own raising or one brought from abroad. A lactometer
is a very convenient instrument here ; but any one can
set the milk of each cow separately at first, and give it
a fair and full trial, when the difference will be found
to be great. Economy will dictate that the cows
least adapted to the purpose should be disposed of, and
their place supplied by better ones.
THE BARN. — The management of dairy stock requires
a warm and well-ventilated barn or cow-room, in latitudes
where it becomes necessary to stall-feed during several
months of the year. This should be arranged in a
manner suitable to keeping hay and other fodder dry
and sweet, and with reference to the comfort and health
of animals, and the economy of labor and manure. The
size and finish will, of course, depend on the wants and
means of the farmer or dairyman ; but many little con-
veniences can be added at trifling cost.
The cow-room, Fig. 56, is given as an illustration
merely of a convenient arrangement for a medium-sized
dairy, and not as adapted to all circumstances or situ-
150 DESCRIPTION OF PLAN.
ations. The barn stands, we will suppose, upon a side
hill, or an inclined surface, where it is easy to have a
cellar, if it is desired ; and the cow-room, as shown in
the figure, is in the second story, or directly over the
cellar, the bottom of which should be somewhat dished,
or lower in the middle than around the outer sides, and
carefully paved or laid in cement.
The cow-room, as shown in the figure, is drawn on a
scale of twenty feet to the inch. On the outside is
represented an open shed, m, for carts and wagons to
remain under cover, thirty feet by fifteen, while 1 1 II II
are bins for vegetables, to be filled through scuttles from
the floor of the story above, and surrounded by solid
walls. The area of this whole floor equals one hundred
feet by fifty-seven. &, open, space, and nearly on a
level with the cow-chamber, through the door p. s,
stairs to third story and to the cellar, d d d, passage
next to the walls, five feet wide, and nine inches above
the dung-pit, e e e, dung-pit, two feet wide, and seven
inches below the floor where the cattle stand. The
manure drops from this pit into the cellar below, five
feet from the walls, and quite round the cellar, c c c,
plank floor for cows, four feet six inches long, b b b,
stalls for three yoke of oxen, on a platform five feet six
inches long, n n, calf-pens, which may be used also
for cows in calving, r r, feeding-troughs for calves.
The feeding-boxes are made in the form of trays, with
partitions between them. Water comes in by a pipe,
to cistern a. This cistern is regulated by a cock and
ball, and the water flows by dotted lines, o o o, to the
boxes, and each box is connected by lead pipes well
secured from frost, so that, if desired, each animal can
be watered without leaving the stall, or water can be
kept constantly before it. A scuttle by which sweep-
ings, etc., may be put through into the cellar, is seen
PLAN OF COW- ROOM,
151
3-
J-
t
"Tt3lT
si
P
1£
JS
D c,
t
*C
irmTirr ."
-i
r
-£
^i
H
=r£
at/, g is a bin receiving cut hay from third story, or
hay-room, h h h h h h, bins for grain-feed, i is a tunnel
to conduct manure or muck from the hay-floor to the
cellar, jj, sliding doors on wheels. The cows all face
towards the open area in the centre.
152 DESCRIPTION OF PLAN.
This cow-room may be furnished with a thermom-
eter, clock, etc., and should always be well ventilated
by sliding windows, which at the same time admit the
light.
Fig. 67.
Fig. 57 is a transverse section of the cow-room, Fig.
56, a being a walk behind the cows, five feet wide ;
b, dung-pit ; c, cattle-stand ; d, feeding-trough, with a
bottom on a level with the platform where the cattle
stand ; k, open area, forty-three feet by fifty-six.
The story above the cow-room, Fig. 58, is one hun-
dred feet by forty-two, the bays for hay, ten on each
side, being ten feet front and fifteen feet deep, and the
open space, p, for the entrance of wagons, carts, etc.,
twelve feet wide. b, hay-scales, c, scale-beam, m mm
m mm, ladders reaching almost to the roof. Ill, &c.,
scuttle-holes for sending vegetables direct to the bins,
III, etc., below, a a b b, rooms on the corners for
storage, d, scuttles, four of which are used for straw,
one for cut hay, and one for muck for the cellar, n
and the other small squares are eighteen-feet posts. /,
passage to the tool-house, a room one hundred feet
long by fifteen wide, o, stairs leading to the scaffold in
the roof of the tool-house, i i, benches, g, floor, h.
boxes for hoes, shovels, spades, picks, iron bars, old
iron, etc. jjj, bins for fruit. &, scuttles to put apples
into wagons, etc., in the shed below. One side of
this tool-house may be used for ploughs and large
implements, hay-rigging, harrows, etc.
PLAN OF BARN FLOOR
153
a
° a
D3
Proper ventilation of the cellar and the cow-room
avoids the objection that the hay is liable to injury
from noxious gases.
154 THE BARN-CELLAR.
The excellent manure-cellar beneath this barn extends
only under the cow-room. It has a drive-way through
doors on each side. No barn-cellar should be kept shut
up tight, even in cold weather. The gases are con-
stantly escaping from the manure, unless held by absorb-
ents, and are liable not only to affect the health of the
stock, but to injure the quality of the hay. To prevent
this, and yet secure the important advantages of a ma-
nure-cellar, the barn may be furnished with good-sized
ventilators on the top, for every twenty-five feet of its
length, and with wooden tubes leading from the cellar
to the top.
There should also be windows on different sides of
the cellar, to admit a free circulation of air. With these
precautions, together with the use of absorbents in the
shape of loam and muck, there will be no danger of
rotting the timbers of the barn, or of risking the health
of the cattle or the quality of the hay.
The temperature at which the cow-room should be
kept is somewhere from 50° to 60°, Fahr. The practice
and the opinions of successful dairymen differ on this
point. Too great heat would affect the health and appe-
tite of the herd, while too low a temperature is equally
objectionable, for various reasons.
CHAPTER V.
THE RAISING OP CALVES.
IT has been found in practice that calves properly
bred and raised on the farm have a far greater intrinsic
value for that farm, other things being equal, than any
that can be procured elsewhere, while on the manner
in which they are raised will depend much of their
future usefulness and profit. These considerations
should have their proper weight in the decision as to
whether a promising calf from a good cow and bull
shall be kept or sold to the butcher. But, rather than
raise a calf at hap-hazard, and simply because its
dam was celebrated as a milker, the judicious farmer
will judge of the peculiar characteristics of the animal
itself. This will often save a great and useless outlay
which has sometimes been incurred in raising calves
for dairy purposes, that a more careful examination
would have rejected as unpromising.
The method of judging stock developed in a former
chapter is of practical use here, and it is safer to rely
upon it, to some extent, particularly when other appear-
ances concur, than to go on blindly. The milk-mirror
on the calf is small, but no smaller in proportion to its
size than that of the cow ; while its shape and form can
generally be distinctly seen, particularly at the end of
ten or twelve weeks. The development of the udder,
and other peculiarities, will give some indication of the
156 RAISING CALVES. — LOCAL PRACTICES.
future capacities of the animal, and these should be
studied.
If we except the manure of young stock, the calf is
the first product of the cow, and as such demands our
attention, whether it is to be raised or hurried off to
the shambles. The practice adopted in raising calves
differs widely in different sections of the country, being
governed very much by local circumstances, as the
vicinity of a milk-market, the value of milk for the
dair}r, the object of breeding, whether mainly for beef,
for work, or for the dairy, etc. ; but, in general, it may
be said that, within the range of thirty or forty miles
of good veal-markets, which large towns furnish, com-
paratively few are raised at all. Most of them are
fatted and sold at ages varying from three to eight or
ten weeks ; and in milk-dairies still nearer large towns
and cities they are often hurried off at one or two
days, or, at most, a week old. In both of these cases,
as long as the calf is kept it is generally allowed to
suckle the cow, and, as the treatment is very simple, there
is nothing which particularly calls for remark, unless
it be to condemn the practice entirely, on the ground
that there is a more profitable way even for fattening
calves for the butcher, and to say that allowing the calf
to suck the cow at all is objectionable on the score of
economy, except in cases where it is rendered neces-
sary by the hard and swollen condition of the udder.
If the calf is so soon to be taken away, I should pre-
fer not to suffer the cow to become attached to it at
all, since she is apt to withhold her milk when it is
removed, and a loss is sustained. The farmer will be
governed by the question of profit, whatever course it
is proposed to adopt. In raising blood stock, however,
or in raising beef cattle, without any regard to economy
of milk, the system of suckling the calves, or letting
BRINGING UP BY HAND. 157
them run with the cow, may and will be adopted, since
it is usually attended with somewhat less labor.
The other course, which is regarded as the best where
the calf is to be raised for the dairy, is to bring it up
by hand. This is done almost universally in all coun-
tries where the raising of dairy cows is best understood,
— in Switzerland, Holland, some parts of Germany, and
England. It requires rather more care, on the whole ;
but it is decidedly preferable, since the calves cost less,
as the food can be easily modified, and the growth is
not checked, as it is apt to be when the calf is finally
taken off from the cow. I speak, of course, of sections
where the milk of the cow is of some account for the
dairy, and where it is too valuable to be devoted entirely
to nourishing the calf. In this case, as soon as the calf
is dropped the cow is allowed to lick off the slimy moist-
ure till it is dry, which she will usually do from instinct,
or, if not, a slight sprinkling of salt over the body of the
calf will immediately tempt her. The calf is left to suck
once or twice, which it will do as soon as it is able to
stand. It should, in all cases, be permitted to have the
first milk that comes from the cow, which is of a turbid,
yellowish color, unfit for any of the purposes of the
dairy, but somewhat purgative or medicinal, and admir-
ably and wisely designed by nature to free the bowels
and intestines of the new-born animal from the mucous,
excrementitious matter always existing in them after
birth. Too much of this new milk may, however, be
hurtful even to the new-born calf, while it should never
be given at all to older calves. The best course, it
soems to me, — and I speak from considerable experi-
ence, and much observation and inquiry of others, — is to
milk the cow dry immediately after the calf has sucked
once, especially if the udder is painfully distended,
which is often the case, and to leave the calf with the
14
158 A THRIFTY START.
cow during one day, and after that to feed it by putting
the fingers into its mouth, and gently bringing its
muzzle down to the milk in a pail or trough, when it
will imbibe in sucking the fingers. I have never found
much difficulty in teaching the calf to drink when taken
so young, though some take to it much more readily
than others. What the calf does not need should be
given to the cow. Some, however, prefer to milk
immediately after calving; and if the udder is over-
loaded this may be* the best course, though the better
practice seems to be to leave the cow as quietly to her-
self as possible for a few hours. The less she is dis-
turbed, as a general thing, the better. The after-birth
should be taken from her immediately after it is
dropped. It is customary to give the cow, as soon as
convenient, after calving, some warm and stimulating
drink, — a little meal stirred into warm water, with a
part of the first milk that comes from her, seasoned
with a little salt.
In many cases the calf is taken from the cow imme-
diately, and before she has seen it, to a warm, dry pen
out of her sight, and there rubbed till thoroughly dry ;
and then, when able to stand, fed with the new milk
from the cow, which it should have three or four times
a day, regularly, for the first fortnight, whatever course
it is proposed to adopt afterwards. It is of the great-
est importance to give the young calf a thrifty start.
The milk, unless coming directly from the cow, should
be warmed.
Some object to removing the calf from the cow in this
way, on the ground of its apparent cruelty. But the
objection to letting the calf suckle the cow for several
days, as they do, or indeed of leaving it with the cow
for any length of time, is, that she invariably becomes
attached to it, and frets and withholds her milk when
HOW THEY DO IN HOLLAND. 159
it is at last taken from her. She probably suffers a
great deal more, after this attachment is once formed,
at the removal of the object of it, than she does at its
being taken at once out of her sight. The cow's mem-
ory is far greater than many suppose ; and the loss and
injury sustained by removing the calf after it has been
allowed to suck her for a longer or shorter period is
never known exactly, because it is not usually known
how much milk the calf takes ; but it is, without doubt,
very considerable. If the udder is all right, there seems
to be no good reason for leaving the calf with the cow
two or three days, if it is then to be taken away.
The practice in Holland is to remove the calf from the
mother even before it has been licked, and to take it
into one corner of the barn, or into another building,
out of the cow's sight and hearing, put it upon soft dry
straw, and rub it dry with some hay or straw, when its
tongue and gums are slightly rubbed with salt, and the
mucus and saliva removed from the nostrils and lips.
After this has been done, the calf is made to drink the
milk first taken as it comes from the mother. It is
slightly diluted with water, if taken last from the udder ;
but, if the first of the milking, it is given just as it is.
The calf is taught to drink in the same manner as in
this country, by putting the fingers in its mouth and
bringing it down to the milk, and it soon gets so as to
drink alone. It is fed at first from four to six times
a day, or even oftener; but soon only three times,
at regular intervals. Its food for two or three weeks
is clear milk, as it comes warm and fresh from the
cow. This is never omitted, as the milk during the
most of that time possesses certain qualities which are
necessary to the calf, and which cannot be effectually
supplied by any other food. In the third or fourth
week the milk is skimmed, but warmed to the degree
160 BEGINNING TO EAT.
of fresh milk ; though, as the calf grows a little older,
the milk is given cold, while less care is taken to give
it the milk of its own mother, that of other cows now
answering equally well. In some places calves are fed
on butter-milk at the age of two weeks and after ; but
the change from new milk, fresh from the cow, is made
gradually, some sweet skim-milk and warm water being
at first added to it.
At three weeks old, or thereabouts, the calf will
begin to eat a little sweet, fine hay, and potatoes cut
fine, and it very soon becomes accustomed to this food.
Many now begin to give linseed-meal mixed into hot
water, to which is added some skim-milk or butter-milk;
and others use a little bran cooked in hay-tea, made by
chopping the hay fine, and pouring on boiling hot water,
which is allowed to stand a while on it. An egg is fre-
quently broken into such a mixture. Others still at
this age take pains to have fresh linseed-cake, broken
into pieces of the size of a pigeon's-egg ; putting one
of these into the mouth after the meal of milk has been
finished, and when it is eager to suck at anything in
its way. It will very soon learn to eat linseed-meal.
A little sweet clover is put in its way at about the age
of three weeks, and it will soon eat that also.
In this manner the feeding is continued from the
fourth to the seventh week, the quantity of solid food
being gradually increased. In the sixth or seventh
week the milk is by degrees withheld, and water or
butter-milk used instead ; and soon after this, green
food may be safely given, increasing it gradually with
the hay to the age of ten or twelve weeks, when it will
do to put them upon grass alone, if the season is favor-
able for it. A lot as near the house as possible, where
they can be easily looked after and frequently visited,
is best. Calves should be gradually accustomed to all
A CRUEL PRACTICE. 161
changes ; and even after being turned to pasture they
ought to be taken in if the weather is not dry and
warm. The want of care and attention to these little
details will be apparent sooner or later ; while, if the
farmer give his own time to these matters, he will be
fully paid in the rapid growth of his calves. It is espe-
cially necessary to see that the troughs from which
they are fed, if troughs are used, are kept clean and
sweet.
But there are some even among intelligent farmers
who make a practice of turning their calves out to
pasture at the tender age of two and three weeks,
and that, too, when they have sucked the cow up to
that time, and allow them nothing in the shape of
milk or tender care. I cannot but think that this is the
poorest possible economy, to say nothing of the cruelty
of such treatment. The growth of the calf is checked,
and the system receives a shock from so sudden a
change, from which it cannot soon recover. The care-
ful Dutch breeders bring the calves either skimmed milk
or butter-milk to drink several times a day after they
are turned to grass, which is not till the age of ten or
twelve weeks ; and, if the weather is chilly, the milk is
warmed for them. They put a trough generally under
a covering, where the calves may come and drink at
regular times. Thus they are kept tame and docile.
In the raising of calves, through all stages of their
growth, great care should be taken neither to starve
nor to over-feed. A calf should never be surfeited, and
never be fed so highly that it cannot be fed more highly
as it advances. The most important point is to keep it
growing thriftily without getting too fat, if it is to be
raised for the dairy.
Mr. Aiton, in describing the mode of rearing calves
in the dairy districts of Scotland, says : " They are fed on
14* 11
162 HOW THEY DO IN SCOTLAND.
milk, with seldom any admixture ; and they are not per-
mitted to suckle their dams, but are taught to drink
milk by the hand from a dish. They are generally fed
on milk only for the first four, five, or six weeks, and are
then allowed from two to two and a half quarts of new
milk each meal, twice in the twenty-four hours. Soms
never give them any other food when young except
milk, lessening the quantity when the calf begins to
eat grass or other food, which it generally does
when about five weeks old, if grass can be had ; and
withdrawing it entirely about the seventh or eighth
week of the calf's age. But, if the calf is reared
in winter, or early in spring, before the grass rises, it
must be supplied with at least some milk till it is eight
or nine weeks old ; as a calf will not so soon learn to
eat hay or straw, nor fare so well on them alone as it
will do on pasture. Some feed their calves reared for
stock partly with meal mixed in the milk after the
third or fourth week. Others introduce gradually some
new whey among the milk, first mixed with meal;
and, when the calf gets older, they withdraw the milk,
and feed it on whey and porridge. Hay-tea, juices of
peas and beans, or pea or bean straw, linseed beaten
into powder, treacle, <fec., have all been sometimes used
to advantage in feeding calves ; but milk, when it can
be spared, is by far their most natural food.
" In Galloway, and other pastoral districts, where the
calves are allowed to suckle, the people are so much
wedded to their own customs as to argue that suckling is
much more nutritive to the calves than any other mode
of feeding. That suckling induces a greater secretion
of saliva, which, by promoting digestion, accelerates the
growth and fattening of the young animal, cannot be
doubted ; but the secretion of that fluid may likewise
be promoted by placing an artificial teat in the mouth
FEEDING BY HAND. 163
of the calf, and giving it the milk slowly, and at the
natural temperature. In the dairy districts of Scot-
land, the dairy-maid puts one of her fingers into the
mouth of the calf, when it is fed, which serves the
purpose of a teat, and will have nearly the same effect
as the natural teat, in inducing the secretion of saliva.
If that, or an artificial teat of leather, be used, and the
mi.k given slowly before it is cold, the secretion of sal-
iva may be promoted to all the extent that can be neces-
sary ; besides, that secretion is not confined to the mere
period of eating, but, as in the human body, the saliva
is formed and part of it swallowed at all times. As
part of the saliva is sometimes seen dropping from the
mouths of the calves, it might be advisable to give them
not only an artificial teat, when fed, but to place, as is
frequently done, a lump of chalk before them to lick,
thus leading them to swallow the saliva. The chalk
would so far supply the want of salt, of which cattle
are so improperly deprived, and it would also promote
the formation of saliva. Indeed, calves are much dis-
posed to lick and suckle everything that comes within
their reach, which seems to be the way that nature
teaches them to supply their stomachs with saliva.
" But, though suckling their dams may be most advan-
tageous in that respect, yet it has also some disadvan-
tages. The cow is always more injured than the calf is
benefited, by that mode of feeding. She becomes so
fond of the calf that she does not, for a long time after,
yield her milk freely to the dairy-maid. The calf doos
not when young draw off the milk completely, and
when it is taken off by the hand the cow withholds
part of her milk ; and, whenever a cow's udder is not
completely emptied every time she is milked, the lactic
secretion is thereby diminished.
" Feeding of calves by the hand is in various other
164 PATIENCE AND KINDNESS.
respects advantageous. Instead of depending on tho
uncertain or perhaps precarious supply of the dam,
which may be more at first than the young animal can
consume or digest, and at other times too little for its
supply, its food can, by hand-feeding, be regulated to
suit the age, appetite, and purposes for which the calf
is intended ; other admixtures or substitutes can be
introduced into the milk, and the quantity gradually
increased or withdrawn at pleasure. This is highly
necessary when the calves are reared for stock. The
milk is in that case diminished, and other food intro-
duced so gradually that the stomach of the young ani-
mal is not injured as it is when the food is too suddenly
changed. And, in the case of feeding of calves for the
butcher, the quantity of milk is not limited to that of
the dam (for no cow will allow a stranger calf to suckle
her), but it can be increased, or the richest or poorest
parts of the milk given, at pleasure.7'
In these districts, where, probably, the feeding and
management of calves is as well and judiciously con-
ducted as in any other part of Britain, the farmers'
wives and daughters, or female domestics, have the
principal charge of young calves ; and they are, no
doubt, much better calculated for this duty than men,
since they are more inclined to be gentle and patient.
The utmost gentleness should always be observed in
the treatment of all stock ; but especially of milch cows,
and calves designed for the dairy. Persevering kind-
ness and patience will, almost invariably, overcome the
most obstinate natures; while rough and ungentle hand-
ling will be repaid in a quiet kind of way, perhaps, by
withholding the milk, which will always have a tendency
to dry a cow up j or, what is nearly as bad, by kicking,
and other modes of revenge, which often contribute to
the personal discomfort of the milker. The disposition
GENTLE TREATMENT. — HAY-TEA. 165
of the cow is greatly modified, if not, indeed, wholly
formed, by her treatment while young ; and therefore
it is best to handle calves as much as possible, and
make pets of them, lead them with a halter, and caress
them in various ways. Calves managed in this way
will always be docile, and suffer themselves to be
approached and handled both in the pasture and the
barn.
With respect to the use of hay-tea, often used in this
country, but more common abroad, where greater care
and attention is usually given to the details of breeding,
Youatt says : " At the end of three or four days, or per-
haps a iveek, or even a fortnight, after a calf has been
dropped, and the first passages have been cleansed by
allowing it to drink as much of the cow's milk as it feels
inclined for, let the quantity usually allotted for a meal
be mixed, consisting, for the first week, of three parts
milk and one part hay-tea. The only nourishing infu-
sion of hay is that ivhich is made from the best and siveet-
est hay, cut by a chaff-cutter into pieces about two inches
long, and put into an earthen vessel ; over this boiling
water should be poured, and the whole allowed to stand
for two hours, during which time it ought to be kept
carefully closed. After the first week, the proportions
of milk and hay-tea may be equal ; then composed of
two thirds of hay-tea and one of milk; and at length one
fourth part of milk will be sufficient. This food should
be given to the calf in a lukewarm state at least three,
if not four times a day, in quantities averaging three
quarts at each meal, but gradually increasing to four
quarts as the calf grows older. Towards the end of the
second month, beside the usual quantity given at each
meal (composed of three parts of the infusion and one
of milk), a small wisp or bundle of hay is to be laid
before the calf, which will gradually come to eat it; but,
166 FIRST CALVES. — RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS.
if the weather is favorable, as in the month of May, the
beast may be turned out to graze in a fine, sweet pas-
ture, well sheltered from the wind and sun. This diet
may be continued until towards the latter end of the
third month, when, if the calf grazes heartily, each meal
may be reduced to less than a quart of milk, with hay-
water ; or skimmed milk or fresh butter-milk may be
substituted for new milk. At the expiration of the
third month the animal will hardly require to be fed by
hand, though, if this should still be necessary, one quart
of the infusion given daily, and which during the sum-
mer need not be warmed, will be sufficient." The hay-
tea should be made fresh every two days, as it soon
loses its nutritious quality.
This and other preparations are given not because
they are better than milk, than which nothing is better
adapted to fatten a calf, or promote its growth, but sim-
ply to economize by providing the most suitable and
cheaper substitutes. Experience shows that the first
two or three calves are smaller than those that follow ;
and hence, unless they are pure-bred, and to be kept for
the blood, they are not generally thought to be so desir-
able to raise for the dairy as the third or fourth, and
those that come after, up to the age of nine or ten
years. On this point opinions differ.
According to the comparative experiments of a Ger-
man agriculturist, cows which as calves had been
allowed to suckle their dams from two to four weeks
brought calves which weighed only from thirty-five to
forty-eight pounds ; while others, which, as calves, had
been allowed to suckle from five to eight weeks,
brought calves weighing from sixty to eighty pounds.
It is difficult to see how there can be so great a differ-
ence, if, indeed, there is any ; but it may be worthy of
careful observation and experiment, and as such it is
AFTER-FEEDING. 167
stated in this connection. The increased size of the
calf would be due to the larger size to which the cow
would attain ; and if as a calf she were allowed to run
with her dam in the pasture four or five months, taking
all the milk she wanted, she would doubtless be kept
growing on in a thriving condition. But taking a calf
from the cow at four or even eight weeks must check
its growth to some extent, and this may be avoided by
feeding liberally, and bringing up by hand.
After the calf is fully weaned, there is nothing very
peculiar in the general management. A young animal
will require for the first few months — say up to the
age of six months — an average of five or six pounds
daily of good hay, or its equivalent. At the age of six
months it will require from four and a half to five
pounds, and at the end of the year from three and a
half to four pounds of good hay, or its equivalent, for
every one hundred pounds of its live weight ; or, in
other words, about three and a half or four per cent, of
its live weight. At two years old it will require three
and a half, and some months later three per cent, of
its live weight daily in good hay or its equivalent. In-
dian-corn fodder, either green or cured, forms an excel-
lent and wholesome food at this age.
The heifer should not be pampered, nor yet poorly
fed or half starved, so as to receive a check in her
growth. An abundant supply of good healthy dairy
food and drink will do all that is necessary up to the
time of having her first calf, which should not ordinarily
be till the age of three years, though some choose to
allow them to come in at two or a little over, on the
ground that it early stimulates the secretion of milk,
and that this will increase the milking propensity
through life. This is undoubtedly the case, as a gen-
eral rule; but I think greater injury is done by checking
168 A SURPRISE. — SUCCULENT FOOD.
the growth, unless the heifer has been fed up to large
size and full development from the start, in which case
she may perhaps take the bull at fifteen or eighteen
months without injury. I have had several come in as
early as two years, and one at less than twenty months.
This last was not by design, however, and I would
rather have given a considerable sum than had it hap-
pen, as she was an exceedingly beautiful pure-bred Jer-
sey, and I was desirous to have her attain to good size
and growth. Even if a heifer comes in at two years, it
is generally thought desirable to let her run farrow for
the following year, which will promote her growth and
more perfect development.
The feeding which young stock often get is not such
as is calculated to make good-sized or valuable cattle of
them. They are often fed on the poorest of hay or
straw through the winter, not unfrequently left exposed
to cold, unprotected and unhoused, and thus stinted in
their growth. This seems to me to be the very worst
economy, or rather no economy at all. Properly viewed,
it is an extravagant wastefulness which no farmer can
afford. No animal develops its good points under such
treatment ; and if the starving system is to be followed
at all, it had better be after the age of two or three
years, when the animal's constitution has attained
strength and vigor to resist ill treatment.
To raise up first-rate milkers, it is absolutely neces-
sary to feed on dairy food even while young. No
matter how fine the breed is, if the calf is raised on
poor, short feed, it will never be so good a milker as if
raised on better keeping; and hence, in dairy dis-
tricts, where calves are raised at all, they ought to be
allowed the best pasture during the summer, and good
sweet and wholesome food during the winter.
CHAPTER VI.
CULTURE OF GRASSES AND OTHER PLANTS REC-
OMMENDED FOR FODDER.
As already stated, the grasses in summer, and hay in
winter, form the most natural and important food for
milch cows ; and, whatever other crops come in as ad-
ditional, these will form the basis of all systems of
feeding.
The nutritive qualities of the grasses differ widely ;
and their value as feed for cows will depend, to a con-
siderable extent, on the management of pastures and
mowing-lands.
If the turf of an old pasture is carefully examined, it
will be found to contain a large variety of grasses and
plants adapted for forage ; some of them valuable for
one purpose, and some for another. Some of them,
though possessing a lower percentage of nutritive
constituents than others, are particularly esteemed for
an early and luxuriant growth, furnishing a sweet feed
in early spring, before other grasses appear ; some of
them, for starting more rapidly than others, after being
eaten off by cattle, and consequently of great value as
pasture grasses. Most grasses will be found to be of a
social character, and to do best in a large mixture with
other varieties.
In forming a mixture for pasture grasses, the pecu-
liarities of each species should, therefore, be regarded :
15
170 CULTIVATED GRASSES. — TIMOTHY/
as the time of flowering, the habits of growth, the soil
and location on which it grows best, and other charac-
teristics. Among the grasses found on cultivated
lands, in this country, the following are considered as
among the most valuable for ordinary farm cultivation;
some of them adapted to pastures, and others almost
exclusively to mowing and the hay crop : Timothy
(Phleum pratense). Meadow Foxtail (Alopecurus pra-
tensis). June, or Kentucky Blue Grass (Poa pratensis).
Fowl meadow (Poa serotina). Rough-stalked Meadow
(Poa trivialis). Orchard Grass (Dactylis glomerata).
Perennial Rye Grass (Lolium perenne). Italian Rye
Grass (Lolium italicum). Redtop (Agrostis vulgaris).
English Bent (Agrostis alba). Meadow Fescue (Fes-
tuca pratensis). Tall Oat Grass (Arrhenatherum aven-
aceum). gweet-scented Yernal (Anthoxanthemum odor-
atum). Hungarian Grass (Panicum Germanicum).
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense). White or Dutch
Clover (Trifolium repens), and some others.
Of these, the most valuable, all things considered, is the
first, or Timothy (Fig. 56). It forms a large proportion
of what is commonly called English, or in some sections
meadow hay, though it originated and was first culti-
vated in this country. It contains a large percentage
of nutritive matter, in comparison with other agricul-
tural grasses. It thrives best on moist, peaty, or loamy
soils, of medium tenacity, and is not well suited to very
light, sandy lands. On very moist soils its root is
almost always fibrous ; while on dry and loamy ones it is
bulbous. On soils of the former description, which it
especially affects, its growth is rapid, and its yield of
hay large, sometimes amounting to three and four tons
to the acre, depending much, of course, on cultivation.
But, though very valuable for hay, it is not adapted to
pastures, as it will neither endure severe grazing, nor
TIMOTHY. — JUNE GRASS.
171
Fig. 56. Timothy grass. Fig. 57. June grass.
is its aftermath to be compared with meadow foxtail,
and some of the other grasses.
172 JUNE GRASS. — MEADOW FOXTAIL.
JUNE GRASS (Fig. 57), better known in some sections aa
Kentucky Blue grass, is very common in most sections
of the country, especially on limestone lands, forming a
large part of the turf, wherever it flourishes, and being
universally esteemed as a pasture grass. It starts early,
but varies much in size and appearance, according to
the soil; growing in some places with the utmost luxuri-
ance, and forming the predominant grass ; in others,
yielding to the other species. If cut at the time of
flowering, or a few days after, it makes a good and
nutritive hay, though it is surpassed in nutritive quali-
ties by several of the other grasses. It starts slowly
after being cut, especially if not cut very early. But
its herbage is fine and uniform, and admirably adapted
to lawns, growing well in almost all soils, though it does
not endure very severe droughts. It withstands, how-
ever, the frosts of winter better than most other grasses.
In Kentucky, a section where it attains its high-
est perfection and luxuriance, ripening its seed about
the 10th of June, and in latitudes south of that, it some-
times continues green through the mild winters. It
requires three or four years to become well set, after
sowing, and it does not attain its highest yield as a pas-
ture grass till the sod is even older than that. It is
not, therefore, suited to alternate husbandry, where
land usually remains in grass but two or three years
before being ploughed up. In Kentucky it is sown
any time in winter when the snow is on the ground
three or four quarts of seed being used to the acre.
In spring the seeds germinate, when the sprouts are
exceedingly fine and delicate. Stock is not allowed on
it the first year.
The MEADOW FOXTAIL (Fig. 58) is also an excellent pas-
ture grass. It somewhat resembles Timothy, but is ear-
lier, has a softer spike, and thrives on all soils except the
PASTURE GRASSES.
173
Fig. 58. Meadow Foxtail. Fig. 59. Orchard grasa.
dryest. Its growth is rapid, and it is greatly relished by
stock of all kinds. Its stalk and leaves are too few and
light for a field crop, and it shrinks too much in curing to
174 ORCHARD GRASS. — QUALITIES.
be valuable for hay. It flourishes best in a rich, moist,
and rather strong soil, sending up a luxuriant aftermath
when cut or grazed off, which is much more valuable,
both in quantity and nutritive value, than the first crop.
In all lands designed for permanent pasture, therefore,
it should form a considerable part of a mixture. It will
endure almost any amount of forcing, by liquid manures,
or irrigation. It requires three or four years, after
sowing, to gain a firm footing in the soil. The seed is
covered with the soft and woolly husks of the flower,
and is consequently light ; weighing but five pounds to
the bushel, and containing seventy-six thousand seeds to
the ounce.
The ORCHARD GRASS, or ROUGH COCKSFOOT (Fig. 59), for
pastures, stands preeminent. This is a native of this coun-
try, and was introduced into England, from Virginia, in
1764, since which time its cultivation has extended into
every country of Europe, where it is universally held
in very high estimation. The fact of its being very palata-
ble to stock of all kinds, its rapidity of growth, and the
luxuriance of its aftermath, with its power of enduring
the cropping of cattle, have given it a very high reputa-
tion, especially as a pasture grass. It blossoms earlier
than Timothy; when green is equally relished by milch
cows ; requires to be fed closer, to prevent its forming
tufts and growing up to seed, when it becomes hard and
wiry, and loses much of its nutritive quality. As it
blossoms about the same time, it forms an admirable
mixture with red clover, either for permanent pasture
or mowing. It resists drought, and is less exhausting
to the soil than either rye grass or Timothy. The
seed weighs twelve pounds to the bushel, and when
sown alone requires about two bushels to the acre.
The ROUGH-STALKED MEADOW GRASS (Fig. 60) is some-
what less common than June grass, but is considered as
Y
ROUGH-STALKED MEADOW GRASS. 175
Fig. 60. Rough-stalked Meadow grass. Fig. 61. Rye grass.
equally valuable. It grows best on moist, sheltered mead-
ows, where it flowers in June and July. It is easily dis-
176 FOWL MEADOW.
tinguished from June grass, by having a rough sheath,
while the latter has a smooth one, and by having a fibrous
root, while the root of June grass is creeping. It
possesses very considerable nutritive qualities, and
comes to perfection at a desirable time j is exceed-
ingly relished by cattle, horses, and sheap. For suitable
soils it should form a portion of a mixture of seeds, pro-
ducing, in mixture with other grasses which serve to
shelter it, a large yield of hay, far above the average of
grass usually grown on a similar soil. It should be cut
when the seed is formed. Seven pounds of seed to
the acre will produce a good sward. The grass loses
about seventy per cent, of its weight in drying. The
nutritive qualities of its aftermath exceed very consid-
erably those of the crop cut in the flower or in the
seed.
FOWL MEADOW GRASS is another indigenous species,
of great value for low and marshy grounds, where it
flourishes best ; and, if cut and properly cured, makes
a sweet and nutritious hay, which, from its fineness, is
eaten by cows without waste. According to Sinclair,
who experimented, with the aid of Sir Humphrey Davy,
to ascertain its comparative nutritive properties, it is
superior, in this respect, to either meadow foxtail,
orchard grass, or tall meadow oat grass ; but it is
probable that he somewhat overrates it. If allowed to
stand till nearly ripe, it falls down, but sends up innu-
merable flowering stems from the joints, so that it con-
tinues green and luxuriant till late in the season. It
thrives best in mixture with other grasses, and deserves
a prominent place in all mixtures for rich, moist pastures,,
and low mowing-lands.
RYE GRASS (Fig. 61) has a far higher reputation abroad
than in this country, and probably with reason ; for it is
better adapted to a wet and uncertain climate than to a
ITALIAN RYE GRASS. — REDTOP. 177
dry and hot one. It varies exceedingly, depending much
on soil and culture ; but, when cut in the blossom to
make into hay, it possesses very considerable nutritive
power. If allowed to get too ripe, it is hard and wiry,
and not relished by cows. The change from a juicy
and nutritious plant to woody fibre, possessing but
little soluble matter, is very rapid. Properly managed,
however, it is a tolerably good grass, though not to be
compared to Timothy, or orchard grass.
ITALIAN RYE GRASS (Fig. 62) has also been cultivated to
considerable extent in this country, but with less satisfac-
tory results than are obtained from it in Europe, where it
endures all climates, giving better crops, both in quan-
tity and quality, than the perennial rye grass. It is one
of the greatest gluttons of all the grasses, and luxu-
riates in frequent irrigation with liquid manure, though
it is said to stand the drought very well. The soils
best adapted to it are rich, moist, and fertile, of medium
tenacity; and it is admirably adapted to the purposes of
soiling, as it endures repeated cutting, rapidly sending
up luxuriant crops. For rich soils near the barn, used
for the growth of crops for soiling, therefore, it may be
confidently used as a profitable addition to our list of
cultivated grasses.
REDTOP (Fig. 63) is a grass familiar to every farmer in
the country. It is the Herd's grass of Pennsylvania, while
in New York and New England it is known by a great
variety of names, and assumes a great variety of forms,
according to the soil in which it grows. It is well
adapted to almost every soil, though it seems to prefer
a moist loam. It makes a profitable crop for spending,
in the form of hay, though its yield is less than that of
Timothy. It is well suited to our permanent pastures,
where it should be fed close, otherwise it becomes
wiry and innutritious, and cattle refuse it. It stands
12
178
ITALIAN EYE GRASS.
Fig. 62. Italian Rye grass. Fig. 63. Redtop.
the climate of the country as well as any other grass,
and so forms a valuable part of any mixture for
ENGLISH BENT. — MEADOW FESCUE. 179
Fig. 64. English Bent. Fig. 65. Meadow Fescue.
pastures and permanent mowing-lands ; but it is prob-
ably rather overrated by us.
180 TALL OAT GRASS.
ENGLISH BENT (Fig. 64), known also by a great variety
of other names, is also largely cultivated in some sec-
tions. It closely resembles redtop, but may be dis-
tinguished from it by the roughness of the sheaths
when the hand is drawn from above downwards. It
possesses much the same qualities as redtop.
MEADOW FESCUE (Fig. 65) is one of the most common of
the fescue grasses, and is said to be the Randall grass of
Virginia. It is an excellent pasture grass, forming a
very considerable portion of the turf of old pastures and
fields ; and is more extensively propagated and diffused
by the fact that it ripens its seeds before most other
grasses are cut, and sheds them to spring up and cover
the ground. Its long and tender leaves are much
relished by cattle. It is rarely sown in this country,
notwithstanding its great and acknowledged value as a
pasture grass. If sown at all, it should be in mixture
with other grasses, as orchard grass, rye grass, or June
grass. It is of much greater value at the time of
flowering than when the seed is ripe.
The TALL OAT GRASS (Fig. 66) is the Ray grass of
France. It furnishes a luxuriant supply of foliage,
is valuable either for hay or for pasture, and has been
especially recommended for soiling purposes, on ac-
count of its early and luxuriant growth. It is often
found on the borders of fields and hedges, woods and
pastures, and is sometimes very plenty in mowing-lands.
After being mown it shoots up a very thick aftermath,
and on this account, partly, is regarded as nearly equal
for excellence to the common foxtail.
It grows spontaneously on deep, sandy soils, when
once naturalized. It has been cultivated to a consider-
able extent in this country, and is esteemed by those
who know it mainly for its early, rapid, and late growth,
TALL OAT. — SWEET VERNAL,
181
Plg.W. Tall Oat grass.
Fig. 67. Sweet-scented Vernal.
making it very well calculated as a permanent pasture
grass. It will succeed on tenacious clover soils.
16
182 HUNGARIAN GRASS.
The SWEET-SCENTED YERNAL GRASS (Fig. 67) is one of
the earliest in spring and one of the latest in autumn ;
and this habit of growth is one of its chief excellences,
as it is neither a nutritious grass nor very palatable to
stock of any kind, nor does it yield a very good crop.
It is very common all over New England and the
Middle States, coming into old worn-out fields and moist
pastures spontaneously, and along every roadside. It
derives its name from its sweetness of smell when par-
tially wilted, or crushed in the hand,, and it is this chiefly
that gives the delicious fragrance to all new-mown hay.
It is almost the only grass that possesses a strongly-
marked aromatic odor, which is imparted to other
grasses with which it is cured. Its seed weighs eight
pounds to the bushel. In mixtures for permanent pas-
tures it may be of some value.
HUNGARIAN GRASS, or Millet (Fig. 68), is an annual forage
plant, introduced into France in 1815, and more recently
into this country. It germinates readily and withstands
the drought remarkably, remaining green when other
grasses are parched and dried up. It has numerous
succulent leaves, which furnish an abundance of sweet
fodder, greatly relished by stock of all kinds. It
attains its greatest luxuriance on soils of medium con-
sistency and richness, but does very well on light and
dry plains.
RED CLOVER (Fig. 69) is an artificial grass of the legu-
minous family, and one of the most valuable of culti-
vated plants for feeding to dairy cows. It flourishes
best on tenacious soils and stiff loams. Its growth is
rapid, and a few months after sowing are sufficient to
supply an abundant sweet and nutritious food. In the
climate of New England clover should be sown in the
spring of the year, while most of the natural grasses do
far better sown in the fall. It is often sown with per
CLOVER. — HUNGARIAN GRASS.
183
Fig. 69. Bed Clover. Fig 68. Hungarian grass.
feet success on the late snows of March or April, and
soon finds its way down into the soil and takes a vigor-
184 MIXTURE OF GRASS-SEEDS.
cms root. It is valuable not only as a forage plant, but
as shading the ground, and thereby increasing its
fertility.
The introduction of clover among the cultivated
plants of the farm has done more, perhaps, for modern
agriculture than that of any other single plant. It has
now come to be considered indispensable in all good
dairy districts.
Fig. 70. White Clover.
WHITE CLOVER (Fig. 70), often called Honeysuckle, is
also widely diffused over this country, to which it is
undoubtedly indigenous. As a mixture in all pasture
grasses it holds a very high rank, as it is exceedingly
sweet and nutritious, and relished by stock of all kinds.
It grows most luxuriantly in moist grounds and moist
seasons, but easily accommodates itself to a great
variety of circumstances.
With respect to the mixtures of grass-seeds most
profitable for the dairy farmer, no universal rule can
be given, as they depend very much upon the nature
of the soil and the locality. The most important point
to be observed, and one in which we, as a body, are
perhaps most deficient, is to use a large number of
species, with smaller quantities of each than those most
commonly used. This is nature's rule ; for, in examin-
NATURE'S RULE. 185
ing the turf of a rich old pasture, we shall find a large
number of different species growing together, while, if
we examine the turf of a field sown with only one or
two different species, we find a far less number of plants
to the square foot, even after the sod is fairly set. No
improvement in grass culture is more important, it
seems to me. I have suggested, in another place, a
large number of mixtures adapted to the different
varieties of soil and circumstance, together with the
reasons for the mixture in many instances. (See A
Practical Treatise on Grasses and Forage Plants, com-
prising their Natural History, Comparative Nutritive
Value, Methods of Cultivating, Cutting, and Curing, and
the Management of Grass Lands, &c. 236 pp. 8vo., with
illustrations.) As an instance of what I should consider
an improvement on our ordinary mixtures for permanent
pastures, I would suggest the following as likely to
give satisfactory results, dependent, of course, to a con-
siderable extent, on the nature and preparation of the
soil:
Meadow Foxtail, flowering in May and June, .... 2 pounds
Orchard Grass, " " " " " .... 6 "
Sweet-scented Vernal,
Meadow Fescue,
Redtop,
June Grass,
Italian Rye Grass,
Perennial Rye Grass,
Timothy,
" April and May, . ... 1 "
" May and June, .... 2 "
" June and July, .... 2 "
" May and June, .... 4 "
" June, 4 "
" June, 6 "
" June and July, ... 3 lt
Rough-stalked Meadow Grass, flowering in June and July, 2 »'
Perennial Clover, flowering in June, 3 "
White Clover, «« " May to September, . . 5-40"
For mowing-lands the mixture would, of course, be
somewhat changed. The meadow foxtail and sweet-
scented vernal would be left out entirely, and some six
or eight pounds added to the Timothy and red clover.
16*
186 WHEN TO CUT GRASS FOB COWS.
The proper time to lay down lands to grass in the lati-
tude of New England is August or September, and no
grain crop should be sown with the seed.
Stiff or clayey pastures should never be over-
stocked, but when fed pretty close the grasses are
far sweeter and more nutritious than when they are
allowed to grow up rank and coarse ; and if, by a want
of sufficient feeding, they get the start of the stock, and
grow into rank tufts, they should be cut and removed,
when a fresh grass will start up, similar to the after-
math of mowing-lands, which will be greedily eaten.
Grasses for curing into hay should be cut either at the
time of flowering or just before, especially if designed
for milch cows. They are then more succulent and
juicy, and, if properly cured, form the sweetest food.
Grass cut in the blossom will make more milk than if
allowed to stand later. Cut a little before the blossom-
ing, it will make more than when in the blossom; and
the cows prefer it, which is by no means an unimportant
consideration, since their tastes should always be con-
sulted. Grass cut somewhat green, and properly cured,
is next to fresh, green grass in palatable and nutritive
qualities. And so a sensible practical farmer writes
me : " The time of cutting grass depends very much
upon the use you wish to make of it. If for working
oxen and horses, I would let it stand till a little out of
the blossom ; but if to feed out to new milch cows in
the winter, I would prefer to cut it very green. It is
then worth for the making of milk in the winter almost
double that cut later." Every farmer knows the milk-
producing properties of rowen, which is generally cut
before it blossoms.
No operation on the farm is of greater importance
to the dairyman than the cutting of his grass and
the manner of curing hay, and in this respect the
HAY OVER-CURED. — CURING CLOVER. 187
practice over the country generally is susceptible of
very great improvement. The chief object is to pre-
serve the sweetness and succulence of grass in its
natural state, so far as it is possible ; and this object
cannot be gained by exposing it too long to the scorch-
ing suns and the drenching rains to which we are
liable in this climate. We generally try to make our
hay too much.
As to the best modes of curing clover, my own
experience and observation accord with that of several
practical farmers, who write me as follows : " My
method of curing clover is this : What is mown in the
morning I leave in the swath, to be turned over early
in the afternoon. At about four o'clock, or while it is
still warm, I put it into small cocks with a fork, and, if
the weather is favorable, it may be housed on the
fourth or fifth day, the cocks being turned over on the
morning of the day it is to be carted. By so doing all
the heads and leaves are saved, and these are worth
more than the stems. This has been my method for
the last ten years. For new milch cows in the winter
I think there is nothing better. It will make them give
as great a flow of milk as any hay, unless it be good
rowen." Another says : " When the weather bids fair
to be good, I mow it after the dew is off, and cock it
up after being wilted, using the fork instead of rolling
with the rake, and let it remain several days, when it is
fit to put into the barn." And another : " I mow my
clover in the forenoon, and towards night of the same
day I take forks and pitch it into cocks and let it stand
till it cures. The day I cart it, I turn the cocks over,
so as to air the lower part. I then put it into the mow
with all the leaves and heads on, and it is as nice and
green as green tea. I think it worth for milch cows
and sheep as much per ton as English hay." And still
188 INDIAN-CORN FODDER.
another : " I have found no better hay for farm stock
than good clover, cut in season. For inilch cows it is
much better than Timothy. The rowen crop is better
than any other for calves."
INDIAN CORN makes an exceedingly valuable fodder,
both as a means of carrying a herd of milch cows
through our severe droughts of summer, and as an
article for soiling cows kept in the stall. No dairy
farmer will neglect to sow an extent in proportion to
the number of cows he keeps. The most common
practice is to sow in drills from two and a half to three
feet apart, on land well tilled and thoroughly manured,
making the drills from six to ten inches wide with the
plough, manuring in the furrow, dropping the corn about
two inches apart, and covering with the hoe. In this
mode of culture the cultivator may be used between
the rows when the corn is from six to twelve inches
high, and unless the ground is very weedy no other
after culture is generally needed. The first sowing
usually takes place about the 20th of May, and this is
succeeded by other sowings at intervals of a week or
ten days, till July, in order to have a succession of
green fodder. But, if it is designed to cut it up to cure
for winter use, an early sowing is generally preferred,
in order to be able to cure it in warm weather, in
August or early in September. Sown in this way,
about three or four bushels of corn are required for an
acre, since, if sown thickly, the fodder is better, the
stalks smaller, and the waste less.
The chief difficulty in curing corn cultivated for this
purpose, and after the methods spoken of, arises mainly
from the fact that it comes at a season when the
weather is often colder, the days shorter, and the dews
heavier, than when the curing of hay takes place. Nor
is the curing of corn cut up green so easy and simple
STOCKING. — MILLET CULTURE. 189
as that of drying the stalks of Indian corn cut above
the ear, as in our common practice of topping. The
plant is then riper, less juicy, and cures more readily.
The method sometimes adopted is to cut and tie
into small bundles, after it is somewhat wilted, and
stook upon the ground, where it is allowed to stand,
subject to all the changes of the weather, with only the
protection of the stook itself. The stooks consist of
bunches of stalks first bound in small bundles, and are
made sufficiently large to prevent the wind from blow-
ing them over. The arms are thrown around the tops
to bring them together as closely as possible, when the
tops are broken over or twisted together, or otherwise
fastened, in order to make the stook " shed the rain " as
well as possible. In this condition they stand out till
sufficiently dried to put into the barn. Corn fodder is
very excellent for young dairy stock.
COMMON MILLET (Panicum miliaceum) is another
very valuable crop for fodder in soiling, or to cure for
winter use, but especially to feed out during our usual
periods of drought. Many varieties of millet are culti-
vated in this country, the ground being prepared and
treated as for oats. If designed to cut for green
fodder, half a bushel of seed to the acre should be used;
if to ripen seed, twelve quarts, sown broad-cast, about
the last of May or early in June. A moist loam or
muck is the best adapted to millet ; but I have seen
very great crops grown on dry upland. It is very
palatable and nutritious for milch cows, both green and
when properly cured. The curing should be very
much like clover, care being taken not to over-dry it.
For fodder, either green or cured, it is cut before
ripening. In this state all cattle eat it as readily as
green corn, and a less extent will feed them. Millet is
worthy of a widely-extended cultivation, particularly on
190 EYE. — OATS. — ROOT CROPS.
dairy farms. Indian millet (Sorghum vulgar e) is another
cultivated variety.
RYE, as a fodder plant, is chiefly valuable for its
early growth in spring. It is usually sown in Septem-
ber or October, from the middle to the end of Sep-
tember being, perhaps, the most desirable time, on
laid previously cultivated and in good condition. If
designed to ripen only, a bushel of seed is required to
the acre, evenly sown j but, if intended for early fodder
in spring, two or two and a half bushels per acre of
seed should be used. On warm land the rye can be cut
green the last of April or first of May ; and care should
be taken to cut early, as, if allowed to advance too
far towards maturity, the stalk becomes hard and un-
palatable to cows.
OATS are also sometimes used for soiling, or for feed-
ing green, to eke out a scanty supply of pasture feed ;
and for this purpose they are valuable. They should
be sown on well-tilled and well-manured land, about
four bushels to the acre, towards the last of April or
first of May. If the whole crop is to be used as green
fodder, five bushels of seed will not be too much on
strong, good soil. They will be sufficiently grown to
cut by the first of July, or in some sections earlier,
depending on location.
The CHINESE SUGAR-CANE also may deserve atten-
tion as a fodder plant. Experiments hitherto made
seem to show that when properly cultivated, and cut at
the right time, it is a palatable and nutritious plant,
while many of the failures have been the result of too
early cutting. For a fodder crop the drill culture is
preferable, both on account of the larger yield obtained
and to prevent it from becoming too hard and stalky.
THE POTATO (Solarium tuberosum) is the first of
the root crops to be mentioned. This produces a large
CULTURE OF THE POTATO. 191
quantity of milk, though the quality is inferior. The
market value of this root is, at the present time, too
great to allow of feeding extensively with it, even in
milk-dairies, where it is most valuable as food for cows;
still, there are locations where it may be judicious to
cultivate this root for dairy feed, and in all circum-
stances there is a -certain portion of the crop of un-
marketable size, which will be of value fed to milch
cows or swine. It should be planted in April or May,
but in many sections in June, on good mellow soil, first
thoroughly ploughed and harrowed, then furrowed three
feet apart, and manured in the furrows with a mixture
of ashes, plaster of Paris, and salt. The seed may be
dropped in the furrows, one foot apart, after the drill
system, or in hills, two and a half or three feet apart,
to be covered with the plough by simply turning
the furrows back, after which the whole should be
rolled with the field roller, where it can be done.
If the land is not already in good heart from
continued cultivation, a few loads of barn-yard manure
may be spread, and ploughed under by the first
ploughing. Used in this way, it is far less liable to
cause the rot than when put in the hill. If a sufficient
quantity of wood-ashes is not at hand, sifted coal-
ashes will answer the purpose, and are said to be
valuable as a preventive of the rot. In this way one
man, two boys, and a horse, can plant from three to
four acres a day on mellow land. I have planted
two acres a day on the sod, the manure being first
spread on the grass, a furrow made by a yoke of oxen
and one man, another following after and dropping, a
foot apart, along the outer edge of the furrow on the
grass. By quick work, one hand can nearly keep up
with the plough in dropping. When arrived at the
end of the piece, a back furrow is turned up to the
192 CULTURE OF THE CAEROT.
potatoes, and a good ploughman will cover nearly all
without difficulty. On the return-furrow the man or
boy who dropped follows after, covering up any that
may be left or displaced, and smoothing off the top
of the back-furrows where necessary. Potatoes thus
planted came out as fine as I ever saw any.
The cost of cultivation in this mode, it must be
evident, is but trifling compared with the slower
method of hand-planting. The plan will require a skil-
ful ploughman, a quick, active lad, and a good yoke
of oxen, and the extent of the work will depend
somewhat on the state of the turf. The nutritive
equivalent in potatoes for one hundred pounds of good
hay is 3.19 pounds ; that is, it will take 319 pounds of
potatoes to afford the same amount of nourishment
as one pound of hay. The great value of roots is as a
change or condiment, calculated to keep the animal in
a healthy condition.
THE CARROT (Daucus carota) is somewhat exten-
sively fed, and is a valuable root for milch cows. This,
like the potato, has been cultivated and improved from
a wild plant. Carrots require a deep, warm, mellow
soil, thoroughly cultivated, but clean and free from
weed-seed. The difference between a very good profit
and a loss on the crop depends much on the use of
land and manures perfectly free from foul seeds of
any kind. Ashes, guano, sea-weed, ground bone, ard
other similar substances, or thoroughly-rotted and
fermented compost, will answer the purpose.
After ploughing deep, and harrowing carefully, the
seed should be sown with a seed-sower, in drills about
eighteen inches apart, at the rate of four pounds to
the acre, about the middle or twentieth of May. The
difference between sowing the fifteenth of May and the
tenth of June in New England is said to be nearly one
ECONOMIZE LABOR. — HARVESTING. 193
third in the crop on an average of years. In weeding, a
little wheel-hoe is invaluable, as with it a large part of
the labor of cultivation is saved. A skilful hand can
run this hoe within half an inch of the young plants
without injury, and go over a large space in the course
of a day, if the land was properly prepared in the first
place.
The American farmer should always plan to economize
labor. That is the great item of expense on the farm.
I do not mean that he should try to shirk or avoid work,
but that he should make the least amount of work
accomplish the largest and most profitable results.
Labor-saving machinery on the farm is applied not to
reduce the number of hours' labor, or to make the
owner a man of leisure, — who is, generally, the unhap-
piest man in the world, — but to enable him to accom-
plish the greatest results 'in the same time that he
would be compelled to labor to obtain smaller ones.
Carrots will continue to grow and increase in size
late into the fall. When ready to dig, plough around
as near to the outside rows as possible, turning the fur-
row away from the row. Then take out the carrots,
pulling off the tops, and throw the carrots and tops
into separate heaps on the ploughed furrows. In this
way a man and two boys can harvest and put into the
cellar over a hundred bushels a day.
The TURNIP (Brassica rapa) and the Swedish tur-
nip or ruta baga (Brassica campestris) are also largely
cultivated as a field crop to feed to stock ; and for this
purpose numberless varieties are used, furnishing a
great amount of succulent and nutritious food, late into
winter, and, if well kept, late into spring. The chief
objection to the turnip is that it taints the milk. This
may be remedied, to a considerable extent, rf not wholly,
by the use of salt, or salt hay, and by feeding at the
17 13
194 CULTURE OF TURNIPS.
time of milking, or immediately after, or by steaming
before feeding, or putting a small quantity of the solu-
tion of nitre into the pail, and milking upon it.
Turnips may be sown any time in June, in rich land,
well mellowed by cultivation. Yery large crops are often
obtained sown as late as the middle of July, or first of
August, on an inverted sod. The Michigan or double-
mould-board plough leaves the land light, and in admira-
ble condition to harrow, and drill in turnips. A success-
ful root-grower last year cut two tons of hay to tho
acre, on the 23d of June, and after it was removed from
the land spread eight cords of rotten kelp to the acre,
and ploughed in ; after which about three cords of fine
old compost manure were used to the acre, which was
sown with ruta baga seed, in drills, three feet apart,
plants thinned to eight or ten inches in the drill. No
after cultivation was required. On the 15th of Novem-
ber he harvested three hundred and seventy bushels of
splendid roots to the acre, carefully measured off.
The nutritive equivalent of Swedish turnips as com-
pared with good meadow hay is 676, taking hay as a
standard at 100 ; that is, it would require 6.76 Ibs. of
turnips to furnish the same nutriment as one pound of
good hay; but, fed in connection with other food, as
hay, for instance, perhaps five pounds of turnips would
be about equal to one pound of hay.
The English or round turnip is usually sown broad-
cast after some other crop, and large and valuable re-
turns are often obtained. The Swede is sown in drills.
Both these varieties are used for the production of milk.
The chief objection to the turnip crop is that it
leaves many kinds of soil unfit for a succession of some
other crops, like Indian corn, for instance. In some
sections no amount of manuring appears to make corn
do well after turnips or ruta bagas.
MANGOLDS. — PARSNIPS. 195
The MANGOLD WURZEL, a variety of the Beta vuL
garis, is often cultivated with great success in this
country, and fed to cows with advantage, furnishing a
succulent and nutritive food in winter and spring. The
crop is somewhat uncertain. When it does well an
enormous yield is often obtained ; but it often proves a
failure, and is not, on the whole, quite as reliable as the
ruta baga, though a more valuable crop when the yield
is good. It is cultivated like the common beet, in moist,
rich soils, three pounds of seed to the acre. The leaves
may be stripped off, towards fall, and fed out, without
injury to the growth of the root. Both mangolds and
turnips should be cut with a root-cutter, before being
fed out.
The PARSNIP (Pastinaca sativa) is a very sweet and
nutritive article of fodder, and adds richness and flavor
to the milk. It is worthy of extended culture in all
parts of this country where dairy husbandry is pur-
sued. It is a biennial, easily raised on deep, rich, well-
cultivated and well-manured soils, often yielding enor-
mous crops, and possessing the advantage of withstand-
ing the severest winters. As an article of spring feed-
ing, therefore, it is exceedingly valuable. Sown in
April or May, it attains a large growth before winter.
Then, if desirable, a part of the crop may be harvested
for winter use, and the remainder left in the ground till
the frost is out, in March or April, when they can be
dug as wanted, and are exceedingly relished by milch
cows, and stock of all kinds. They make an admirable
feed at the time of milking, and produce the richest
cream, and the yellowest and finest-flavored butter, of
any root with which I am acquainted. The good dairy
farmers on the island of Jersey often feed to their
cows from thirty to thirty-five pounds of parsnips a
day, in addition to hay or grass.
196 THE PARSNIP. — KOHL RABI.
Both practical experiment and scientific analysis
prove this root to be eminently adapted to dairy stock,
where the richness of milk or fine-flavored butter is any
object. For mere milk-dairies, it is not quite so valua-
ble, probably, as the Swedish turnip. The culture is
similar to that of carrots, a rich, mellow, and deep
loam boing best; while it has a great advantage over the
carrot in being more hardy, and rather less liable to
injury from insects, and more nutritive. For feeding
and fattening stock it is eminently adapted.
To be sure of a crop, fresh seed must be had, as it
cannot be depended on more than one year. For this
reason, the largest and straightest roots should be
allowed to stand for seed, which, as soon as nearly ripe,
should be taken off and spread out to dry, and carefully
kept for use. For field culture the hollow-crowned
parsnip is the best and most profitable ; but on thin,
shallow soils the turnip-rooted variety should be used.
Parsnips may be harvested like carrots, by ploughing
along the rows. Let butter or cheese dairymen give
this crop a fair and full trial, and watch its effect on the
quality of the milk and butter.
The KOHL RABI (Brassica oleracea, var. caulorapa) is
also cultivated to a considerable extent in this country,
to feed to stock. It is supposed to be a hybrid between
the cabbage and the turnip, and is often called the cab-
bage-turnip, having the root of the former, with a tur-
nip-like or bulbous stem. The special reason for its
more extensive cultivation among us is its wonderful
indifference to droughts, in which it seems to flourish
best, and to bring forth the most luxuriant crops. It
also withstands the frosts remarkably, being a hardy
plant. It yields a somewhat richer quality of milk than
the ordinary turnip, and the crop is generally admitted
to be as abundant and profitable. I have seen very
LINSEED AND COTTON-SEED MEAL. 197
large crops of it produced by the ordinary turnip or
cabbage cultivation. As in cabbage culture, it is best
to sow the seed in March or April, in a warm and well-
enriched seed-bed; from which it is transplanted in
May, and set out after the manner of cabbages in gar-
den culture. It bears transplanting better than most
other roots. Insects injure it less than the turnip, dry
weather favors it, and it keeps well through the winter.
For these reasons, it must be regarded as a valuable
addition to our list of forage plants adapted to dairy
farming. It grows well on stronger soils than the
turnip.
LINSEED MEAL is the ground cake of flax-seed, after
the oil is pressed out. It is very rich in fat-forming
principles, and given to milch cows it increases the
quality of butter, and keeps them in condition. Four
or five pounds a day are sufficient for cows in milk, and
this amount will effect a great saving in the cost of
other food, and at the same time make a very rich
milk. It is extensively manufactured in this country,
and largely exported, but is worthy of more general use
here. It must not be fed in too large quantities to
milch cows, for it would be liable to give too great a
tendency to fat, and thus affect the quantity of milk.
RAPE-CAKE possesses much the same qualities. It is
the residuum after pressing the oil from rape-seed.
COTTON-SEED MEAL is an article of comparatively
recent introduction. It is obtained by pressing thsj
seed of the cotton-plant, which extracts the oil, when
the cake is crushed or ground into meal, which has been
found to be a very valuable article for feeding stock
An analysis has been given on a preceding page, which
shows it to be equal or superior to linseed meal. Prac
tical experiments are needed to establish it. It is pre
198 MANURES ON THE FARM.
pared chiefly in Providence, R. I., and is for sale in the
market at a very reasonable price.
The MANURES used in this country in the culture
of the plants mentioned above are mostly such as are
made on the farm, consisting chiefly of barn-yard com-
posts of various kinds, with often a large admixture of
peat-mud. There are few farms that do not contain
substances which, if properly husbanded, would add
very greatly to the amount of manure ordinarily made.
The best of the concentrated manures, which it is some-
times necessary to use, for want of time and labor to
prepare enough on the farm, is, unquestionably, Peru-
vian guano. The results of this, when properly ap-
plied, are well known and reliable, which can hardly be
said of any other artificial manure oifered for the farm-
er's notice. The chief objection to depending on man-
ures made off the farm is, in the first place, their great
expense ; and in the second, which is equally important,
the fact that, though they may be made valuable, and
produce at one time the best results, a want of care in
the manufacture, or designed fraud, may make them
almost worthless, with the impossibility of detecting
the imposition, without a chemical analysis, till it be-
comes too late, and the crop is lost.
It is, therefore, safest to rely mainly upon the home
manufacture of manure. The extra expense of soiling
cattle, saving and applying the liquid manure, and thus
bringing the land to a higher state of cultivation,
when it will be capable of keeping more stock, and of
furnishing more manure, would offer a surer road to suc-
cess than a constant outlay for concentrated fertilizers.
The various articles used for top-dressing grass lands,
and the management of grass arid pasture lands, have been
treated of in detail in the work already alluded to, on
the CULTURE OF GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS.
CHAPTER VII.
MILK.
MILK, as the first and natural food of man, has been
used from the remotest antiquity of the human race.
It is produced by the females of that class of ani-
mals known as the mammalia, and was designed by
nature as the noui ishment of their young ; but the
richest and most abundant secretions in common use
are those of the cow, the camel, the mare, and the goat.
The use of camel's milk is confined chiefly to Africa and
to China, that of mares to Tartary and Siberia, and that
of goats to Italy and Spain. The milk of the cow is
universally esteemed.
Milk is an opaque fluid, generally white in color,
having a sweet and agreeable taste, and is composed of
a fatty substance, which forms butter, a caseous sub-
stance, which forms cheese, and a watery residuum,
known as serum, or whey, in cheese-making. The
fatty or butyraceous matter in pure milk varies usually
from two and a half to six and a half per cent. ; the
caseous or cheesy matter, from three to ten per cent. ;
and the serous matter, or whey, from eighty to ninety
per cent.
To the naked eye milk appears to be of the same
character and consistence throughout; but under the
microscope a myriad of little globules of varied forms,
but mostly round or ovoid, and of very unequal sizes,
200 COMPOSITION OF MILK.
appear to float in the watery matter. On more minute
examination, these butter-globules are seen to be
enclosed in a thin film of caseous matter. They are so
minute that they filter through the finest paper. Milk
readily assimilates with water and other sweet and
unfermented liquids, though it weighs four per cent,
more than water. Cold condenses, heat liquefies it.
The elements of which it is composed, not being
similar in character or specific gravity, undergo rapid
changes when at rest. The oily particles, being lighter
than the rest, soon begin to separate from them, and
rise to the surface in the form of a yellowish semi-liquid
cream, while the greater specific gravity of the serous
matter, or whey, carries it to the bottom.
A high temperature very soon develops acidity, and
hastens the separation of the cheesy matter, or curd,
from the whey. And so the three principal elements
are easily distinguished.
But the oily or butyraceous matter, in rising to the
surface, brings up along with it many cheesy particles,
which mechanically adhere to it, and give it more or
less of a white instead of a yellow color ; and many
watery or serous particles, which make it thinner, or
more liquid, than it otherwise would be. If it rose up
free from the adhesion of the other elements, it would
appear in the form of pure butter, and would not need
to undergo the process of churning to separate it from
other substances. The time may come when some
means will be devised, either mechanical or chemical,
to separate the butter particles from the rest instan-
taneously and completely, and thus avoid the often long
and tedious process of churning.
The coagulation, or collecting together of the cheesy
particles, by which the curd becomes separated from
the whey, sometimes takes place so rapidly, from the
CAUGHT IN THE CURD. — FERMENTATION. 201
effect of great heat, or sudden changes in the atmos-
phere, that there is not time for the butter particles to
rise to the surface, and they remain mixed up with the
curd.
Nor does the serous or watery matter remain dis-
tinct or free from the mixture of particles of the cheesy
and buttery matters. It also holds in suspension some
alkaline salts and sugar of milk, to the extent of from
three to four per cent, of its weight.
We have, then,
Milk. 1 fr i f Buttery and cheesy residuum.
Iskimmed milk. &r of milk.
It may be stated, in other words, that milk is com-
posed chiefly of caseine, or curd, which gives it its
strength, and from which cheese is made ; a butyra-
ceous or oily substance, which gives it its richness ; a
sugar of milk, to which it owes its sweetness, and a
watery substance, which makes it refreshing as a beve-
rage ; together with traces of alkaline salts, from whence
are derived its flavor and medicinal properties ; and
that these constituents appear in proportions which
vary in different specimens, according to the breed
of the animal, the food, the length of time after parturi-
tion, etc.
Milk becomes sour, on standing exposed to a warm
atmosphere, by the change of its sugar of milk into an
acid known as lactic acid ; and it is owing to this sugar,
and the chemical changes to which it gives rise, that milk
is susceptible of undergoing all degrees of fermenta-
tion, and of being made into a fermented and palatable
but intoxicating liquor, which, by distillation, produces
pure alcohol. This liquor is extensively used in some
202 MILK-WINE. — THE UDDER.
countries. The arrack of the Arabs is sometimes made
from camel's milk.
The Tartars make most of their spirituous liquors
from milk ; and for this purpose they prefer mare's milk,
on account of its larger percentage of sugar, which
causes a greater and more active fermentation. The
liquor made from it is termed milk-wine, or khoumese.
It resembles beer, and has intoxicating qualities. The
process of manufacture is very simple. The milk, being
allowed first to turn sour, is then heated to the proper
temperature, when it begins to ferment ; and in a day in
summer, or two or three days in winter, the process is
completed, and the liquor may be kept several weeks
without losing its good qualities.
The admirable though complicated organization of
the udder and teats of the cow has already been
explained, in speaking of the manner of milking. But
it may be said, in general, that the number of stomachs
or powerful digestive organs of the ruminants is won-
derfully adapted to promote the largest secretions of
every kind.
The udder of the cow, the more immediate and
important receptacle of milk, and in which other milk-
vessels terminate, is divided into two sections, and each
of these sections is subdivided into two others, mak-
ing four divisions, each constituting in itself, to some
extent, an organ of secretion. But it is well known
that, as a general thing, the lateral section, comprising
the two hind teats, usually secretes larger quantities
of milk than the front section, and that its development,
both external and internal, is usually the greatest.
Milk is exceedingly sensitive to numerous influences,
many of which are not well understood. It is probably
true that the milk of each of the divisions of the udder
differs to some extent from that of the others in the
FEEDING. — WINTER MILK. 203
same animal ; and it is well known that the milk of dif-
ferent cows, fed on the same food, has marked differ-
ences in quality and composition. But food, no doubt,
has a more powerful and immediate effect than any-
thing else, as we should naturally suppose from the fact
that it goes directly to supply all the secretions of the
body. Feeding exclusively on dry food, for instance,
produces a thicker, more buttery and cheesy milk,
though less abundant in quantity, than feeding on moist
and succulent food. The former will be more nutritive
than the latter.
Cows in winter will usually give a milk much richer
in butter and less cheesy than in summer, for the
same reason ; while in summer their milk is richer in
cheese and less buttery than in winter. As already
intimated, the frequency of milking has its effect on the
quality. Milking but once a day would give a more
condensed and buttery milk than milking twice or
three times. The separation of the different constitu-
ents of milk begins, undoubtedly, before it leaves the
udder ; and hence we find that the milk first drawn from
the cow at a milking is far more watery than that
drawn later, the last drawn, commonly called the strip-
pings, being the richest of all, and containing from six
to twelve times as much butter as the first.
Many other influences affect the milk of cows, both in
quantity and quality, as the length of time after calving,
the age and health of the cow, the season of the year,
etc. Milk is whiter in color in winter than in summer,
even when the feeding is precisely the same. At
certain seasons the milk of the same cow is bluer than
at others. This is often observable in dog-days.
The specific gravity of milk is greater than that of
water, that of the latter being one thousand, and that
of the former one thousand and thirty-one on an average,
204 PERCENTAGE OF CREAM.
though it varies greatly as it comes from different cows,
and even at different times from the same cow. A feed-
ing of salt given to the cow will, in a few hours, cause
the specific gravity of her milk to vary from one to
three per cent.
Milk will ordinarily produce from ten to fifteen per
cent, of its own volume in cream ; or, on an average, not
far from twelve and a half per cent. Eight quarts of
milk will, therefore, make about one quart of cream.
But the milk of cows that are fed so as to produce the
richest milk and butter will often very far exceed this,
sometimes giving over twenty per cent, of cream, and
in very rare instances twenty-five or twenty-six per
cent. The product of milk in cream is more regular
than the product of cream in butter. A very rich milk
is lighter than milk of a poor quality, for the reason
that cream is lighter than skim-milk.
Of the different constituents of milk, caseine is that
which most resembles animal matter, and hence the
intrinsic value of cheese as a nutritive article of food.
Hence, also, the nutritive qualities of skimmed milk,
or milk from which the cream only has been removed,
while the milk is still sweet. The oily or fatty parts
of milk furnish heat to the animal system ; but this is
easily supplied by other substances.
From the peculiar nature of milk, and its extreme
sensitiveness to external influences, the importance of
the utmost care in its management must be apparent :
and this care must begin from the moment when it
leaves the udder, especially if it is to be made into
butter. In this case it would be better, if it were con-
venient, to keep the different kinds of milk of the same
milking by itself — that which comes first from the
udder, and that which is drawn last ; and if the first third
could be set by itself, and the second and the third parts
DIFFERENT QUALITIES AS THEY RISE. 205
by themselves, the time required to raise the cream of
each part would doubtless be considerably less than it
is where the different elements of the milk are so inti-
mately mixed together in the process of milking, after
being once partially separated, as they are before they
leave the udder.
After milking, as little time as possible should elapse
before the milk is brought to rest in the pan. The
remarks of Dr. Anderson on the treatment of milk are
pertinent in this connection. " If milk," says he, " be
put into a dish and allowed to stand until it throws up
cream, the portion of cream rising first to the surface
is richer in quality and equal in quantity to that which
rises in a second equal space of time ; and the cream
which rises in a second interval of time is greater in
quantity and richer in quality than that which rises in a
third equal space of time. That of the third is greater
than that of the fourth, and so of the rest; the cream
that rises continuing progressively to decrease in
quantity and quality, so long as any rises to the surface.
" Thick milk always throws up a much smaller pro-
portion of the cream which it actually contains than
milk that is thinner, but the cream is of a richer qual-
ity ; and if water be added to that thick milk, it will
afford a considerably greater quantity of cream, and
consequently more butter, than it would have done if
allowed to remain pure ; but its quality at the same time
is greatly deteriorated.
" Milk which is put into a bucket or other proper
vessel, and carried in it to a considerable distance, so as
to be much agitated and in part cooled before it be put
into the milk-pans to settle for cream, never throws up
so much or so rich a cream as if the same milk had been
put into the milk-pans, without agitation, directly after it
was milked."
18
206 TEMPERATURE OF THE BEST DAIRIES.
*
Milk as it comes from the cow is about blood-heat, 01
98° Fah. It should be cooled off as little as possible
before coming to rest. With this object in view, the
pails may be rinsed with hot water before milking, and
the distance from the place of milking to the milk-room
should be as short as possible ; but, even with all these
precautions, the fall in temperature will be considerable.
From what has already been said with regard to the
manner in which the cream or oily particles of the milk
rise to the surface, and the difficulty of rising through a
great space, on account of their intimate entanglement
with the cheesy and other matters, the importance of
using shallow pans must be sufficiently obvious.
To facilitate and hasten the rising of the butter
or oily particles, the importance of keeping the milk-
room at a uniform and pretty high temperature will
be equally obvious. The greatest density of milk is
at or near the temperature of 41° Fah. ; and at this point
the butter particles will, of course, rise with the great-
est difficulty and slowness, and bring up a far greater
amount of cheese particles than under more favorable
circumstances. These caseous and watery matters, as
has been already stated, cause the cream or the butter
to look white, and to ferment and become rancid. To
avoid this, the temperature is generally kept, in the best
butter-dairies, as high as from 58° to 62°. Some recom-
mend keeping the milk at over 70°, and from that to 80°,
at which temperature the cream, they say, rises very rap-
idly, especially if the depth through which it has to rise
is but slight. But that, in the opinion of most practical
dairymen, is too high.
To obtain the greatest amount of cream from a given
quantity of milk, the depth in the pan should, it seems
to me, never exceed two inches. A high temperature
and shallow depth, as they liquefy the milk and facilitate
MOIST CLIMATES. CLEANLINESS. 207
the rising of the particles, tend to secure a cream free
from the cheesy matter, and such cream will make a
quality of butter both more delicate to the taste, and
less likely to become rancid, than any other.
It has already been intimated, in another connection,
that neither the largest quantity nor the best quality
of milk is given by the cow till after she has had two
or three calves, or has arrived at the age of five or six
years. It may also be said, what cannot fail to have
attracted the attention of observing dairymen, that in
very dry seasons the quantity of milk yielded will gen-
erally be less, though the quality will be richer, than in
moist and mild seasons.
Hence it may be inferred that moist climates are
much more favorable to the production of milk than dry
ones ; and this also has been frequently observed and
admitted to be a well-known fact. From these facts it
may be stated that dry and warm weather increases
the quantity of butter, but it is also true that cooler
weather produces a greater amount of cheese. A state
of pregnancy, it is obvious, must reduce the quality of
the milk, and cause it to yield less cream than before.
In the treatment of milk the utmost cleanliness is es-
pecially requisite. The pails, the strainers, the pans, the
milk-room, and, in short, everything connected with the
dairy, must be kept neat and clean to an extent which
few but the very best dairy-women can appreciate. The
smallest portion of old milk left to sour in the strainers
or pans will be sure to taint them, and impart their bad
flavor to the new milk put into them. Every one is
familiar with the fact that an exceedingly small quantity
of yeast causes an active fermentation. The process is
a chemical one, and another familiar instance of it is
in the distillation of liquors and the brewing of beer,
where fhe malt creates a very active fermentation. la
208 ADULTERATIONS. — SWILL MILK.
a similar manner the smallest particle of sour milk will
taint a larg%e quantity of sweet.
The milk-room should be removed from dampness,
and all gases which might be injurious to the milk by
infecting the atmosphere. If the state of the atmos-
phere and the temperature, as has been stated, affect it,
all contact with foreign substances to which it is liable
in careless and slovenly milking, and all air rendered
impure by vegetables and innumerable other things
kept in a house-cellar, will be much more liable to taint
and injure it. Milk appears to absorb odors from ob-
jects near it, to such an extent that a piece of catnip
lying near the pan has been known to impart its flavor
to it.
Milk, as sold in most large cities, is often adulterated
to a great extent, but most frequently with water. Not
unfrequently, too, a part of the cream is first taken off,
and water afterwards added ; in which case the use of
burnt sugar is very common for coloring the milk, the
blueness of which would otherwise lead to detection.
The adulteration of pure milk from the healthy cow by
water, though dishonest, and objectionable in the high-
est degree, is far less iniquitous in its consequences
than the nefarious traffic in " swill-milk," or milk pro-
duced from cows fed entirely on " still-slops," from
which they soon become diseased, after which the milk
contains a subtle poison, which is as difficult of detec-
tion by any known process of chemistry as the miasma
of an atmosphere tainted with yellow fever or the chol-
era. The simple fact is sufficiently palpable, that no
pure and healthy milk can be produced by an unhealthy
and diseased animal ; and that no animal can long remain
healthy that is fed on an unnatural food, and treated in
the manner too common around the distilleries of many
large cities.
THE SPECIFIC-GRAVITY TEST. 209
It is evident, from the well-known influence which
" still-slops " and other exceedingly succulent food have
in increasing the amount of water in the milk, that adul-.
teration may be effected by means of the food, as well
as by addition of water to the milk itself. It is evident,
too, on a moment's reflection, that the specific gravity
of pure milk must vary exceedingly, as it comes from
different cows, or from the same cow at different times.
This variation reached to the extent of twenty-three
degrees in the milk of forty-two different cows, or from
one thousand and eight to one thousand and thirty-one ;
but so great a variation is very rare, and not to be
expected.
No reliable conclusion, as to whether a particular
specimen of milk has been adulterated or not, can there-
fore be drawn from the differences in specific gravity
alone. A radical difficulty attending this test arises
from the fact that the specific gravity both of water and
cream is less than that of pure milk. If, therefore, the
hydrometer sinks deeper into the fluid than would be
expected in ordinary pure milk, how is it
-~io Possible> unless the variation is very large, to
tell whether it is due to the richness of the
milk in cream, or to the water? I have,
for instance, two instruments, each labelled
"Lactometer," but both of which are simple
hydrometers (Fig. 71), or specific gravity
testers, one of which is graduated with the
water-mark 0 and that of pure milk 20° ; the
water-mark of the other being 0, like the
first, and that of pure milk 100°. Both are
the same in principle, the only difference
being in the graduation. On the former,
graduated for pure milk at 20°, it is difficult
to tell with accuracy the small variations in
Fig. 71. Ig* 14
210 VARIATION IN SPECIFIC GRAVITY.
the percentage of water or cream, the divisions on the
scale are so minute, while the latter marks them so
that they can be read off with greater ease and pre-
cision.
For the purpose of showing the difference in the spe-
cific gravity in different specimens of pure milk, taken
from the cows in the morning, and allowed to cool down
to about 60°, I used the latter instrument with the fol-
lowing results : The first pint drawn from a native cow
stood at 101°, the scale being graduated at 100° for pure
milk. The last pint of the same milking, being the strip-
pings of the same cow, stood at 86°. The mixture of the
two pints stood at about 93£°. The milk of a pure-bred
Jersey stood at 95°, that of an Ayrshire at 100°, that
of a Hereford at 106°, that of a Devon at 111°, while a
thin cream stood at 66°. All these specimens of milk
were pure, and milked at the same time in the morning,
carefully labelled in separate vessels, and set upon the
same shelf to cool off; and yet the variations of specific
gravity amounted to 25°, or, taking the average quality
of the native cows' milk at 93£°, the variations amounted
to 17_10.
But, knowing the specific gravity, at the outset, of
any specimen of milk, the hydrometer would show the
amount of water added. This cheap and simple instru-
ment is therefore of frequent service.
The lactometer is a very different instrument, and
measures the comparative richness of different speci-
mens of milk. It is of very great service both in the
butter and cheese dairy, for testing the comparative
value of different cows for the purposes for which they
are kept. This instrument is very simple and cheap
and the practical dairyman can tell by it what cows he
can best part with without detriment to his business.
THE LACTOMETER.
211
No cow should be admitted to a herd kept for butter-
making without knowing her qualities in this respect.
Many would find, on examination, that some of their
cows, though giving a good quantity, were compara-
tively worthless to them. Such was the experience of
John Holbert, of Chemung, New York, who, in his
statement to the state agricultural society, says: "I
find, by churning the milk of each cow separately, that
one of my best cows will make as much butter as three
of my poorest, giving the same quantity of milk. I have
kept a dairy for twenty years, but I never until the
past season knew that there was so much difference in
cows."
Fig. 72. Lactometer.
The simplest form of the lactometer is a series of
graduated glass tubes (Fig. 72), or vials, of equal diam-
eter; generally a third of an inch inside, and about
eleven inches long. The tubes are filled to an equal
height, each one with the milk of a different cow, and
allowed to stand for the cream to rise. The difference
in thickness of the column of cream will be very per-
ceptible, and it will be greater than most people imag-
ine. The effect of different kinds of food for the pro-
duction of butter may be studied in the same way.
212 MODES OF PRESERVING MILK.
This form of the lactometer was invented by Sir Joseph
Banks.
Yarious means are used for the preservation of milk.
One of these is by concentrating it by boiling. Where
this is followed, as it is by some dairymen, as a regular
business, the milk is poured, as it comes from the dairy,
into long, shallow, copper pans, and heated to a temper-
ature of a hundred and ten degrees, Fahrenheit. A lit-
tle sugar is then mixed in, and the whole body of milk
is kept in motion by stirring for some three or four
hours. The water is evaporated, leaving the milk about
one fourth of its original bulk. It is now put into tin
cans, the covers of which are soldered on, when the
cans are lowered into boiling water. After remaining
a while, they are taken out and hermetically sealed, in
which condition the milk will keep for months. Con-
centrated milk may thus be taken to sea or elsewhere.
Another form is that of solidified milk, in which state it
is easily and perfectly soluble in water ; and when so
dissolved with a proper proportion of water, it assumes
its original form of milk, and may be made into butter.
A statement by Dr. Doremus, in the New York Medical
Journal, explains the process, as follows :
To one hundred and twelve pounds of milk twenty
eight pounds of Stuart's white sugar were added, and a
trivial portion of bicarbonate of soda, — a teaspoonful,
— merely enough to insure the neutralizing of any acid-
ity, which, in the summer season, is exhibited even a
few minutes after milking, although inappreciable to
the organs of taste. The sweet milk was poured into
evaporating pans of enamelled iron, imbedded in warm
water heated by steam. A thermometer was immersed
in each of these water-baths, that, by frequent inspec-
tion, the temperature might not rise above the point
which years of experience have shown advisable. To
SOLIDIFIED MILK. 213
facilitate the evaporation, by means of blowers and
other ingenious apparatus a current of air is established
between the covers of the pans and the solidifying
milk. Connected with the steam-engine is an arrange-
ment of stirrers, for agitating the milk slightly, while
evaporating, and so gently as not to churn it. In about
three hours the milk and sugar assumed a pasty con-
sistency, and delighted the palates of all present. By
constant manipulation and warming, it was reduced to
a rich, creamy-looking powder, then exposed to the air
to cool, weighed into parcels of a pound each, and by a
press, with the force of a ton or two, made to assume
the compact form of a tablet (the size of a small brick),
in which shape, covered with tin-foil, it is presented to
the public.
" Some of the solidified milk which had been grated
and dissolved in water the previous evening was found
covered with a rich cream ; this, skimmed off, was soon
converted into excellent butter. Another solution was
speedily converted into wine-whey by a treatment pre-
cisely similar to that employed in using ordinary milk.
It fully equalled the expectations of all ; so that solidi-
fied milk will hereafter rank among the necessary
appendages to the sick room. In fine, this article makes
paps, custards, puddings, and cakes, equal to the best
milk ; and one may be sure it is an unadulterated article,
obtained from well-pastured cattle, and not the produce
of distillery slops ; neither can it be watered. For our
steamships, our packets, for those travelling by land or
by sea, for hotel purposes, or use in private families,
for young or old, we recommend it cordially as a sub-
stitute for fresh milk."
A pound of this solidified milk, it is said, will make
five pints when dissolved in water.
Another favorite form in which milk is used is that
214: HOW TO MAKE ICE-CREAM.
known as ice-cream, a cheap and healthy luxury during
the summer months. It is frozen in a simple machine
made for the purpose, in the best form of which the
time of the operation is from six to ten minutes. The
richest quality of ice-cream is made from cream, in the
following manner: To one quart of cream use the
yolks of three eggs. Put the cream over the fire till it
boils, during which time the eggs are beaten up with
half a pound of white sugar, powdered fine ; and when
the cream boils stir it upon the eggs and sugar, then let
it stand till quite cold, then add the juice of three or
four lemons. It is then ready to put into the freezer.
The heat of the cream partially cooks the eggs, and the
stirring must be continued to prevent their cooking too
much.
A somewhat simpler receipt, given by the confec-
tioners, is the following : To half a pound of powdered
sugar add the juice of three lemons. Mix the sugar and
lemon together, and then add one quart of cream. This
is less rich and delicate than the preceding, but is quite
rich enough for common use, and some trouble is saved.
The following receipt makes a very good ice-cream.
Two quarts of good rich milk ; four fresh eggs ;
three quarters of a pound of white sugar ; six teaspoons
of Bermuda arrow-root. Eub the arrow-root smooth
in a little cold milk, beat the eggs and sugar together,
bring the milk to the boiling point, then stir in the
arrow-root ; remove it then from the fire, and immedi-
ately add the eggs and sugar, stirring briskly, to keep
the eggs from cooking, then set aside to cool. If
flavored with extracts, let it be done just before putting
it in the freezer. If the vanilla bean is used, it must be
boiled in the milk. The preparation must be thoroughly
cooled before the freezing is proceeded with.
The ice-cream by this receipt may be produced at a
MILK OF SPAYED COWS. 215
cost not exceeding twenty-five cents a quart, calling the
milk five cents a quart, and the eggs a cent apiece, and
including the cost of labor. It is quite equal to that
commonly furnished by the confectioners at seventy-
five cents a quart. The arrow-root may be dispensed
with. The freezer is a cheap and simple machine.
After the cream has frozen in the machine, it should
stand an hour or two to harden before it is used.
To secure a more uniform flow and a richer quality
of milk, cows are sometimes spayed, or castrated. The
milk of spayed cows is pretty uniform in quantity,
and this quantity will be, on an average, a little more
than before the operation was performed. But few
instances have come under my observation, and those
few have resulted satisfactorily, the quality of the milk
having been greatly improved, the yield becoming
regular for some years, and varying only by the differ-
ence in the succulence of the food. The proper time
for spaying is about five or six weeks after calving, or
at the time when the largest quantity of milk is given.
There seem to be some advantages in spaying for milk
and butter dairies, where the raising of stock is not
attended to. The cows are more quiet, never being
liable to returns of seasons of heat, which always more
or less affect the milk both in quantity and quality.
They give milk nearly uniform in these respects, for
several years, provided the food is uniformly succulent
and nutritious. Their milk is influenced like that of
other cows, though to less extent, by the quality and
quantity of food ; so that in winter, unless the animal is
properly attended to, the yield will decrease somewhat,
but will rise again as good feed returns. This uniform-
ity for the milk-dairy is of immense advantage. Besides,
the cow, when old, and inclined to dry up, takes on fat
216
ANALYSES OF MILK.
with greater rapidity, and produces a juicy and tender
beef, superior, at the same age, to that of the ox. The
operation of spaying is simple, and may be performed
by any veterinary surgeon, without much risk of
injury.
The milk of the cow has often been analyzed. It was
found" by Haidlen to consist of
Water, 873.
Batter, ...... 30.
Caseine, 48.2
Sugar of milk, ... 43.9
Phosphate oflime, . . 2.31
42
Iron, 47
Chloride of Potassium, . . 1.44
Sodium and Soda, ... .66
looo.
But its composition, as already intimated, varies
exceedingly with the food of the animal, and is
influenced by an infinite variety of circumstances.
Skim-milk is much more watery than whole milk. It
was found by one analysis to contain about 97 per cent,
of water arid 3 per cent, of caseine.
Swill-milk, or milk from cows fed on " still-slops," in
New York, was found by analysis to contain less than
1.5 per cent, of butter, some specimens having even
less than one per cent.
The colostrum, or milk of the cow just after calving,
contains a large proportion of cheesy matter. Its
amount of caseine was found by careful analysis to be
15.1 per cent., of butter 2.6, mucous matter 2, and
water 80.3, there being only a trace of sugar of milk.
The measures for milk in common use in this country
are those used for wine and beer. The wine quart is
about one fifth less than the beer quart, and is that
most commonly used in England. It is to be regretted
that no uniform standard has been adopted throughout
the country.
CHAPTER VIII.
BUTTER AND THE BUTTER-DAIRY.
" Slow rolls the churn — its load of clogging cream
At once foregoes its quality and name.
From knotty particles first floating wide,
Congealing butter 's dashed from side to side."
BUTTER, as we have seen, is the oily or fatty con-
stituent of all good milk, mechanically united or held in
suspension by the solution of caseine or cheesy matter
in water. It is already formed in the udder of the cow,
and the operations required after it leaves the udder, to
produce it, effect merely the separation, more or less
complete, of the butter from the cheese and the whey.
This being the case, it is natural to suppose that
butter was known at an early date. The wandering
tribes, accustomed to take on their journeys a supply
of milk in skins, would find it formed by the agitation
of travelling, and thus would be suggested the first
rude and simple process of churning.
But it is not probable that the Jews possessed a
knowledge of it ; and it is pretty well settled, at the
present time, that the passages in our English version
of the Old Testament in which it is used are errone-
ously translated, and that wherever the word butter
occurs the word milk, or sour, thick milk, or cream,
should be substituted. And so in Isaiah, " Milk and
honey shall he eat," instead of " butter ; " and in Job
(29 : 6), '< When I washed my feet in milk," instead of
19
218 HISTORY. — CREAM THAT RISES FIRST.
"butter." And the expression in Prov. (30: 33),
''' Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter,"
would be better translated, according to the best
critics, "the pressing of the milker bringeth forth
milk,'' or the " pressing of milk bringeth forth cheese."
In the oldest Greek writers milk and cheese are
spoken of, but there is no evidence that butter was
known to them. The Greeks obtained their knowledge
of it from the Scythians or the Thracians, and the
Romans obtained theirs from the Germans.
In the time of Christ it was used chiefly as an oint-
ment in the baths, arid as a medicine. In warm lati-
tudes, as in the southern part of Europe, even at the
present day, its use is comparatively limited, the deli-
cious oil of the olive supplying its place.
I have already stated that all good milk of the cow
contained butter enclosed in little round globules held
in suspension, or floating in the other substances. As
soon as the milk comes to rest after leaving the udder,
these round particles, being lighter than the mass of
cheesy and watery materials by which they are sur-
rounded, begin to rise and work their way to the sur-
face. The largest globules, being comparatively the
lightest, rise first, and form the first layer of cream,
which is the best, since it is less filled with caseine.
The next smaller, rising a little slower, are more
entangled with other substances, and bring more of
them to the surface ; and the smallest rise the slowest
and the last, and come up loaded with foreign sub-
stances, and produce an inferior quality of cream and
butter. The most delicate cream, as well as the sweet-
est and most fragrant butter, is that obtained by a first
skimming, only a few hours after the milk is set. Of
three skimmings, at six, twelve, and eighteen hours
after the milk is strained into the pan, that first obtained
MILK AND WATER. 219
will make more and richer butter than the second, and
that next obtained richer than the third, and so on.
The last quart of milk drawn at a milking, for reasons
already stated, will make a more delicious and savory
butter than the first ; and if the last quart or two of a
milking is set by itself, and the first cream that rises
taken from it after standing only five or six hours, it
will produce the richest and highest-flavored butter the
cow is capable of giving, under like circumstances as to
season and feed.
The separation of the butter particles from the others
is slower and more difficult in proportion to the thick-
ness and richness of the milk. Hence in winter, on dry
feeding, the milk being richer and more buttery, the
cream or particles of butter are slower and longer in
rising. But, as heat liquefies milk, the difficulty is over-
come in part by elevating the temperature. The same
effect is produced by mixing a little water into the milk
when it is set. It aids the separation, and consequently
more cream will rise in the same space of time, from
the same amount of rich milk, with a little water in it,
than without. Water slightly warm, if in cold weather,
will produce the most perceptible effect. The quantity
of butter will be greater from milk treated in this way;
the quality, slightly deteriorated.
It must be apparent, from what has been said, that
butter may be produced by agitating the whole body
of the milk, and thus breaking up the filmy coatings of
the globules, as well as by letting it stand for the cream
to rise. This course is preferred by many practical
dairymen, and is the general practice in some of the
countries most celebrated for superior butter.
The general treatment of milk and the management
of cream have been already alluded to in a former chap-
ter. It has been seen that the first requisites to sue-
220 CLEANLINESS. — GOOD BUTTER.
cessful dairy husbandry are good cows, and abundant
and good feeding, adapted to the special object of the
dairy, whether it be milk, butter, or cheese ; and that,
with both these conditions, an absolute cleanliness in
every process, from the milking of the cow to bringirg
the butter upon the table, is indispensably necessary.
Cleanliness may, indeed, with propriety be regarded
as the chief requisite in the manufacture of good but-
ter ; for the least suspicion of a want of it turns the
appetite at once, while both milk and cream are so ex-
ceedingly sensitive to the slightest taint in the air, in
everything with which they come in contact, as to
impart the unmistakable evidence of any negligence,
in the taste and flavor of the butter.
It is safe to say, therefore, that good butter depends
more upon the manufacture than upon any other one
thing, and perhaps than all others put together. So im-
portant is this point, that a judicious writer remarks that
" in every district where good butter is made it is univer-
sally attributed to the richness of the pastures, though
it is a well-known fact that, take a skilful dairymaid
from that district into another, where good butter is not
usually made, and where, of course, the pastures are
deemed very unfavorable, she will make butter as good
as she used to do. And bring one from this last district
into the other, and she will find that she cannot make
better butter there than she did before, unless she takes
lessons from the servants, or others whom she finds
there ; " and a French writer very justly observes that
" the particular nature of Bretagne butter, whose color,
flavor, and consistence, are so much prized, depends
neither on the pasture nor on the particular species of
cow, but on the mode of making ; " and this will hold,
to a considerable extent, in every country where but-
ter is made.
THE DAIRY-ROOM. 221
Many things, indeed, concur to produce the best re-
suits, and it would be useless to underrate the import-
ance of any ; but, with the best of cows to impart the
proper color and consistency to butter, the sweetest
feed and the purest water to secure a delicate flavor,
the utmost care must still be bestowed by the dairymaid
upon every process of manufacture, or else the best of
milk and cream will be spoiled, or produce an article
which will bring only a low price in the market, when,
with greater skill, it might have obtained the highest.
From what has been said of the care requisite to pre-
serve the milk from taint, it may be inferred that atten-
tion to the milk and dairy room is of no small importance.
In very large butter-dairies, a building is devoted ex-
clusively to this department. This should be at a short
distance from the yard, or place of milking, but no
further than is necessary to be removed from all impur-
ities in the air arising from it, and from all low, damp
places, subject to disagreeable exhalations. This is of
the utmost importance. It should be well ventilated,
and kept constantly clean and sweet, by the use of pure
water ; and especially, if milk is spilled, it should bo
washed up immediately, with fresh water. No matter if
it is but a single drop ; if allowed to soak into the floor
and sour, it cannot easily be removed, and it is sufficient
to taint the air and the milk in the room, though it may
not be perceptible to the senses.
In smaller dairies, economy dictates the use of a room
in the house ; and this, in warm climates, should be on
the north side, and used exclusively for this purpose.
I have known many to use a room in the cellar as a
milk-room ; but very few cellars are at all suitable.
Most are filled with a great variety of articles which
never fail to infect the air.
But, if a house-cellar is so built as to make it a suita-
19*
222 PURE AIR. — THE MILK-STAND.
ble place to set the milk, as where a large dry and airy
room, sufficiently isolated from the rest, can be used, a
greater uniformity of temperature can usually be se-
cured than on the floor above. The room, in this case,
should have a gravel or loamy bottom, uncemented, but
dry and porous. The soil is a powerful absorbent of
the noxious gases which are apt to infect the atmos-
phere near the bottom of the cellar.
Milk should never be set on the bottom of a cellar, if
the object is to raise the cream. The cream will rise in
time, but rarely or never so quickly or so completely as
on shelves from five to eight feet from the bottom,
around which a free circulation of pure air can be had
from the latticed windows. It is, perhaps, safe to say
that as great an amount of better cream will rise from
the same milk in twelve hours on suitable shelves, six
Fig. 73. Milk-stand.
feet from the bottom, as would be obtained directly on
the bottom of the same cellar in twenty-four hours.
THE PANS. — THE SKIMMER. 223
One of the most convenient forms for shelves in a
dairy-room designed for butter-making is represented
in Fig. 73, made of light and seasoned wood, in an oc-
tagonal form, and capable of holding one hundred and
seventy-six pans of the ordinary form and size. It is so
simple and easily constructed, and so economizes space,
that it may readily be adapted to other and smaller
rooms for a similar purpose. If the dairy-house is near
a spring of pure and running water, a small stream can
be led in by one channel and taken out by another, and
thus keep a constant circulation under the milk-stand,
which may be so constructed as to turn easily on the
central post, so as often to save many footsteps.
The pans designed for milk are generally made of tin.
That is found, after long experience, to be, on the whole,
the best and most economical, and subject to fewer
objections than most other materials. Glazed earthen
ware is often used, the chief objection to it being its
liability to break, and its weight. It is easily kept
clean, however, and is next in value to tin, if not, indeed,
equal to it. A tin skimmer is commonly used, some-
what in the form of the bowl of a spoon, and pierced
with holes, to remove the cream. In some sections of
the country, a large white clam-shell is very commonly
used instead of a skimmer made for the purpose, the
chief objection to it being that the cream is not quite
so carefully separated from the milk.
A mode of avoiding the necessity of skimming has
long been used to some extent in England, by which
the milk is drawn off through a hole in the bottom of
the pan. This plan is recommended by Unwerth, a
German agriculturist, who proposes a pan represented
in Fig. 74, made of block tin, oblong in shape, and hav-
ing the inside corners carefully rounded. The pan is
only two inches in depth, and is made large enough to
224
THE SHALLOW DEPTH IN THE PAN.
hold six or eight quarts of milk at the depth of one
and a half inches. This shallowness greatly facilitates
b
Fig. 74. Milk-pan.
the rapid separation of the cream, especially at a tem-
perature somewhat elevated. A. strainer is shown in
Pig. 75, pierced with holes, the centre half an inch
lower than the rim, to which hooks are fixed to hold
it to the top of the pan. On this a coarse linen cloth
Fig. 75.
is laid, the milk being strained through both the cloth
and the strainer, thus serving to separate all foreign
substances in a thorough manner.
In the bottom of the milk-pan, near one end, is an
opening, a, through which the milk is drawn, after the
cream is all risen or separated from it, by raising a
brass pin, &. The opening is lined with brass, and is
three fourths of an inch in diameter. Fig. 76 represents
the tin cylinder magnified. This is pierced, to the
height of an inch, with many small holes, diminishing in
size towards the top. The cream is all risen in twenty-
CHURNING BY HOARSE POWER. 225
four hours. The pin is then drawn from the cylinder,
and the milk flows out, leaving the thick cream, which
is prevented from flowing out by the smallness of the
holes in the cylinder.
With the form of pans in most common use in this
country, which are circular, three or four inches deep,
this shallow depth of milk causes a little more trouble
in skimming ; but, if the principle is correct, the form
and depth of the pan will be easily adapted to it.
After the cream is removed, it is put into stone or
earthen jars, and kept in a cool place till a sufficient
quantity is accumulated to make it convenient to churn.
If a sufficient number of cows is kept, it is far better
to churn every day ; but in ordinary circumstances
that may be oftener than is practicable. The more
frequently the better ; and the advantages of frequent
churning are so great that cream should never be kept
longer than three or four days, where it is possible to
churn so often.
The mode of churning in one of the many good
dairies in Pennsylvania, — that of Mr. J. Comfort, of
Montgomery county, — is as follows : He uses a large
barrel-shaped churn, of the size of about two hogsheads,
hung on journals supported by a framework in an adjoin-
ing building. It is worked by machinery in a rotatory
motion, by a horse travelling around in a circle. The
churning commerrjes about four o'clock in the morn-
ing in summer, the cream being poured into the churn
and the horse started. When the butter has come, a
part of the butter-milk is removed by a vent-hole in the
churn. Then, without beating the mass together, as is
usual, a portion of the butter and its butter-milk is taken
out by the spatula and placed in the bottom of a tub
covered with fine salt, and spread out equally to a
proper depth ; then the surface of this butter is cov-
15
226 FORMS OF THE CHURN.
ered with salt, and another portion of butter and
butter-milk taken from the churn and spread over the
salted surface in the same manner, and salted as before,
thus making a succession of layers, till the tub is full.
The whole is then covered with a white cloth, and
allowed to stand a while. A part of this butter, say
eight or ten pounds, is then taken from the tub and laid
on a marble table (Fig. 80), grooved around the edges,
arid slightly inclined, with a place in the groove for the
butter-milk and whey to escape. It is then worked by
a butter-worker or brake, turning on a swivel-joint,
which perfectly arid completely removes the butter-milk,
and flattens out the butter into a thin mass ; then the
surface is wiped by a cloth laid over it, and the working
and wiping repeated till the cloth adheres to the butter,
which indicates that the butter is dry
enough, when it is separated into pound
lumps, weighed and stamped, ready for
market. The rest of the butter in the
tub is treated in the same way.
It will be seen that this method
avoids the ordinary washing with water,
not a drop of water being used, from
beginning to the end. It avoids also
the working by hand, which in warm
weather has a tendency to soften the
butter. In the space of about an hour
a hundred pounds are thus made, and its
beautiful color and fragrance preserved.
If it happens to come from the churn
soft, it hardens by standing a little
longer in the brine.
The most common form of the churn
in small dairies is the upright or dash-
F»g. 77. churn, Pig. 77 ; but many other forms
MODE OF CHURNING.
227
are in extensive use, each possessing, doubtless, more
or less merit peculiar to itself. The cylinder churn,
Fig. 78, is very simply
constructed, and capable of
being easily cleaned. Some
prefer the thermometer
churn, Fig. 79, having an
attachment for indicating
the temperature of the
cream.
As already stated, there
are two modes of practice
Fig- 78> with regard to the pro-
cess of churning, each of which has its advantages.
The milk itself may be churned, or it may be set in
the milk-room for the cream to rise, which is to be
Fig. 79.
churned by itself. The former is the practice of a
successful dairyman of New York, who, in his state-
ment, says : " I take care to have my cellar thoroughly
cleansed and whitewashed early every spring. I keep
228 CHURNING MILK.— SQUARE BOX CHURN.
milk in one cellar, and butter in another. Too much
care cannot be taken by dairymen to observe the time
of churning. I usually churn from one hour to one
hour and a half, putting from one to two pails of cold
water in each churn. When the butter has come, I
take it out, wash it through one water, set it in the
cellar and salt it, then work it from three to five
times before packing. Butter should not be made quite
salt enough until the last working. Then add a little
salt, which makes a brine that keeps the butter sweet.
One ounce of salt to a pound of butter is about the
quantity I use. I pack the first day, if the weather is
cool ; if warm, the second. If the milk is too warm
when churned, the quantity of butter will be less, and
the quality and flavor not so good as when it is at a
a proper temperature, which, for churning milk, is from
60° to 65°."
But, whichever course it is thought best to adopt,
whether the milk or cream is churned, it is the concus-
sion, rather than the motion, which serves to bring the
butter. This may be produced in the simple square box
as well as by the dasher churn ; and it is the opinion of
a scientific gentleman with whom I have conversed on
the subject, that the perfect square is the best form of
the churn ever invented. The cream or milk in this
churn has a peculiar compound motion, and the concus-
sion on the corners and right-angled sides is very great,
and causes the butter to come as rapidly as it is judi
cious to have it. This churn consists of a simple square
box, which any one who can handle a saw and plane can
make, hung on axles turned by a crank somewhat like
the barrel churn. No dasher is required. If any one
is inclined to doubt the superiority of this form over all
others, he can easily try it and satisfy himself. It costs
but little.
CHURNING THE CREAM. 229
In some sections the milk is churned soon after milk-
ing ; in others, the night's and morning's milk are mixed
together, and churned at noon ; in others, the cream is
allowed to rise, when the milk is curdled, and cream,
curd, and whey, are all churned together.
A successful instance of churning only the cream
is found in the statement of Mr. Lincoln, who received
the first dairy premium of the Massachusetts Society for
the Promotion of Agriculture. He says : " The cream,
as it is skimmed, is poured into stone pots, which in
warm weather are kept in a refrigerator, and during the
winter stand in the milk-room. The times of churning
depend upon the quantity of cream.
" The time usually occupied in churning is from fifty
minutes upwards. This is deemed a matter of import-
ance. We consider it much better to bring the cream
to the degree of temperature necessary to the forma-
tion of butter by a steady, moderate agitation, than to
use artificial heat to take it to that point before com-
mencing to churn. By such moderate, long-continued
agitations, we think the butter has a firmer, more waxy
consistence than it can have by more rapid churning.
The churn used is ' Gait's.' Numerous trials have been
made with many of the other kinds of churns in com-
parison with this, and the result has been uniformly
favorable to this patent.
" When the butter has come, the butter-milk is drawn
off, and the butter, after being thoroughly worked, is
salted with from one half to three fourths ounces of
salt to the pound. It is now set away for twenty-four
Lours, when it is again worked over thoroughly, and
made into pound lumps with wooden ' spatters/ After
standing another twenty-four hours, it is sent into
market. In l working ' butter we use a table over
which a fluted roller is made to pass (Fig. 80), rolling
20
230 PHILADELPHIA BUTTER.
out the butter into a thin sheet, and completely and
entirely depriving it of butter-milk.
" From many years' experience, the observation is
warranted, that by no other process of manufacture
can the butter-milk be so completely extracted. I am
aware of the truth of the objection made that the
shrinkage occasioned by its use is too great : yet there
is, in fact, a difference in the worth of the butter made
upon it, over that manufactured in the ordinary way,
quite equal to the loss in weight occasioned by it."
The high reputation of Philadelphia butter being so
well known, I was desirous of ascertaining the opinions
of practical men as to what this was due, — whether to
any peculiar richness of the pasturage, or to the careful
mode of manufacture. In reply to my inquiries, I have
received satisfactory statements from several sources,
and among them the following communication from one
of the most successful of the butter-makers who supply
that market. " The high reputation of Philadelphia but-
ter," he says, "is owing to the manner of its manufacture,
though I would not say that the sweet-scented vernal
and other natural grasses do not add to the fine quality
of well-made butter.
" In proof of what I say, I would refer to the experi-
ence of my brother, who is the owner of two farms.
His tenant, an excellent butter-maker, lived on one
farm, and made a very fine article, which brought the
highest prices. He moved to the other farm, where
the former tenant had never made good butter, and had
ascribed his want of success to the spring-house. On
this farm he succeeded in establishing a higher repu-
tation than he ever had before. The tenant who fol-
lowed him on the first farm never succeeded in gaining
a reputation for good butter, his inability arising* from
his ignorance of the proper mode of manufacture, and
MODE OF MAKING. 231
his unwillingness to improve by the experience of
others.
" Only a part of the information as to the best mode
of manufacture can be given, so much depends on the
judgment and experience of the operator. The first
thing required is to provide a suitable place. This
should be, for the summer months, a well-ventilated
house, over a good spring of water. The second
requisite will be proper vessels to hold the milk and
cream, and for churning. A table is needed which shall
not be used for any other purpose than for working and
printing the butter on. I have always used a lever in
connection with the table (Fig. 80). A large sponge,
with a linen cloth to cover it, with which the milk can be
removed from the butter, is another important article ;
and then a skimmer, either of wood or tin, or both, as
may be necessary in the different states of the milk ; a
thermometer, and a boiler convenient for heating water
for cleansing the vessels. No person can expect to
make good butter without the greatest attention to the
cleanliness of the vessels used for the milk and cream,
and care in exposing them to the sun and air.
" After the milk has been brought from the yard or
stable, strain it immediately into the pans, in which has
been put a little sour milk from which the cream has
been removed, the quantity varying from a tablespoon-
ful to half a common teacupful, according to the state
of the weather. In very warm weather the smallei
quantity is sufficient. But the rule for warm weather
will not always hold good ; for, from the electrical state
of the atmosphere, the milk may sour either too slow or
too fast.
" The pans containing the milk should then be set into
the water, if the weather be hot: and here is a point where
the operator should exercise his or her judgment j for
232 USE OP THE SPONGE.
even in warm weather it may be necessary to draw off
the water from the milk, if the spring be cold. The milk
should remain there, under no circumstances, longer
than the fourth meal, or forty-eight hours ; but thirty-
six hours is much to be preferred, if the milk has
become thick, or the cream sufficiently raised, when it
should be taken off carefully, so as not to take any
sour milk with it, and put in the cream-pot. When the
cream-pot is full, sprinkle a small handful of fine salt
over the top of the cream, and let it remain. Our
custom has been, when making butter but once a week,
to pour the cream into a clean vessel at the end of
three days, keeping back any milk that might have been
taken up with the cream, which is found at the bottom
of the jar.
"I would mention that it is essential, in making a fine
article, to keep the cream clear of milk. The next ope-
ration will be preparatory to churning, by straining the
cream, and reducing the temperature of the churn by
the use of the cold spring-water. The operation of
churning should neither be protracted nor hastened too
much. After the butter has made its appearance of the
size of a small pea, draw off the milk, and throw in a
small amount of cold water, and gather it. After the
butter has been taken from the churn, it is placed upon
the table, worked over by the lever, and salted ; then
worked again with the lever, in connection with the
sponge and cloth, a pan of cold water being at hand,
with a piece of ice in it in summer, into which you
throw the cloth and sponge frequently, and wring out
dry before again using it. These, as well as every
other article which will come into contact with the
butter, must be scalded, and afterward, as well as the
hands, placed in cold water. I would here add that the
use ^f the sponge is one of the important points in mak-
THE WINTER DAIRY. 233
ing butter to keep well ; for by it you can remove
almost every particle of butter-milk, which is the great
agent in the destruction of its sweetness and solidity.
For the winter dairy a room in which is placed a stove
should be provided, which can be made warm, and also
well ventilated. I prefer the use of coal, on account of
keeping the fire through the night. My dairy-room is
adjoining the spring-house, and connects with it, which
I consider important. This room should be used for
no other purpose, as cream and butter are the greatest
absorbents of effluvia with which I am acquainted. . I
have known good butter to be spoiled by being placed
over night in a close closet.
" The thermometer should always accompany the
winter dairy. There is one thing very important in
the winter dairy, which, perhaps, I should have placed
first, and that is the food of the cows; for, without
something else than hay, you will not make very fine
butter. Mill-feed and corn-meal I consider about the
best for yield and quality, although there are many
other articles of food which will be useful, and con-
tribute to the appetite and health of the cattle.
" The process for the winter dairy is similar to that
of the summer, with the exception of the regulation as
to the temperature of room, etc., which is as follows :
" Particular care should be taken not to let the milk
get cold before placing it in the dairy-room; for, should
it be completely chilled, the cream will not rise well.
Add about a gill of warm water to the sour milk for
each pan, before straining into it, which will greatly
facilitate the rising of the cream. Keep the tempera-
ture of the room as near fifty-eight degrees, Fahrenheit,
as possible, and guard against the air being dry by
having a small vessel of water upon the stove, or else
a dry coat will form on the surface of the crearn. The
20*
234 THE GREAT SECRET.
cream should be kept in a colder place than the dairy-
room until the night before churning, when it might be
placed in the warm room, so that its temperature shall
be about 58°.
"The churn may be prepared by scalding it, and then
reduced to the same temperature as the cream by cold
water, using the thermometer as a test.
" This regulation of temperature is of the greatest
importance : for, should it be too low, you will be a
long time churning, and have poor, tasteless butter ; if
too high, the butter will be soft and white."
What is especially noticeable in the above statement
is the use of the sponge, and the thorough and complete
removal of all the butter-milk. Here is probably the
secret of success, after all. I have given the statement
in full, notwithstanding its length, on account of the
well-known excellence of the butter produced by the
process, as well as for the suggestions with regard to
the dairy-rooms, and not because I can recommend all
its details for the imitation of others. The use of sour
milk in the pans is based, I suppose, on the idea that
the cream does not begin to rise till acidity commences
in the milk, — an idea which was once pretty generally
entertained ; but the process of souring undoubtedly
commences, though imperceptible to the senses, very
soon after the milk comes to rest in the pan. At any
rate, there is no doubt that the separation of the butter
from the other substances commences at once, and
without the addition of any foreign substance to the
milk.
Nor do I believe there is any necessity for the milk
to stand over twenty-four hours in any case ; for I have
no doubt that all the best of the cream rises within the
first twelve hours, under favorable circumstances, and
I am inclined to think that whatever is added to the
THE TIME TO RISE. 235
quantity of cream after twenty-four hours, detracts
from the quality of the butter to an extent which more
than counterbalances the whole of the quantity.
Many good dairy-women make an exceedingly fine
article, in spite of the defects of some parts of the pro-
cess of manufacture. This does not show that they
would not make still better butter if they remedied
these defects.
The more we can retard the development of acidity
in the milk, within certain limits, the more cream may
we expect to get; and hence some use artificial means
for this purpose, mixing in the milk a little crystallized
soda, dissolved in twice its volume of water, which
corrects the acidity as soon as it forms. It is a perfectly
harmless addition, and increases the product of the
butter, and improves its quality. But under ordinarily
favorable circumstances, from twelve to eighteen hours
will be sufficient to raise all the cream in summer, and
from twenty to thirty hours in winter.
Fig. 80. Butter-worker.
The butter-worker, Fig. 80, with its marble top,
used by the writer of the statement above, is an im-
236 CREAM IN A WELL.
portant addition to the implements of the dairy. It
effects the complete
removal of the but^er-
milk, without the ne-
cessity of bringing the
hands in contact with
it. Anotherform of the
Fig 81< lever butter-worker is
seen in Fig. 81.
To keep the cream properly after it is- placed away
in pots or jars, it should stand in a cool place, and
whenever additions of fresh cream are made, they
should be stirred in. Many keep the cream, as well as
the butter, in the well, in hot weather. This is the
practice of Mr. Horsfall, whose experiments have been
alluded to. Finding his butter inclined to be soft, he
lowered a thermometer twenty-eight feet into the well,
and found it indicated 43°, the temperature of the sur-
face being 70°. He then let down the butter, and found
it somewhat improved ; and soon after began to lower
down the cream, by means of a movable windlass and a
rope, the cream-jar being placed in a basket hung on
the rope. The cream was let down on the evening
previous to churning, and drawn up in the morning and
immediately churned. The time of churning the cream
at this temperature would be as long as in winter, and
the butter was found to have the same consistency.
The same object is effected in this country by the use
of ice in many sections ; but, if the butter remains too
long on ice, or in an ice-house, it is apt to become
bleached, and lose its natural and delicate straw-color.
The time of churning is by no means an unimportant
matter. Various contrivances have been made to short-
en this operation ; but the opinions of the best and
most successful dairymen concur that it cannot be too
MODE OF PACKING. 237
much hastened without injuring the fine quality and
consistency of the butter. The time required depends
much on the temperature of the cream; and this can be
regulated at convenience, as indicated above.
The temperature of the dairy-room should be as
uniform as possible. The practice of the best and most
successful dairymen differs in respect to the degree to
which it should be kept ; but the range is from 52° to
62° Fahr., and I am inclined to think from 58° to 60° the
best. At 60°, with a current of fresh, pure air passing
over it, the cream will rise very rapidly and abundantly.
The greatest density of milk is at about 41°, and
cream rises with great difficulty and slowness as the
temperature falls below 50° towards that point.
A practical butter dealer of New York gives the fol-
lowing as the best mode of packing butter, or putting
it up for a distant market. The greatest care, he says,
should be taken to free the butter entirely from milk,
by working it and washing it after churning at a tem-
perature so low as to prevent it from losing its granular
character and becoming greasy. The character of the
product depends in a great measure on the temperature
of churning and working, which should be between
sixty and seventy degrees Fahr. If free from milk,
eight ounces of Ashton salt is sufficient for ten pounds.
Western salt should never be used, as it injures the
flavor. While packing, the contents of the firkin should
be kept from the air by being covered with saturated
brine. No undissolved salt should be put in the bottom
of the firkin.
Goshen butter is reputed best, though much is put up
in imitation of it, and sold at the same price. Great
care should be taken to have the firkins neat and clean.
They should be of white oak, with hickory hoops, and
should hold about eighty pounds. Wood excludes air
238 FIRKIXS. — LUMP BUTTER.
better than stone, and consequently keeps butter bet-
ter. Tubs are better than pots.
Western butter comes in coarse, ugly packages; even
flour and pork barrels are sometimes used. Much of it
must be worked over and re-packed here before it will
sell. It generally contains a good deal of milk, and if
not re-worked soon becomes rancid. Improper pack-
ing, in kegs too large and soiled on the outside, makes at
least three cents a pound difference. Whatever the
size of the firkin, it must be perfectly tight and quite
full of butter, so that when opened the brine, though
present, will not be found on the top.
Until the middle of May, dairymen should pack in
quarter firkins or tubs, with white oak covers, and send
directly to market as fresh butter. From this time until
the fall frost there is but little change in color and
flavor with the same dairy, and it may be packed in
whole firkins, and kept in a cool place. The fall butter
should also be packed separately in tubs.
To prepare new butter-boxes for use in the shortest
time, dissolve common, or bicarbonate of soda in boiling
water, as much as the water will dissolve, and water
enough to fill the boxes ; about a pound of soda will be
required to be put into a thirty-two pound box, and the
water should be poured upon it. Let it stand over
night, and the box may be safely used next day. This
mode is cheap and expeditious, and, if adopted, would
often save great losses. Potash has a like effect.
As already seen, in the statements of practical dairy-
men, the greatest care is required in the salting or sea-
soning. Over-salted butter is not only less palatable to
the taste, but less healthy than fresh, sweet butter. The
same degree of care is needed with respect to the box
in which it ;s packed. I have often seen the best and
richest-flavored butter spoilt by sending it to the exhibi-
A NEW PROCESS. 239
tion or to market in new and improper boxes. A new
pine-wood box should always be avoided.
Butter that has been thoroughly worked, and per-
fectly freed from butter-milk, is of a firm and waxy con-
sistence, so as scarcely to dim the polish of the blade
of a knife thrust into it, leaving upon it only a slight
dew as it is withdrawn. If it is soft in texture, and
leaves greasy streaks of butter-milk upon the knife that
cuts it, or upon the cut surface after the blade is with-
drawn, it shows an imperfect and defective process of
manufacture, and is of poor quality, and will be liable
to become rancid.
An exceedingly delicate and fine-flavored butter may
be made by wrapping the cream in a napkin or clean
cloth, and burying it, a foot deep or more, in the earth,
from twelve to twenty hours. This experiment I have
repeatedly tried with complete success, and have never
tasted butter superior to that produced by this method.
It requires to be salted to the taste as much as butter
made by any other process. A tenacious subsoil loam
would seem to be best. After putting the cream into
a clean cloth, the whole should be surrounded by a
coarse towel. The butter thus produced is white
instead of yellow or straw-color.
Butter has been analyzed by Prof. Way, with the fol-
lowing result:
Pure fat, or oil, 82.70
Caseine, or curd, 2.45
Water, with a little salt, 14.85 *M 100
The fat or oil peculiar to butter is in winter more
solid than in summer, and known as margarine fat,
while that of summer is known as liquid or oleine fat.
The proportions in which these are found in ordinary
240 THE FAT OF BUTTER. — ICE.
butter have been stated by Prof. Thomson, a» follows :
Summer. Winter.
Solid or margarine fat, 40 65
Liquid or oleine fat, 60 35
100 100
Winter butter appears to be rich and fine in propor-
tion as the oleine fat increases. The proportion is
undoubtedly dependent on the food.
A more general attention to the details of butter-
making, and to the best modes of preserving its good
qualities, would add many thousands of dollars to the
aggregate profits of our American dairies.
In the management of the dairy, an ice-house and a
good quantity of ice for summer use are not only very
convenient for regulating the temperature of the dairy-
room, and for keeping butter at the proper consistence,
and preserving it, but are also profitable in other respects.
And now, when ice-houses are so easily constructed, and
ice is so readily procured, no well-ordered dairy should
be without a liberal supply of it. It is housed at a time
when other farm-work is not pressing, and ponds are so
distributed over the country that it may be generally pro-
cured without difficulty ; but where ponds or streams are
at too great a distance from the dairy-house, an artificial
pond can be easily made, by damming up the outlet of
some spring in the neighborhood. Where this is done,
the utmost care should be taken to keep the water per-
fectly clean when the ice is forming. The ice-house
should be above ground, and in a dry, airy place. The
top of a dry knoll is better than a low, damp shade.
The ice may be packed in tan, sawdust, shavings, or
other non-conductors, and when wanted for use it
should be taken off the top.
CHAPTER IX.
THE CHEESE-DAIRY.
*« Streams of new milk through flowing coolers stray,
And snow-white curds abound, and wholesome whey."
MILK, if allowed to become sour, will eventually
curdle, when the whey is easily separated ; and this
simple mode was probably the universal method of
making cheese in ancient times. Cheese, as already
explained, is made from caseine, an ingredient of milk
held in solution by means of an alkali, which it re-
quires the presence of an acid to neutralize. This, in
modern manufacture, is artificially added to form the
curd ; but the acidity of milk, after standing, acts in
the same manner to produce coagulation. This is due
to the change of the milk-sugar into lactic acid.
Cheese has been made and used as an article of food
from a very early date. It was well known to the early
Jewish patriarchs, and is frequently mentioned in the
earliest Hebrew records. " Hast thou not poured me
out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?" says Job ; and
David was sent to " carry ten cheeses to the captain of
their thousand in the camp." Most of the ancient
nations, indeed, barbarous as well as civilized, made it
a prominent article of food. But cheese, as made by
the ancients, was found to be hard and brittle, and not
well flavored, and means were devised to produce the
same effect while the milk still remained sweet. It was
21 16
242 CHEESE. — ITS RICHNESS.
observed that acids of various kinds would answer, and
vinegar was used ; and cream of tartar, muriatic acid, and
sour milk, added to sweet, produced a rapid coagulation.
In Sweden, Norway, and other countries, a handful of the
plant known as butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris] is some-
times mixed with the food of the cow, to cause the milk
to coagulate readily. A few hours after milking, the curd
is formed without the addition of an acid. Milk taken
into the stomach of the calf was found to curdle rapidly,
even while sweet ; and hence the use of rennet, which is
simply the stomach of the calf, prepared by washing,
salting, and drying, for preservation. This acts the
most surely, and, if properly prepared and preserved, is
the least objectionable, of any article now known ; and
is, in fact, the natural mode of curdling the milk as it
enters the stomach, preparatory to the process of diges-
tion. Besides this, it is generally the cheapest and
most available for the farmer.
The richness of cheese depends very much upon the
amount of butter or oily matter it contains. It may be
made entirely of cream, or from whole or unskimmed
milk, to which the cream of other milk is added, or
from milk from which a part of its cream has been
taken, or from ordinary skim-milk, or from milk that
has been skimmed three or four times, so as to remove
nearly every particle of cream, or from butter-milk.
The acid used in curdling milk acts upon the caseine
alone, and not upon the butter particles, which are
imbedded in the curd as it hardens, and thus increase
its richness and flavor without adding to its con-
sistency, which is due to the caseine.
It is evident, therefore, that cheese made entirely of
cream cannot have the firmness and consistence of
ordinary cheese. It is only made for immediate use,
and cannot be long kept. It is, in fact, little more than
PROCESS OF MAKING. 243
thick, dried, sweet cream, from which all the milk has
been pressed. On the other hand, skim-milk cheese
has the opposite fault of being too hard and tough, and
destitute of flavor and richness. The best quality of
cheese is made from full milk, or from milk to which
some extra cream is added, as in the English Stilton
renowned for its richness and flavor. The Gloucester,
Cheshire, Cheddar, Dunlop, and the Dutch Gouda, are
made of whole milk, as are the best qualities made in
this country.
The process of making cheese is both chemical and
mechanical. The heating of the milk at the time of
adding the acid or rennet hastens the chemical action,
and facilitates the separation of the whey ; at the same
time great nicety is required, for, if over-heated, the oily
particles will run off" with the whey. On the complete
separation of the whey from the curd, and the amount
of butter particles retained in the latter, the taste or
flavor and keeping qualities of the cheese depend. If
properly made, the taste improves by keeping, but the
chemical changes effected by age are not very well
understood.
The practical process of manufacture most common
in the best dairies of this country will appear in the fol-
lowing statements of successful competitors at agricul-
tural exhibitions. The first was made, by request, to
the New York State Agricultural Society, and appeared
in its transactions, by A. L. Fish, of Herkimer county,
one of the finest dairy regions of that state. The
value of his statement is enhanced by the fact that his
cows averaged seven hundred pounds of the first
quality of cheese each in 1844, and seven hundred and
seventy-five pounds each in 1845. In his mode of
manufacture, " the evening's and morning's milk is com-
monly used to make one cheese. The evening's is
244 AMERICAN CHEESE.
strained into a tub or pans, and coo.ed to prevent
souring. The proper mode of cooling is to strain the
milk into the tin tub set in a wooden vat, described in
the dairy-house, and cool by filling the wooden vat with
ice-water from the ice-house, or ice in small lumps, and
water from the pump. The little cream that rises over
night is taken off in the morning, and kept till the
morning and evening milk are put together, and the
cream is warmed to receive the rennet. It is mixed
with about twice its quantity of new milk, and warm
water added to raise its temperature to ninety-eight
degrees: stir it till perfectly limpid, put in rennet
enough to curdle the milk in forty minutes, and mix it
with the mass of milk by thorough stirring; the milk
having been previously raised to eighty-eight or ninety
degrees, by passing steam from the steam generator to
the water in the wooden vat. In case no double vat is
to be had, the milk may be safely heated to the right
temperature, by setting a tin pail of hot water into the
milk in the tubs. It may be cooled in like manner by
filling the pail with ice-water, or cold spring-water
where ice is not to be had. It is not safe to heat milk
in a kettle exposed directly to the fire, as a slight
scorching will communicate its taint to the whole
cheese and spoil it. If milk is curdled below eighty-
four degrees, the cream is more liable to work off with
the whey. An extreme of heat will have a like effect.
The curdling heat is varied with the temperature of
the air, or the liability of the milk to cool after adding
rennet. The thermometer is the only safe guide in
determining the temperature ; for, if the dairyman
depends upon the sensation of the hand, a great liability
to error will render the operation uncertain. If, for
instance, the hands have previously been immersed in
cold water, the milk will feel warmer than it really is ;
PRACTICAL DETAILS. 245
if, on the contrary, they have recently been m warm
water, the milk will feel colder than it really is. To
satisfy the reader how much this circumstance alone
will affect the sensation of the hand, let him immerse
one hand in warm water, and at the same time keep the
other in a vessel of cold water, for a few moments;
then pour the water in the two dishes together, and
immerse both hands in the mixture. The hand that was
previously in the warm water will feel cold, and the
other quite warm, showing that the sense of feeling is
not a test of temperature worthy of being relied upon.
A fine cloth spread over the tub while the milk is curd-
ling will prevent the surface from being cooled by cir-
culation of air. No jarring of the milk, by walking
upon a springy floor, or otherwise, should be allowed
while it is curdling, as it will prevent a perfect cohesion
of the particles.
" When milk is curdled so as to appear like a solid, it
is divided into small particles to aid the separation of
the whey from the curd. This is often too speedily done
to facilitate the work, but at a sacrifice of quality and
quantity."
To effect the fine division of the curd 'for the easy
separation of the whey, Mr. Fish uses a wire network,
made to fit into the tub, the meshes of fine wire being
about a half-inch square, and the outer rim of coarse
and stronger material. A cheese-knife is also used,
about half as long as the .diameter of the tub, and firmly
fastened to the lower end of a long screw which passes
through one end of the blade as it lies horizontally,
leaving the blade at right angles with the screw, which
has a coarse thread, and passes through a piece of
wood on the top of the tub, held firm by notches at the
ends laid on the edges of the tub. By turning a crank,
the knife passes down through the curd in revolutions,
246 HOW TO MAKE SAGE CHEESE,
cutting it into layers of the thickness of the threads of
the screw.
The following is the statement of Mrs. Williams, of
Windsor, Massachusetts, who received the first premium
at the Franklin County Fair, in 1857, for exceedingly
rich, fine, and delicately-flavored cheeses of seventy-five
pounds each. Her method, which is the result of her
own experience and observation, corresponds almost
exactly, as the committee remark, with the English
mode of making the famous Cheddar cheese, which is
much the same as the Cheshire. Mrs. Williams says :
" My cheese is made from one day's milk of twenty-
nine cows. I strain the night's milk into a tub, skim it
in the morning, and melt the cream in the morning's
milk : I warm the night's milk, so that with the morn-
ing's milk, when mixed together, it will be at the tem-
perature of ninety-six degrees j then add rennet suffi-
cient to turn it in thirty minutes. Let it stand about half
or three quarters of an hour; then cross it off and let it
stand about thirty minutes, working upon it very care-
fully with a skimmer. When the curd begins to settle,
dip off the whey, and heat it up and pour it on again at
the temperature of one hundred and two degrees. After
draining off and cutting up, add a teacup of salt to four-
teen pounds.
"• The process of making sage cheese is the same as the
other, except adding the juice of the sage in a small
quantity of milk."
Another successful competitor in the same state says:
" We usually make but one curd in a day. The night's
milk is strained into pans till morning, when the cream
that will have risen is taken off, and the milk wai med to
blood heat, when the cream is again returned to the
milk and thoroughly mixed. This prevents the melt-
ing of the cream that would otherwise run off with
PRACTICAL STATEMENT. — RENNET. 247
the whey. The whole is then immediately laded into a tub
with the morning's milk, and set for the cheese, with
rennet sufficient to form the curd in about thirty min-
utes ; and here much care is thought to be necessary in
cutting and crossing the curd, and much moderation in
dipping and draining the whey from it, that the white
whey (so called) may not exude from it.
"When sufficiently drained, it is taken and cut with a
sharp knife to about the size and form of dice, when it
is salted with about one pound of fine salt to twenty-
five of curd. It is then subjected to a moderate press-
ure at first, gradually increasing it for two days, in the
mean time turning it twice a day, and substituting dry
cloths. It is then taken from the press and dressed all
over with hot melted butter, and covered with thin cot-
ton cloth, and this saturated with the melted butter.
It is then placed upon the shelf, and turned and rubbed
daily with the dressing until ripe for use."
One of the most important processes in the manufac-
ture of good cheese is the preparation of the rennet.
This is made of the inner lining or mucous membrane
of the stomach of the young sucking calf, sometimes
called the bag or maw; and the use of it was undoubt-
edly suggested, originally, by observing the complete
and rapid coagulation or curdling of milk in the stom-
ach of a calf newly killed. "Coagulation is the first pro-
cess of digestion in the fourth stomach of the calf. There
are numerous glands scattered in and about the stomach
that secrete a fluid which readily and almost immedi-
ately accomplishes this coagulation. They are always
full of it ; even after the animal is dead they remain
filled with it ; and if the stomach is preserved from
putrefaction, this fluid retains its coagulating quality
for a considerable period; therefore dairy-women usually
take care oc the maw or stomach of the calf, and pre-
248 RENNET IN THE SCOTCH DAIRIES.
serve it by salting it, and then, by steeping it, or por-
tions of it, in warm water, they prepare what they call
a rennet. After the maw has been salted a certain time,
it may be taken out and dried, and then it will retain
the same property for an indefinite period. A small
piece of the maw thus dried is steeped over night in a
few teaspoonfuls of warm water, and this water will
turn the milk of three or four cows."
It is important that rennet enough should be pre-
pared at once for the whole season, in order to secure
as great a uniformity in strength as possible. The
object should be to produce a prompt, complete, and
firm or compact coagulation of all the cheesy matter.
Mr. Aiton, in his admirable treatise on the Dairy Hus-
bandry of Scotland, gives the simple method of prepar-
ing the rennet in the dairy districts, as follows : " When
the stomach or bag — usually termed the yirning — is
taken from the calf's body, its contents are examined,
and if any straw or other food is found among the
curdled milk, such impurity is carefully removed ; but
all the curdled milk found in the bag is carefully pre-
served, and no part of the chyle is washed out. A
considerable quantity of salt — at least two handfuls —
is put into and outside the bag, which is then rolled up
and hung near a fire to dry. It is always allowed to
hang until it is well dried, and is understood to be
improved by hanging a year or longer before being
infused.
" When rennet is wanted, the yirning with its contents
is cut small, and put into a jar with a handful or two of
salt ; and a quantity of soft water that has been boiled
and cooled to sixty-five degrees, or of new whey taken
off the curd, is poured into it. The quantity of water
or whey necessary is more or less, according to the
quality of the yirning: if it is that of a new-dropped
RENNET IN AMERICAN DAIRIES. 249
calf, a Scotch chop pin, or at most three English pints,
will be enough ; but if the calf has been fed four or
five weeks, two quarts or more may be used : the yirn-
ing of a calf four weeks old yields more rennet than
that of one twice that age. When the infusion has
remained in the jar from one to three days, the liquid is
drawn off and strained, after which it is bottled for use;
and if a dram-glass of any ardent spirit is put into each
bottle, the infusion may either be used immediately, or
kept as long as may be convenient."
The mode of preparing rennet in the dairy districts
of this country is various ; but that adopted by Mr.
Fish, of Herkimer, New York, already quoted, is simple
and easy of application. He says : " Various opinions
exist as to the best mode of saving rennet, and that is
generally adopted which, it is supposed, will curdle the
most milk. I have no objection to any mode that will
preserve its strength and flavor so that it will be smelled
and tasted with good relish when put into the milk. Any
composition not thus kept I deem unfit for use, as the
coagulator is an essential agent in cheesing the curd,
and sure to impart its own flavor.
" The rennet never should be taken from the calf till
the excrement shows the animal to be in perfect health.
It should be emptied of its contents, salted, and dried,
without any scraping or rinsing, and kept dry for one
year, when it will be fit for use. It should not be
allowed to gather dampness, or its strength will evap-
orate. To prepare it for use, into ten gallons of water,
blood warm, put ten rennets ; churn or rub them often
for twenty-four hours ; then rub and press them to get
the strength ; stretch, salt, and dry them, as before.
They will gain strength for a second use. Make the
liquor as salt as it can be made, strain and settle it, sep-
arate it from the sediment, if any, and it is fit for use.
250 ANNATTO FOR COLORING.
Six lemons, two ounces of cloves, two ounces of cinna-
mon, and two ounces of common sage, are sometimes
added to the liquor, to preserve its flavor and quicken
its action. If kept cool in a stone jar, it will keep
sweet any length of time desired, and a uniform strength
is secured while it lasts. Stir it before dipping off. To
set milk, take of it enough to curdle milk firm in forty
minutes ; squeeze or rub through a rag annatto enough
to make the curd a cream color, and stir it in with the
rennet." It will be seen that he adopts the practice of
removing the contents of the stomach. This, it appears
to me, is the best calculated to promote cleanliness and
purity, so important in making a good-flavored cheese.
But in Cheshire, so celebrated for its superior cheese,
the contents of the stomach are frequently salted by
themselves, and after being a short time exposed to the
air are fit for use ; while the well-known and highly-
esteemed Limburg cheese is mostly made with rennet
prepared as in Ayrshire, the curd being left in the
stomach, and both dried together. The general opinion
is that rennet, as usually prepared, is not fit to use till
nearly a year old.
Perhaps the plan of making a liquid rennet from new
and fresh stomachs, and keeping it in bottles corked
tight till wanted for use, would tend still further to
secure this end.
The use of annatto to color the cheese artificially is
somewhat common in this country, though probably not
so much so as in many other countries. Annatto, or
annotto, is made from the red pulp of the seeds of an
evergreen tree of the same name, found in the West
Indies and in Brazil, by bruising and obtaining a precip-
itate. A variety is made in Cayenne, which comes into
the market in cakes of two or three pounds. It is bright
yellow, rather soft to the touch, but of considerable
THE CHEESE-PRESS. 251
solidity. The quantity used is rarely more than an
ounce to one hundred pounds, and the effect is simply
to give the high coloring so common to the Gloucester
and Cheshire cheeses, and to many made in this coun-
try. This artificial coloring is continued from an
idle prejudice, somewhat troublesome to the dairyman,
expensive to the consumer, and adding nothing to the
taste or flavor of the article. The annatto itself is so
universally and so largely adulterated, often by poison-
ous substances, such as lead and mercury, that the prac-
tice of using it by the cheese-maker, and of requiring the
high coloring by the consumer, might well be discon-
tinued. The common mode of application is to dissolve it
Fig. 82. Cheese-preas.
in hot milk, and add at the time of putting in the rennet,
or to put it upon the outside, in the manner of paint.
The cheese-presses in most common use are very dif«
252
THERMOMETER. TEMPERATURE.
ferent in construction, and each possesses, doubtless,
some peculiar merits. The self-acting press, Fig. 82, is
the favorite of some. Another form of this is seen m
Fig. 83. i-,.-i
Fig. 83. Self-acting cheese-press.
One of the most extensive and experienced dealers in
cheese, in one of the largest dairy districts of New York,
— Mr. Harry Burrill, of Little Falls, — has placed in
my hands the following simple directions for cheese-
making.
The cheese-tub should be so graduated that it may
be correctly known what quantity of milk is used. This
is requisite, in order that the proper proportions, both
of coloring matter and rennet, may be used. The tem-
perature should be ascertained by the thermometer.
Experience proves that when the dairy has been at
PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS. 253
seventy degrees the best temperature at which to run the
milk will be eighty-four degrees; but, as the temperature
of the dairy at different times of the year will be found
to vary above or below seventy degrees, the temperature
of the milk must be proportionally regulated by the
simple addition of cold water, to lower it ; but, to in-
crease the temperature, heat the milk in the usual man-
ner, although ifr is absolutely necessary to avoid heating
it beyond one hundred and twenty degrees.
After having brought the milk to the required tempera-
ture, and added the coloring, for every quarter hundred
weight of cheese mix one pint of new sour whey with the
requisite proportion of rennet ; and, having arrived at
the formation of a good curd, which will be the invari-
able result of a strict adhesion to the foregoing rules,
let it be carefully cut up with three-bladed knives, as
fine as possible ; then dip off half the whey, and heat a
portion of it to the temperature of ninety-five degrees,
and return it to the whey and curds ; then, after stirring
it for five minutes, allow the curd to sink, and as quickly
as possible dip off the whey. Having done this, press
the curd by placing on it a board weighted with from
three to five fifty-pound weights, which will gradually
and effectually press the remainder of the whey out.
When the whey is dipped off, put the curd into white
twig basket-vats, made the shape and size of a turned
vat, which would contain the sixth of a hundred weight
(about three inches deep, and two feet in diameter). It
will be necessary to have boards about one inch thick,
and two feet four inches in diameter, to go between
each of these twig vats, to prevent the whey running
from one vat into the other. When it has been pressed,
return it again into the cheese-tub, cut it into small
pieces, put it into the vats again in dry cloths, press it
and return it to the tub again, cutting it into small
22
254 FINE COAT. — VARIETIES.
pieces, and to every hundred weight of curd idd one
and one quarter pounds of salt ; grind it twice, and stir
it so that it shall be properly mixed with the salt ; then
put it into well-perforated turned vats, taking care to
press it thoroughly whilst the vats are filling, to prevent
the accumulation of air, to the presence of which is to
be attributed the honeycomb appearance so often ob-
served in cheese when cut. *
When the cheese is put into the press let the press-
ure gradually upon it. After it has been in press
one and a half hours, take it out and examine it, and,
should there be any curd pressed over, cut it round
and put it into the middle of the cheese, carefully break-
ing it up in the middle. Wash the ends of the cloths
out in a bowl of warm water, squeeze them, and cover
the cheese up, and, if there should be any not sufficiently
full, it will be necessary either to put a follower upon it,
or to put it into a smaller vat ; in the evening let them
be dry clothed. The following morning salt them all
over and dry cloth them, and repeat this three suc-
cessive mornings ; after which, put them in vats, placed
one on the other, and allow them to stand, if possible,
a fortnight, occasionally wiping them. The cheese
will get matured much sooner by these means, and the
tendency to cracking and bulging be prevented.
The way to get a fine coat upon cheese, after the first
coat has been washed and scraped off, is to put the
cheese on shelves, nail thick sheeting to the ceiling from
one of the shelves to the other, and let it drop closely
to the floor. If put over the floor, cover them over
with thick sheeting, or rugs.
The varieties of cheese are almost infinite in num-
ber, and are often dependent on very minute details of
practice. The general principles involved are the same
in all ; but it would be next to impossible to find any
TO WHAT VARIETIES ARE OWING. 255
one variety of cheese possessing uniformity through-
out, in point of texture, consistency, taste, flavor, and
keeping qualities ; and it is rare, with the present guess-
work in many of the operations of cheese-making, to
find a lot of cheese made in the same dairy, from the
same cows, on the same pastures and by the same
hands, which can be considered a fair sample of what is
generally produced. These great differences are due
to feeding and treatment of the cows in part, but
especially to the temperature of the milk at the time
of curding, which is again in part dependent on the
quality and strength of the rennet employed.
Nothing is more susceptible to external influences,
as has been remarked elsewhere, than milk and cream,
both of which are liable to taint from the food of the
cows, from impurities derived from careless milking,
from exposure to foul or impure air in the cellar or
milk-room, and from sudden changes in the atmosphere.
The most scrupulous cleanliness is, therefore, required
to produce a first quality of cheese, even under favor-
able circumstances. And when it is considered that it
is necessary to observe minutely the temperature of
the milk, and that slight differences at the time of
forming the curd may make the difference of mellow-
ness or toughness in the ripened cheese, and that the
proper temperature is affected by the time taken to
bring the curd, which depends on the strength and
quality of the rennet, some of which will act in fifteen
or twenty minutes, while the same quantity of others
requires even two or three hours to produce the same
effect, the infinite variety in the qualities of cheese will
scarcely be a matter of surprise.
A brief statement of the mode of making some of
the more important and well-known varieties will be suf-
ficient in this connection. The details of. cheese-making
256 CHESHIRE CHEESE.
in some of the best of the dairies of New England and
New York correspond in a remarkable degree with the
mode of making Cheddar and Cheshire cheese, both
celebrated for their richness and popularity in the mar-
ket. Of the latter there are made, it is said, over
twelve thousand tons annually; Cheshire taking the
lead in cheese-making, and keeping about forty thousand
cows.
CHESHIRE CHEESE is remarkable for its uniformity,
being, in dairies of the best repute, made by fixed rules,
and usually by the same persons. If the number of
cows is sufficient to make a cheese from one meal, that
amount is used ; if not, two meals are united. The
cows are milked at six o'clock, morning and evening ;
are kept on rich pastures, and never driven far, great
care being taken that nothing shall interfere with the
regularity with which every operation connected with
this chief source of the wealth and prosperity of the
Cheshire farmer is conducted. The milk is brought in
large wooden pails into the milk-house, which it is gen-
erally contrived shall have a cool north aspect, and
immediately strained into pans, and placed upon the
floor of the dairy. Each pan is about six inches in
depth, and usually made of block-tin. This substance
is objected to by some because it is liable, like
every other metal, although, perhaps, in a less degree
than either zinc or lead, to be acted upon by the lactic
acid, and so produce compounds of a deleterious char-
acter. At six o'clock in the morning the cheese-ladder
is put on the cheese-tub, the whole of the night's milk
is again passed through the sieve, and the morning's
milk is then poured upon it, and well agitated to equal-
ize the temperature ; in cold weather a pan of hot water
is previously put into the tub, to increase the temper
ature of the previous night's meal.
DETAILS OF MAKING. 257
The rennet is next applied, care being taken that
the heat of the whole quantity of the milk is about
seventy-four degrees ; and, almost simultaneously with
the rennet, the annatto, — about a quarter of an ounce
is sufficient for a cheese of sixty-four pounds, — both
of which, in all well-regulated dairies, are strained
through a piece of silk or fine cloth. The rennet :'s
generally made on the previous evening, by a piece
of the dried skin about the size of a crown-piece being
immersed in hot water, and allowed to stand all night.
After the rennet and coloring matter have been thor-
oughly mixed with the milk, it is covered with the lid
of the cheese-tub, and in cold weather with a cloth in
addition, to preserve the temperature of the mass until
the curd has formed. It is then left undisturbed for
about an hour, and frequently longer, to allow the coag-
ulation of the milk. After that time a curd-breaker is
passed up and down it for about five minutes, and
again it is allowed to settle for another half-hour. The
whey is then taken out by means of a dish or bowl, the
curd being gathered to one side of the tub, and gently
pressed by the hand, to allow the whey to separate from
it more easily. It is then pressed by a weight of about
fifty pounds ; afterwards the curd is taken out of the
tub and put into a basket, the inside of which is cov-
ered with a coarse square cheese-cloth. The four ends
of the cloth are then folded over the curd, a tin hoop
being put around the upper edge of the cheese, and
within the sides of the vat, upon which a board is placed
bearing a weight of about one hundred pounds, varying,
of course, with the size of the cheese. This process
is repeated two or three times, the curd being slightly
broken at each operation. It is next taken out of the
basket for salting or curing, and either broken down
small by hand or in a curd-rnill. A certain quantity of
22* 17
258 CHESHIRE CHEESE.
salt is then carefully and intimately mixed with the
curd, according to the experience, taste, and custom,
of the dairymaid. It is then put into the cheese-vat in
a coarse cloth, pressed lightly at first for an hour ; then
taken out and turned, and the pressure increased until
the proper degree of consistence is attained. After-
wards it is turned every twelve hours for three or four
days, remaining in the vat until the curd becomes so
dry as not to moisten the cloth. During this time
skewers are passed through holes made in the sides
of the vat into the body of the cheese, the more effect-
ually to aid the expression of the whey, the pressure
being still continued. When they are withdrawn, the
whey flows through these miniature tunnels, which are
in a few moments obliterated by the superincumbent
weight.
It is the practice of some dairymaids in this county
to take the cheese to a cool salting-house, leaving it
there for a week or ten days, turning it daily, and rub-
bing salt on the upper surface. Others immerse the
cheese in a brine almost sufficiently strong to float it,
with occasional turning ; others, again, after taking the
cheese from the press, place it in a furnace at a mod-
erate heat, and keep it closed therein for a night ; while
some run a hot iron over the whole, or over the edges.
The binder — a cloth of three or four inches in breadth
— is then passed tightly round the cheese, and secured
by pins, when it is removed to the cheese-room, and
placed on a kind of grass, which in Cheshire is called
sniggle, the newest or latest-made cheese being put in
the warmest situation. Here it remains, being turned
over three times a week while it is new, and less often
as it becomes matured, care being taken to keep each
one of the cheeses separate from all the others. The
room selected for a store is always that which can be
STILTON CHEESE. 259
best protected from the light, and any sudden changes
of temperature. The best Cheshire cheese is seldom
ripe for the market under one or two years.
The STILTON CHEESE is by far the richest of the
English dairies. This originated in a small town of that
name, in Leicestershire. It possesses " a peculiar deli-
cacy of flavor, a delicious mellowness, and a great apt-
ness to acquire a species of artificial decay ; without
which, to the somewhat vitiated taste of lovers of Stilton
cheese, as now eaten, it is not considered of prime
account. To be in good order, according to the present
standard of taste, it must be decayed, blue, and moist."
To suit this taste, an artificial mode is adopted, old and
decayed cheese being introduced into the new, or port
wine or ale added by means of tasters, or caulking-pins
are stuck into them, and left till they rust and produce
an appearance of decay in the cheese.
" It is commonly made by putting the night's cream
to the milk of the following morning with the rennet,
great care being taken that the milk and the cream are
thoroughly mixed together, and that they both have
the proper temperature. The rennet should also be
very pure and sweet. As soon as the milk is curdled,
the whole of it is taken out, put into a sieve gradually
to drain, and moderately pressed. It is then put into
a case or box, of the form that it is intended to be ; for,
on account of its richness, it would separate and fall to
pieces were not this precaution adopted. Afterwards
it is turned every day on dry boards, cloth-binders being
tied around it, which are gradually tightened as occasion
requires. After it is removed from the box or hoop, the
cheese must be closely bound with cloths and changed
daily, until it becomes sufficiently compact to support
itself. When these cloths are taken away, each cheese
has to be rubbed over with a brush once every day. If
260 ACORN FORM. — GLOUCESTER CHEESE.
the weather is moist or damp, this is done twice a day
during two or three months. It is occasionally pow-
dered with flour, and plunged into hot water. This
hardens the outer coat and favors the internal ferment-
ation, and thus produces what is called the ripening
of the cheese. Sometimes it is made in a net like a
cabbage-net, which gives it the form of an acorn."
The maturity of Stilton cheeses is sometimes has
tened by putting them in a bucket, and covering them
over with horse-dung.
GLOUCESTER CHEESE is likewise quite celebrated for
its richness, piquancy, and delicacy of flavor, and justly
commands a high price in the market. The manage-
ment of the milk up to the time of curding is similar to
that of Cheshire ; a cheese, often being made of one
meal, requires no additional heat to raise it to a proper
temperature. After the curd is cut into small squares,
the whey is carefully drained off through a hair strainer.
The cutting is repeated every thirty minutes till the
whey is removed, when it is put into vats and covered
with dry cloths, and placed in the press. After remain-
ing a sufficient length of time, it is put into a curd-mill
and cut or ground into small pieces, when it is again
packed in fine canvas cloth, and put in the cheese-vat.
Hot water or whey is poured over the cloth, to harden
the rind and prevent its cracking. " The curd is next
turned out of the vat into the cloth, and, the inside of
the vat being washed with whey, the inverted curd
with the cloth is returned to the vat. The cloth is then
folded over, and the vat put into the press for two
hours, when it is taken out, and dry cloths applied dur-
ing the course of the day. It is then replaced in the
press until salted, which operation is generally performed
about twenty-four hours after it is made. In salting the
cheese, it is rubbed with finely-powdered salt, and this
CHEDDAR AND DUNLOP CHEESE. 261
is thought to make the cheese more smooth and solid
than when the salting process is performed upon the
curd. The cheese is after this returned to the vat,
and put under the press, in which several are placed,
the newest at the bottom and the oldest on the top.
The salting is repeated three times, twenty-four hours
being allowed to intervene between each ; and the
cheese is finally taken from the press to the cheese-room
in the course of five days. In the cheese-room it is
turned over every day for a month, when it is cleaned
of all scurf, and rubbed over with a woollen cloth
dipped in a paint made of Indian red or Spanish
brown and small beer. As soon as the paint is dry,
the cheese is rubbed once a week with a cloth. The
quantity of salt employed is about three and a half
pounds ; and one pound of annatto is sufficient to color
half a ton of cheese."
CHEDDAR CHEESE is another variety in high repute
for its richness, and commands a high price in the mar-
ket. It is made of new milk only, and contains more
fat than the egg. It is, indeed, too rich for ordinary
consumption. The milk is set with rennet while yet
warm, and allowed to stand still about two hours. The
whey first taken off is heated and poured back upon the
curd, and, after turning off the remainder, that is also
heated and poured back in the same manner, where it
stands about half an hour. The curd is then put into
the press, and treated very much as the Cheshire up to
the time of ripeness.
The DUNLOP CHEESE, the most celebrated of Scot
land, had its origin in Ayrshire, from which it was sent
to the Glasgow market, and from which the manufacture
soon spread to Lanark, Renfrew, and other adjoining
counties. It is manufactured, according to Aiton, in the
following manner : When the cows on a farm are not
262 MODE OF MAKING DUNLOP CHEESE.
so numerous as to yield milk sufficient to make a cheese
every time they are milked, the milk is stored about
six or eight inches deep in the coolers, and placed in
the milk-house until as much is collected as will form a
cheese of a proper size. When the cheese is to be
made, the cream is skimmed from the milk in the cool-
ers, and, without being heated, is, with the milk that
is drawn from the cows at the time, passed through the
sieve into the curd-vat. The cold milk from which
the cream has been taken is heated so as to raise the
temperature of the whole mass to near blood heat ; and
the whole is coagulated by the means of rennet care-
fully mixed with the milk. The cream is put into the
curd-vat, that its oily parts may not be melted, and the
skimmed milk is heated sufficient to raise the whole
to near animal heat.
It may be said that the utmost care is always taken
to keep the milk, in all stages of the operation, free
not only from every admixture or impurity, but also
from being hurt by foul air arising from acidity in
any milky substance, putrid water, the stench of the
barn, dunghill, or any other substance ; and likewise to
prevent the milk from becoming sour, which, when it
happens, greatly injures the cheese. Great care is taken
to prevent any of the butyraceous or oily matter in the
cream from being melted in any stage of the process.
To cool the milk, and to facilitate the separation or
rising of the cream, a small quantity of clean cold
water is generally mixed with the milk in each cooler.
The coagulum is formed in from ten to fifteen minutes,
and nobody would use rennet twice that required more
than twenty minutes or half an hour to form a curd.
Whenever the milk is completely coagulated the curd
is broken, in order to let the serum or whey be sep-
arated and taken off. Some break the curd slightly at
MR. AITON'S STATEMENT. 263
first, by making cross-scores with a knife or a thin piece
of wood, at about one or two inches distant, and inter-
secting each other at right angles ; and these are
renewed still more closely after some of the whey has
been discharged. Others break the whole curd more
minutely at once with the hand or the skimmer.
After the curd has been broken, the whey ought to
be taken off as speedily as it can be done, and with as
little further breaking or handling the curd as possible.
It is necessary, however, to turn the curd, cut it with
a knife, or break it gently with the hand.
When the curd has 'consolidated a little, it is cut
with the cheese-knife, slightly at first, and more mi-
nutely as it hardens, so as to bring off the whey. When
the greater part of the whey has been extracted, the
curd is taken up from the curd-boyn, and, being cut into
pieces of about two inches in thickness, it is placed in
a sort of vat or sieve with many holes. A Jid is placed
upon it, and a slight pressure, say from three to four
stone avoirdupois ; and the curd is turned up arid cut
small every ten or fifteen minutes, and occasionally
pressed with the hand so long as it continues to dis-
charge serum. When no more whey can be drawn off
by these means, the curd is cut as small as possible with
the knife, the proper quantity of salt minutely mixed
into it in the curd-boyn, and placed in the chessart
within a shift of thin canvas, and put under the press.
All these operations ought to be carried on and com-
pleted with the least possible delay, and yet without
precipitation. The sooner the whey is removed after
the coagulation of the milk, so much the better. But,
if the curd is soft, from being set too cold, it requires
more time, and to be more gently dealt with, as other-
wise much of the curd and of the fat would go off with
the whey ; and when the curd has been formed too hot,
CHEESE IN THE SCOTCH DAIRIES.
the same caution is necessary. Precipitation, or hand-
ling the curd too roughly, would add to its toughness,
and expel still more of the oily matter ; and, as has been
already mentioned, hot water or whey should be put on
the curd when it is soft and cold, and cold water when
the curd is set too hot.
Undue delay, however, in any of these operations,
from the time the milk is taken out of the coolers until
the curd is under the press in the shape of a cheese,
is most improper, as the curd in all these stages is,
when neglected for even a few minutes, very apt to
become ill-flavored. If it is allowed to remain too
long in the curd- vat, or in the dripper over it, before
the whey is completely extracted, the curd becomes
too cold, and acquires a pungent or acrid taste ; or, it
softens so much that the cheese is not sufficiently adhe-
sive, and does not easily part with the serum. Whenever
the curd is completely set, the whey should be taken off
without delay; and the dairymaid should never leave
the curd-boyn until the curd is ready for the dripper or
cheese-vat. The salt is mixed into the curd.
After the cheese is put into the press, it remains for
the first time about an hour, or less than two hours,
until it is taken out, turned upside down in the cheese-
vat, and a new cloth put around it every four or six
hours until the cheese is completed, which is generally
in the course of a day and a half, two, or at most in
three days after it was first put under the press.
Some have shortened the process of pressing by
placing the cheese — after it has been under the press
for two hours or so for the first time — into water
heated to about one hundred or one hundred and ten
degrees, and allowing the cheese to remain in the water
about the space of half an hour, and thereafter drying
it with a "*,loth, and putting it again under the press.
THE STORE-ROOM. 265
When taken from the press, generally after two or
three days from the time they were first placed under it,
they are exposed for a week or so to the warmth and
heat of the farmer's kitchen, — not to excite sweating,
but merely to dry them a little before they are placed
in the store, where a small proportion of heat is
admitted. While they remain in the kitchen they are
turned over three or four times every day ; and, when-
ever they begin to harden a little on the outside, they
are laid up on the shelves of the store, where they are
turned over once a day or once in two days for a
week or so, until they are dry, and twice every week
afterwards.
The store-houses for cheese in Scotland are in pro-
portion to the size of the dairy, — generally a small
place adjoining the milk-house, or in the end of the
barn or other buildings, where racks are placed, with
as many shelves as can hold the cheeses made in the
season. When no particular place is prepared, the
racks are placed in the barn, which is generally empty
during summer ; or some lay the cheeses on the floor
of a garret over some part of their dwelling-house.
Wherever the cheeses are stored, they are not
sweated or put into a warm place, but kept cool, in a
place in a medium state, between damp and dry, with-
out the sun being allowed to shine on them, or yet a
great current of air admitted. Too much air, or the
rays of the sun, would dry the cheeses too fast, diminish
their weight, and make them crack ; and heat would
make them sweat or perspire, which extracts the fat,
and tends to induce hooving. But when they are kept
in a temperature nearly similar to that of a barn, the
doors of which are not much open, and but a moderate
current of air admitted, the cheeses are kept in a
proper shape, — neither so dry as to rend the skin, nor so
23
266 DUTCH AND PARMESAN CHEESE.
damp as to render them mouldy on the outside ; ai.d no
partial fermentation is excited, but the cheese is pre-
served sound and good.
DUTCH CHEESE. — The most celebrated of the Dutch
cheeses is the Edam, of North Holland, and the Gouda.
The manufacture of these and other varieties will be
described in a subsequent chapter, on Dairy Husbandry
in Holland.
The PARMESAN is an Italian cheese, made of one meal
of milk, allowed to stand sixteen hours, to which is
added another which has stood eight hours. The cream
being taken from both, the skim-milk is heated an hour
over a slow fire, and constantly stirred till it reaches
about eighty-two degrees, when the rennet is put in and
an hour allowed to form the curd. The curd is
thoroughly broken or cut, after which a part of the
whey is removed, and the curd is then heated nearly
up to the boiling point, when a little saffron is added to
color it. It then stands over the fire about half an
hour, when it is taken off, and nearly all the rest of
the whey removed, cold water being added, till the
curd is cool enough to handle. It is then surrounded
with a cloth, and, after being partially dried, is put
into a hoop and remains there two days. It is then
sprinkled with salt for thirty days in summer, or about
forty in winter. One cheese is then laid above another
to allow them to take the salt ; after which they are
scraped and cleansed every day, and rubbed with lin-
seed-oil to preserve them from the attack of insects, and
they are ready for sale at the age of six months.
AMERICAN CHEESE, as it is called in the English
markets, whither large quantities are shipped for sale,
is made of almost every conceivable variety and quality,
from the richest Cheddar or Cheshire to the poorest
skim-milk cheese. The statements of some of the best
AMERICAN CHEESE. 267
dairymen have already been given. As a further illus-
tration of the mode pursued in other sections of the
country, the statement of C. G. Taylor, a successful
competitor for the premiums offered by the Illinois State
Agricultural Society, may be given as follows :
" As the milk is drawn from the cows, it is immedi-
ately strained into a vat. This vat is a new patent, and
is better than any I have ever seen for cheese-making.
It is double, a space being left between the two parts.
Into the upper vat the milk is strained, and cold water
is applied between it and the lower one. Thus the ani-
mal heat is soon expelled, and the milk is prevented
from souring before morning. The morning milk is
added. Under the lower vat a copper boiler is
arranged. The water in the boiler is in perfect con-
nection with that remaining all around the upper or
milk vat, connected with three copper pipes. With a
little wood the water is warmed. Thus the tempera-
ture of the milk is soon brought to the desired point to
receive the rennet, which is about ninety to ninety-
five degrees. Sufficient rennet is applied to the milk
to cause it to curdle or coagulate in from thirty to
forty minutes. Then the curd is carefully cut, each
way, into slices of aboiit one inch square. Soon the
temperature is slowly increased. In about twenty
minutes the curd is carefully broken up with the hand,
— increasing the heat, and stirring often. When the
curd is sufficiently hard, so as to "squeal" when you bite
it, it is scalded. By this time the temperature is up to
about one hundred and thirty or one hundred and
forty.
" There are hinges placed in the legs of one end of
the vat, which is easily tipped, and through the curd-
strainer and whey-gate the whey is soon run off. The
curd is then dipped into a sink, over which is placed a
268 COMPOSITION OF CHEESE.
coarse strainer, and allowed to drain quite dry. It is
then broken up fine, and one teacup of ground solar salt
added to curd to make twenty pounds of cheese, and well
worked in. After the curd is quite cool, it is placed
in the hoop, and a light pressure is applied. In a few
minutes more power is needed. After remaining in press
about six hours, it is taken out of the hoop, wholly
covered with strong muslin, finely sewed on, and then
reversed and replaced in the hoop and press. It is
allowed to remain until the next day, when it has to
give place for another.
" After pressing thus twenty-four hours, the cheese is
placed upon the shelf, and allowed to stand until the
cloth is dry. Then a preparation, made from annatto
and butter-oil, is applied sufficiently to fill all the
interstices of the cloth. It must be turned and thor-
oughly rubbed three times a week, until ripe for use.
" I use the self-acting press. I know of none in use
that is better, — the weight of the cheese being the
power.''
The statements of skilful and practical dairymen, in
different parts of the country, are sufficient to show
that good cheese can be produced ; but it is believed
that a more general attention to all the details of the
dairy would add many thousand dollars a year to the
wealth of the people, and enable us to compete suc-
cessfully with the best dairy countries in the world.
The composition of cheese will, of course, differ
widely in nutritive value, according to the mode of
manufacture, age, etc. A specimen of good cheese was
found to contain about 31.02 per cent, of flesh-forming
substances, 25.30 per cent, of heat-producing sub-
stances, 4.90 per cent, of mineral matter, and 38.78 per
cent, of water.
The analyses of several varieties will serve as a com-
CHEESE AS FOOD.
269
parison of cheese with other kinds of food. The Ched-
dar was a rich cheese two years old, the double Glou-
cester one year old, the Dunlop one year old, the skim-
milk one year.
Cheddar.
Dbl. Glo'ster.
Dunlop.
Skim-milk.
Water, ....
30.04
35.81
38.46
43.82
Caseine, ....
Fat,
28.98
30.40
37.96
21.97
25.87
31.86
45.04
5.98
Ash,
4.58
4.25
8.81
5.18
Professor Johnston gives a table of comparison of
Cheddar and skim-milk cheese in a dried state, and milk,
beef, and eggs, also in a dried state, as follows :
Caseine (curd), .
Fat (butter), . .
Sugar, ....
Mineral matter, .
Milk.
Cheddar
cheese, dried.
Skim-milk
cheese, dried.
Beef.
Eggs.
55
40
5
35
24
37
4
45
48
7
80
11
9
89
7
4
100
100
100
100
100
A full-milk cheese differs but little from pure milk,
except in the absence of sugar, which, as already seen,
is held in solution, and goes off in the whey. The dif-
ference becomes greater in proportion as the cream is
removed from the milk before curding, and the nutritive
qualities thereby diminished.
Cheese is used both as a regular article of food, for
which the ordinary kinds of full-milk cheeses are
admirably fitted, and as a condiment or digester, in con-
nection with other articles of food; and for this purpose
the stronger varieties, such as are partially decayed
and mouldy, are best. " When the curd of milk is
exposed to the air in a moist state, for a few days, at a
moderate temperature, it begins gradually to decay, to
emit a disagreeable odor, and to ferment. When in
23*
270 DIGESTIVE QUALITY OF CHEESE.
this state, it possesses the property, in certain circum-
stances, of inducing a species of chemical change and
fermentation in other moist substances with which it is
mixed, or is brought into contact. It acts after the
same manner as sour leaven does when mixed with
sweet dough. Now, old and partially decayed cheese
acts in a similar way when introduced into the stomach.
It causes chemical changes gradually to commence
among the particles of the food which has previously
been eaten, and thus facilitates the dissolution which
necessarily precedes digestion. It is only some kinds
of cheese, however, which will effect this purpose.
Those are generally considered the best in which some
kind of cheese-mould has established itself. Hence,
the mere eating of a morsel of cheese after dinner does
not necessarily promote digestion. If too new, or of
improper quality, it will only add to the quantity of
food with which the stomach is probably already over-
loaded, arid will have to await its turn for digestion by
the ordinary processes." This mouldiness and tendency
to decay, with its flavor and digestive quality, are
often communicated to new cheese by inoculation, or
insertion of a small portion of the old into the interior
of the new by means of the cheese-taster.
In studying attentively the practice of the most suc-
cessful cheese-makers, I think it will be observed that
they are particularly careful about the preparation of
the rennet, and equally so about the details of pressing.
In my opinion, the point in which many American
cheese-makers fail of success is in hurrying the press-
ing. I think it will be found that the best cheese is
pressed two days, at least, and in many cases still
longer.
CHAPTER X.
THE DISEASES OF DAIRY STOCK.
DAIRY STOCK, properly fed and managed, is liable to
few diseases in this country, notwithstanding the
sudden changes to which our climate is subject. If
pure air, pure water, a dry barn or pasture, and a fre-
quent but gradual change of diet, when kept in the stall,
are provided for milch cows, nature will generally
remedy any derangements of the system which may
occur, far better than art. Common sense is especially
requisite in the treatment of stock, and that will very
rarely dictate a resort to bleeding, boring the horns,
cutting off the tail, and a thousand other equally absurd
practices, too common even within the memory of men
still living.
The diseases most to be dreaded are garget, puer-
peral or milk fever, and idiopathic or common fever,
commonly called " horn ail," and often " tail ail."
GARGET is an inflammation of the internal substance
of the udder. One or more of the teats, or whole sec-
tions of the udder, become enlarged and thickened, hot,
tender, and painful. The milk coagulates in the bag,
and causes inflammation where it is deposited, which is
accompanied by fever. It most commonly occurs in
young cows after calving, especially when in too high
condition. The secretion of milk is very much lessened,
and, in very bad cases, stopped altogether. Sometimes
272 GARGET. — SYMPTOMS. — TREATMENT.
the milk is thick, and mixed with blood. Often, also,
in severe cases, the hind extremities, as the hip-joint,
hock, or fetlock, are swollen and inflamed to such an
extent that the animal cannot rise. The simplest remedy,
in mild cases, is to put the calf to its mother several
times a day. This will remove the flow of milk, and
often dispel the congestion.
Sometimes the udder is so much swollen that the cow
will not permit the calf to suck. If the fever increases,
the appetite declines, and rumination ceases. In this
stage of the complaint, the advice of a scientific veter-
inary practitioner is required. A dose of purging
medicine and frequent washing of the udder, in mild
cases, are usually successful. The physic should con-
sist of Epsom salts one pound, ginger half an ounce,
nitrate of potassa half an ounce ; dissolved in a quart of
boiling water ; then add a gill of molasses, and give to
the cow lukewarm. Diet moderate ; that is, on bran, or
if in summer green food. There are various medicines
for the different forms and stages of garget, which, if
the above medicine fails, can be properly prescribed
only by a skilful veterinary practitioner.
It is important that the udder should be frequently
examined, as matter may be forming, which should be
immediately released. Various causes are assigned for
this disease, such as exposure to cold and wet, or the
want of proper care or attention in parturition.
An able writer, Mr. Youatt, says that hasty drying
up a cow often gives rise to inflammation and indura-
tions of the udder, difficult of removal. Sometimes a
cow lies down upon and bruises the udder, and this is
another cause. But a very frequent source, and one
for which there can be no excuse, is the failure to milk
a cow clean. The culf should be allowed to suck often,
and the cow should be milked at least twice a day
PREVENTION CHEAPER THAN CURE. 273
as clean as possible, while suffering from this com-
plaint.
If the urlder is hot and feverish, a wash may be
used, consisting of eight ounces of vinegar and two
ounces of camphoretted spirit; the whole well and
thoroughly mixed, and applied just after milking, to be
washed off in warm water before milking again.
In very bad cases, iodine has often been found most
effectual. An iodine ointment may be prepared by
taking one drachm of hydriodate of potash and an
ounce of lard, and mixing them well together. A small
portion of the mixture, from the size of a pigeon's egg,
in limited inflammations, to twice that amount, is to be
well rubbed into the swollen part, morning and night.
When milk forms in the bag before parturition, so as
to cause a swelling of the udder, it should be milked
away ; and a neglect of this precaution often leads to
violent attacks of garget.
Prevention is always better than cure. The reason
most commonly given for letting the cow run dry for
a month or two before calving is that after a long period
of milking her system requires rest, and that she will
give more milk and do better the coming season than
if milked up to the time of calving.
This is all true, and a reason sufficient in itself for
drying off the cow some weeks before parturition; but
there is another important reason for the practice, which
is that the mixture of the old milk with the new secre-
tion is liable to end in an obstinate case of garget.
To prevent any ill effects from calving, the cow
should not be suffered to get too fat, which high feed-
ing after drying off might induce.
The period of gestation is about two hundred and
eighty-four or two hundred and eighty-five days. But
cows sometimes overrun their time, and have been
18
274 GESTATION. — SLINKING. — CALVING.
known to go three hundred and thirteen days, and even
more ; while they now and then fall short of it, and have
been known to calve in two hundred and twenty days.
If they go much over the average time, the calf will
generally be a male. But cows are sometimes liable to
slink their calves; and this usually takes place about
the middle of their pregnancy. To avoid the evil con-
sequences, so far as possible, they should be watched ;
and, if a cow is found to be uneasy and feverish, or
wandering about away from the rest of the herd, and
apparently longing for something she cannot get, she
ought to be taken away from the others.
If a cow slinks her calf while in the pasture with
others, they will be liable to be affected in the same way.
In many cases, physicking will quiet the cow's excite-
ment in the condition above described, and prove of es-
sential benefit. A dose of one pound of Epsom or Glau-
ber's salts, and one ounce of ginger, mixed in a pint of
thick gruel, should be given first, to be immediately
followed by the salts, in a little thinner gruel.
When a cow once slinks her calf, there is great risk in
breeding from her. She is liable to do the same again.
But when the slinking is caused by sudden fright or
over-exertion, or any offensive matter, such as blood or
the dead carcasses of animals, this result is not so much
to be feared.
But the cow, when about to calve, ought not to be
disturbed by too constant watching. The natural pre-
sentation of the foetus is with the head lying upon the
fore legs. If in this position, nature will generally do
all. But, if the presentation is unnatural, and the labor
has been long and ineffectual, some assistance is
required. The hand, well greased, may be introduced,
and the position of the calf changed ; and, when in a
proper position, a cord should be tied round the fore
FALSE PRESENTATIONS. — MILK FEVER. 275
legs, just above the hoofs ; but no effort should be
made to draw out the calf till the natural throes are re-
peated. If the nostril of the calf has protruded, and the
position is then found to be unnatural, the head cannot
be thrust back without destroying the life of the calf.
The false position most usually presented is that of
the head first, with the legs doubled under the belly. A
cord is then fixed around the lower jaw, when it is
pushed back, to give an opportunity to adjust the fore
legs, if possible. The object must now be to save the
life of the cow.
But the cases of false presentation, though compara-
tively rare, are so varied that no directions could be
given which would be applicable in all cases.
After calving the cow will require but little care, if she
is in the barn, and protected from changes of weather.
A warm bran mash is usually given, and the state of
the udder examined.
PUERPERAL OR MILK FEVER. — Calving is often at-
tended with feverish excitement. The change of power-
ful action from the womb to the udder causes much
constitutional disturbance and local inflammation. A cow
is subject to nervousness in such circumstances, which
sometimes extends to the whole system, and causes
puerperal fever. This complaint is called dropping
after, calving, because it succeeds that process. The
prominent symptom is a loss of power over the motion
of the hind extremities, and inability to stand ; some-
times loss of sensibility in these parts, so that a deep
puncture with a pin, or other sharp instrument, is unfelt.
This disease is much to be dreaded by the farmer, on
account of the high state of excitement and the local
inflammation. Either from neglect or ignorance, the mal-
ady is not discovered until the manageable symptoms
have passed, and extreme debility has appeared. The
276 MILK FEVER. — SYMPTOMS.
animal is often first seen lying down, unable to rise ;
prostration of strength and violent fever are brought on
by inflammation of the womb. But soon a general
inflammatory action succeeds, rapid and violent, with
complete prostration of all the vital forces, bidding
defiance to the best-selected remedies.
Cows in very high condition, and cattle removed from
low keeping to high feeding, are the most liable to
puerperal fever. It occurs most frequently during the
hot weather of summer, and then it is most dangerous.
When it occurs in winter, cows sometimes recover. In
hot weather they usually die.
Milk fever may be induced by the hot drinks often
given after calving. A young cow at her first calving
is rarely attacked with it. Great milkers are most com-
monly subject to it ; but all cows have generally more
or less fever at calving. A little addition to it, by im-
proper treatment or neglect, will prevent the secretion
of milk ; and thus the milk, being thrown back into the
system, will increase the inflammation.
This disease sometimes shows itself in the short
space of two or three hours after calving, but often not
under two or three days. If four or five days have
passed, the cow may generally be considered safe. The
earliest symptoms of this disease are as follows :
The animal is restless, frequently shifting her posi-
tion; occasionally pawing and heaving at the flanks.
Muzzle hot and dry, the mouth open, and tongue
out at one side ; countenance wild ; eyes staring. She
moans often, and soon becomes very irritable. Delirium
follows; she grates her teeth, foams at the mouth,
tosses her head about, and frequently injures herself.
From the first, the udder is hot, enlarged, and tender ;
and if this swelling is attended by a suspension of milk,
the cause is clear. As the case is inflammatory, its
BLEEDING RARELY NECESSARY. 277
treatment must be in accordance ; and it is usually
subdued without much difficulty. Mr. Youatt says,
"The animal should be bled, and the quantity regulated
by the impression made upon the circulation, — from
six to ten quarts often before the desired effect is pro-
duced." He wrote at a time when bleeding was
adopted as the universal cure, and before the general
reasoning and treatment of diseases of the human sys-
tem was applied to similar diseases of animals. The
cases are very rare, indeed, where the physician of the
present day finds it necessary to bleed in diseases of
the human subject ; and they are equally rare, I appre-
hend, where it is really necessary or judicious to bleed
for the diseases of animals. A more humane and
equally effectual course will be the following :
A pound to one and a half pounds of Epsom or Glau-
ber's salts, according to the size and condition of the
animal, should be given, dissolved in a quart of boiling
water ; and, when dissolved, add pulv. red pepper a
quarter of an ounce, caraway do. do., ginger do. do. ;
mix, and add a gill of molasses, and give lukewarm.
If this medicine does not act on the bowels, the quantity
of ginger, capsicum, and caraway, must be doubled.
The insensible stomach must be roused. When purg-
ing in an early stage is begun, the fever will more
readily subside. After the operation of the medicine,
sedatives may be given, if necessary.
The digestive function first fails, when the secondary
or low state of fever comes on. The food undis-
charged ferments; the stomach and intestines are
inflated with gas, and swell rapidly. The nervous
system is also attacked, and the poor beast staggers.
The hind extremities show the weakness; the cow
falls, and cannot rise ; her head is turned on one side,
where it re^ts ; her limbs are palsied. The treatment
24
278 THE PULSE. — PRESCRIPTION.
in this stage must depend on the existence and degree
of fever. The pulse will be the only true guide. If it
is weak, wavering, and irregular, we mu-st avoid deplet-
ing, purgative agents. The blood flows through the
arteries, impelled by the action of the heart, and its
pulsations can be very distinctly felt by pressing the
finger upon almost any of these arteries that is not too
thickly covered by fat or the cellular tissues of the
skin, especially where it can be pressed upon some
hard or bony substance beneath it. The most conve-
nient place is directly at the back part of the lower jaw,
where a large artery passes over the edge of the jaw-
bone to ramify on the face. The natural pulse of a full-
grown ox will vary from about forty-eight to fifty-five
beats a minute ; that of a cow is rather quicker,
especially near the time of calving ; and that of a calf
is quicker than that of a cow. But a very much
quicker rate than that indicated will show a feverish
state, or inflammation ; and a much slower pulsation
indicates debility of some kind.
Next in importance, as we have already stated, is
the physic. The bowels must be opened, or the ani-
mal will fall a victim to the disease. All medicines
should be of an active character, and in sufficient
quantity ; and stimulants should always be added to
the purgative medicines, to insure their operation.
Ginger, gentian, caraway, or red pepper in powder, may
be given with each dose of physic. Some give a power-
ful purgative, by means of Epsom salts one pound, flour
of sulphur four ounces, powdered ginger a quarter of
an ounce, all dissolved in a quart of cold water, and
one half given twice a day till the bowels are opened.
The digestive organs are deranged in most forms
of milk fever, and the third stomach is loaded with
hard, indigestible food. When the medicine has operated,
PROPER NURSING. — SIMPLE FEVER. 279
and the fever is subdued, little is required but good
nursing to restore the patient.
No powerful medicines should be used without dis-
cretion ; for in the milder forms of the disease, as the
simple palsy of the hind extremities, the treatment,
though of a similar character, should be less powerful,
and every effort should be made for the comfort of the
cow, by providing a thick bed of straw, and raising the
fore quarters to assist the efforts of nature, while all
filth should be promptly and carefully removed. She
may be covered with a warm cloth, and warm gruel
should be frequently offered to her, and light mashes.
An attempt should be made several times a day to
bring milk from the teats. The return of milk is an
indication of speedy recovery.
Milch cows in too high condition appear to have a
constitutional tendency to this complaint, and one
attack of it predisposes them to another.
SIMPLE FEVER. — This may be considered as increased
arterial action, with or without any local affection ; or
it may be the consequence of the sympathy of the sys-
tem with the morbid condition of some particular part.
The first is pure or idiopathic fever ; the other, symptom-
atic fever. Pure fever is of frequent occurrence in cattle.
Symptoms as follows : muzzle dry ; rumination slow
or entirely suspended ; respiration slightly accelerated ;
the horn at the root hot, and its other extremity fre-
quently cold ; pulse quick ; bowels constipated ; coat
staring, and the cow is usually seen separated from the
rest of the herd. In slight attacks, a cathartic of salts,
sulphur, and ginger, is sufficient. But, if the common
fever is neglected, or improperly treated, it may assume,
after a time, a local determination, as pleurisy, or
inflammation of the lungs or bowels. In such cases the
above remedy would be insufficient, and a veterinary
280 SYMPTOMATIC FEVER.
surgeon, to manage the case, would be necessary.
Symptomatic fever is more dangerous, and is commonly
the result of injury, the neighboring parts sympathizing
with the injured part. Cattle become unwell, are stinted
in their feed, have a dose of physic, and in a few days
are well ; still, a fever may terminate in some local
affection. But in both cases pure fever is the primary
disease.
A more dangerous form of fever is that known as
symptomatic. As we have said, cattle are not only
subject to fever of common intensity, but to symp-
tomatic fever, and thousands die annually from its
effects. But the young and the most thriving are its
victims. There are few premonitory symptoms of symp-
tomatic fever. It often appears without any previous
indications of illness. The animal stands with her neck
extended, her eyes protruding and red, muzzle dry,
nostrils expanded, breath hot, base of the horn hot,
mouth open, pulse full, breathing quick. She is often
moaning ; rumination and appetite are suspended ; she
soon becomes more uneasy; changes her position often.
Unless these symptoms are speedily removed, she dies
in a few hours. The name of the ailment, inflam-
matory or symptomatic fever, shows the treatment
necessary, which must commence with purging. Salts
here, as in most inflammatory diseases, are the most
reliable. From a pound to a pound and a half, with
ginger and sulphur, is a dose, dissolved in warm water
or thin gruel. If this does not operate in twelve hours,
give half the dose, and repeat once in twelve hours,
until the bowels are freed. After the operation of the
medicine the animal is relieved. Then sedative medi-
cines may be given. Sal ammoniac one drachm, pow-
dered nitre two drachms, should be administered in thin
gruel, two or three times a day, if required,
ASSISTING NATURE. — PURGATIVES. 281
Typhus fever, common in some countries, is little
known here among cattle.
TYPHOID FEVER sometimes follows intense inflamma-
tory action, and is considered the second stage of it.
This form of fever is usually attended with diarrhoea.
It is a debilitating complaint, and is sometimes followed
by diseases known as black tongue, black leg, or quarter
evil. The cause of typhoid fever is involved in obscur-
ity. It may be proper to say that copious drinks of
oat-meal gruel, with tincture of red pepper, a diet of
bran, warmth to the body, and pure air, are great
essentials in the treatment of this disease.
The barbarous practices of boring the horns, cutting
the tail, and others equally absurd, should at once and
forever be discarded by every farmer and dairyman.
Alternate heat or coldness of the horn is only a symptom
of this and other fevers, and has nothing to do with
their cause. The horns are not diseased any further
than a determination of blood to the head causes a
sympathetic heat, while an unnatural distribution of
blood, from exposure or other cause, may make them
cold.
In all cases of this kind, if anything is done, it should
be an effort to assist nature to regulate the animal sys-
tem, by rousing the digestive organs to their natural
action, by a light food, or, if necessary, a mild purga-
tive medicine, followed by light stimulants.
The principal purgative medicines in use for neat
cattle are Epsom salts, linseed-oil, and sulphur. A
pound of salts will ordinarily be sufficient to purge a
full-grown cow.
A slight purgative drink is often very useful for
cows soon after calving, particularly if feverish, and in
cases of over-feeding, when the animal will often appear
dull and feverish ; but when the surfeiting is attended
24*
282 THE HOOVES.
by loss of appetite, it can generally be cured by wit i
holding food at firsthand then feeding but slightly till
the system is renovated by dieting.
Purgative drinks will often cure cases of red water,
if taken in season.
A purgative is often necessary for cows after being
turned into a fresh and luxuriant pasture, when they
are apt to become bound from over-feeding ; but con-
stipation does not so often follow a change from dry to
green food in spring, as from a poor pasture in summer
to one where they obtain much better feed.
The HOOVE or HOVEN is brought on by a derange-
ment of the digestive organs, occasioned by over-feed-
ing on green and luxuriant clover, or other luxuriant
food. It is simply the distension of the first stom-
ach by carbonic acid gas. In later stages, after fer-
mentation of the contents of the stomach has com-
menced, hydrogen gas is also found. The green food,
being gathered very greedily after the animal has been
kept on dry and perhaps unpalatable hay, is not sent
forward so rapidly as it is received, and remains to
overload and clog the stomach, till this organ ceases or
loses the power to act upon it. Here it becomes moist
and heated, begins to ferment, and produces a gas
which distends the paunch of the animal, which often
swells up enormously. The cow is in great pain, breath-
ing with difficulty, as if nearly suffocating. Then the body
grows cold, and, unless relief is at hand, the cow dies.
Prevention is both cheaper and safer than cure ; but
if by neglect, or want of proper precaution, the animal
is found in this suffering condition, relief must be
afforded as soon as possible, or the result will be fatal.
A hollow flexible tube, introduced into the gullet,
will sometimes afford a temporary relief till other means
can be had, by allowing a part of the gas to escape ;
CHOKING. — REMOVAL. 283
but the cause is not removed either by this means or
by puncturing the paunch, which is often dangerous.
In the early stage of the disease the gas may be neu-
tralized by ammonia, which .is usually near at hand.
Two ounces of liquid ammonia, in a quart of distilled
or rain water, given every quarter of an hour, will
prove beneficial. A little tincture of ginger, essence
of anise-seed, or some other cordial, may be added, with-
out lessening the effect of the ammonia.
If the case has assumed an alarming character, the
flexible tube, or probang, may be introduced, and after-
wards take three drachms either of the chloride of
lime or the chloride of soda, dissolve in a pint of
water, and pour it down the throat. Lime-water, pot-
ash, and sulphuric ether, are often used with effect.
In desperate cases it may be found necessary to
make an incision through the paunch ; but the chloride
of lime will, in most cases, give relief at once, by
neutralizing the gas.
CHOKING is often produced by feeding on roots, par-
ticularly round and uncut roots, like the potato. The
animal slavers at the mouth, tries to raise the obstruction
from the throat, often groans, and appears to be in
great pain. Then the belly begins to swell, from the
amount of gases in the paunch.
The obstruction, if not too large, can sometimes be
thrust forward by introducing a flexible rod, or tube,
into the throat. This method, if adopted, should be
attended with great care and patience, or the tender
parts will be injured. If the obstruction is low down,
and a tube is to be inserted, a pint of olive or linseed
oil first turned down will so lubricate the parts as to
aid the operation, and the power applied must be steady.
If the gullet is torn by the carelessness of the operator,
or the roughness of the instrument, a rupture generally
284 FOUL IN THE FOOT. — CURE.
results in serious consequences. A hollow tube is
best, and if the object is passed on into the paunch, the
tube should remain a short time, to permit the gas to
escape. In case the animal is very badly swelled, the
dose of chloride of lime, or ammonia, should be given,
as for the hoove, after the obstruction is removed.
Care should be taken, after the obstruction h
removed, to allow no solid food for some days.
FOUL IN THE FOOT. — Cows and other stock, when
fed in low, wet pastures, will often suffer from ulcers
or sores, generally appearing first between the claws.
This is commonly called foul in the foot, and is analo-
gous to foot-rot in sheep. It is often very painful,
causing severe lameness and loss of flesh, and dis-
charges a putrid matter, or pus. Sometimes it first
appears in the form of a swelling near the top of the
hoof, which breaks and discharges foul matter.
The rough and common practice among farmers is to
fasten the foot in the same manner as the foot of an ox
is fastened in shoeing, and draw a rough rope back and
forth over the ulcerated parts, so as to produce a
clean, fresh wound, and then dress it with tar or other
similar substance.
This is often an unnecessarily cruel operation. The
loose matter may easily be removed by a knife, and then
carefully wiped off with with a moist sponge. The ani-
mal should then be removed at once to a warm, dry
pasture, or kept in the barn.
If the case has been neglected till the pasterns
become swollen and tender, the sore may be thoroughly
cleansed out, and dressed with an ointment of sul-
phate of iron one ounce, molasses four ounces, sim-
mered over a slow fire till well mixed. Apply on a
piece of cotton batting, and secure upon the parts. If
an) morbid growth or fungus appear, use equal parts
RED WATER. — TREATMENT. 285
of powdered blood-root and alum sprinkled on the sore,
and this will usually effect a cure.
Some also give a dose of flour of sulphur half an
ounce, powdered sassafras-bark one ounce, and bur-
dock two ounces, the whole steeped in a quart of boil-
ing water, and strained when cool ; and, if the matter
still continues to flow from the sore, wash it morning
and night with chloride of soda one ounce, or a table-
spoonful of common salt dissolved in a pint of water.
Foul in the foot causes very serious trouble, if not
taken in season. The health of cows is injured to a
great extent. I have seen, during the present season,
many instances of foul in the foot in dairy stock arising
from the wetness of the pastures. No lameness in
cattle should be neglected.
RED WATER is so called from the high color of the
urine. It is rather a symptom of some derangement of
the digestive organs than a disease of itself, and the
cause is most frequently to be found in the quality
of the food. It is peculiar to certain localities, and is
of very rare occurrence in New England.
In the early stage of the difficulty the bowels are
loose, but soon constipation ensues, and the appetite is
affected, the milk decreases, and the urine becomes
either very red or sometimes black.
The case demands treatment, for it is apt to prey
upon the health of the cow. Purgatives are usually
employed with most success. Take a pound of Epsom
salts, half an ounce of ginger, and half an ounce of car-
bonate of ammonia. Pour a quart of boiling water on
the salts and ginger, stir thoroughly, and, when cold,
add the ammonia. If this fails to act on the bowels,
repeat a quarter part of it every six or eight hours till
it succeeds. Then a nutritious diet should be used till
the appetite is fully restored.
286 HOOSE. — INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS.
If a cow is once affected in this way, the difficulty
will be liable to return, and she had better be dis-
posed of.
HOOSE is a cold or cough to which stock are subject
when exposed to wet weather and damp pastures.
The cold may not be bad at first, or may be so slight
as not to attract attention ; but it often leads to worse
complaints, and ought, when observed, to be attended
to at once, by keeping the animal in a dry and warm
barn a few days, and feeding with mashes, and, if it
continues, take an ounce of sweet spirits of nitre in a
pint of ginger tea ; mix, and give in a quart of thick
gruel.
No prudent farmer will neglect to observe approach-
ing symptoms of disease in his stock. The cheapest
way to keep animals healthy is to treat them properly
in time, and before disease is seated upon them. Hoose
often ends in consumption and death.
INFLAMMATION OF THE GLANDS often occurs in hoose,
catarrh, etc., but they resume their natural state when
these complaints are removed. The animal cannot swal-
low without pain sometimes, and soft food should be
given. Remove the cause, and the inflammation ceases.
Some make a relaxing poultice of marsh-mallows, or
similar substances ; and rub the throat with a mixture
of olive or goose oil one gill, spirit of camphor one
ounce, oil of cedar one ounce, and half a gill of vinegar.
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. — Common catarrh or
hoose sometimes leads to inflammation of the lungs,
which is indicated by dulness and sore cough. The
ears, the roots of the horns, and legs, are sometimes
cold. The breath is hot, as well as the mouth ; and the
animal rarely lies down, and is reluctant to move,
or change its position. Warm water and mashes, or
gruel, may b° given, and the animal kept in a dry
DIARRHOEA. — TREATMENT. 287
place. The cause of the complaint should be removed,
and the trouble will generally soon cease. The treat-
ment is much the same as for fever; but where the
surface of the body is cold, as is generally the case,
give sweet spirits of nitre two ounces, liquor acetate
of ammonia four ounces, in a pint of water, two or
three times a day.
DIARRHOEA is brought on by too sudden change of
food, especially from dry to green and succulent food ;
sometimes by poisonous plants or bad water. If slight,
the farmer may not be anxious to check it. It may show
simply an effort of nature to throw off some injurious
substances from the body, and so it may exist when the
animal is quite healthy. But, if it continues too long,
and is likely to debilitate the system, a mild purgative
may be given to assist rather than check the operation
of nature. Half a pound of Epsom salts, with a little
ginger and gentian, will do for a medium-sized animal
in this case ; but a purgative may be followed in a day
or two by an astringent medicine. Take prepared chalk
two ounces, powdered oak-bark one ounce, powdered
catechu two drachms, powdered opium one drachm, and
four drachms powdered ginger. Mix these together,
and give in a quart of warm gruel. Sometimes a few
ounces of pulverized charcoal will arrest the diarrhoea.
Common diarrhoea may be distinguished from dysentery
ty a too abundant discharge of dung in too fluid a form,
or in a full, almost liquid stream, sometimes very offen
sive to the smell, and now and then bloody. In dysen-
tery, the dung is often mixed with mucus and blood, and
is not unfrequently attended by a hard straining. The
quantity of dung is less than in diarrhoea, but more
offensive.
Diarrhoea may occur at any season of the year, and
sometimes leads to dysentery, which more frequently
appears in the spring and fall.
288 DYSENTERY. — MANGE. — SYMPTOMS.
DYSENTERY, or scouring rot, is a dangerous and trouble-
some malady when it becomes seated.
The cow suffers from painful efforts to pass the dung,
which is thin, slimy, olive-colored, and offensive, and
after it falls rises up in little bubbles, with a slimy sub-
stance upon it. She is restless, lying down and soon
rising again, and appears to be in great distress. The
hair seems to stand out stiff from the body, and this
stage of the malady indicates an obstinate and fatal
disease.
It is often brought on by a simple cold at the time of
calving, exposure to sudden changes, and by poor keep-
ing, which exhausts the system, especially in winter. A
dry, warm barn, and careful nursing, will do much ; and
dry, sweet food, as hay, oat-meal, boiled potatoes, gruel,
&c. Some linseed-meal is also very good for cows with
this complaint. A little gum-arabic or starch may be
mixed with the medicine.
The treatment is much the same as for diarrhoea.
The MANGE is commonly brought on by half starving
in winter, and by keeping the cow in a filthy, ill-ven-
tilated place. It is contagious, and if one cow of a
herd has it, the rest will be apt to get it also. Elaine
says, " Mange has three origins, — filth, debility, and
contagion." It is a disgrace to the farmer to suffer
it to enter his herd from either of these causes, since
it shows a culpable neglect of his stock. I am sorry
to say it is too common in this country, especially
in filthy barns.
The cow afflicted with the mange is hide-bound ; the
hair is dry and stiff, and comes off. She is constantly
rubbing, and a kind of white scurfiness appears on the
skin. It is most perceptible towards the latter part of
winter and in spring, and thus too plainly tells the story
of the winter's neglect.
LICE. — HOW TO DESTROY THEM. 289
An ointment composed chiefly of sulphur has been
found most effectual. Some mercurial ointment may be
added, if the cows are kept housed ; but, if let out
during the day, the quantity must be very small, else
salivation is produced by their licking themselves.
The ointment may be made of flour of sulphur one
pound, strong mercurial ointment two ounces, common
turpentine one half-pound, lard one and a quarter
pounds. Melt the turpentine and lard together, and stir
in the sulphur as they begin to cool off; then rub down
the mercurial ointment on some hard substance with
the other ingredients. Rub the whole in with the hand,
and take care to leave no places untouched, once a day,
for three days ; and after this, if any places are left un-
cured, rub it in over them. There is no danger in this
application, if the animal is not exposed to severe cold.
This will be pretty sure to effect a speedy cure, if aided
by cleanliness, pure air, and a nutritious diet.
Another wash for mange is the following : Pyrolig-
neous acid four ounces, water a pint ; mix and apply.
LICE show unpardonable neglect of duty wherever
they are suffered to exist. They crawl all over the
stable-floor and the stalls, on the pastures, and a touch
is sufficient to give them to other animals. They
worry and trouble the poor animal constantly ; and no
thriftiness can be expected where they are found. If
the mange ointment does not completely destroy them,
as it often will, take bees-wax, tallow, and lard, in equal
parts, and rub it into the hide in the most thorough man-
ner, with the hand or a brush, two and a half pounds
for a small cow, three pounds for a large one. The
next day it may be washed off in soft soap, and the
lice will have disappeared from the animal, but not
always from the barn. Some use a wash of powdered
lobelia-seeds two ounces, steeped in boiling water, and
25 19
290 WARBLES. — LOSS OF CUD.
applied with a sponge. Others hang up tobacco-leaves
over the stalls. This may do to keep them away ; but,
after the animal is covered with them, they are not so
easily scared.
WARBLES. — The gad-fly is very troublesome to cattle
towards the end of summer. The fly alights on the back
of the cow, punctures the skin, and lays her eggs under
it. A tumor is now formed, varying in size, which soon
bursts and leaves a small hole for the grub already
hatched to breathe through. Here the insect feeds on
its surroundings, and grows up to considerable size.
All this time the animal is probably suffering more or
less pain, and often tries to lick or rub the part affected,
if possible. Farmers often press them out with the fin-
ger and thumb. The best way is to puncture the skin
with a common pen-knife, and then press out the
grub. They injure the hide more than most people are
aware of.
Loss OF CUD is a consequence of indigestion, and is
often brought on by eating too greedily of food which
the cow is not used to. Loss of cud and loss of appetite
are synonymous. Gentle purgatives may be given,
with such as salts, ginger, and sulphur. But when a cow
is surfeited, as already said, I should prefer to withhold
food entirely, or for the most part, till the system can
regulate itself.
DISEASES OF CALVES. — The colostrum, or first milk of
the cow after calving, contains medicinal qualities pecu-
liarly adapted to cleanse the young calf, and free its
bowels from the matter always existing in them at birth.
This should, therefore, never be denied it. Bleeding
at the navel, with which calves are sometimes seriously
troubled, may generally and safely be stopped by tying
a string around the cord which hangs suspended
from it.
DISEASES OF CALVES. — SCOURS. 291
But DIARRHCEA, PURGING, or SCOURS, is the most dan-
gerous complaint with which calves are afflicted. This
is caused often by neglect, or exposure to wet and cold,
or insufficiency of food at one time and over-feeding at
another. Stinting the calf in food or attention will often
involve the loss of considerable profit on the cow for
the year. When purging is once fully seated from
several days' neglect, it is often difficult to remove it.
The acidity on the stomach which always attends it
must first be removed. A mild purgative medicine may
be given. Rhubarb and magnesia is a very convenient
article, and may easily be given in ounce doses along
with the milk. Potash is also to be given in quarter-
ounce doses in the same way. Two ounces of castor-
oil, or two ounces of Epsom salts, might be given with
the desired effect. After this, mild astringents may be
given. Take prepared chalk two drachms, or magnesia
one ounce, powdered opium ten grains, powdered cate-
chu half a drachm, tincture of capsicum two drachms,
essence of peppermint five drops. Mix together, and
give twice a day in the milk or gruel.
After giving the above repeatedly without effect,
which will rarely happen, take Dover's powders two
scruples, starch or arrow-root powdered one ounce,
cinnamon powder one drachm, and powdered kino
half a drachm. Boil the starch or arrow-root in water
till it thickens, and when cold stir in the other ingre-
dients. Give night and morning. This complaint is
often attended by inflammation of the bowels and
general fever.
It is a good plan to keep a lump of chalk constantly
before calves after they are two or three weeks old.
It corrects acidity on the stomach, and is otherwise
useful to them.
CONSTIPATION or COSTIVENESS sometimes attacks calves
292 COSTIVENESS. — HOOVE. — CANKER.
a few days old, that have not been judiciously managed,
It may be brought on by putting a calf to a cow whose
milk is too old, or from feeding a calf from the milk of
several cows mixed. It results from too heavy a mass
of coagulated milk in the fourth stomach, which becomes
very much swollen with hard curd. It is difficult to
remedy. The best way is to pour down some Epsom
salts, two ounces, dissolved in two quarts of warm
water, by means of a horn or bottle, and follow this by
half the dose every six hours.
Constipation sometimes appears in calves from two
to four months old, when their food is too suddenly
changed. The bowels must be opened and the hardened
mass in the stomach softened very soon, or it will lead
to fatal consequences.
Farmers are generally very careless about observing
these things till it is too late. As already said, preven-
tion is cheaper than cure ; but, if the complaint once
appears, no time should be lost to administer a purge
of salts in proportion to the size of the animal or the
severity of the attack. Many a valuable animal will be
saved by it.
The HOOVE often appears among calves after being
turned out to pasture. The young animal coughs vio-
lently, and appears in pain. It should be removed at
once to a dry place, and physicked. If taken in season,
it is easily cured. If neglected, it will often prove fatal.
This complaint assumes the form of an epidemic at times,
and becomes very prevalent and troublesome.
Calves sometimes suffer from CANKER IN THE MOUTH,
especially at the time of teething. The gums swell,
and fever sets in. Common alum or borax, dissolved in
water, may be applied, and a mild purgative admin-
istered, in the shape of one or two ounce doses of
Epsom salts.
THE MEDICINES AT HAND. 293
The diseases and complaints mentioned above are
nearly all that afflict our dairy stock ; and the list at
least includes all the common diseases and their treat-
ment. Some of the diseases and epidemics from which
the cattle of Great Britain and other countries suffer
are not known at all here, or are of so very rare occur-
rence as not to have attracted attention; and among
these may be named pleuro-pneumonia, typhus fever,
cow-pox, and various epidemics which have from time to
time decimated the cattle of all Europe. To accidents
of various kinds, to wounds, trouble with the eyes, and
to lameness from other causes than those named, they
are, indeed, more or less subject ; but no work could
anticipate or cover the treatment best in every case,
and much must be left to the judgment of the owner.
I have tried to make this chapter, which I consider
one of the most important of any to the dairy farmer, of
practical value to every one who owns or has the care of
a cow. But, lest a want of familiarity with some of the
medicines recommended for particular diseases, or the
fear of the expense of procuring and keeping them on
hand, should deter some one from providing himself
with a good medicine-chest, I wish to remind the reader
that no small portion of them are always to be found in
every well-regulated household, and that the others are
obtained at so little expense that no one need be with-
out them for a single day.
Let us see, for instance, how many of them are at
hand. But few families are destitute of a supply of
ginger, camphor, red pepper, lard, molasses, cinnamon,
peppermint, starch, turpentine, tallow, bees-wax, bur-
dock, and caraway-seed. The farmer's wife or daughter
will generally have a supply of ammonia or hartshorn.
Now, I wish to suggest to the farmer or dairyman
who happens to live at a distance from the apothecary
25*
294 COST OF MEDICINE-CHEST.
to provide himself with a convenient little medicine-
chest, and put into it say four times the quantities of
the various medicines which are mentioned in the pre-
ceding pages, carefully bottled and labelled for use. To
aid in this simple plan, which might be the means of
saving an animal worth twenty times its cost, I have
obtained, from a ivholesale druggist, about the average
cost of the following quantities and kinds of medicines,
which include all, or nearly all, that would be likely to
be needed : Five pounds of Epsom salts, .18; one pint of
castor-oil, .25 ; one pint of sweet spirits of nitre, .19 ;
one pound of powdered nitrate of potash, .20 ; one
pound carbonate of ammonia, .23 ; one half-pound sal
ammoniac, .08 ; one pint of tincture of red pepper (hot
drops), .37 ; one ounce of hydriodate of potash, .30 ;
one pound chloride of lime, .10: one pound sulphate of
iron, .10 ; 2 pounds powdered sulphur, .16; one pint of
tmcture of ginger, 37 ; one quart of essence of anise-
seed, .50 ; one half-pound sulphuric ether, .20 ; one
half-pound powdered sassafras-bark, .20 ; one quarter-
pound magnesia, .06 ; one quarter-pound rhubarb, 30
(the common will answer instead of prepared) ; one
ounce powdered opium, .43; one quarter-pound catechu,
.06 ; one ounce Dover's powders, .25 ; 2 ounces gum
kino, .05 ; one half-pound mercurial ointment, .37J ; and
one pound aloes, .25. Then keep in the chest a good pro-
bang, which is a flexible tube made for the purpose, and
is much safer and better for introducing into the throat
or gullet of an animal than a common whip-stick, which
some use. This costs about $3.50, and can be pro-
cured at almost any veterinary surgeon's. This whole
chest and contents will cost less than ten dollars.
Let the farmer also become familiar with the structure
and anatomy of his animals. It will open a wide field
of useful and interesting investigation.
CHAPTER XI.
THE DAIRY HUSBANDRY OF HOLLAND.
THIS chapter I translate from an admirable little work in German,
*' Die Holldndische Rindviehzucht und Milchwirfhschaft in Kimiyreich
Holland" by Ellerbrock, a distinguished veterinary surgeon, pro-
fessor of cattle pathology and cattle-breeding in the Agricultural
Institute at Zeyst, in Holland.
MILKING AND TREATMENT OF MILK. — The cows are
turned to pasture early in spring, and stay there day
and night throughout the pasture-season. They are
milked daily in a particular part of the lot called the
milk-yard. This is kept in some instances permanently
in the same place ; in others, it is changed about at
pleasure. A shady part of the pasture is generally
selected, and it is commonly enclosed with a board fence.
The cows are driven into this yard to be milked, when
not already there at the usual time. The milking is
done by male and female do-
mestics, who carry their pails,
cans, and dishes, hung on a
kind of wooden yoke, Fig.
84, neatly cut out, painted,
and set with copper nails.
This is swung over the shoulders, or else the dairy
utensils are carried on donkeys, ponies, or hand-carts ;
or, where there is water communication, in boats, twice
a day, to the yard.
296
THE DUTCH DAIRY.
In the larger dairies the utensils in common use are
small wooden pails, Fig. 85, painted in variegated colors,
with bright brazen or iron hoops, and neatly washed ;
a strainer, Fig. 86, made of horse-hair ; a large wooden
Fig. 85. Fig. 86. Fig. 87.
tunnel, Fig. 87, for pouring the milk into the cans
and casks ; one or more buckets, Fig. 88, usually of
Fig. 88.
Fig. 89.
brass, lined with tin, large enough to hold the milk of
several cows together, or from twelve to eighteen
quarts. In many dairies they have wooden buckets,
Fig. 89, painted green or blue outside, with black stripes,
and with iron or brass handles, kept very bright. Here
the buckets are coated over inside with white oil-colors.
These are borne by the yoke (Fig. 84), or in some of
the ways indicated above.
In many places, instead of buckets for keeping the
milk together, they use copper or brass cans lined inside
with tin, and in the form of antique vases or large
beer-jugs, Figs. 90 and 91, which are constantly kept
brightly polished. In other places, they use for hold,
ing the milk smaller or larger barrels, Fig. 92, with
broad hoops also kept constantly polished.
THE DAIRY UTENSILS.
297
Instead of the yoke a soft cushion is also used, which
the dairymaids strap over their backs, so that they hang
Fig. 90. Fig. 91. Fig. 92.
down and rest over the hips and thighs. On this cush-
ion the cans are laid, and fastened with broad hempen
straps, that they may not press too heavily upon the
body. This band is called the milk-strap. Where the
milk is carried home on a hand-cart, neatly-woven
baskets are fastened upon little wagons in which the
cans are placed. If it is to be carried in casks, the same
arrangement is fixed upon a hand-cart. Two wooden
floats are laid upon the milk in the buckets, in order to
protect it from slopping over. One or more large milk-
casks or tubs, in which it may cool off properly , are also
used. The size of these tubs ia different, as well as the
materials of which they are made. Where the cooling
is not left to the air alone, but is sought to be effected
by hanging the milk-tub into cold water, the vessels are
made of metal. The large vase-like jars are also used
for this purpose. These hold about thirty cans, or
twenty-six quarts. Wooden bowls are used, of different
sizes and forms, and earthen pans, rather deeper than
broad, Figs. 93 and 94, in which the milk as it cools is
298
THE MILKING.
set for the cream to rise. A large pot for collecting the
cream until there is enough to churn, and wooden skim-
mers for taking off the cream, are also used. The milker
Fig. 93.
Fig. 94.
sits upon a common four-legged, and sometimes one-
legged milking-stool, and milks either the teats on one
side, or one hind and one front teat, the pail being
held between the knees. The cows are milked regu-
larly at four or five o'clock in the morning, and at five
or six in the afternoon.
In West Friesland, North and South Holland, Utrecht,
and other places, it is customary to tie the tail to the
leg of the cow, that she may not annoy the milker.
Most cows do not resist this, being accustomed to it
from the beginning. They also pass a cord around the
Fig. 95.
horns and tie her to a post stuck in the ground during
the milking, as in Fig. 95. In many provinces only the
unruly cows are tied in this way.
The milking takes place on the right side of the cow,
THE PRACTICE IN WINTER. 299
so that the milker sits on this side. In West Friesland
and North Holland there is an exception to this rule.
The cows are tied in pairs in the stalls, and one is
milked on one side and the other on the other, the
milker sitting with his back to the board partition, to
avoid annoyance from either animal.
When the milking is ended the milk is poured
through the hair strainer into the bucket, or through a
strainer or tunnel in the cans or casks, whichever are
used. The milk is taken to the dairy-house, without
delay, in some of the ways already mentioned. When
the yoke is used, one bucket is hung on the right side
and another on the left, each with a float on the top of
the milk to keep it from slopping over. The large
metallic milk-cans, with wooden stoppers, are borne
home on the cushions already described as being held
by shoulder-knots strapped round the waist. The
mode of transportation depends much on the distance
from the dairy-house and the quantity to be carried.
In winter, when the cows are in the barn, they are
likewise milked twice a day, and the milk is at once
strained through the hair strainer into casks made for
the purpose. These implements differ according to the
object pursued in the dairy; yet pans and pots are
mostly used for raising the cream to be made into
butter, since but few dairymen make cheese in winter.
All utensils necessary for milking, the preservation
of milk, and the making of butter and cheese, are kept
with the utmost neatness. Where a stream of running
water flows through the yard, the implements are gene-
rally washed in that, and flowing water is preferred for
the purpose. But where the farm or dairy-house
stands at a distance from a stream, a shallow fountain,
or basin, is dug out in the earth, walled up, and so
arranged that the water can be taken from it and fresh
300 CLEANLINESS EXEMPLIFIED.
water substituted when it gets impure. In such a
basin, or in flowing water, all new wooden dairy uten-
sils aie soaked for a long time before being used; but
those in daily use are washed, rinsed, and scoured out
with ashes, with the greatest care. None but cold,
clear, fresh fountain or flowing water is taken for cleans-
ing dairy implements. It is to be observed that, in
large dairies, the use of water which is covered with
newly-fallen honey-dew, for washing the dairy utensils,
is carefully avoided. When the milk-vessels have been
perfectly rinsed out in fresh water, they are, in many
dairies, put into a large kettle of water over the fire,
and properly scalded ; after which they are again cleanly
washed with cold water, so that not the least particle
of milk or impurity is to be seen, nor the least smell of
it to be observed. The metallic milk-vessels and the
metal parts of the wooden ones are cleansed with equal
care and exactness, and kept polished. Dairymaids
feel a pride in always having the brightest, most
polished, and cleanest utensils, and each strives earnestly
to excel the others in this respect.
When the milk-vessels are scoured, scalded, and
rinsed perfectly clean, they are hung on a stand of
laths and poles, made for the purpose, to be properly
dried. The round wooden milk-bowls, being made of
one piece, are very easily broken or split, and must be
handled with very great care in cleaning. To avoid
breaking, a peculiar table is used for scouring them.
The Dutch dairyman knows perfectly well that his
dairy can secure him the highest profit only when the
utmost cleanliness is the basis and groundwork of his
whole business ; and so he keeps, with the most extraor-
dinary carefulness, and even with anxiety, the great-
est possible neatness in all parts of the dairy establish-
ment.
THE YIELD OF DUTCH COWS. 301
DETERMINATION OF THE MILKING QUALITIES OF THE
Cows. — The Dutch cattle are, in general, renowned
for their dairy qualities ; but especially so are the cows
of North Holland, which not only give a large quantity,
but also a very good quality, so that a yield of sixteen
to twenty-five cans * at every milking is not rare. Next
to these come the West Friesland and South Dutch
cows, from which from twenty to twenty-four cans of
milk may be calculated on. Though one could not
take a certain number and calculate surely what the
yield of each cow would be, yet he could come very
near the truth if he reckoned that a cow, in three hun-
dred days, or as long as she is milked, gives, on an
average, daily, from six to eight cans of milk, from
which the whole annual yield would be from one
thousand eight hundred to two thousand four hundred
cans. Of this the cow gives one half in the first four
months, one third in the next three, and in the
remainder one sixth. These superficial results cannot
be taken, however, as the fixed rule.
Professor Wilkins, in his Handbook of Agriculture,
gives the following estimates of the yield of milk: A
good West Friesland or Groningen cow will, after calv-
ing, give daily fourteen quarts of milk. This will, after
a while, be reduced to eight quarts. She may be milked
three hundred and twenty-three days in the year, and
her product in butter and cheese will amount to one
hundred guldens.
In Prof. Kop's Magazine it is stated that a medium-
sized Friesland cow, which had had several calves, was
giving daily, on good feed, five and a half to six buckets,
or from twenty to twenty-two cans, and over. In South
Holland, also, this quantity is considered a good yield
* A Butch can is a little less than our wine quart.
26
302 TREATMENT OF MILK.
of a cow. Of the cows of Gelderland, Overyssel, and
Utrecht, the yield cannot be reckoned higher than six-
teen cans daily, and that only during the first half of
their milking season.
TREATMENT OF MILK FOR BUTTER. — To get good
butter it is quite necessary that the fresh milk be
properly cooled before it is set for cream. In the great
dairies of North and South Holland, which not only
possess the best cattle, but may be given as models in
dairy husbandry, they manage as follows :
The milk, as it is brought from the pasture, is poured
from the buckets, cans, and casks, through a hair
strainer, into one vessel, the milk-kettle. These milk-
kettles are not everywhere of the same size, or of simi-
lar form, but are always riveted together with strong
brass or copper bands, and lined with tin inside. The
most common milk-kettles hold sixteen cans ; yet they
are found so large as to hold three barrels, or about six
hundred quarts. The peculiar kettle form is very rarely
found, but more frequently the cylindrical, or vase-
shaped. They are held either by two handles or one.
The number required depends on the number of cows
and the quantity of milk expected.
The milk-kettles, when filled, are set into a basin
with cold water, called the cool-bath, for the purpose of
cooling the milk. The cool-bath is frequently in the
kitchen, sometimes in the bauer-house, so called, or
directly before the cow-room, near the spring. The
latter is the most common and the most convenient
place. The water reservoir is dug in the ground, and
an oblong four-cornered form is preferred for it ; the
sides of the excavation being walled up with hard-burnt
building-stones and cement, but the bottom is laid in
tiles, either red, hard-burnt, or white glazed. Richer
dairymen take finely-hewn blue stone or white marble
THE COOL-BATH.
303
for it. The size of the reservoir is governed by the
number of milk-kettles to be put into it, and so is its
depth by their height, so that the rim of the kettle is on
a level with the top of the cool-bath, Fig. 96. The
sides of the cool-bath in the
kitchen project some feet over
the floor, yet are not so high
that the setting in and taking
out the milk-kettle will be at-
Fig. 96. Cool-bath.
tended with great inconvenience and trouble. Where
it is desired to make the work of setting in or raising
up the milk-kettles from the cool-bath as easy as pos-
sible, a beam is fixed along the side of the trough, and
iron props are firmly fixed, which extend out a little
over the edge of the trough, half-way down from the
beam. On these the operator can support himself in
lowering or raising heavy vessels. These stays, or
props, are sometimes fixed directly into the wall, along
304
THE BATH IN THE BARN.
which the cool-bath stands. Under the bottom of the
reservoir, on the other side from where the water
comes in, is an outlet, stopped with a tap or faucet, to
let off the water.
The cool-baths in the kitchen are, for the most part,
on the floor, and extend up a convenient height ; whilst
those in the cow-barns, as a general rule, are dug down
and walled up, and their top is fastened to the floor of
the barn. They are deep enough to allow the water
for cooling the milk to come up to the rim of the milk-
rig. 97. Cool-bath
kettle ; but, in order to prevent men and cattle from
falling in, it is covered with a strong wooden lid to
shut down, as in Fig. 97.
THE TIME OP COOLING. 305
Such a cool-bath is used in the cow-room only in
summer, when the heat is so great that it is difficult to
keep the milk cool in the kitchen. The cool-bath in the
cow-room is considered as only an auxiliary to that in
the kitchen, and to be used only in case of necessity.
The milk-kettles are hung by their handles, and let
down by means of a crank. When the platform is not
in use it is taken away from the cool-bath, and the cover
is let down and kept closed.
The milk is allowed to remain in the cool-bath until
the froth has disappeared, and there is no difference in
temperature between the water and the milk. The
milk of one milking must give place for the next, so
that it will be changed twice daily, morning and even-
ing. A very great importance is, everywhere in the
Dutch dairies, attached to this rapid cooling of the
milk, because it is known by experience that it is thus
greatly protected from turning sour.*
The milk, when properly cooled, is brought to the
milk-cellar, where it is immediately poured out of
the milk-kettles into vessels designed to receive it.
Wooden bowls or pans, or high earthen pots, are used
for holding it. The pans and pots are set on the table,
and a small ladder, or hand-barrow, is laid on them, on
which is placed the strainer, when the milk is poured
from the kettles. The wooden milk-pans are of several
forms, generally made of ash or of linden, and oval.
They are, on an average, three and a half feet long, and
half a foot broad, more or less ; but their dimensions
vary.
* It will be perceived that the arrangement for cooling the milk before
setting in the pans, in the Dutch dairies, is very elaborate. I have fol-
lowed the original in translating the above, though the practice in Hol-
land differs widely from our own in this respect, and from that recom-
mended in the preceding pages. The point may be worthy of careful
experiment. — TRANSLATOR.
26* 20
306 DEPTH IN THE PANS.
It has been found, by experience, that the flattei and
shallower the pans, the quicker and better the cream
rises. The milk-pots are pretty large, but are rather
shallow than deep, glazed inside, of different forms, and
different capacities ; but they are always broader on the
top than at the bottom, though they stand firmly on a
round, broad foot-piece. Milk pans and pots are rinsed
with cold water before the milk is poured into them.
When properly cleaned and filled, they are placed on
shelves made for the purpose, in regular rows. These
shelves are only a few feet high above the floor of the
cellar, and of suitable width ; but, if there is not space
enough for the milk, the pans are placed on the bottom
of the cellar. The pots are also set along the walls, on
firm board shelves.
The milk-cellar, or rather the milk-room, Fig. 98, in
the North and South Dutch dairies, is placed on the
north side of the house, next to the kitchen, but a little
lower than the latter, so that there are usually three
steps down. The longer side, facing towards the
north, has one window, whilst the gable end, with its
two windows, faces towards the west. The windows
are generally kept shut, and are open only nights in
summer. The cellar is either archeol or covered with
strongly-boarded rafters, over which the so-called
cellar-chamber is situated. The floor of this room is
laid in lime or cement, with red or blue burnt tiles, so
that nothing can pass down through into the milk-cellar.
In the cellar itself are the above-mentioned shelves and
platforms for the milk-vessels along the walls, while
outside, in front of the cellar, linden and juniper trees
are planted, to prevent as much as possible the heat of
the sun from striking upon the walls. Cleanliness, the
fundamental principle of Dutch dairy husbandry, is
carried to its utmost extent in the cellar. Barrels of
DUTCH DAIRY-BOOM.
307
308 TIME FOB THE CREAM TO RISE.
meat, bacon, vegetables of every kind, and everything
which could possibly create a strong odor and infect
the air, or impart a flavor to the milk, butter, or cheese,
are carefully excluded.
The vessels in which the milk is set remain standing
undisturbed in their places, that the formation of cream
may go on without interruption. Twenty-four hours,
on an average, are thought to be necessary for the milk
to stand, during which time the cream is twice taken
off, once at the end of each twelve hours. The morn-
ing's milk is skimmed in the evening, and the evening's
on the next morning. But the milk always remains
quite still till the dairymaid thinks it time to skim,
which she decides by the taste. Long practice enables
her to judge with great certainty by this mode of trial.
When the cream is ripe it is taken off
by the dairymaid with a shallow wooden
skimmer, Fig. 99, in the form of a deep
plate, and carefully placed in a particular
Fi<r 99 vessel — a bucket or cream-pot. The
cream-pot is generally washed very clean,
the staves very finely polished, striped with blue or
white outside, and held together by broad brass or
copper hoops, kept very bright. For closing the jar
they use an ashen cover, which is either simply laid
on by a common handle, or sometimes held on by
brass or copper hinges. Both cream-pot and cover
are always scoured quite white and clean. The cream
remains there till enough is got for churning, or till
it becomes of itself thick enough for butter. It is
known to be of the proper consistence for butter when
a long, slender, wooden spoon, thrust down into it, will
stand erect. When in summer the cream does not get
thick enough in season, they seek to hasten it by
putting in a little butter-milk ; but in winter the ripen-
METHODS OF CHURNING. 309
ing of the cream is hastened by warming, either by
holding the cream-pot over a coal-pan, or on a hearth-
plate.
The remainder, the skim-milk from the milk bowls
or pans, sour milk, or butter-milk, is poured into a par-
ticular vessel, and made into spice-cheese.
Besides the methods here described for keeping milk
for butter, milk is used for other purposes. Sweet
milk cheese is made of the unskimmed milk ; cream is
used in the house for coffee. Eennet is also added to
fresh milk, and the product is immediately sold, being
greatly relished by many. From skim-milk and butter
milk put together is made an article called kramery
by cooking the mixture, putting it into a linen bag,
and hanging it in a cool part of the milk-cellar, or else-
where, when the liquid drops out and leaves a mass of
considerable consistence, called Hangebast.
As soon as the milk is taken from the vessels, they
are taken out of the cellar and carefully cleansed and
dried before being used again.
METHODS OF CHURNING. — Churning is the principal
operation in the manufacture of butter, for by it the
fatty particles are separated from the other constitu-
ents. There are several methods in Holland of effect-
ing this separation of the butter globules. The oldest
and simplest is that of putting the cream into an
upright churn, in which the cream is agitated by mov-
ing a long dasher, pierced with holes, up and down, till
the object is accomplished.
There are, strictly speaking, only two forms of the
churn which are used in all parts of the country. One
is broad at the bottom and narrow at the top. This
has been known from the earliest times, and is called
the old churn, Fig. 100.
This old churn is still used in many dairies, and it
310 VARIETIES OF CHURNS.
has the preference over the other form,
because it is thought to bring the butter
quicker and more completely.
The other form is more like a beer or
brandy cask on end, being smaller at
each end than in the middle, and is
called the barrel-churn. Both kinds are
made of oak-wood, and have wooden or
broad metal hoops. In the one case
Fig. 100. they are painted outside ; in the other,
they remain of the natural color, but are the more
frequently scoured, so that the dark-colored oak-wood
gets a whitish color. The metallic hoops are always
kept polished bright.
Both kinds are of different sizes, according as the
quantity of cream is greater or less, or as they are to
be worked by hand or animal power simply, or by
machinery. In South Holland, where unquestionably
the most butter is made, the barrel-churn is at each
end about two feet and two inches in diameter, and
in the centre is seven inches broader, with two-inch
staves. The old churn, on the other hand, is usually
fourteen inches at the top and twenty-five at the bot-
tom.
In North Holland and West Friesland, also, sizes are
found in which one hundred and fifty to two hundred
quarts of cream can be churned. The churns have each
a strong cover at the top, which fits into their rim about
the thickness of the hand, with a hole in the middle for
the dasher.
The churning is performed either by the hand motion
of the dasher, as in all small dairies, and in the smallest
churns, or by man-power with the help of certain
mechanical contrivances. The means for effecting this
are diffeient, and so the churns have different names.
MOVING THE DASHER. 311
In many dairies, for instance, they have a lever con-
nected with the dasher; in other places they use a
flexible pole, fixed into the ceiling above, for facilitat-
ing the motion of the dasher, or put a lever in motion
with the feet, which raises and sinks the dasher. There
are also complicated artificial butter-machines and
butter-mills, which are named after the inventor, the
manufacturer, or the motive power. The most known
and widely used are the turning-mills, the wheel-mills,
and the clock-work mills ; as the Hand Butter-Mill of
Valk, Fiirst's churn, etc.
There are also still more elaborate machine-works
for moving the dasher, which are used in the larger
dairies on account of their convenience and economy.
Dog-power and horse-power churns are frequently met
with.
CHURNING IN THE COMMON CHURN. — The use of this
is well known. The dasher is moved up and down by
hand, with the churn full of cream, till the butter
particles are separated and collected together. The
operator keeps his body in equilibrium, to exercise the
power cf moving the dasher regularly for agitating the
cream.
THE LEVER CHURN is very commonly used in South
Holland, Fig. 101. The churn itself is barrel-form,
as already described, and the dasher is put in motion
by a lever. The upper end is pierced with holes,
through which runs an iron pin. In a beam of the
ceiling two joists are firmly fixed, about a foot and
five inches long and four inches square, and several
inches apart. The longer arm of the lever is four
feet and seven inches ; the shorter, three feet and six
inches. The churn stands under the short arm of the
lever, where the dasher is fixed. By drawing the
longer arm of the lever towards him, the operator
312
THE LEVEK CHURN.
Fig. 101.
presses the dasher down through the cream. This
mode is far less wearisome than the hand-churn,
because by the lever, with less expense of power, a far
greater agitation is produced. A weight is sometimes
attached to the longer arm, by which the power required
is still further reduced.
CHURNING WITH AN ELASTIC ROD. —The old-fashioned
churn is set in motion by the aid of another kind of
power, as seen in Pig. 102. A long, tough, flexible
stick is fastened into the cross-beam in the ceiling, so
that its larger end is held firm by two iron clasps. The
elasticity of the rod is such that, when the smaller end
is drawn down by hand, which, at the same time, moves
THE ELASTIC ROD.
313
the dasher, it rebounds, and thus saves considerable
expenditure of power.
Fig. 102.
CHURNING WITH THE TREADLE LEVER. — In many
places the churn is put in motion by the feet, as in Fig.
103, where several levers are united to produce the
upward and downward motion of the dasher. The
longer arm of the lever is connected with the churn,
and the shorter is set in motion by a foot-board.
The foot-board lies on a roller, with its longer part
attached to the lever ; and by throwing the weight of
the body upon this part the shorter arm of the lever
is drawn clown, and the longer, attached to the churn-
27
314
THE TREADLE LEVER.
Fig. 108.
dasher, is raised. The mode of operation is so plainly
seen in the cut as to need no explanation.
Among the more ingenious contrivances used for
churning in Holland belongs the churn invented by
Fiirst. The body is somewhat similar to the barrel-
churn, but is smaller ; and it is of uniform diameter
throughout, as in Fig. 104. It is covered with a
wooden lid, furnished with a convenient handle, and
stands on a low platform, to which it is fixed, when in
use, by means of a screw, k. The motion is com-
municated to the dasher by means of a wheel, or wind-
lass, and an endless cord.
In the interior of the cylinder is placed a kind of
THE HAND BUTTER-MILL
315
Fig. 104.
ventilator, Fig. 105. This consists of eight wooden
wings, pierced with holes, and motion is communicated
to it by means of the wheel, 6, connected by the
Fig. 105.
cord to the larger windlass. The wings of the machine
when set in motion, strike incessantly in the cream, and
so powerfully that the whole mass is agitated, and in this
manner the separation of the butter particles is soon
effected. The motion is so rapid that it is often neces-
sary to turn the crank very slowly, especially just as the
butter is coming.
TALK'S HAND BUTTER-MILL, Fig. 106, has many ad-
vantages. It is less fatiguing to work than the old-
316
THE DOG-POWER CHURN.
fashioned churn, and even than Fiirst's, because the
motion of the body required is simple and less exact-
ing. And again, the churn takes up less room, and is
Fig. 106.
easily transported, which is an important consideration
in churning, on account of the influence of the tempe-
Fig. 107.
THE DOUBLE DASHER.
317
rature. In summer the heat may delay, or render the
operation difficult, and in winter the coldness presents
obstacles. A transportable churn can be moved into a
cool place in summer, and a warm one in winter, when
it is desirable. The dasher of the churn is also seen
separate in the same figure.
THE DOG-POWER CHURN, Fig. 107, economizes labor,
while, at the same time, more butter is obtained, on
account of the uniformity of the agitation produced. It
is in use in all the Dutch provinces. The form and size
of the churn are comparatively indifferent ; but the
tread-wheel and direction of the moving power are the
important points. The diameter of the wheel is from
ten to twelve feet, and the rim or outer circumference
is made of boards two
feet wide. The weight
of the animal turns the
wheel and moves the
dasher by means of
cogs, as shown in the
figure.
Where there is a
sufficient supply of
moving power, a churn
with two dashers is
sometimes attached, as
shown in Fig. 108, in
which case one dasher
moves down while the
other is raised.
A large and strong
dog is required, and
MS. he is easily taught to
keep to his work, by beginning with short trials, and
gradually lengthening them. A steady and uniform step
27*
318 THE HORSE-POWER CHURN.
is necessary, and this will soon be acquired. The dog
is sometimes left free, and sometimes tied by a line.
Fig. 109.
CHURNING BY HORSE-POWER. — On large farms and in
extensive dairies the churning is done by horse-power,
fig. 110
THE TIME IT TAKES TO CHURN. 319
as shown in Fig. 109. The form of the churn itself
is optional in this case, also. The size of the wheel va-
ries, but it is seldom less than nine or ten feet in diam-
eter, furnished with cogs on the upper surface, which
are from four to six inches long, and play into a smaller
wheel, the axle of which is attached to the dasher of
the churn. A third and smaller wheel is sometimes
introduced, as in Fig. 110. A quick and regular step
is required of the animal, and a quiet and docile horse
is always preferred. A horse adapted to this work com-
mands a good price. Blinders are always used on the
horse while churning.
DURATION OP THE CHURNING. — In whatever way the
churning is performed, the result is always a separation
of the fatty particles from the other constituents of
the milk. As soon as the churning indicates that the
butter particles increase in size and collect together,
the motion of the dasher must be hastened till the but-
ter has come together in a large mass. Great care
should be taken to observe the appearance of this form-
ation. The Dutch dairymaids acquire great skill, by
long practice and experience, in judging of the proper
moment when the separation of the particles has com-
pletely taken place. Very great importance is with
justice attached to this skill, for it is undoubtedly true
that one with this knowledge can get far more and
better butter from milk of the same quality, the same
quantity, and skimmed at the same time.
The cream taken from the milk of thirty-five cows,
after standing twenty-four hours, is generally churned
in summer in less than an hour, sometimes in three
quarters of an hour. In very hot weather the cream-
pot is frequently set into the cool-bath of fresh water
for five or six hours before the churning begins, and it
churns the easier for it. Cold water is never poured
320
WORKING OF THE BUTTER.
Fig. 111.
into the churn with the cream. In winter, as well as in
cold weather in spring and fall, warm water is some-
times poured in with the cream.
WORKING AND TREATMENT OF BUTTER. — When the
churning is finished, the dairy-woman
takes out the butter with a wooden
scoop, Fig. Ill, and puts it into a
tub for further working. The tub,
Fig. 112, is a
bi oad, shallow vessel, open at the
top, and having an opening at the
bottom which is stopped by a
bung. The scoop is pierced with
holes, through which the butter-milk Fig. 112.
drains. The butter put into the tub is now rinsed,
salted, and formed.
The tub is put upon a low, firm table, and the butter
is worked by the hands, or by a shallow, rather wide
and strong wooden ladle, until the butter is united into
one firm and entire mass. Many
dairy-women are accustomed to
work the butter out from the mid-
dle towards all sides before bring-
ing the whole mass together in the
tub. Then very clear arid pure
fresh cold water is poured
upon the butter, and
worked through it till all
the milky particles are
entirely removed. After
this is done in several
workings, the bung is
removed from the bottom
of the tub, and the watery
matter runs down through a little strainer, as in Fig. 1 13.
Fig. 113.
SALTING. — PREPARING FOR MARKET-DAY. 321
As a general rule, butter is washed with water and
worked over eleven or twelve times ; yet the operator
must judge whether the butter contains any particles of
milk, and must work with water till, as it runs off, it is
no longer whitish, but perfectly clear. Butter some-
times becomes too soft from too much working, if it is
all done at once ; it is then worked over two or three
times, and allowed to stand in cold water after each
working, which preserves its hardness and texture.
This whole operation is called the washing of the butter.
When the washing is finished, the butter is cut with
a blunt, saw-toothed knife, Fig. 114, in every direction,
in order to remove all
Lairs, or fibres of any
Fi«-lu- kind, which by any pos-
sibility have got into it during the day. It is then
sprinkled over with white, finely-powdered salt, the
quantity of which is regulated by the taste ; and this is
perfectly worked in, so that the whole is uniformly
salted. Most dairy-women determine the quantity of
salt by the eye and the taste, and acquire such facility
by continued practice that they always get the proper
quantity ; but less experienced ones take the salt by
weight. The salting is not all done at once, but is con-
tinued three or four days, twelve hours intervening
between each application, until all the salt uaS dissolved,
and not a crystal is to be found. If the butter has a
speckled and variegated appearance, it is a sign that the
salt is not completely worked in, and the neglect must
be remedied by working it over still more in the most
thorough manner. When the salt is all dissolved, the
butter is brought into single balls and got ready for
the next market-day, or the whole mass is put into a
particular keg, in order to be taken to market at some
subsequent time as firkin-butter.
21
322 THE BUTTER-MOULDS.
THE FORM OF FRESH BUTTER. — The form of the but-
ter is made by taking a suitable quantity and press-
ing it into a mould, and then taking it out by knocking
on the mould. Many different forms of butter-moulds
are in use in the different sections of Holland, such as
are shown in Figs. 115, 116, and others.
Fig. 115. Fig. 116.
The figures impressed on the butter are given by the
mould, where it is deeply engraved ; or they are made
after the butter is taken out of the mould, and for this pur-
pose a peculiar instrument is used, Fig. 117, a kind of flat
wooden spoon, with a short, convenient handle,
and long grooves in the broad, flat surface. Each
region has its own peculiar stamp, or special
figures, which are given to lump-butter, to which
particular attention is paid by the purchaser.
The butter-dealer knows exactly that in one
section butter is stamped in one way, in another
section in some other way ; and that the butter
of one section, with its peculiar stamp, is woith
Fig. 117. more than that of another.
The butter-moulds are generally made of linden-wood,
but must always be large enough to hold at least a cer-
tain prescribed weight of butter ; for all lump-butter
brought for sale to the weekly market must be of a
prescribed weight. This weight is very different, and
almost every city has different regulations and market
customs; yet, in most places, a pound is the legal
THE PACKING OF BUTTEK. 323
weight. Certain market-masters, or inspectors of 'but-
ter, are appointed, and watch that all the butter has its
proper weight. If too light, it is forfeited by the
seller, who is also punished for fraud. The butter
brought to market is generally covered with very clean
white cloths, and several sample lumps are put for
inspection in a large butter-bowl, basket, or shallow
box.
Many dairymen are accustomed in spring, when the
first grass butter is made, to send their regular custom-
ers a few little lumps of fresh May or grass butter.
These presents generally have a peculiar form, and on
the specimens most carefully prepared some animal is
moulded, as a sheep lying down, a dog, <fcc., with a bunch
of green grass or buttercups in its mouth. The dairy-
woman herself usually presents this butter in a beauti-
ful milk-bowl adorned with grass and flowers, covered
with glittering white cloths.
THE PACKING OF BUTTER IN FIRKINS AND BARRELS. —
If the butter packed in firkins and barrels is to be kept
a long time, experience and knowledge are required to
pack it so that it will not be injured. The form and
size of these casks are different in different sections and
provinces. Where butter-making forms a chief branch
of dairy business, the particular form and size which
have been used for a long time are adhered to, because
dairymen know very well that the public recognizes
their choice butter by the form and size of the casks,
and buys it the more readily. The greatest anxiety of
the Dutch butter-maker is to keep up the old, well-earned
reputation which Dutch butter has in every foreign
country, both for its intrinsic good qualities, the result
of the process of manufacture, and for its extraordinary
appearance as an article of commerce.
For the proper preservation of the good qualities of
324 THE CASKS REGULATED BY LAW.
butter, it is of the highest importance to have the casks
properly made and treated ; but the mode of salting and
packing the butter in them is also of special import-
ance, since this is examined at the sale. The old and
customary forms and sizes of butter-casks are, there-
fore, of great consequence to the butter-maker, because
every butter-dealer and judge of butter recognizes at
once, by the external form of the casks, from what sec-
tion the butter comes, and makes up his mind on the
money value of the article from these appearances.
It was not originally known what kinds of wood were
best for transporting butter long distances in, and pre-
serving its highest qualities ; and butter-casks were
made of several kinds of wood, as oak, beech, willow,
etc. But it was for the interest of the government that
Dutch butter should maintain its reputation for extraor-
dinary qualities abroad, and the most rigid laws were
enacted, prescribing from what wood the casks should
be made, etc. ; and now only oak is allowed to be used,
and the casks are all inspected and stamped according
to law. * * * *
Before the butter is packed the casks are properly
cleaned and prepared, for which practice and experience
are requisite.
Old butter-casks that have been previously used are
cleaned of every particle of fat and dirt remaining in
them, and scoured and washed out as carefully as pos-
sible, and are placed for several days in running water
before they are used again. If no running water is at
hand, quite clean pond or spring water is taken, and all
impure water is carefully avoided. After they have lain
in the water five or six days, they are carefully scoured
out with good wood-ashes and sand, and again well
rinsed. After several scourings and soakings, they are
put into a kettle over a fire and carefully scalded ; and
TREATMENT OF NEW CASKS. 325
then, when cold, again scoured and rinsed, for which
the most judicious dairymen use milk instead of water,
and they are then placed to dry in the air. They are
fit for use only when everything has been done in the
most careful manner.
But new butter-casks require still more particular and
careful treatment before they can be filled with butter
without fear of injury. They are got ready for pack-
ing in several different ways. Some dairymen let them
lie in pure water a whole summer and winter long, and
wash them out in lye, and then treat them just as they
do those that have been used. Others, however, who
give the new casks the preference over the old, but
who cannot wait for the soaking in lye over summer
and winter, treat them in the following manner: They
prepare a lye of good American potash, which generally
contains the most alkali, in a cask holding some three
hundred quarts, taking a pound of potash to twenty
pounds of water. For a cask of the size named fifteen
pounds of potash are used, which is prepared by pour-
ing boiling water upon it and stirring constantly, add-
ing a little more water as the potash dissolves. With
this lye, which will be about five degrees strong by
Beaume's aerometer, the butter-barrels are entirely
filled. The barrels stand two hours filled with lye, and
are then emptied and exposed to the air to dry, without
being scoured out with water or milk. The lye may be
used again for other new barrels, even though a part
of its strength may be gone. Potash is added, from
time to time, to keep up the specified degree of strength.
A solution of fifteen pounds of coarsely-powdered alum
is prepared in about three hundred quarts of hot water,
in a vessel as large as the lye-cask. The butter-barrels
are also filled full of the solution of alum, and allowed
to stand twenty-four hours. This alum solution must
28
326 EFFECT OF LYE ON THE BARRELS.
also be of five degrees strength by Beaume's scale, and
it can be used over and over by adding more alum now
and then. After emptying out the alum and lye, they
are dried a day in the sun and air, and then rinsed out
in fresh, pure water, when they can be used for packing
butter without fear. Some add a little sulphate of
iron or green copperas to the alum, when the solution
is more powerful ; yet the management of the butter-
barrels is then more troublesome, and requires more
experience. The effect of the copperas has also the
disadvantage that it blackens the barrels, which, though
it does not injure them, is not liked by the purchaser.
By this treatment the new butter-barrels are much
more quickly and cheaply cleansed, and got ready for
packing and transporting butter, than by the course
pursued with old barrels. The barrels, treated as above,
are not only quite water-tight, but the wood is stronger
and more durable. By means of the potash-lye and the
alum solution the tannin is taken from the oak-wood
used in the barrels, which, if it remained, would give a
disagreeable taste to the butter. The effect of the pot-
ash and alum upon the wood of the barrels is quite
harmless, and does not impart the least unhealthy quality
to the butter.
When the old or new barrels have been cleansed and
prepared, in either of the ways indicated, suitably for
packing the butter, the bottom of the barrel is evenly
covered with salt. Then a layer of butter which has
been thoroughly washed and salted is made, and
another layer of salt, and so alternate layers of salt
and butter till the barrel is full, when a little brine of
salt and water is poured on top. The butter is now
ready to be laid in the cellar, and thence to be sold and
exported. When the dairy is not sufficiently large to
fill a barrel each day, the butter of several churn-
SUPPLY OF THE HOME MARKET.
327
ings must be used, and the barrel filled from time to
time as it stands in the cellar. In that case the upper
layer of butter is left covered with salt, and the cover
of the barrel is closed down tight. In most large dai-
ries a barrel is generally filled at one churning, which is
considered better for the quality of the butter. The
butter is always packed in so firmly that no space is lei't
unfilled.
In doing up butter for sale at home, or at a neighbor-
ing market, the lumps are worked into the form of half
a sphere, and put into little bright-hooped boxes, made
to fit into larger casks, which can be nicely covered and
closed up, as seen in Fig. 119, where the dairy-woman
holds a box in her hand. The covered casks are also
seen carefully nailed up.
Fig. 119.
The buyer who wishes to try the butter uses a long
iron or steel borer, hollow inside, and furnished with a
handle, as also seen in the cut. This not only enables
him to test the quality but the uniformity of the butter
in the cask.
328 ARTIFICIAL COLORING OF BUTTER.
COLORING OF BUTTER. — The practice of coloring but
ter is founded on the fact that we are accustomed to
form our judgment at once of the qualities of the arti-
cle from the whiteness or the yellowness of its color.
Whiter butter is less attractive generally than yellow
summer or grass-made butter. The color has come to
oe important to the seller, and artificial means are found
to regulate it.
The coloring is made as follows : About a pound of
butter is melted, so that the heavier parts sink to the
bottom, when the light, clear fat on the top is poured
into another dish. In this fat thus poured off is put a
piece of annatto about the size of a walnut, wrapped
up in a linen cloth, and it is then again put over the
fire. The coloring matter of the annatto strains through
the linen cloth, and turns the butter brown red, when
it is allowed to cool off. When the butter is to be col-
ored, some of this brown red is melted, salted, and
mixed very carefully into the butter after washing. The
quantity of coloring matter used depends on the color
which the maker wants to impart to his butter, and a
little practice soon enables him to take the right quan-
tity. Others pour the coloring matter directly upon
the butter to attain the same end.
In coloring artificially it is important to get a uniform-
ity of color, which is the result of very thorough work-
ing. Colored butter must not be marbled.
The cream is sometimes colored before churning.
The annatto is put into a clean beech-wood lye, and as
much of this colored and strained lye is taken as is
necessary to produce the desired color in the butter. It
is then churned as usual.
Turmeric is sometimes used instead of annatto for
coloring butter. It has no advantage, however, over
annatto.
THE USE OF BUTTER-MILK. 329
In many sections the butter is colored with an ex-
tract of saffron in water, or of marigold, or with the
juice of carrots, which is applied to the cream before
churning.
The coloring adds nothing to the quality or the taste.
It is done for the sake of the looks ; but it gives the
butter a deceptive appearance.
USE OF THE BUTTER-MILK. — The butter-milk in the
churn is poured into a great cask, which in large
dairies, as a general rule, is painted blue outside and
white inside, with broad black iron hoops. It stands
generally in the kitchen covered with a wooden lid.
Butter-milk is used either in cooking, or for calves or
swine, or is sold.
Dairymen in the vicinity of large cities have barrels
with broad, bright brass hoops, in which they carry
their butter-milk to market. It is put into them
through a bung-hole, and when full the wooden bung
is wound with linen and driven in. In these barrels
the butter-milk is carried to Amsterdam, Rotterdam,
etc., sometimes by boats on the canals, sometimes on
wagons, and by yokes, and there sold to the grocers at
wholesale, to be again sold out by them. The butter-
milk thus brings an income by no means inconsiderable
to well-managed dairies.
THE MANUFACTURE OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF DUTCH
CHEESE. — From time immemorial, cheese, as an article
of commerce, which has had a large sale, has brought
an extensive income to the cattle-breeders and dairy-
men where its manufacture has been largely carried
on, as everywhere in West Friesland, North and South
Holland, and along the borders of the crooked Rhine in
Utrecht.
Dairymen are not the only ones who enjoy the advan-
tage which grows out of the cheese-trade ; but a large
28*
330 VARIOUS KINDS OF CHEESE.
number of other people derive considerable profit from
it, and support themselves entirely by it. Even the
commonalty of the cities, where the weekly markets for
the sale of cheese are regularly held, derive a consid-
erable revenue from the small taxes for carriage and
market-dues, to which every seller has to submit.
The actual difference between the different kinds
of cheese made in Holland is due in part to the form
and size, and in part to the mode of making. Every sort
has also a name derived from its peculiarities, or from
the provinces or sections where it is made. The vari-
eties of cheese best known in the markets in South
Holland are the spice cheese, the sweet milk cheese,
known also under the name of Gouda cheese, the so-
called May cheese, the Council's cheese, the Jews'
cheese, and the English cheese, made in many places.
Further up in North Holland, the North Dutch sweet
milk cheese, as it is commonly called in the province,
known in the foreign markets as Edam cheese, is almost
exclusively made. A kind of sweet milk cheese is made
to a limited extent, called Commissions' cheese. In
West Friesland, Utrecht, and South Holland, but few
except sweet milk cheeses are made.
In making cheese, the utmost cle'anliness is most care-
fully observed in all the operations. Whoever is
intrusted with this work is required to display the
utmost neatness in his whole person, as well as in the
dairy-room ; and the vats and other utensils are daily
scoured, wrashed with lye, and washed out in water and
rinsed. The greatest attention is also paid to the trans-
port of cheese to the weekly markets in the cities;
and in whatever way his load is carried, whether by
wagon or in little boats, the person intrusted with it is
always dressed in the so-called cheese-frock, a large white
linen, which is used exclusively for this purpose. At
MODE OP MAKING SPICE CHEESE. 331
the market itself the cheese is laid on a four-cornered
bench, two feet high, and exposed to view in a glitter-
ing white linen cloth. But, in order to keep off all dust
and impurities, a sail-cloth is raised over the whole,
called the cheese-sail ; or it is covered with a sail-cloth
covering, or sometimes with clean straw. But in other
places it is customary to carry the cheese on wagons,
in a white linen cloth, and covered with a woollen cover,
ready packed for sale at the markets.
CHEESE-MAKING IN SOUTH HOLLAND. — Spice cheese
from skim-milk, and sweet milk or Gouda cheese, are
the only kinds made to any extent in South Holland.
Spice cheese, which derived its name from the addition
of spices, is a firm, flat cheese, of about twenty pounds
weight, brought to market generally colored red. It is
three quarters of a foot thick, and one and a half feet in
diameter, and is made as follows :
The skim-milk is poured from the milk-pans into large
tubs, and allowed to stand quiet till the cheesy matter
has settled to the bottom, which requires, perhaps, half
a day. Then the thin liquid on top is poured t>ff very
carefully, without stirring up the rest, through a strainer,
into a large brass kettle, till it is full ; but the thicker
substance at the bottom is left, and not put into the
kettle. Under this kettle a fire is made, and the milk
heated to a certain degree, regulated by the judgment
of the dairymaid, sufficient to warm other cold milk,
but it must not boil. The fire is made in the kitchen,
or in the summer-house, or in some other room called
the cheese-house. When the milk in the kettle is
properly heated, it is poured into the tub of milk which
has been heated and allowed to get cold. This tub is
an upright vat, open at the top, of uniform diameter,
bound with wooden hoops, and generally left of the nat-
ural color of the wood : scoured very bright, but some-
332
PREPARATION OF RENNET.
Fig. 120.
times painted blue and the
hoops black. It is seen in
Fig. 120.
When the quantity of milk
is large, the dairyman puts in
as much rennet as he thinks
necessary to curdle the milk
completely; but before and
during the addition of the
curd the whole is thoroughly
stirred, and this stirring is
continued until the stick or
wooden ladle used for the pur-
pose will stand erect in the curd. Then the dairy-
woman works the curd with her hands till no further
effect of the rennet in curding the milk is to be seen.
It is called the cheese-curd.
The rennet is prepared in the following manner : The
maw or fourth stomach of a newly-killed sucking calf is
taken from the other stomachs, carefully cleaned and
cut into strips two inches wide, and then hung up in
the chimney to be smoked and dried ; or, in hot weather
in summer, it. is hung up in the sun. Well smoked
and dried strips wiJl keep a very long time. When
these are wanted for use, they are very carefully washed
and purified, and then laid in the salt brine from the
butter-barrels, or in lukewarm salt water to soak. The
liquid is put into bottles and laid in the cellar. For
curding milk as much is taken as is thought to be
necessary, which cannot be determined without consid-
erable practice and experience. If too little is taken,
the cheese is not fat enough ; if more than the right
quantity, it gives a disgusting acid taste. It is diffi-
cult, almost impossible, to state exactly how much ren-
net should be used with a certain quantity of milk,
THE AGE OP RENNET. 333
because this must be determined by its quality and its
strength. Something like the following quantity is,
however, taken : In a sixty-quart vat are placed about
fifty rennets, prepared by drying, washing, and cutting,
and a clear salt brine or butter-pickle of twenty to
twenty -five degrees strength is added. In smaller quan-
tities the proportion of rennet is about one and a half
quarts to a rennet, or even less. This dried maw can be
bought everywhere in packages of twenty-five pieces
each.
One great point in cheese-making is to have a suffi-
cient quantity of good rennet in store ; for the older it
grows the more powerful and effective it becomes, and
the experienced cheese-makers, studying their own
interests, know very well how difficult, hurtful, and
time- wasting, it is to use fresh or new rennet. The asser-
tion sometimes made that they use muriatic acid instead
of rennet for curding the milk in Holland rests on an
error, at least so far as the present methods are con-
cerned. In earlier times, and for the poorest kinds, as
the Jews' cheese, muriatic acid was more or less used.
At the present time,
the rennet for those
cheeses is prepared
from the stomachs of
calves some days old.
When the curd has
sufficiently come, an.l
has all been thorough-
ly broken, the dairy-
woman puts a four-
cornered linen cloth,
called the cheese-
cloth, which is used only for this purpose, and is
only loosely woven, upon a small strong ladder laid
334
THE PRELIMINARY PRESSING.
over the edges of a low tub, and puts upon the
cloth the proper quantity of curd, then ties up the
four corners of the cloth, and presses with her whole
strength, that the milk may drain off. This work is
also done by men who can apply great strength, Fig.
121. The corners of the cheese-cloth are brought
together, and the operator presses as hard as he can, in
order to remove all the milk from the curd. But, as
this is not possible with the hands alone, the whole is
placed under a plank-press, and by this means as much
of the milk as possible is pressed out. A strong cleat
is nailed to a pillar in the wall at a convenient height from
the floor, — say two feet, — so that the tub, ladder, and
cheese-cloth, can be put under the plank, when the
plank is pressed down upon the cloth and curd. At
the other end of the plank the operator sits and presses
down with the whole weight of his body, as seen in Fig.
122. The whey runs into the tub, and is generally used
THE CHEESE-MOULDS.
335
as food for swine. The pressure is continued till no
more runs off.
After the complete removal of the whey, the curd
remaining in the cloth has the form of the palms of the
hands, and is pressed so firmly that it holds together
when the cloth is removed. But it is again broken up,
and put for this purpose into the breaking-tub, a low
but broad, open tub, with wooden hoops, and made of
strong staves, and is here worked over by the bare but
cleanly-washed feet of the dairyman, or hired man. This
working with the feet is continued, just as in kneading
dough, till all is brought to a stiff paste.
When it has come to this consistence the forming of
the cheese begins. The dairyman has for this purpose
a cheese-mould standing before him,
and lays on the bottom a layer of
cheese without spice, and this is
called the blind layer. The cheese
tub or mould, Figs. 123 and 124, is
used only for this first moulding. It
is a wooden vat, made of staves from
one to one and a half inches thick,
and is nine and a half to twelve and a half inches in
diameter, and about ten inches high, bound at the
bottom and top with stout hoops.
The bottom of oak-wood, put in
very carefully, is pierced with holes
for letting off any moisture that may
remain in the cheese. On the top of
the tub a cover is exactly fitted, to
sink down upon the cheese when
the pressure is applied. This cover
is of oak, one and a half inches thick, and has a cross-
piece three and a half inches thick, which serves as a
handle.
Fig. 124.
336 THE FORM OF THE CHEESE - PRESS.
The first layer of cheese is quite firmly pressed down
or trodden into the mould with the hands or feet, and
then follows a layer of curd mixed with spices. The
mixture is made best by putting as much of the pasty
curd from the vat into a tub as will form one layer in
the mould. Over this the spice is strewn, caraway and
some pounded cloves, and the mass is then worked over,
when it is placed as a new layer into the mould. Upon
the second layer some coarsely-pounded cloves are
generally scattered, or they are stuck whole over the
surface. After that the second layer is pressed in like
the first, and the third follows, and so on till the mould
is full. On the uppermost and firmly pressed layer is
laid the cover. The mould thus carefully filled is now
brought under a press, which, partly on account of its
length, is called the "long-press," and sometimes the
" first " or " cheese press," because the cheese first
comes under it. This press is seen in Fig. 125. It
Fig. 125.
Btands on four short legs, and consists of upright beams
fixed upon a platform, and a long beam, acting as a lever,
with one end fastened by a rivet or bolt. The other
end is loaded with weights to any desirable extent, as
appears in the cut. The power of the press may also
be increased or diminished by shifting the end of the
le^Ter to the lower or upper hole.
THE EFFECT OF GREAT PRESSURE.
337
When the mould is put under the press it is set into
a shallow, four-cornered wooden box or pan on the foot-
board. This pan is furnished with grooves at the side,
through which the whey can escape. The pressure may
still further be increased by putting a block on the lid
of the mould, as appears in the press. It is this power-
ful pressure which gives the cheese the high quality for
which it is distinguished above others. The whey still
remaining in the curd runs off through the holes in the
bottom of the mould, when the strong pressure is
applied, into the pan, and is caught in another pan which
sets under the press.
When the cheese has stood two hours under the
press, it is taken from the mould, surrounded by a clean
linen cloth, and again brought under the press. The
change of cloth is repeated once or twice after two or
29
Fig. 126.
22
338 SALTING IN THE TROUGH.
three hours' pressing, and the cheese is left standing in
the press over night. The next morning the cheese is
brought under another press, under which it is subjected
to still more powerful pressure, and receives its peculiar
form. This press is seen in Fig. 126, and consists of a
frame resting on four strong uprights, forming a kind
of firm table. On the plate of the table lie four or six
rollers, whose ends at both sides pass through holes
in the standard pieces, and serve merely to assist in
taking out the cheese. The pressure is obtained by
heavy weights let down and raised by a kind of wind-
lass fixed in two perpendic-
ular standards. The cheese
rF as it comes under this press
is not in the mould, but is
simply laid in a pan, as seen
in Fig. 127. Before the pressure begins, however, the
stamp or mark of the manufacturer, a key, a letter,
etc., in iron, is laid upon the cheese, and upon that a
square board. The pan and weight are lowered, so
that the pressure begins and fhe stamp is impressed on
the cheese, which becomes flatter, smoother, and firmer,
than before. The cheese is left under this press till it
gets its final form, and the pressure in the pan is
increased or diminished, according to circumstances.
When the cheese, after being pressed in both ma-
chines, has received its final form, it is placed in a long
trough, called the salt-trough, which is generally in the
cow-room behind the cow-stands. It has been already
said that the cow-stall is used as a cheese-room in sum-
mer, when the cows are out to pasture. In this trough,
a space deep and wide enough for the diameter of the
cheese, from four to six cheeses can be laid. In the
salt-trough the cheeses are salted as long and as thor-
oughly as is necessary. Observation and experience are
COLORING. — SWEET MILK CHEESE. 339
needed here to get the right quantity of salt and the
right time, that the cheese may receive a suitably firm
crust or rind.
When the cheese in the salt-trough is sufficiently
salted, it is put over a large tub, where it is properly
washed in cold, fresh water, trimmed with a cheese-knife,
and colored. For coloring, annatto boiled in water with
some potash is used. After the coloring the cheese is
rubbed with the beistings, or first milk of a cow newly-
calved. The spice cheese gets its red color and firm,
smooth rind in the coloring and washing in the beist-
ings ; and this distinguishes it from other sorts.
The colored cheeses are now laid upon shelves made
for the purpose in the cow-stall used as a cheese-room,
and turned daily till properly dried. When dry they
are laid for sale in a cheese or store room. This room
is connected with the house, or separated from the
other rooms only by a thin board partition. This room,
as well as the cow-stall, is kept extraordinarily clean, —
scoured and aired, and used for nothing but the keeping
of cheese.
Fig. 128 represents the cow-stall used as a cheese-
room, in which the salt-trough is seen, and the dairyman
and dairy-woman are occupied in turning and trimming
the cheese.
MANUFACTURE OP SWEET MILK CHEESE IN SOUTH
HOLLAND. — The best kind of sweet milk cheese is
made in the vicinity of the city of Gouda, and on the
gray and Dutch Yssel, from which circumstance it, is
often known by the name of Gouda cheese.
The making of this cheese is less difficult than that
of spice cheese, but requires more attention and care,
because the rich sweet milk is used for it. It is a*s fol-
lows: The milk as it comes fresh from the cow is
strained through a hair-strainer into a large wooden vat
310
THE CHEESE-ROOM.
or tub, or, in some large dairies, into a copper kettle,
which stands on a peculiar tray or bench. This tray is
made of four to five inch posts, and its size is gov-
Fig. 128.
erned by the quantity of milk of the tubs to be used;
but these tubs generally hold from one hundred to one
hundred and fifty cans. The milk is immediately set
with the requisite quantity of rennet, usually one quar-
ter of a can to one hundred cans of milk ; and if it does
not " come " in a quarter of an hour, more rennet is
addefl.
When it has properly curdled, it is stirred in all direc-
tions with a wooden ladle three or four times over, and
HOT AND COLD WATER. 341
somewhat broken up, when it is allowed to stand three
or four minutes at rest. It is then gently and constantly
stirred again, with the ladle or the hands, and broken.
By too active stirring one gets more whey than cheese,
and very quick stirring must be avoided. The whey is
then allowed to stand some time, by which the curdled
cheese particles collect, and the whey appears on the
surface, and can be taken off and poured into a tub
made for the purpose. To the mass still remaining in
the kettle, which is now almost all cheesy matter, as
much hot water is added as is sufficient to warm it prop-
erly. The addition of hot water must be made with
discretion, however, and must not exceed a certain
amount, which can be learned only by practice. The
more we add, the drier will the cheese become after a
while ; and, though it may keep the better, and be better
for transportation, the taste is unquestionably injured by
it. The cold-made cheese is far more liable to injury
from keeping, but is much richer and more palatable,
on which account the best is generally eaten fresh. The
quantity of hot water to be added for warming the milk
must therefore be determined somewhat by the disposi-
tion to be made of the cheese.
When the hot water has stood, say half an hour, on
the curd, it is taken off and poured into the whey. The
curd is now properly brought together by the hands or
a ladle, and again thoroughly worked and broken. After
standing at rest a short time, the water and whey are
turned off again, as completely as possible, in the whey-
tub. The mass of curd still remaining in the vat, now
called wrongel, is cut up into small pieces, which are
very carefully worked over, and then pressed into the
wooden cheese-mould. In order to get a very fine sep-
aration of the curd, only a small quantity is taken at once
from the vat, which is rubbed in the hands. *nd then
29*
342 DETAILS OF PRESSING.
pressed into the mould till it is quite full. The cheese-
mould is in the form of a bowl, made of willow wood,
with its lower part pierced with holes, so that the whey
can run off when the pressure is applied. The cheese
now formed is taken out carefully, rubbed with the
hands, and still further worked in the cheese-tub, and
again very firmly pressed into the mould with the hands.
To be able to press it into the mould with greater
power, an implement called the presser is used. It con-
sists of a short stick, with a kind of handle or cross-
piece on the upper end. On the lower end a disc is
fixed which fits into the cheese-mould. In using the
instrument, the disc is placed on the cheese to be pressed
into the mould, the handle or cross-piece is placed
against the chest or shoulders, and the operator presses
down at the same time with his hands, thrusting the
disc as deeply as possible into the cheese-mould. When
pressed enough on one side, it is turned round in the
mould, bringing the other side up, and the pressure is
again applied as strongly as possible. For saving the
whey in cheese-pressing, the mould is set into a pan only
a little larger than the mould itself, which catches the
whey running out from the mould. When the cheese
in the mould is properly pressed by hand, the cover is
put upon the mould, which is loaded gradually, in order
to bring down the greatest possible pressure. The
weight or pressure is greater or less according to the
size of the cheese ; yet during the pressure the cheese
must be frequently turned, that it may get the right form.
The gradual increase of the pressure goes on for
twenty-four hours, when the cheese is taken from the
mould to be laid in a tub of salt-brine in the cellar ; the
cellar must be kept cool. The cheese remains in the
brine twenty-four hours, but is turned once in that time.
It is then taken out and put upon a table, the surface
THE LIGHT AND AIR. 343
of which is inclined, the legs of one end being longer
than those of the other. On both sides of the inclined
table run grooves in the direction of the inclination of
the surface, which unite at the lower end, and serve as a
way of escape for the brine or pickle into a tub below.
Here the cheese is rubbed with salt, and a handful of
salt is scattered over the top, when it is left standing
for some time " in the salt." If one side was rubbed
in the morning, it is turned at evening ; and the other
side is served in the same manner as the first. A cheese
of from fifteen to sixteen pounds remains standing thus
four or five days, according to the temperature. If the
heat is great, it must stand the longer in the salt. When
sufficiently salted, it is washed off in hot water, and taken
to the cheese-room, where it is daily turned on dry, clean
shelves. If it is still greasy or dauby on the outside,
it is still further washed in water, and dried off with a
coarse linen towel.
The cheese-room is generally kept closed by day to
keep out the light and sun, which are not good for
cheese. It is opened in the morning and evening to let
in a little cooling air ; yet a strong breeze is avoided by
opening all the doors and windows at the same time,
for the cheese will crack and break open if exposed to it.
Sweet milk cheese is fit for use at the age of four
weeks. Strongly salted cheese does not ripen up so
quickly as that which is salted less ; but, if it takes
longer, the loss is less, and, on that account, it is pre-
ferred for sending off to less salted cheese, which, on
the other hand, is richer, and has a little better taste.
In the daily turning of the cheese, great care is taken
to observe any little specks in it where the mites con-
ceal themselves. As soon as such places are discovered,
a hole is dug out with a knife as deep as they extend
into the cheese. The holes are left open till the next
344 EFFECT OF GREAT HEAT.
day, when, if no more mites appear, they are stopped
up with other cheese. But, if they still appear, some
pounded pepper is put into the holes, which destroys
them. Rotten or moist spots on the cheese are treated
in the same way, but very deep holes have to be made
into the cheese, and it is best to cover them with
buckwheat-meal, when they dry up very quickly.
In very hot weather it sometimes happens that tho
cheese swells up and begins to ferment. Then it is laid
on the cleanly-scoured pavement of the cheese-room,
where it is cooler ; or, as many do, pierced pretty deeply
with holes with a knitting-needle, which often helps it.
With the decrease of the great heat of the sun, the
swelling also ceases. The cheese is not injured except
in appearance, the taste being improved. But, if the
swelling is very considerable, it makes the cheese hol-
low. If the milk and cheese dishes are not very cleanly
washed and rinsed out, the cheese gets a wrinkled crust,
and begins to ferment.
Sweet milk cheese, three or four months old, is turned
and aired only once a week in dry weather. Many
cheese-makers also sprinkle the cheeses daily, for a week
or two after they are fourteen days old, with beer and
vinegar, or with vinegar in which saffron has been
extracted, by which it gets not only a beautiful yellow
color, but is also protected from flies.
THE USE OF THE WHEY OF SWEET MILK CHEESE. —
On what remains of the milk devoted to the making of
sweet milk cheese in the manner above described, or the
whey which runs off in the pressing of the cheese,
there forms, after it has stood a few days, a fine creamy
skin, which is carefully taken off with a wooden spoon,
put in a clean jar, and stirred from time to time. This
cream is collected to make butter, and it can be done
once a week. This butter-whey is healthful and good,
MAY CHEESE. — NEW MILK'S CHEESE. 34o
to be sure ; but, on the whole, is not so fine and delicate
flavored as good cream butter, and on this account is
cheaper.
The butter-milk which comes from the churning of
the cream of whey is a good food for swine. They
greatly relish it.
Whey is also sold as a beverage, and is called " sweet
whey." When fresh and untainted, it is quite an agree-
able drink, very cooling, and good for the health in
spring, purifying the blood, though somewhat purgative
in its effect on the kidneys. Later in summer, when the
heat is very great, whey is thought to be rather injuri-
ous to the health than otherwise. It is then used
exclusively for swine.
MAY CHEESE. — In the early part of summer, when
the grass is best, sweet milk cheese is made in precisely
the same way as that described, yet of smaller size and
less weight. This is called May cheese, and is designed
for immediate use or sale when ripe, as it will not keep,
and easily loses its fine flavor.
JEWS' CHEESE. — Another kind of sweet milk cheese
is the Jews' cheese. It differs from common sweet milk
cheese in its form, which is flatter and thinner, and
partly in being less salted, and of a much looser texture.
It is but little made ; but some dairies are devoted to it.
COUNCIL'S CHEESE. — This is made as the common
sweet milk cheese, only in much smaller moulds. It
has also a peculiar color. It is allowed to get rather
old before it is relished, and is then mostly given away.
NEW MILK'S CHEESE. — This is made in winter, when
the cows are in the stall. It is not so good as grass
cheese, which is made in summer, when the cows are at
pasture, and is less relished, and brings a lower price.
When the cows are brought to the barn late in the fall,
it can be made of very good quality for a few days ;
346 CHEESE-MAKING IN NORTH HOLLAND.
but the longer the cow remains in the stall the more
the milk loses its good quality for cheese, on which
account but few of the larger dairies make cheese at all
in winter.
To make it appear to buyers more like grass-made
cheese, and to be able to sell it, it is colored with the
same material, and it is then often very difficult to dis-
tinguish it, since great pains is taken to give the two
kinds the same form, hardness of rind, etc. The dairy-
men have less to do with this deception than the deal-
ers. Hay cheese is rather better in quality for coloring,
since it gains in appearance and taste ; but it never can
equal grass-made cheese in fine qualities.
CHEESE-MAKING IN NORTH HOLLAND. — In the province
of North Holland sweet milk cheese is made almost
exclusively. From ancient times this particular branch
of farming has been carried to great extent 5 but it has
especially grown in importance since the province
gained a firm soil by artificial draining. At the present
time North Holland is the head-quarters of the cheese-
trade ; and it is easily explained in the fact that no
other province has more or better cattle. The manu-
facture of cheese is almost the only object of keeping
cattle, and the North Dutch dairy farmer applies him-
self with the greatest possible zeal to the most careful
modes of cheese-making, in order to keep up the ancient
reputation of his cheeses, both in the domestic and
foreign markets, and to secure to himself all of the
advantages springing from it.
The quantity of cheese which is weekly sold in the
markets of Alkmaar, Hoorn, Edam, Purmerend, Meden-
blik, Enkhuizen, etc., is enormous. We cite Alkmaar
alone as an example, where on the city scales there were
weighed no less than 23,859,258 Netherlandish pounds
(536,834,830 pounds, American), from 1758 to 1830.
NORTH DUTCH CHEESE. 347
Since that time the manufacture has increased, so that
from three to four million Netherland pounds are
annually brought to the Alkmaar market. But, besides
this, a large quantity of cheese does not come into the
market, but is sold at the dairy without passing through
the hands of the traders, and never comes to the city
scales.
In 1843 there were sold in the North Dutch cheese-
markets 22,385,812 pounds, to say nothing of the large
quantity sold directly from the dairy. It is easy to
see, therefore, how important and extensive an interest
the manufacture of cheese has become for this province.
Of the twenty-two million pounds annually exported,
the value may be estimated as at least three million
Dutch guilders. The price and value of the cheese
vary, of course, with the markets.
The North Dutch cheese differs somewhat in quality
and money value, according to the section where it is
made ; but in general that made in the region about
Hoorn is considered the best, as is very natural, since
in that vicinity are to be found the finest meadows and
pastures in the province. The villages of Ooster-
blokker, Westerwoude, Hoogecarspel, and Twisk, are
distinguished above all others ; and so are the pastures
of Beemster, Purmer, and Schermer, almost equally so.
The Dutch cheese-maker reckons twelve Nether-
land cans of milk to a pound — two and a quarter
pounds American — of cheese, according to which a
cow in three hundred days would give from eighteen
hundred to two thousand cans of milk, or usually from
one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy-five
Netherland pounds of cheese, in a year.
THE UTENSILS USED IN CHEESE-MAKING IN NORTH HOL-
LAND are nearly the same as those already described for
saving the milk for butter, and those used in the
348 VARIETIES OP NORTH DUTCH CHEESE.
various processes of cheese-making in South Holland.
They are modified to some extent, to be sure, by the
taste, the pride, the wealth, or the caprice, of each dairy-
man. Many of them are painted, wholly or in part, in
oil colors, for the sake of durability as well as cleanli-
ness, on which the North Dutch dairyman lays great
stress. They do not require much capital.
VARIETY OF NORTH DUTCH CHEESES, AND THE TRADE
IN THEM. — The North Dutch cheese is called sweet
milk cheese, and also, pretty commonly, white cheese,
where it is made ; but in Germany it is called Edamer,
less because the best is made in the vicinity of this
city than because the largest trade in it is carried on
there.
All sweet milk cheese has not the same weight,
form, and size. Many kinds of it come into the market
under different names ; as, for example, large cheese
of 20 to 24 pounds (45 to 54 pounds), Malbollen of
16 pounds (36 pounds), medium of 10 to 12 pounds (22
to 27 pounds), Commission's of 6 or 7 pounds (14 to 16
pounds), and little ones of 4 pounds (9 pounds), to which
belong the Jews' cheese. Besides this, the making of
English cheese is carried on. Malbollen is but little made.
It is of about twenty pounds weight. Fifty years ago
large quantities of it came into market, and were sold
mostly in North Brabant and the Rhine provinces. Of
the medium cheese the manufacture is pretty extensive
at the present time, and it is sold to go to North Brabant
chiefly. The price of these sorts is more frequently
fluctuating than that of the smaller ones ; but less so
than that of Commission's cheese, which is not much
made. These varieties in former years were very profit-
able, since they were made with little labor, being light
and spongy from slight pressing and little salting, and
were sold green.
MAKING OF EDAM CHEESE. 349
Dairy industry is now chiefly devoted to making
the varieties most known and sought for in Germany,
the Edam small sweet milk cheeses, which are sent in
enormous quantities to all parts of the world. There
are two varieties of Edam cheese in the market, one
with a white, the other with a red rind. The latter is
firm, more of a yellowish color inside, and colored out-
side. The coloring matter is prepared in France for
this special purpose. By this treatment the cheese is
better adapted to transportation. The early red rind
cheese is the finest and best. It is made in spring from
milk fresh and warm from cows just turned to pasture,
and is exported mostly to Italy, Spain, and America.
That made later in summer is not so good, and goes to
France ; the red rind, made still later in the fall, goes
to England and Brabant. Cheese that is injured, or
does not keep well, is sold mostly in Hamburg and
Brabant.
MAKING OF EDAM CHEESE. — The Edam is a rich sweet
milk cheese, that is made from fresh, unskimmed milk.
The milk, while still warm from the cow, is poured into
a large tub or a kettle through the strainer. In cold
weather, when it has cooled off in standing in the air,
it is warmed to a proper degree by adding milk heated
by the fire. The rennet is then added. This is pre-
pared in the following manner: The maw of the nursing-
calf, cut into long strips, is soaked for twenty-four
hours in sweet whey, when it is made lukewarm over
a slow fire, whey and all, and three times the quantity
of cheese-brine, or solution of the salt of the cheese,
added. The mass is then allowed to stand four days,
when it is fit for use. An exact determination of the
quantity of rennet to be used cannot well be given,
since the quantity depends on the quality ; but usually
about two hundred cans of milk to one fifth of a can
30
350 THE RENNET. — SETTLING.
of rennet is the proportion, taking more or less, accord
ing to the strength of the rennet.
The milk in the tub to which the rennet has been
added is covered over and allowed to stand till it is
curdled, or become hard, which usually requires a
quarter of an hour. The curdled milk is then called
" glib." It is now slowly but regularly stirred, with a
shallow, long-handled cheese-spoon, in all directions.
Some cheese-makers treat the milk in the following
manner : They stir the milk, thrusting an inverted
cheese-ladle into the curdling mass every two or three
minutes after adding the rennet, by which the curdling
is much hastened. Now they move the ladle or cheese-
stick three or four times with considerable force through
the thickening milk, and lay it, inverted, on the surface
of the milk, covering the vat for ten or twelve minutes,
when the mass is again set in motion, and then again
allowed to stand. By this means the cheese particles
settle to the bottom, and the whey rises to the top.
When, after these alternate stirrings and rest of the
curdling milk, the solid particles have settled, and the
whey is collected on top, the latter is turned off, as care-
fully as possible, into the whey-tub. In order the better
to settle the cheesy parts, and to cause the whey to come
up, the cheese-stick is loaded with weights or stones, by
which the whey is separated in the pressure upon the
curd. Some minutes after, the whey is again turned
off, the whole mass is properly stirred, and the curd is
collected with the cheese-stick and worked with the
hands, and the whey is again carefully turned off. The
curd, now become thick, is taken out of the vat, piece
by piece, and broken with the hands as finely as pos-
sible, in order to fill as much into the cheese-moulds as
will just make a cheese. The moulds are set into the
cheese-vat, and the curd is worked and pressed closely in
TIME OF PRESSING. 351
with the hand, to remove the whey as much as possible.
The cheese is then taken out of the mould, and again very
finely crumbled in the vat, and, after the whey is again
turned off through the strainer, is pressed the second
time into the mould, so that it is as full of cheese as it
can possibly be. It is then turned in the mould so
that the upper side goes down, when it is again firmly
pressed in. The turning is repeated several times.
In the making of large and medium cheeses the
presser is used, while space left empty by the press-
ure is again filled with curd, so that the mould is always
full, and the cheese gets its requisite size. In the
smaller or four-pound cheeses, the hands alone are used
for this pressing into the mould. The mould, now
pressed full, is put into a tub, properly washed in
whey, and cleansed of all remaining fat. By the wash-
ing and smoothing the cheese must get a glossy and
smooth rind. After this is done, the cheese is again
taken out of the mould, wrapped in a clean linen cloth,
put in again, and covered over and brought under the
press, that it may become harder and firmer, and that
the whey may run off.
In hot weather the cheese is left under the press five
hours, from nine in the morning till two in the after-
noon; but, if it is cool, it must stand longer. There are
several different objects in view in deciding the con-
tinuance of the pressure. Many think two or three
hours sufficient, whilst others press five hours. Cheese
designed for export is pressed longer, or twelve hours.
It takes from three to four hours, usually, from the
pouring in of the milk to the bringing of the cheese
under the press ; but it can be done in two or two and
a half hours without injuring the cheese.
After the first pressing is finished, the cheese is put
into another mould, rounder than the first, and with
352 PRACTICAL DETAILS.
only one hole in the bottom, to lie in the salt. In many
places a long trough is used, in which several such
moulds are placed to be salted at the same time; and
for this either dry salt or pickle (brine, or salt in solu-
tion) is used. The pickle is most commonly used, and
is thought best. When one side of the cheese has laid
eome hours in the brine, it is turned, and the other side
is also salted. After a while it is salted or turned in
the brine but once a day. Small four-pound cheeses
remain nine days in hot weather, and in cold ten or
twelve days, in the salt ; medium ones of ten to twelve
pounds must lie at least three weeks. In very hot
weather they are often salted twice a day. The moulds
with the salted cheese are placed, several together, into
the cheese-vat where the brine is, or on a salting-tray
where the brine is collected in a tub beneath. After
being finally salted, they are washed perfectly clean
with water or warm whey. Many put their cheeses
from the brine immediately in a kettle of hot whey for
some minutes, and wash them in it. All unevenness or
roughness got in pressing in the mould is now scraped
off with a knife.
After the washing, the cheeses are again perfectly
dried, and laid on the shelves in the cheese-room, where
they are daily turned, and remain from two to four, and
even five weeks. The cheese is now salable; but before
it is packed or delivered it is laid for some hours to
soak in pure, cold spring or well water, the smallest
for three hours, the medium four, and the largest five
hours. The cheese is then well cleaned with the cheese-
brush, laid on the shelf in the store-room, and turned a
week or more, daily. But, in order to give them a fine
yellow color, in damp weather, especially, the poorer
ones are, by many dairymen, laid a good ways apart,
and sprinkled or washed daily with new beer. When
COLOR OP EDAM CHEESE. 353
the cheese is to be sold, it is properly washed still again
in hot whey, and rubbed with a woolen cloth a day
before sending to market, with hot or cold linseed-oil;
by which the outside of the cheese gets a fine glow ;
but it must be rubbed till no fat or oil is to be felt.
THE RED COLOR OF EDAM CHEESE. — After the dairy-
man has sold his cheese to the merchant, it is colored
by him quite red. It will not be uninteresting to many
readers to know some of the details of this peculiar
color.
Edam cheese is colored with what is called tournesol,
which is extracted from a plant (Croton tinctorium).
This is an annual, which grows wild in France, in great
abundance, in the vicinity of Montpelier, in Langue-
doc ; and around Aix, in Provence, large commons are
sown with it. The seed is sown in March and April.
From a white and straight tap root, it sends up a stalk
something like six inches high, which divides into many
branches. The leaves have very long stems, of a pale
green color. The flower-stalks spring up from between
the branches, and bear flowers in fan-shaped clusters.
The vegetation of the plant continues four months.
The preparation of the tournesol is as follows : The
plants are collected late in summer, the roots thrown
away, and the other parts taken to a mill, where they
are ground, and the juice pressed out. Into this juice
the rags of old hempen cloth are dipped till they
are soaked full, when they are hung up to dry in the
sun. When they are dry they are laid on a tray over
a tub filled with urine, in which carbonate of lime has
been dissolved, so that the edges hang over the rim of
the tub on which they rest. The vapor from the solu-
tion of lime must penetrate the rags, and this gives
them a violet color, when they are taken off and dried
again, to be replaced till they are fully colored.
30* 23
354 USE OF THE WHEY.
The tournesol rags have become an article of com-
merce, for which France receives annually from Holland
from 100,000 to 200,000 guilders (from $38,000 to
$76,000).
To give the Edam cheeses the red rind, they are
rubbed with these tournesol rags, from which they get,
the dark violet color ; and after they are dried they are
again rubbed, which gives them a glowing red.
It is an excellent peculiarity of the tournesol rags
that they not only impart the color to Edam cheese, to
which people abroad are so accustomed, but that they
keep the insects from the cheese, whilst the coloring
matter does not penetrate inside, but remains on the
rind. Substitutes for it have been repeatedly sought,
but not found; nor have the attempts made to grow the
plant in Holland proved successful.
USE OF THE WHEY OF THE NORTH DUTCH SWEET MILK
CHEESE. — The whey obtained in making cheese in
North Holland is collected in large tubs. The sweet,
agreeable taste of the whey is soon lost when it is set
to obtain the fatty particles still remaining in it. The
cream which forms on it is daily taken off with a skim-
mer, put into a cream-pot, and when it is collected in
sufficient quantity it is made into whey butter.
CHAPTER XII.
LETTER TO A DAIRY-WOMAN.
IN the earlier chapters of this work I have spoken
to farmers and dairymen of the selection, care, and
management, of dairy stock. The seventh, eighth, and
ninth chapters relate more especially to your depart-
ment, and on your application and skill will depend
chiefly the successful result of the dairy establishment.
Of what avail are costly barns, well-selected cows, and
judicious feeding, in the butter and cheese dairy, if the
products are to be depreciated in value by the imper-
fect modes of preparing them for the market, where the
final judgment is passed upon them, and where it is
expected the price will be according to their value ?
You have, doubtless, had a much greater practical
knowledge and experience of the details of dairy
management than I have. For this practice and experi-
ence I have the utmost respect ; but I have not spoken
without a knowledge of the subject. I have made many
a cheese, and many a pound of butter, while my ob-
servations have extended over all the most important
dairy districts of the country, and have not been limited
to the practices of any one section, which, however
good in themselves, may not be the best. I trust, there-
fore, you will excuse me for calling your attention to the
more important points to which I have alluded ; and, if
my cor elusions happen to differ from your own, in any
356 A DRUG IN THE MARKET.
respect, that you will not discard them as worthless,
without first bringing them to the test of careful
experiment, when I trust they will be found correct.
I have not written to establish any favorite theory,
but simply to inculcate truth, and to aid in developing
a most important branch of American industry, which,
either directly or indirectly, involves the investment
of a vast amount of capital, the aggregate profits of
which depend so largely on your judgment and skill.
I need not remind you that any addition, however
small, to the market value of each pound of butter or
cheese, will largely increase the annual income of your
establishment. Nor need I remind you that these arti-
cles are generally the last of either the luxuries or
the necessaries of life in which city customers are will-
ing to economize. They must and will have a good
article, and are ready to pay for it in proportion to its
goodness ; or, if they desire to economize in butter, it
will be in the quantity rather than the quality.
Poor butter is a drug in the market. Nobody wants
it, and the dealer often finds it difficult to get it oft' his
hands, when a delicate and finely-flavored article attracts
attention and secures a ready sale. Some say that poor
butter will do for cooking. But a good steak or mutton-
chop is too expensive to allow any one to spoil it by the
use of a poor quality of butter ; and good pastry-cooks
will tell you that cakes and pies cannot be made without
good sweet butter, and plenty of it. These dishes rel-
ish too well, when properly cooked with nice butter, for
any one to tolerate the use of poor butter in them.
On page 220 and elsewhere, I have dwelt on the
necessity of extreme cleanliness in all the operations
of the dairy ; and this is the basis and fundamental prin-
ciple of your business. I would not suppose, for a
moment, that you are lacking in this respect. The
CARE AND NEATNESS. 357
enormous quantities of disgusting, streaky, and tallow-
like butter that are daily thrust upon the seaboard
markets must be due to the carelessness and negligence
of heedless men, to exposure to sun and rain, to bad
packing, and to delays in transportation. Many of these
evils you may not be able to remove, since you cannot
follow the article to the market, and see that it arrives
safely and untainted. But you can take greater pains,
perhaps, in some of the preliminary processes of
making, and produce an article that will not be so liable
to injure from keeping and transportation ; and then, if
fault is to be found, it does not rest with you.
I will not suggest the possibility that your ideas of
cleanliness and neatness may be at fault ; and that what
may seem an excess of nicety and scrubbing to you
may appear to be almost slovenliness to some others,
whose butter receives the highest price in the market,
and always finds the readiest sale. Permit me, however,
to refer you to pages 300, 324, and 325, where a detailed
account is given of the washings in water and washings
in alkali ; of the scrubbings, and the scotirings, and the
scaldings, arid the rinsings, which the neat and tidy
Dutch dairy- women give all the utensils of the dairy,
from the pails to the firkins and the casks, and also to
their extreme carefulness that no infectious odor rises
from the surroundings. I think you will see that it is
a physical impossibility that any taint can affect the at-
mosphere or the utensils of such a dairy, and that many
of the details of their practice may be worthy of imita-
tion in our American dairies.
And here allow me to suggest that, though we may
not approve of the general management in any partic-
ular section, or any particular dairy, it is rare that there
is not something in the practice of that section that is
really valuable and worthy of imitation.
358 LETTER TO A DAIRY-WOMAN.
On pages 231 and 234 I have called your attention to
the use of the sponge and clean cloth for absorbing
and removing the butter-milk in the most thorough man-
ner ; this I regard as of great importance.
I have stated on page 234 that, under ordinarily favor-
able circumstances, from twelve to eighteen hours will
be sufficient to raise the cream ; and that 1 do not believe
it should stand over twenty-four hours under any cir-
cumstances. This, I am aware, is very different from
the general practice over the country. But, if you
will make the experiment in the most careful manner,
setting the pans in a good, airy place, and not upon the
cellar bottom, I think you will soon agree with me that
all you get, after twelve or eighteen hours, under the
best circumstances, or at most after twenty-four hours,
will detract from the quality and injure the fine and
delicate aroma and agreeable taste of the butter to a
greater extent than you are aware of. The cream which
rises from milk set on the cellar bottom acquires an
acrid taste, and can neither produce butter of so fine
a quality or so agreeable to the palate as that which
rises from milk set on shelves from six to eight feet
high, around which there is a full and free circulation of
pure air. The latter is sweeter, and appears in much
larger quantities in the same time than the former.
If, therefore, you devote your attention to the making
of butter to sell fresh in the market, and desire to
obtain a reputation which shall aid and secure the quick-
est sale and the highest price, you will use cream that
rises first, and that does not stand too long on the milk.
You will churn it properly and patiently, and not with
too great haste. You will work it so thoroughly and
completely with the butter-worker, and the sponge and
cloth, as to remove every particle of butter-milk, never
allowing your own or any other hands to touch it. You
THE TASTE AND THE EYE. 359
will keep it at a proper temperature when making, and
after it is made, by the judicious use of ice, and avoid
exposing it to the bad odors of a musty cellar. You
will discard the use of artificial coloring or flavoring mat-
ter, and take the utmost care in every process of mak-
ing. You will stamp your butter tastefully with some
mould which can be recognized in the market as yours ;
as, for instance, your initials, or some form or figure
which will most please the eye and the taste of the
customer. You will send it in boxes so perfectly pre-
pared and cleansed as to impart no taste of wood to the
butter. If all these things receive due attention, my
word for it, the initials or form which you adopt will
be inquired after, and you will always find a ready and
a willing purchaser at the highest market price.
But, if you are differently situated, and it becomes
necessary to pack and sell as firkin-butter, let me sug-
gest the necessity of an equal degree of nicety and
care in preparation, and that you insist, as one of your
rights, that the article be packed in the best of oak-
wood firkins, thoroughly prepared after the manner of
the Dutch, as stated on page 325. A greater attention
to these points would make the butter thus packed
worth several cents a pound more when it arrives in
the market than it ordinarily is. Indeed, the manner
in which it not unfrequently comes to market is a dis-
grace to those who packed it; and it cannot be that
such specimens were ever put up by the hands of a
dairy-woman. I have often seen what was bought for
butter open so marbled, streaked, and rancid, that it was
scarcely fit to use on the wheels of a carriage.
If you adopt the course which I have recommended
in regard to skimming, you will have a large quantity
of sweet skimmed milk, far better than it would be if
allowed to stand thirty-six or forty-eight hours, as is the
360 REAPING THE ADVANTAGE.
custom with many. This is too valuable to waste,
and it is my opinion that you can use it to far greater
profit than to allow it to be fed to swine. There can
be no question, I think, that cheese-making should be
carried on at the same time with the making of butter,
in small and medium-sized dairies. You have seen,
in Chapter XI., that some of the best cheese of Hol-
land is made of sweet skim-milk. The reputation of
Parmesan — a skim-milk cheese of Italy, page 266 — is
world-wide, and it commands a high price and ready
sale. The mode of making these varieties has been
described in detail in the ninth and eleventh chapters ;
and you can imitate them, or, perhaps, improve upon
them, and thus turn the skim-milk to a very profitable
account, if it is sweet and good. You will find, if you
adopt this system, that your butter will be improved, and
that, without any great amount of extra labor, you will
make a large quantity of very good cheese, and thus
add largely to the profit of your establishment, and to
the comfort and prosperity of your family.
But, if you devote all your attention to the making
of cheese, whether it is to be sold green, or as soon as
ripe, or packed for exportation, I need not say that
the same neatness is required as in the making of but-
ter. You will find many suggestions in the preceding
pages on the mode of preparation and packing, which
I trust will prove to be valuable and applicable to
your circumstances. There is a general complaint
among the dealers in cheese that it is difficult to get a
superior article. This state of things ought not to ex-
ist. I hope the time is not far distant when a more
general attention will be paid to the details of manu-
facture, and let me remind you that those who take the
first steps in improvement will reap the greatest advan-
tages.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE PIGGERY AS A PART OP THE DAIRY ESTAB-
LISHMENT.
THE keeping of swine is incidental to the well-man-
aged dairy, and both the farmer and the dairyman unite
it, to some extent, with other branches of farming.
In the regular operations of the dairy, however eco-
nomically conducted, there will always be more or less
refuse in the shape of whey, butter-milk, or skim-milk,
which may be consumed with profit by swine, and
which might otherwise be lost. Dairy-fed pork is dis-
tinguished for its fineness and delicacy ; and the dairy
refuse, in connection with grains, potatoes, and scraps,
is highly nutritious and fattening.
There is a wide difference between the profit to be
derived from the different breeds. Some are far more
thrifty than others, and arrive at maturity earlier. But
the choice of a breed will depend, to considerable
extent, on the locality and the object in view, whether
it be to breed for sale as stock, or for pork or bacon.
To get desirable crosses, some breeds must be kept
pure, especially in the hands of stock breeders, or those
who raise to sell as pure-bred, even though as puro
breeds they may not be most profitable to the practical
farmer and dairyman. Those who confine themselves
to the pure breeds, therefore, do good service to the
community of farmers and dairymen, who can avail
themselves of the results of their experience and skill.
31
362 SUFFOLKS AND SUBSOILER8.
I think it will generally be conceded that the size of
the male is of less importance than his form, his tend-
ency to lay on large amounts of fat in proportion to
the food he eats, or his early maturity. Smallness of
bone and compactness of form indicate early maturity ;
and this is an essential element in the calculations ot
the dairy farmer, who generally raises for pork rather
than for bacon, and whose profit will consist in fatten-
ing and turning early, or, at most, as young as from
twelve to fifteen months. A fine and delicate quality
of pork is at the present time highly prized in the
markets, and commands the highest price. For bacon,
a much larger hog is preferred ; but there can be little
doubt that the cross of the pure Suffolk or Berkshire
boar and the large, heavy and coarse sow, not uncom-
mon in the Western States, would produce an offspring
far superior to the class of hogs usually denominated
" subsoilers," with their long and pointed snouts, and
their thin, flabby sides. The principles of breeding, as
stated on pp. 70 and 71, and elsewhere in the preceding
pages, are equally applicable here, and are abundantly
suggestive on many other points. This is the import-
ant point, the selection of the proper breed and the
proper cross : for there is scarcely any class of stock
which varies so much in its net returns as this ; and
there is none which, if properly selected and judiciously
managed, returns the investment so quickly.
Those who feed for the early market, and desire to
realize the largest profits with the least outlay of time
and money, will resort to the Suffolk, the Berkshire, or
the Essex, to obtain crosses with sows of the larger
breeds, and will breed up more or less closely to these
breeds, according to the special object they have in
view. The Suffolks are nearly allied to the Chinese,
and possess much the same characteristics. Though
EARLY MATURITY. — SIZE. 363
generally regarded as too small for profit except to
those who breed for stock, their extraordinary fattening
qualities and their early maturity adapt them eminently
for crossing with the larger breeds. The form of the
well-built Suffolk, when not too closely inbred, is a
model of compactness, and lightness of bone and offal.
Though often too short in the body, a large-boned
female will generally correct this fault, and produce an
offspring suited to the wants of the dairy farmer.
The Berkshire is also mixed in with the Chinese, and
owes no small part of its valuable characteristics to that
race. The Berkshires, as a breed, often attain consider-
able size and weight.
The improved Essex are the favorites of some, and
for early maturity they are difficult to surpass. Some
think they require greater care and better feeding than
the Berkshire.
What is wanted is to unite, so far as possible, the
early maturity and the facility to take on fat of the
Suffolk, the Chinese, or the. Essex, with a tendency at
the same time to make flesh as well as fat ; or, in other
words, to attain a good growth and size, and to fatten
easily when the time comes to put them down. The
Chinese or the Suffolk are but ill adapted for hams and
bacon ; but, crossed upon the kind of hog already
described, the produce will be likely to be valuable.
The most judicious practical farmers are now fully
satisfied, I think, that the tendency, for the last ten
years, in the Eastern States more especially, has been
to breed too fine ; and that the result of this error has
been to cover our swine with fat at a very early age,
and before they have attained a respectable size. In
other words, the flesh and bone have been too far
sacrificed to fat. A reaction has already taken place
in the opinions on this point, and perhaps some can-
364 STUDYING THE MARKET.
tion may be necessary, that it does not lead too far in the
opposite direction.
Some practical dairymen think that with a dairy of
twenty or thirty cows they can keep from forty to fifty
swine, by turning into the orchard or the pasture, in early
spring, and as pigs, where they will easily procure a
large part of their food, till the close of fall, when they
are taken in and fed up gradually at first, but afterward
more highly, and fattened as rapidly and turned as
goon as possible.
Others say there is no profit in working hogs, and
that they should be kept confined and constantly and
rapidly growing up to the time of turning them for
pork, growing steadily, but not laying on too much fat
till fed up to it.
I am inclined to think the farmers of the Eastern
States confine their swine too closely ; and that, while
still kept as store-pigs, a somewhat greater range in the
orchard, or the pasture, would prove to be good econ-
omy, particularly up to the age of eight or nine months.
The judicious dairyman will study the taste and
demands of the market where his pork is to be sold.
If he supplies a city customer, he knows he must raise
a fine and delicate quality of pork ; and to do this he
must select stock that will early arrive at maturity, and
that will bear forcing ahead and selling young. If he
supplies a market where large amounts of pork are
salted and packed for shipping, or for bacon, a larger
and coarser hog, fed to greater age and weight, will
turn to better advantage, though I think a strain of
finer blood will even then be profitable to the feeder.
In either case, the refuse of the dairy is of considerable
value, and should be saved with scrupulous care, and
judiciously fed. r Many a little makes a rnickle."
APPENDIX.
THE following is Mr. Thomas Horsfall's statement, referred to on
page 138, with the omission of a few passages, relating to matters
not immediately connected with the dairy. It is entitled
THE MANAGEMENT OF DAIRY CATTLE.
ON entering upon a description of my treatment of
cows for dairy purposes, it seems pertinent that I
should give some explanation of the motives and con-
siderations which influence my conduct in this branch
of my farm operations.
I have found it stated, on authority deserving atten-
tion, that store cattle of a fair size, and without other
occupation, maintain their weight and condition for a
length of time, when supplied daily with one hundred
and twenty pounds of Swedish turnips and a small por-
tion of straw. The experience of the district of
Craven, in Yorkshire, where meadow hay is the staple
food during winter, shows that such cattle maintain
their condition on one and a half stone, or twenty-one
pounds, of meadow hay each per day. These respective
quantities of turnips and of hay correspond very closely
in their nutritive properties ; they contain a very simi-
lar amount of albuminous matter, starch, sugar, etc.,
and also of phosphoric acid. Of oil — an important
element, especially for the purpose of which I am treat-
ing— the stated supply of meadow hay contains more
than that of turnips. If we supply cows in milk, of
31*
366 APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM.
average size, with the kind and quantity of food above
mentioned, they will lose perceptibly in condition.
This is easily explained when we find their milk rich in
substances which serve for their support when in store
condition, and which are shown to be diverted in the
secretion of milk.
In the neighborhood of towns where the dairy prod-
uce is disposed of in new milk, and where the aim of
dairymen is to produce the greatest quantity, too fre-
quently with but little regard to quality, it is their
common practice to purchase incalving cows. They
pay great attention to the condition of the cow ; they
will tell you, by the high comparative price they pay
for animals well stored with flesh and fat, that condition
is as valuable for them as it is for the butcher ; they
look upon these stores as materials which serve their
purpose ; they supply food more adapted to induce
quantity than quality, and pay but little regard to the
maintenance of the condition of the animal. With such
treatment, the cow loses in condition during the process
of milking, and when no longer profitable is sold to
purchasers in farming districts where food is cheaper,
to be fattened or otherwise replenished for the use of
the dairy keeper. We thus find a disposition in the
cow to apply the aliment of her food to her milk, rather
than to lay on flesh or fat ; for not only are the ele-
ments of her food diverted to this purpose, but, to all
appearance, her accumulated stores of flesh and fat are
drawn upon, and converted into components of milk,
cheese, or butter.
As I am differently circumstanced, — a considerable
portion of my dairy produce being intended for butter,
for which poor milk is not adapted, — and as I fatten not
only my own cows, but purchase others to fatten in
addition, I have endeavored to devise food for my
milch cows adapted to their maintenance and improve-
ment, and with this view I have paid attention to the
composition of milk. From several analyses I have
selected one by Haidler, which I find in publications
of repute. Taking a full yield of milk, four gallons per
JUDICIOUS FEEDING. 367
day, which will weigh upwards of forty pounds, this
analysis assigns to it of dry material 5.20, of which the
proportion, with sufficient accuracy for my purpose,
consists of
Pure caseine, .......... 2.00 pounds
Butter, ............ 1.25 "
Sugar, ............ 1.75 "
Phosphate oflime, .......... 09 "
Chloride of potassium, .......
Other mineral ingredients, ....... 11 "
It appeared an object of importance, and one which
called for my particular attention, to afford an ample
supply of the elements of food suited to the main-
tenance and likewise to the produce of the animal ; and
that, if I omitted to effect this, the result would be
imperfect and unsatisfactory. By the use of ordinary
farm produce only, I could not hope to accomplish my
purpose. Turnips are objectionable on account of their
flavor ; and I seek to avoid them as food for dairy pur-
poses. I use cabbages, kohl rabi, and mangold wurzel,
yet only in moderate quantities. Of meadow hay it
would require, beyond the amount necessary for the
maintenance of the cow, an addition of fully twenty
pounds for the supply of caseine in a full yield of milk
(sixteen quarts) ; forty pounds for the supply of oil for
the butter, whilst nine pounds seem adequate for that
of the phosphoric acid. You cannot, then, induce a
cow to consume the quantity of hay requisite for her
maintenance, and for a full yield of milk of the quality
instanced. Though it is a subject of controversy
whether butter is wholly derived from vegetable oil,
yet the peculiar adaptation of this oil to the purpose
will, I think, be admitted. I had, therefore, to seek
assistance from what are usually termed artificial feed-
ing substances, and to select such as are rich in albumen,
oil, and phosphoric acid ; and I was bound also to pay
regard to their comparative cost, with a view to profit,
which, when farming is followed as a business, is a
368 APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM.
necessary, and in any circumstance^ an agreeable
accompaniment.
I think it will be found that substances peculiarly rich
in nitrogenous or other elements have a higher value
for special than for general purposes, and that the
employment of materials characterized by peculiar
properties for the attainment of special objects has not
yet gained the attention to which it is entitled.
I have omitted all reference to the heat-supplying
elements — starch, sugar, etc. As the materials com-
monly used as food for cattle contain sufficient of these
to effect this object, under exposure to some degree of
cold, I have a right to calculate on a less consumption
of them as fuel, and consequently a greater surplus for
deposit as sugar, and probably also as fat, in conse-
quence of my stalls being kept during winter at a tem-
perature of nearly sixty degrees.
The means used to carry out his objects are stated
on page 138.
As several of these materials — rape-cake, shorts,
bean-straw, etc. — are not commonly used as food, I
may be allowed some observations on their properties.
Bean-straw uncooked is dry and unpalatable. By the
process of steaming, it becomes soft and pulpy, emits
an agreeable odor, and imparts flavor and relish to the
mess. For my information and guidance I obtained an
analysis of bean-straw of my own growth, on strong
and high-conditioned land ; it was cut on the short side
of ripeness, but yielding a plump bean. The analysis by
Professor Way shows a percentage of
Moisture, 14.47
Albuminous mater, . . 16.38
Oil or fatty matter, . . 2.23
Woody fibre, .... 25 84
Starch, gum, etc., . . . 31.63
Mineral matters, . . . 9.45
Total, 100.00
In albuminous matter, which is especially valuable for
milch cows, it has nearly double the proportion con-
tained in meadow hay. Bran also undergoes a great
OIL-CAKE. — WEIGHING COWS. 369
improvement in its flavor by steaming, and it is prob-
ably improved in its convertibility as food. It contains
about fourteen per cent, of albumen, and is peculiarly
rich in phosphoric acid, nearly three per cent, of its
whole substance being of this material. The properties
of rape-cake are well known: the published analyses
give it a large proportion (nearly thirty per cent.) of
albumen ; it is rich in phosphates, and also in oil. This
is of the unctuous class of vegetable oils, and it is to
this property that I call particular attention. Chemistry
will assign to this material, which has hitherto been
comparatively neglected for feeding, a first place for
the purpose of which I am treating. If objection
should occur on account of its flavor, I have no diffi-
culty in stating that by the preparation I have described
I have quite overcome this. I can easily persuade my
cattle (of which sixty to eighty pass through my stalls
in a year), without exception, to eat the requisite
quantity. Nor is the flavor of the cake in the least
perceptible in the milk or butter.
During May, my cows are turned out on a rich pas-
ture near the homestead ; towards evening they are
again housed for the night, when they are supplied
with a mess of the steamed mixture and a little hay
each morning and evening. During June, when the
grasses are better grown, mown grass is given to them
instead of hay, and they are also allowed two feeds of
steamed mixture. This treatment is continued till
October, when they are again wholly housed.
The results which I now proceed to relate are de-
rived from observations made with the view of enabling
me to understand and regulate my own proceedings.
GAIN OR Loss OF CONDITION ASCERTAINED BY WEIGH-
ING CATTLE PERIODICALLY. — For some years back I
have regularly weighed my feeding stock, a practice
from which I am enabled to ascertain their doings with
greater accuracy than I could previously. In January,
1854, I commenced weighing my milch cows. It has
been shown, by what I have premised, that no accurate
estimate can be formed of the effect of the food on the
24
370
APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM.
production of milk, without ascertaining its effect on
the condition of the cows. I have continued the prac-
tice once a month, almost without omission, up to this
date. The weighings take place early in the morning,
and before the cows are supplied with food. The
weights are registered, and the length of time (fifteen
months) during which I have observed this practice
enables me to speak with confidence of the results.
The cows in full milk, yielding twelve to sixteen
quarts each per day, vary but little ; some losing,
others gaining, slightly ; the balance in the month's
weighing of this class being rather to gain. It is com-
mon for a cow to continue a yield from six to eight
months before she gives below twelve quarts per day,
at which time she has usually, if not invariably, gained
weight.
The cows giving less than twelve quarts and down
to five quarts per day are found, when free from ail-
ment, to gain, without exception. This gain, with an
average yield of nearly eight quarts per day, is at the
rate of seven pounds to eight pounds per week each.
My cows in calf I weigh only in the incipient stages ;
but they gain perceptibly in condition, and consequently
in value. They are milked till within four weeks to
five weeks previous to calving. I give the weights of
three of these, and also of one heifer, which calved in
March, 1855:
No. I
1854.
1855.
cwt. qr. Ib?
cwt. qr. Ibs.
Ibs.
1
Bought and weighed,
July.
10 1 2<
April.
11 3 0
148
"2
H « ((
M
8 2 1(
n
10 2 0
'2 L'-t
3
<( (( 11
u
8 2 €
u
10 0 0
lil
Heifer, which calved also
in March, 1855, weighed
tt
700
It
930
300
These observations extend over lengthened periods,
on the same animals, of from thirty to upwards of fifty
weeks. A cow, free from calf, and intended for fatten-
ing, continues to give milk from ten months to a year
after calving, and is then in a forward state of fatness
EXTRA FOOD. PERMANENT IMPROVEMENT. 371
requiring but a few weeks to finish her for sale to the
butchers.
It will thus appear that my endeavors to provide
food adapted to the maintenance and improvement of
my milch cows have been attended with success.
On examining the composition of the ordinary focd
which I have described, straw, roots, and hay, it appears
to contain the nutritive properties which are found
adequate to the maintenance of the animal, whereas the
yield of milk has to be provided for by a supply of extra
food ; the rape-cake, bran, and bean-meal, which I give,
will supply the albumen for the caseine ; it is somewhat
deficient in oil for the butter, whilst it will supply in
excess the phosphate of lime for a full yield of milk. If
I take the class of cows giving less than twelve quarts
per day, and take also into account a gain of flesh of
seven to nine pounds per week, though I reduce the
quantity of extra food by giving less of the bean-meal,
yet the supply will be more in proportion than with a full
yield ; the surplus of nitrogen and phosphoric acid, or
phosphate of lime, will go to enrich the manure.
I cannot here omit to remark on the satisfaction I
derive from the effects of this treatment on the fertility
of the land in my occupation. My rich pastures are
not tending to impoverishment, but to increased fer-
tility ; their improvement in condition is apparent. A
cow in full milk, giving sixteen quarts per day, of the
quality analyzed by Haidlen, requires, beyond the food
necessary for her maintenance, six to eight pounds per
day of substances containing thirty or twenty-five per
cent, of protein. A cow giving on the average eight
quarts per day, with which she gains seven to nine
pounds per week, requires four to five pounds per day
of substances rich in protein, beyond the food which is
necessary for her maintenance. Experience of fattening
gives two pounds per day, or fourteen pounds per week,
as what can be attained on an average, and for a length
of time. If we considered half a pound per day as fat,
which is not more than probable, there will be one and
a half pounds for flesh, which, reckoned as dry material,
372 APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM.
will be about one third of a pound, which is assimilated
in increase of fibrin, and represents only one and one
third to two pounds of substances rich in protein,
beyond what is required for her maintenance.
If we examine the effects on the fertility of the land,
my milch cows, when on rich pasture, and averaging a
yield of nine quarts per day, and reckoning one cow to
each acre, will carry off in twenty weeks twenty-five
pounds of nitrogen, equal to thirty of ammonia. The
same quantity of milk will carry off seven pounds of
phosphate of lime in twenty weeks from each acre.
A fattening animal, gaining flesh at the rate I have
described, will carry off about one third of the nitrogen
(equal to about ten pounds of ammonia) abstracted by
the milch cow, whilst if full grown it will restore the
whole of the phosphate.
It is worthy of remark that experience shows that
rich pastures, used for fattening, fully maintain their fer-
tility through a long series of years, whilst those used
for dairy cows require periodical dressings to preserve
their fertility.
If these computations be at all accurate, they tend to
show that too little attention has been given to the siip-
Ely of substances rich in nitrogenous compounds in the
>od of our milch cows, whilst we have laid too much
stress on this property in food for fattening cattle.
They tend also to the inference that in the effects on
the fertility of our pastures used for dairy purposes we
derive advantage not only from the phosphate of lime,
but also from the gelatine of bones used as manure.
On comparing the results from my milch cows fed in
summer on rich pasture, and treated at the same time
with the extra food I have described, with the results
when on winter food, and whilst wholty housed, taking
into account both the yield of milk and the gain of
weight, I find those from stall-feeding full equal to those
from depasture. The cows which I buy as strippers, for
fattening, giving little milk, from neighboring farmers
who use ordinary food, such as turnips with straw or
hay, when they come under my treatment increase their
RICHNESS OF MILK. 373
yield of milk, until after a week or two they give two
quarts per day more than when they came, and that too
of a much richer quality.
RICHNESS OF MILK AND CREAM. — I sometimes observe,
in the weekty publications which come under my notice,
accounts of cows giving large quantities of butter.
These are usually, however, extraordinary instances, and
not accompanied with other statistical information re-,
quisite to their being taken as a guide ; and it seldom
happens that any allusion is made to the effects of the
food on the condition of the animals, without which no
accurate estimate can be arrived at. On looking over
several treatises to which I have access, I find the fol-
lowing statistics on dairy produce : Mr. Morton, iu
his " Cyclopaodia of Agriculture," p. 621, gives the
results of the practice of a Mr. Young, an extensive
dairy-keeper in Scotland. The yield of milk per cow is
stated at six hundred and eighty gallons per year ; he
obtains from sixteen quarts of milk twenty ounces of
butter, or for the year two hundred and twenty-seven
pounds per cow; from one gallon of cream three pounds
of butter, or twelve ounces per quart (wine measure).
Mr. Young is described as a high feeder ; linseed is his
chief auxiliary food for milch cows. Professor John-
ston (" Elements of Agricultural Chemistry v) gives the
proportion of butter from milk at one and a half ounces
per quart, or from sixteen quarts twenty-four ounces,
being the produce of four cows of different breeds,—
Alderney, Devon, and Ayrshire, — on pasture, and in the
height of the summer season. On other four cows of the
Ayrshire breed he gives the proportion of butter from
sixteen quarts as sixteen ounces, being one ounce per
quart. These cows were likewise on pasture. The
same author states the yield of butter as one fou- th of
the weight of cream, or about ten ounces per quart.
Mr. Rowlandson ("Journal of the Royal Agricultural
Society," vol. xiii., p. 38) gives the produce of 20,110
quarts of milk churned by hand as 1109 pounds of but-
ter, being at the rate of fully 14 ounces per 16 quarts
of milk; and from 23,156 quarts of milk 1525 pounds
32
374 APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM.
of butter, being from 16 quarts nearly 16} ounces of
butter. The same author states that the yield of but-
ter derived from five churnings, of 15 quarts of cream
each, is somewhat less than 8 ounces per quart of cream.
Dr. Muspratt, in his work on the " Chemistry of Arts
and Manufactures," which is in the course of publication,
gives the yield of butter from a cow per year in Hoi-
stein arid Lunenburg at 100 pounds, in England at 160
pounds to 180 pounds. The average of butter from a
cow in England is stated to be eight or nine ounces per
day, which, on a yield of eight to nine quarts, is one
ounce per quart, or for sixteen quarts sixteen ounces.
The quantity of butter derived from cream is stated as
one fourth, which is equal to about nine ounces per
quart. The richest cream of which I find any record
is that brought to the Royal Society's meeting during
the month of July, for the churns which compete for
the prize. On referring to the proceedings of several
meetings, I find that fourteen ounces per quart of cream
is accounted a good yield.
I have frequently tested the yield of butter from a
given quantity of my milk. My dairy produce is partly
disposed of in new milk, partly in butter and old milk,
so that it became a matter of business to ascertain by
which mode it gave the best return. I may here remark
that my dairy practice has been throughout on high
feeding, though it has undergone several modifications.
The mode of ascertaining the average yield of butter
from milk has been to measure the milk on the churning-
day, after the cream has been skimmed off, then to
measure the cream, and having, by adding together the
two measurements, ascertained the whole quantity of
milk (including the cream), to compare it with that of
the butter obtained. This I consider a more accurate
method than measuring the new milk, as there is a con-
siderable escape of gas, and consequent subsidence,
whilst it is cooling. The results have varied from
twenty-four to twenty-seven and a quarter ounces from
sixteen quarts of milk. I therefore assume in my cal-
culation sixteen quarts of milk as yielding a roll (twen-
ty-five ounces) of butter.
PROPORTION OP CREAM AND BUTTER. 375
As I have at times a considerable number of cows
bon glit as strippers, and fattened as they are milked,
which remain sometimes in my stalls eight or nine
months, and yield towards the close but five quarts per
day, T am not enabled to state with accuracy and from as-
certained data the average yield per year of my cows kept
for dairy purposes solely. However, from what occurs
at grass-time, when the yield is not increased, and also
from the effects of my treatment on cows which I buy,
giving a small quantity, I am fully persuaded that my
treatment induces a good yield of milk.
As the yield of butter from a given quantity of cream
is not of such particular consequence, I have not given
equal attention to ascertain their relative proportions.
I have a recollection of having tested this on a former
occasion, when I found fourteen to sixteen ounces per
quart, but cannot call to mind under what treatment this
took place.
On questioning my dairy-woman, in December, 1854,
as to the proportion of cream and butter, she reported
nearly one roll of twenty-five ounces of butter to one
quart of cream. I looked upon this as a mistake. Ou
its accuracy being persisted in, the next churning was
carefully observed, with a like proportion. My dairy
cows averaged then a low range of milk as to quantity —
about eight quarts each per day. Six of them, in a for-
ward state of fatness, were intended to be dried for
finishing off in January ; but, owing to the scarcity and
consequent dearness of calving cows, I kept them on in
milk till I could purchase cows to replace them, and it
was not till February that I had an opportunity of
doing so. I then bought four cows within a few days
of calving ; they were but in inferior condition, and
yielded largely of milk. Towards the close of February
and March, four of my own dairy cows, in full condi-
tion, likewise calved. During March, three of the six
which had continued from December, and were milked
nearly up to the day of sale, were selected by the
butcher as fit for his purpose. Each churning through-
out was carefully observed, with a similar result, vary-
376 APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM.
ing but little from twenty-five ounces of butter per
quart of cream ; on Monday, April 30, sixteen quarts
of cream having yielded sixteen rolls (of twenty-five
ounces each) of butter. Though I use artificial means
of raising the temperature of my dairy, by the applica-
tion of hot water during cold weather, yet, my service-
pipes being frozen in February, I was unable to keep
up the temperature, and it fell to forty-five degrees.
Still my cream, though slightly affected, was peculiarly
rich, }aelding twenty-two ounces of butter per quart.
Throughout April the produce of milk from my fifteen
dairy cows averaged full one hundred and sixty quarts
per day.
My cows are bought in the neighboring markets with
a view to their usefulness and profitableness. The
breeds of this district have a considerable admixture of
the short-horn, which is not noted for the richness of
its milk. It will be remarked that during the time
these observations have been continued on the propor-
tion of butter from cream, more than half of my cows
have been changed.
Having satisfied myself that the peculiar richness of
my cream was due mainly to the treatment of my cows
which I have sought to describe, it occurred to me that
I ought not to keep it to myself, inasmuch as these
results of my dairy practice not only afforded matter
of interest to the farmer, but were fit subjects for
the investigation of the physiologist and the chemist.
Though my pretensions to acquirements in their
instructions are but slender, they are such as enable
me to acknowledge benefit in seeking to regulate my
proceedings by their rules.
In taking off the cream I use an ordinary shallow
skimmer of tin perforated with holes, through which
any milk gathered in skimming escapes. It required
care to clear the cream ; and even with this some
etreakiness is observable on the surface of the skimmed
milk. The milk-bowls are of glazed brown earthen
ware, common in this district. They stand on a base
of six to eight inches, and expand at the surface to
BUTTER AND BUTTER-MILK. 377
nearly twice that width. Four to five quarts are con-
tained in each bowl, the depth being four to five inches
at the centre. The churn I use is a small wooden one,
worked by hand, on what I believe to be the American
principle. I have forwarded to Professor Way a small
sample of butter for analysis ; fifteen quarts of cream
were taken out of the cream-jar, and churned at three
times in equal portions :
The first five quarts of cream gave . . 127 ounces of butter.
Second five " " " " . . 125 " " "
Third five " " " " . . 120£ " " "
372£
Equal to 24| ounces per quart.
At a subsequent churning of fourteen quarts of
cream,
The first seven gave 7 rolls, or . . . 175 ounces of butter.
Second seven gave 7 rolls 2 oz., or . . 177 " " "
352
Equal to 25| ounces per quart.
On testing the comparative yield of butter and 'of
butter-milk, I find seventy per cent, of butter to thirty
per cent, of butter-milk, thus reversing the proportions
given in the publications to which I have referred. An
analysis of my butter by Professor Way gives :
Pure fat or oil, 82.70
Caseine or curd, 2.45
Water, with a little salt, 14.85
Total, . * V'« •/•.-'' 1- . . . . 100.00
The only analyses of this material which I find in the
publications in my hand are two by Professor Way,
" Journal," vol. xi., p. 735, " On butter by the common
and by the Devonshire method ; " the result in one
hundred parts being:
Raw. Scalded.
Pure butter, 79.72 79.12
Caseine, &c., 3.38 3.37
Water, 16.90 17.51
Total, 100.00 100.00
32*
378 APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM.
The foregoing observation of dairy results was con
tinned up to grass time in 1855. In April and May the
use of artificial means was discontinued, without dimi-
nution in the yield of butter or richness of cream, the
natural temperature being sufficient to maintain that of
my dairy at 54° to 56°.
I now proceed to describe the appearances since that
time. In the summer season, whilst my cows were
grazing in the open pastures during the day and housed
during the night, being supplied with a limited quantity
of the steamed food each morning and evening, a
marked change occurred in the quality of the milk and
cream ; the quantity of the latter somewhat increased,
but, instead of twenty-five ounces of butter per quart
of cream, my summer cream yielded only sixteen ounces
per quart.
I would not be understood to attribute this variation
in quality to the change of food only. It is commonly
observed by dairy-keepers that milk, during the warm
months of summer, is less rich in butter, owing probably
to the greater restlessness of the cows, from being teased
by flies, etc. I am by no means sure that, if turning
out during the warm months be at all advisable, it
would not be preferable that this should take place
during the night instead of during the day time.
Towards the close of September, when the temperature
had become much cooler, and the cows were supplied
with a much larger quantity of the steamed food, results
appeared very similar to those which I had observed
and described from December to May, 1855. During
the month of November the quality was tested with the
following result :
From two hundred and fifty-two quarts of old milk
were taken twenty-one quarts of cream, of which twenty
were churned, and produced four hundred and sixty-
eight ounces of butter, which shows :
27.50 ounces of butter from 16 quarts of new milk.
23.40 " " " " each quart of cream.
During May, 1856, my cows being on open pasture
ELEMENTS OP NUTRITION. 379
during the day were supplied with two full feeds of the
steamed mixture, together with a supply of green rape-
plant each morning and evening.
The result was that from three hundred and twenty-
four quarts of old milk twenty-three quarts of cream
were skimmed, of which twenty-two were churned, and
produced five hundred and fifteen ounces of butter,
which shows :
24 ounces of butter from 16 quarts of new milk.
22.41 " " " " each quart of cream.
There is, doubtless, some standard of food adapted to
the constitution and purposes of animals, combining with
bulk a due proportion of elements of respiration, such
as sugar, starch, <fcc., together with those of nutrition,
namely, nitrogenous compounds, phosphates, and other
minerals; nor can we omit oil or fat^forming substances ;
for, however we may be disposed to leave to philosophy
the discussion as to whether sugar, starch, <fcc., are con-
vertible into fat, yet I think I shall not offend the
teacher of agricultural chemistry by stating that the
more closely the elements of food resemble those in the
animal and its product, the more efficacious will such
food be for the particular purpose for which it is used.
Sugar, starch, <fcc., vary very considerably in form and
proportion from vegetable oils, which closely resemble
animal fat's.
When we consider that plants have a two-fold function
to perform, — namely, to serve as food for animals, and
also for the reproduction of the like plants, — and that,
after having undergone the process of digestion, they
retain only one half or one third of their value as ma-
nure, the importance of affording a due but not excess-
ive supply of each element of food essential to the
wants and purposes of the animal will be evident. If
we fall short, the result will be imperfect; if we supply
in excess, it will entail waste and loss.
Linseed and rape-cake resemble each other very closely
in chemical composition ; the latter is chiefly used for
manure, and its price ranges usually about, half that of
380 APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM.
linseed-cake. In substances poorer in nitrogen, and with
more of starch, gum, oil, &c., the disparity in value as
food and as manure will be proportionately greater.
During the present season, Mr. Mendelsohn, of Ber-
lin, and Mr. Gausange, who is tenant of a large royal
domain near Frankfort on the Oder, on which he keeps
about one hundred and fifty dairy cows, have been my vis-
itors. These gentlemen have collected statistics in dairy
countries through which they have travelled. I learned
from them that in Mecklenburg, Prussia, Holland, &c.,
fourteen quarts of milk yield, on the average, one pound
of butter ; in rare instances twelve quarts are found to
yield one pound. Both attach great importance to the
regulation of the temperature. Mr. Mendelsohn tells
me that the milk from cows fed on draft' (distillers'
refuse) requires a higher temperature to induce its yield
of butter than that from cows supplied with other
food.
On inquiry in my own neighborhood, I find it is com-
puted that each quart at a milking represents one pound
of butter per week. Thus, a cow which gives four
quarts at each milking will yield in butter four pounds
per week, or from fifty-six quarts sixty-four ounces of
butter, or from fourteen quarts of milk one pound of
butter. Taking the winter produce alone, it is lower
than this ; the cream from my neighbors' cows, who
use common food, hay, straw, and oats, somewhat resem-
bles milk in consistence, and requires three to four
hours, sometimes more, in churning. On one occasion,
a neighboring dairy-woman sent to borrow my churn,
being unable to make butter with her own ; I did not
inquire the result. If she had sent her cow, I could in
the course of a week have insured her cream which
would make butter in half an hour. These dairy people
usually churn during winter in their kitchen, or other
room with a fire. Each of them states that from bean or
oat meal used during winter as an auxiliary food they
derive a greater quantity of butter, whilst those who
have tried linseed-oil have perceived no benefit from it.
My own cream during the winter season is of the
SUMMER BUTTER IN WINTER. 381
consistence of paste, or thick treacle. When the jar is
full, a rod of two feet long will, when dipped into the
cream to half its length, stand erect. If I take out a
teacupful in the evening, and let it stand till next
morning, a penny-piece laid on its surface will not sink;
en taking it oft', 1 find the under side partially spotted
with cream. The churnings are performed in a room
without fire, at a temperature in winter of forty-three
to forty-five degrees, and occupy one half to three
quarters of an hour.
Several who have adopted my system have reported
similar effects — an increase in the quantity with a com-
plete change as to richness of quality. 1 select from
these Mr. John Simpson, a tenant farmer residing at
Ripley, in Yorkshire, who, at my request, stated to the
committee of the Wharfdale Agricultural Society that
he and a neighbor of his, being inconvenienced from a
deficient yield of milk, had agreed to try my mode of
feeding, and provided themselves with a steaming appn-
ratus. This change of treatment took place in February,
1855. I quote his words :
" In about five days I noticed a great change in my
milk ; the cows yielded two quarts each, per day, more;
but what surprised me most was the change in the qual-
ity. Instead of poor winter cream and butter, they as-
sumed the appearance and character of rich summer
produce. It only required twenty minutes for churning,
instead of two to three hours ; there was also a consid-
erable increase in the quantity of butter, of which, how-
ever, I did not take any particular notice. My neigh
bor's cow gave three quarts per day in addition, and her
milk was so changed in appearance that the consumers
to whom he sold it became quite anxious to know the
cause."
My dairy is but six feet wide by fifteen long and
twelve high. At one end (to the north) is a trellis win-
dow ; at the other, an inner door, which opens into the
kitchen. There is another door near to this, which opens
into the churning-room, having also a northern aspect ;
both doors are near the south end of the dairy. Along
382 APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM.
each side, and the north end, two shelves of wood are
fixed to the wall, the one fifteen inches above the other;
two feet higher is another shelf somewhat narrower,
but of like length, which is covered with charcoal,
whose properties as a deodorizer are sufficiently estab-
lished. The lower shelves being two feet three inches
wide, the interval or passage between is only one foot
six inches. On each tier of shelves is a shallow wooden
cistern, lined with thin sheet-lead, having a rim at the
edges three inches high. These cisterns incline down-
wards slightly towards the window, and contain water
to the depth of three inches. At the end nearest the
kitchen each tier of cisterns is supplied with two taps,
one for cold water in summer, the other with hot for
winter use. At the end next the north window is a
plug or hollow tube, with holes perforated at such an
elevation as to take the water before it flows over the
cistern.
During the summer the door towards the kitchen is
closed, and an additional door is fixed against it, with an
interval between well packed with straw ; a curtain of
stout calico hangs before the trellis window, which is
dipped in salt water, and kept wet during the whole
day by cold water spirted over it from a gutta-per-
cha tube. On the milk being brought in, it is emp-
tied into bowls. Some time after these bowls (of
which a description is given in a former part of this)
have been placed on the cistern, the cold-water taps
are turned till the water rises through the perforated
tube, and flows through a waste pipe into the sewer.
The taps are then closed, so as to allow a slight trick-
ling of water, which continues through the day. By
these means I reduce the temperature, as compared
with that outside the window, by twenty degrees. I am
thus enabled to allow the milk to stand till the cream
has risen, and keep the skimmed milk sweet, for which
1 obtain one penny per quart.
Having heard ccmplaints during very hot weather
of skimmed milk, which had left my dairy perfectly
sweet, being affected so as to curdle in cooking oil
LOWERING INTO A WELL. 383
being carried into the village, I caused covers of thick
calico (the best of our fabrics for retaining moisture) to
be made ; these are dipped in salt water, and then
drawn over the whole of the tin milk-cans. The con-
trivance is quite successful, and is in great favor with
the consumers. I have not heard a single complaint
since I adopted it.
Finding my butter rather soft in hot weather, I un-
covered a draw-well which I had not used since I intro-
duced water-works for the supply of the village and my
own premises. On lowering a thermometer down the
well to a depth of twenty-eight feet, I found it indicated
a temperature of forty-three degrees — that on the sur-
face being seventy degrees. I first let down the butter,
which was somewhat improved, but afterwards the
cream. For this purpose I procured a movable windlass
with a rope of the required length ; the cream-jar is
placed in a basket two feet four inches deep, suspended
on the rope, and let down the evening previous to churn-
ing. It is drawn up early next morning, and imme-
diately churned. By this means the churning occupies
about the same time as in winter, and the butter is of
like consistence.
The advantage I derive from this is such that, rather
than be without it, I should prefer sinking a well for
the purpose of reaching a like temperature.
When winter approaches, the open trellis window to
the north is closed, an additional shutter being fixed
outside, and the interval between this and an inner
shutter closely packed with straw, to prevent the access
of air and cold ; the door to the kitchen is at the same
time unclosed to admit warmth. Before the milk is
brought from the cow-house, the dairymaid washes the
bowls well with hot water, the effect of which is to take
off the chill, but not to warm them. The milk is brought
in as milked, and is passed through a sile into the bowls,
which are then placed on the cistern. A thermometer,
with its bulb immersed in the milk, denotes a tempera-
ture of about ninety degrees. The hot water is applied
immediately, at a temperature of one hundred degrees
384 APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM.
or upwards, and continues to flow for about five min-
utes, when the supply is exhausted. The bowls being
of thick earthen ware. — a slow conductor, — this does
not heighten the temperature of the milk. The cooling,
however, is thereby retarded, as I find the milk, after
standing four hours, maintains a temperature of sixty
degrees. This application of hot water is renewed at
each milking to the new milk, but not repeated to the
same after it has cooled. The temperature of the dairy
is momentarily increased to above 60°, but speedily
subsides, the average temperature being 52° to 56°.
It will be observed that the churnings in summer and
winter occupy half an hour or upwards. By increasing
the temperature of the cream I could easily churn in
half the time, but I should thereby injure the quality
of the butter. When the butter has come and gathered
into a mass, it is taken, together with the butter-milk,
out of the churn, which is rinsed with water; the but-
ter is then placed again in the churn with a quantity of
cold spring water, in which salt has been dissolved, at the
rate of one ounce per quart of cream ; after a fe\v min-
utes' churning, the butter is again taken out; the water
in which it has been washed assumes a whitish appear-
ance. By this process the salt is equally diffused
through the butter, which requires little manipulation,
and is freed from a portion of caseous matter. A recent
analysis of my butter shows only 1.07 instead of 2.45
per cent, of caseine, as before. That it ranks as choice
may be inferred when I state that my purchaser will-
ingly gives me a penny per roll more than the highest
price in Otley market, and complains that I do not sup-
ply him with a greater quantity.
In this dairy of the small dimensions I have described,
my produce of butter reaches at times sixty to seventy
pounds per week. Though the size may appear incon-
veniently small, yet I beg to remark on the greater
facility of regulating the temperature of a small in com-
parison with a large dairy. This difficulty will be found
greater in summer than in winter, as it is far easier to
heighten than depress the temperature.
STEAMING FOOD. BEAN-VINES. 385
I have cooked or steamed my food for several years.
It will be observed that I blend bean-straw, bran, and
malt-combs, as flavoring materials, with oat or other
straw and rape-cake ; the effect of steaming is to vola-
tilize the essential oils, in which the flavor resides, and
diffuse them through the mess. The odor arising from
it resembles that observed from the process of malting ;
this imparts relish to the mess, and induces the cattle to
eat it greedily ; in addition to which, I am disposed to
think that it renders the food more easy of digestion
and assimilation. I use this process with advantage for
fattening, when I am deficient in roots. With the same
mixed straw and oat-shells, three to four pounds each
of rape-cake, and half a pound of linseed-oil, but with-
out roots, I have fattened more than thirty heifers and
cows free from milk, from March up to the early part
of May ; their gain has averaged fully fourteen pounds
each per week, — a result I could not have looked for
from the same materials, if uncooked. This process
seems to have the effect of rendering linseed-oil less of
a laxative, but cannot drive off any portion of the fat-
tening oils, to volatilize which requires a very high
temperature. My experience of the benefits of steam-
ing is such that if I were deprived of it I could not
continue to feed with satisfaction.
I have weighed my fattening cattle for a number of
years, and my milch cows for more than two years.
This practice enables me at once to detect any defi-
ciency in the performance of the animals ; it gives also
a stimulus to the feeders, who attend at the weighings,
and who are desirous that the cattle intrusted to their
care should bear a comparison with their rivals. An-
other obvious advantage is in avoiding all cavils re-
specting the weight by my purchasers, who, having
satisfied themselves as to the quality of the animal, now
ask and obtain the most recent weighing. The usual
computation for a well-fed but not over fat beast is,
live to dead weight, as 21 to 12, or 100 to 59f, with
such modifications as suggest themselves by appear-
ances.
33 25
386 APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM.
Though many discussions have taken place on the
fattening of cattle, the not less important branch of
dairy treatment has hitherto been comparatively neg-
lected. I therefore venture to call attention to con-
siderations which have arisen from observations in my
own practice affecting the chemist^ and physiology,
or, in other words, the science of feeding. That I am
seeking aid from its guidance will be apparent, and I
have no hesitation in admitting that, beyond the satis-
faction from the better understanding of my business,
I have latterly derived more benefit or profit from
examination of the chemical composition of materials
of food than from the treatment or feeding experiments
of others which have come under my notice. So per-
suaded am I of the advantage of this, that I do not feel
satisfied to continue the use of any material, with the
composition of which I am not acquainted, without
resorting to the society's laboratory for an analysis.
To one leading feature of my practice I attach the
greatest importance — the maintenance of the condition
of my cows giving a large yield of milk. I am enabled,
i>y the addition of bean-meal in proportion to the
greater yield of milk, to avert the loss of condition in
those giving sixteen to eighteen quarts per day ; whilst
on those giving a less yield, and in' health, I invariably
effect an improvement.
When we take into consideration the disposition of a
cow to apply her food rather to her milk than to her
maintenance and improvement, it seems fair to infer
that the milk of a cow gaining flesh will not be deficient
either in caseine or butter.
I have already alluded to the efficiency of bean-meal
in increasing the quantity of butter : I learn, also, from
observant dairymen who milk their own cows and carry
their butter to market, that their baskets are never so
well filled as when their cows feed on green clover,
which, as dry material, is nearly as rich in albumen as
beans. I am also told, by those who have used green
rape-plant, that it produces milk rich in butter. From
this we ma}' infer that albuminous matter is the most
BEAN AND LINSEED MEAL 387
essential element in the food of the milch cow, and that
any deficiency in the supply of this will be attended
with loss of condition, and a consequent diminution in
the quality of her milk.
I am clearly of opinion that you can increase the pro-
portion of butter in milk more than that of caseine, or
other solid parts. From several, who have adopted
my treatment, I learn that on substituting rape-cake
for beans they perceive an increased richness in their
milk. Mr. T. Garnett, of Clitheroe, who has used bean-
meal largely as an auxiliary food for milch cows during
the winter season, tells me that when rape-cake is sub-
stituted, his dairymaid, without being informed, per-
ceives the change irom the increased richness of the
milk. Mr. Garnett has also used linseed-cake in like
quantity ; still his dairy people prefer rape-cake.
Mr. Whelon, of Lancaster, who keeps two milch cows
for his own use, to which he gave bean-meal and bran
as auxiliaries, has recently substituted rape-cake * for
bean-meal ; he informs me that in a week he saw a change
in the richness of milk, with an increase of butter.
The vegetable oils are of two distinct classes : the
drying or setting represented by linseed, the unctuous
represented by rape-oil. They consist of two proximate
elements, margarine and oleine ; in all probability they
will vary in their proportion of these, but in what
degree I have not been able to ascertain. Though the
agricultural chemists make no distinction, as far as I
am aware, between these two classes of oils, the prac-
titioners in medicine use them for distinct purposes.
Cod-liver oil has been long used for pulmonary com-
plaints ; latterly, olive, almond, and rape oils are being
employed as substitutes. These are all of the unctuous
class of oils. Mr. Rhind, the intelligent medical prac-
titioner of this village, called my attention to some
experiments by Dr. Leared, published in the Medical
Times, July 21st, 1855, with oleine alone, freed from
* The analysis of cotton-seed cake, in comparison with rape and linseed
eake, in a former chapter of this work, will show the comparative value
of that as food for milch cows.
388 APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM.
margarine, which showed marked superiority in the
effect ; and I now learn from Mr. Rhind that he is at
present using with success the pure oleine, prepared by
Messrs. Price & Co., from cocoa-nut oil, one of the
unctuous class. That linseed and others of the drying
oils are used in medicine for a very different purpose,
it seems unnecessary to state.
The oleine of oil is known to be more easy of con-
sumption and more available for respiration than mar-
garine — a property to which its use in medicine may
be attributable. If we examine the animal fats, tal-
low, suet, and other fat, they are almost wholly of the
solid class, stearine or margarine, closely resembling or
identical with the margarine in plants ; whilst butter is
composed of oleine and margarine, combining both the
proximate elements found in vegetable oils.
It seems worthy of remark that a cow can yield a far
greater weight of butter than she can store up in solid
fat ; numerous instances occur where a cow gives off
two pounds of butter per day, or fourteen pounds per
week, whilst half that quantity will probably rarely be
laid on in fat. If you allow a cow to gain sixteen
pounds per week, and reckon seven for fat, there will
only remain nine pounds for flesh, or, deducting the
moisture, scarcely three pounds (2.97) per week, equal
to .42, or less than half a pound per day, of dry fibrin.
The analyses of butter show a very varying propor-
tion of oleine and margarine fats : summer butter usually
contains of oleine sixty and margarine forty per cent.,
whilst in winter butter these proportions are reversed,
being forty of oleine to sixty of margarine. By ordi-
nary treatment the quantity of butter during winter is
markedly inferior. The common materials for dairy
cows in winter are straw with turnips or mangel, hay
alone, or hay with mangel. If we examine these mate-
rials, we find them deficient in oil, or in starch, sugar,
etc. If a cow consume two stones or twenty-eight
pounds of hay a day, which is probably more than she
can be induced to eat on an average, it will be equal in
dry material to more than one hundred pounds of
CONSTITUENTS OF BUTTER. 389
young grass, which will also satisfy a cow. That one
hundred pounds of young grass will yield more butter,
will scarcely admit of a doubt. The twenty-eight
pounds of hay will be equal in albuminous matter and
in oil to the one hundred pounds of grass ; but in the
element of starch, sugar, etc., there is a marked differ-
ence. During the growth of the plant, the starch and
sugar are converted into woody fibre, in which form
they are scarcely digestible or available for respiration,
[t seems, then, not improbable that, when a cow is sup-
plied with hay only, she will consume some portion of
the oleine oil for respiration, and yield a less quantity
of butter poorer in oleiue.
If you assume summer butter to contain of oleine, . . 60 per cent.
" " " " " •' " of margarine, 40 " "
100 " "
If the cow consume of the oleine, 36 " **
The quantity of butter will be reduced from 100 to . 64 " "
And the proportions will then be, of oleine, . . . 40 " "
" " " " " " of margarine, . . 60 " "
100 " "
If you supply turnips or mangel with hay, the cow
will consume less of hay ; you thereby substitute a
material richer in sugar, .etc., and poorer in oil. Each
of these materials, in the quantity a cow can consume,
is deficient in the supply of albumen necessary to keep
up the condition of an animal giving a full yield of
milk. To effect this, recourse must be had to artificial
or concentrated substances of food, rich in albuminous
matter.
It can scarcely be expected, nor is it desirable, that
practical farmers should apply themselves to the attain-
ment of proficiency in the art of chemical investiga-
tions ; this is more properly the occupation of the pro-
fessor of science. The following simple experiment,
however, seems worth mentioning. On several occa-
sions, during winter, I procured samples of butter from
my next neighbor. On placing these, with a like quan-
tity of my own, in juxtaposition before the fire, my
33*
390
APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM.
butter melted with far greater rapidity — by no means
an unsafe test of a greater proportion of oleine.
The chemical investigation of our natural and other
grasses has hitherto scarcely had the attention which it
deserves. The most valuable information on this sub-
ject is in the paper by Professor Way, on the nutritive
and fattening properties of the grasses, in vol. xiv., p.
171, of the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal.
These grasses were nearly all analyzed at the flowering
time, a stage at which no occupier of grass-land would
expect so favorable a result in fattening. We much
prefer pastures with young grass not more than a few
inches high, sufficient to afford a good bite. With a
view to satisfy myself as to the difference of compo-
sition of the like grasses at different stages of growth,
I sent to Professor Way a specimen of the first crop of
hay, cut in the end of June, when the grass was in the
early stage of flowering, and one of aftermath, cut
towards the close of September, from the same meadow,
the analyses of which I give :
AFTERMATH HAY.
Moisture, ..... 11.87
Oil and fatty matter, . . 6.84
Albuminous matter, . . 9.84
Starch, gum, sugar, . . 42.25
Woody fibre, .... 19.77
Mineral matter, ... 9.43
100.00
A comparison between these will show a much
greater percentage of woody fibre, — 27.41 in the first
crop to 19.77 in the aftermath. The most remarkable
difference, however, is in the proportion of oil, being
2.68 in the first crop to 6.84 in the aftermath.
On inquiry from an observing tenant of a small dairy
farm of mine, who has frequently used aftermath hay, I
learn that, as compared with the first crop, he finds it
induce a greater yield of milk, but attended with some
impoverishment in the condition of the cow, and that he
uses it without addition of turnips or other roots, which
HAY, FIRST CROP.
12.02
Albuminous matter, .
Oil and fatty matter, .
Starch, gum, sugar,
Woody fibre, . . .
Mineral matter, . .
9.24
2.68
39.75
27.41
8.90
100.00
NUTRITIVE QUALITIES OF GRASSES. 391
he gives when using hay of the first crop — an answer
quite in accordance with what might be expected from
its chemical composition.
It is likewise to be presumed that the quickness of
growth will materially affect the composition of grasses,
as well as of other vegetables. Your gardener will tell
you that if radishes are slow in growth they will be
tough and woody ; that asparagus melts in eating, like
butter, and salad is crisp when grown quickly. The
same effect will, I apprehend, be found in grasses of
slow growth : they will contain more of woody fibre,
with less of starch or sugar. The quality of butter
grown on poor pastures is characterized by greater
solidity than on rich feeding pastures. The cows, having
to travel over more space, require a greater supply of
the elements of respiration, whilst the grasses grown on
these poor pastures contain, in all probability, less of
these in a digestible form available for respiration. The
like result seems probable as from common winter treat-
ment— a produce of butter less in quantity, and con-
taining a greater proportion of margarine, and a less of
oleine.
It is well known that pastures vary greatly in their
butter-producing properties ; there is, however, as far
as I am aware, no satisfactory explanation of this. If
you watch cows on depasture, you observe them select
their own food ; if you supply cows in stall alike with
food, they will also select for themselves. I give rapo-
cake as a mixture to all, and induce them to eat the
requisite quantity ; yet some will select the rape-cake
first, and eat it up clean, whilst others rather neglect it
till towards the close of their meal, and then leave
pieces in the trough. Two Alderneys, — the only cows
of the kind I have as yet had, — whose butter-producing
qualities are well known, are particularly fond of rape-
cake, and never leave a morsel. May not these animals
be prompted by their instinct to select such food as is
best suited to their wants and propensities ? If so, it
seems of the greatest importance that the dairyman
should be informed of the properties of food most suit-
392 APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM.
able for his purpose, especially whilst in a stall, where
they have little opportunity of selecting.
It appears worth the attention of our society to make
inquiries as to the localities which are known as pro-
ducing milk peculiarly rich in butter. When travelling
in Germany, I well recollect being treated with pecu-
liarly rich milk, cream, and butter, on my tour between
Dresden and Toplitz, at the station or resting-place on
the chaussee or turnpike-road, before you descend a
very steep incline to the valley in which Toplitz is situ-
ated. I travelled this way after an interval of several
years, when the same treat was again offered. It was
given as a rarity, and can only be accounted for by the
peculiar adaptation of the herbage of the country for
the production of butter.
COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT METHODS OF FEEDING
DAIRY Cows. — Being desirous of comparing the result
of my method of feeding dairy cows with the system
usually practised in this locality, it occurred to me that,
as my cows had been accustomed to savory steamed
food, a change to ordinary food would be attended with
less favorable results than if they had been previously
treated in the common mode ; and that, under these cir-
cumstances, it would be better to institute comparisons
with two near neighbors, Mr. Smith and Mr. Pawson,
whose practice and results I had the opportunity of
inspecting.
Mr. Smith's cow was of rather small frame, but noted
for her usefulness as a good milker. At the time of
calving her third calf, about the 12th of November, she
was in good condition, and gave, soon after, seventeen
quarts of milk per day. Her owner states that in the
first three weeks (up to the time this comparison was
begun) her condition sensibly diminished — a result
which I apprehend will be invariable with cows giving
this quantity of milk when fed on meadow hay only,
with which Mr. Smith's cow was supplied ad libitum,
and of which she consumed twenty-eight pounds per
day. Mr. Pawson's was a nice heifer, three years old
at the time of calving her first calf, October 6th, in
MODES OF FEEDING DAIRY COWS,
393
more than ordinary condition, and gave abort sixteen
quarts per day. Her owner states that on the first of
January her condition was much diminished. This is
corroborated by Mr. Myers, a dealer in the village, who
tells me that, previous to her calving, he was desirous
of purchasing her, and would have given from seven-
teen pounds ten shillings to eighteen pounds, and
describes her as being at that time full of beef. Her
weight on the first of January, 7 cwt. 2 qrs., bespeaks
her condition as much lowered.
During the month of October, and till late in Novem-
ber, she was turned out in the daytime to graze on
aftermath, and housed during the night, where she was
supplied with turnips. From the close of November
till the first week in February, her food consisted of
Meadow hay of inferior quality, ... 18 Ibs. per day.
Swedish turnips, 45 " " "
Ground oats, 9 " " "
After this the ground oats were discontinued, and
meadow hay of good quality was given ad libitum, with
forty-five pounds of turnips.
For comparison I selected a cow of my own, which
calved about the 8th of October, and gave soon after
eighteen quarts of milk per day ; she was also of small
size. At the time of calving her condition was some-
what higher than that of Mr. Smith's. When the
experiment was begun, on the first of January, no per-
ceivable difference was found in the yield of milk of
Mr. Smith's cow and my own, each giving fifteen and a
half quarts per day.
The following table gives the dates of calving of the
three cows, together with their weights and yield of
milk at the commencement and termination of the
experiment :
When calved.
January 1.
March 5.
Yield at
calving.
Weight.
Yield. | Weight.
Yield.
Quarts. | Cwt. | qrs.
Ibs.
Qts.
Cwt.
qrs. | Ibs.
Qta.
Mr. Smith's — Nov. 12.
Mr. Pawson's — Oct. 6.
My own — Oct. 8.
17
16
18
8
7
9
3
2
3
U
0
0
15*
12
15*
8
7
10
0
1
1
0
0
0
9*
6*
m
394
Mr. Smith's cow lost in weight in nine weeks 84
pounds, being 9J pounds per week, with an average
yield of 12 J quarts per day. Mr. Pawson's lost 28
pounds. This loss, together with the diminished yield
of milk, occurred almost wholly after the oats had been
withdrawn ; her weight on the 6th of February being
still 7 cwt. 2 qrs., and her yield of milk 11 quarts per
day.
My cow has gained in the nine weeks 56 Ibs., being
6i pounds per week, with an average yield of 14 quarts,
the diminution being regular. January 1st, 15^ ; Feb.
4th, 14; March 4th, 12J ; making an average yield of
14 quarts per day. The whole loss and gain of weight
will be in flesh and fat, the cows having kept up their
consumption of food and their bulk.
The weekly account of profit and loss will stand as
follows :
Mr. Smith's cow, average yield for 9 weeks, 12^ quarts s. d.
per day, at Zd. per quart, 14 7
Deduct loss in flesh, 9£ Ibs., at 6</., 4 8
9 11
Cost of 14 stones hay, at 6rf. per stone, 7 0
Profit, 2 11
Mr. Pawson's cow, average during the first five weeks, ll£ s. d
quarts per day, at 2d. per quart, 13 5
Cost of 9 stones inferior hay (at 4d. per stone), per
week, 3s. Qd.
Cost of 63 Ibs. ground oats, 4*. Sd. ; turnips, Is. 6<f., 6292
Profit, 4 3
My cow, average yield for 9 weeks, 14 quarts per day, at s. d.
2d. per quart, 16 4
Gain of flesh, 6i Ibs per week, at 6rf., 3 L|
19 5£
Cost of food:
Hay, 63 Ibs. , at Qd. per stone ; straw and shells s. d.
of oats, 1*. 3d. ; mangel, Is., 4 6<fc
Rape-cake, 35 Ibs. ; bran, 10£ Ibs. ; malt-combs,
IQh Ibs. ; bean-meal, 10£ Ibs., 4 0£ 8 7
Profit 10 10
QUALITY OF THE MANURE.
395
The richer quality of the manure will probably com-
pensate for the extra labor, cooking, and attention
bestowed upon my cow.
With a view of extending the comparison, I give par-
ticulars of the whole of my cows the weights of which
were registered on the 8th of October, and which were
still on hand, free from calf, and in a state admitting of
comparison. These were bought at a neighboring
market in but moderate condition, and were young,
having had two or three calves each. A cow in full con-
dition attains her maximum yield in a week or so after
calving ; whilst those in lower condition continue, by
my treatment, to increase their quantity up to about a
month after calving.
TABLE.
February 4.
No.
Calved.
Greatest
yield per
day.
October 8.
Weight.
Weight.
Yield
per
day.
Quarts.
Cwt. qrs. Ibs.
Cwt. qrs. Ibs.
Qts.
1.
July 28.
12
920
10 0 0
8
2.
Aug. 25.
18
10 0 0
11 1 0
14
4.
July 28.
18
820
10 1 0
15
6.
Sept. 8.
16
10 2 0
10 2 0
14
7.
Sept. 8.
16
10 2 0
11 0 0
10
11.
Aug. 25.
16
9 1 0
y 2 o
11
Avemjre
16
13
• • • .
TABLE CONTINUED.
March 4.
Gain
No.
Weight.
Yield per
day.
Computed average
per day during
Qain,
Oct. 8 to
Feb. 4.
in
weigh!
per
week
Cwt. qrs. Ibs.
Quarts.
Weeks. Qts.
Lbs.
Lbs.
1.
10 1 0
8
29 — 10
84
4
2.
11 1 0
14
27 — 16
140
6|
4.
10 0 0
15
31 — 15
168
8
6.
10 3 0
14
25 — 15
28
1ft
7.
11 0 0
10
25 — 13
56
2!
11.
920
11
27 — 13*
28
H
Average,
12
27J — 14
. .
.^.
396 APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM.
My cows, during the period under consideration,
were treated as follows : During August and Septem-
ber they were on open pasture by day and housed by
night; evening and morning they were supplied with
mown grass, and two feeds of steamed mixtuie.
Towards the close of September green rape was sub-
stituted for the mown grass, with the same allowance
of steamed mixture ; from the 8th of October, when
they were wholly housed, they were supplied with
steamed food ad libitum three times per day. After
each meal ten to twelve pounds of green rape-plant
were given, and nine pounds of hay per day till No-
vember ; from that time steamed food with cabbages or
kohl rabi till the early part of February, when mangold
wurzel was substituted. It will be observed that I
give hay and roots in limited quantities, and the steamed
food ad libitum. I prefer this to apportioning the cake
and other concentrated food in equal quantities to each,
as this steamed mixture contains more of the elements
essential to milk, and each cow is thus at liberty to
satisfy her requirements with it. Nos. 2 and 4, which
have given the greatest quantity of milk, have eaten
more than their share ; whilst No. 1, which has given
the least milk, has scarcely eaten more than half the
quantity of steamed mixture consumed by 2 or 4.
The yield of milk and the live weights on the 4th of
February and the 4th of March scarcely vary. During
February thirty-four pounds of mangold were substituted
for kohl rabi ; with this change the cows became more
relaxed. My experience in weighing, extending over
several years, has shown me that when animals, from
change of food, become more relaxed or more costive,
their weighings in the former state denote less, whilst
in the latter they denote more, than their actual gain in
condition. I have known instances in which a month's
weighing, accompanied by relaxation, has shown no
gain, whilst, with restored consistency, the gain doubled.
I now proceed to examine the materials of food,
their composition, and the probable changes they
undergo in the animal economy.
FOOD AND ITS COMPOSITION.
397
Quantity and description of food supplied to six cows during twenty*
seven and a third weeks, and its composition in proximate elements
and minerals.
Per day.
Total weight of
food given.
Cost per ton.
Total cost
Weight of food
when dried.
HJS.
Ibs.
£ a. d.
£ s. d.
Ibs.
Meadow hay,
56
10,715
400
19 2 9
9,420
Rape-cake, .
30
5,740
6 10 0
16 12 I
5,456
Malt-combs,
9
1,722
590
430
1,660
Bran, . . .
9
1,722
6 10 0
500
1,500
Beans, . . .
9
1,722
968
736
1,500
Green food,
204
39,032
0 10 0
8 14 6
5,740
Oat-straw, .
50
9,566
1 15 0
790
8,407
Bean-straw,
12
2,296
-i 15 o
7 16 0
1,964
Total, . .
379
72,515
70 0 9
35,647
Albumen.
Starch.
Oil.
Fibre.
Minerals.
Meadow hay,
Rape-cake,
Malt-combs,
Bran, . . .
Beans, . . .
Green food,
Oat-straw, .
Bean-straw,
Total, . .
Ibs.
990
1,803
411
246
464
862
287
376
Ibs.
4,257
2,177
791
800
774
3,074
3,066
725
Ibs.
287
611
51
96
34
115
100
51
Ibs.
2,933
494
320
258
176
1,148
4,526
594
Ibs.
953
171
88
100
53
541
428
217
5,439
= Nitrogen
888 Ibs.
15,664
1,345
10,449
2,551
ANALYSIS OF MILK BY HAIDLEN.
Water, 873.
Butter, 30.
Caseine, 48.2
Milk sugar, 43.9
Phosphate of lime, 2.31
Magnesia, 42
Iron, 07
Chloride of potassium, 1.44
Sodium and Soda, 66
1000.00
398 APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM.
Production of milk by 6 cows, average 14 quarts per
day each, for 27J weeks = 16,072 quarts, which at 41
oz. per quart = 41,184 Ibs.
Ibs.
When dry or free from moisture, 5230
Butter in 16,072 quarts, at 30 per 1000 = 1235
Caseinein " " " 48.2 per 1000, =1977
Sugar of milk, = 1804
M. , (Phosphate of lime, 99 \ „,.
9rals10ther, 115 } '
5230
Gain of weight 500 Ibs., of which I compute 300 Ibs. as fat.
200 Ibs. as flesh.
500
Nitrogen, 316 Ibs.
Phosphate of lime 99
Phosphoric acid, = 45.50
Cost of food per cow per week, . 8*. 6£e?.
When the yield of milk is less, the cost of food is reduced to 7*. 8rf.
per week.
s. d.
Gross return in milk, 16 4
" " " weight, 16
" " " manure, 28
20 6
ANALYSIS OF EXCREMENT BY PROFESSOR WAY.
Per cent.
Moisture, 84.85
Phosphoric acid, .39
Potash, 58
Soda, 22
Other substances, .... 13.96
100.
Nitrogen, 41
Ammonia, 49
Manure, 88 Ibs. per cow per day.
For 6 cows per day 528 Ibs. = 3696 Ibs. per week.
" " " for 27 £ weeks 101,028 Ibs., containing of
Nitrogen, 414 Ibs.
Phosphoric acid, 393
Potash, 585
ANALYSES OP INGREDIENTS. 399
Nitrogen incorporated in food, 888 Ibs
Caseine, 316.
Fibrin, 7.35
Manure, 414.
Balance consumed in perspiration, .... 150.65
888.00
The materials of food are shown to have cost . . £70 0$ 9rf.
£. 5. d.
Gross value 16,072 quarts of milk, at 2d. per quart, . 133 18 8
Gain of weight 500 Ibs., at Qd. per lb., 12 10 0
Nitrogen in manure 414 Ibs. = Ammonia £. s. d.
4941bs.,at6rf., 12 7 0
Phosphoric acid 3(J3 Ibs., at l^d. per lb., . 291
Potash 585 Ibs., at 3rf. per lb., .... 763
— 22 2
4
£168 11
0
Manure per cow per day 88 Ibs. , per week 616 Ibs.
Containing ammonia 3 Ibs., . .
s. d.
. 1 6
Phosphoric acid 2.40 Ibs., . . .
o 34
Potash 3.57 Ibs.,
. 0 104
Value of a cow's excrement, per week, .... 2 8
The analyses of the chief ingredients of my own
produce, or such extra materials as I usually purchase,
have been made by Professor Way ; for other materials
I have had recourse to a very useful compilation by Mr.
Hemming (vol. xiii., p. 449, of the Society's Journal),
and to Morton's " Cyclopaedia of Agriculture." The
analysis of straw is that of oat-straw ; that of green food
is derived from the analysis of rape-plant, cabbages, and
kohl rabi. During February and March I have been
using wheat and barley straw with mangold, and, as these
materials contain less oil, I give in the steamed lood
three ounces of linseed-oil per day to each animal. For
the composition of milk I adopt that by Haidlen, whose
method of analysis is reputed to be the most accurate,
the proportion of butter in my milk being this season
very similar to that given by him.
It will be observed that this is the gross return for
twenty-seven and one third weeks from the time of
400 APPENDIX. — HORSFALI/S SYSTEM.
calving, from which will have to be deducted expense
of attendance, etc.
£. 5. d.
The materials used for food are found to have cost . . 70 0 9
The value of these materials as manure consists of 888
Ibs. nitrogen = 1061 Ibs. ammonia, at Qd., . . . 26 10 6
Phosphoric acid and potash, 3 15 4
Value of food if employed as manure, . . . £36 5 10
The 16,072 quarts of milk, at 2d. per quart for new
milk, at which price it enters largely into con-
sumption as food for man, amount to ... £133 18 8
The nitrogen in the milk 316 Ibs. = ammonia £. s. d.
3781bs.,at6rf. per Ib. 990
Phosphoric acid in ditto. 45£ Ibs. , at l^d. per Ib. , 0 58
£9 14 8
From these statements it will be seen that materials
used as food for cattle represent double the value they
would do if used for manure, whilst that portion con-
verted into food fitted for the use of man represents a
value thirteen to fourteen times greater than it woull
as manure.
It then appears clear that it is for the feeder's profit
to use his produce as much as possible as food for
cattle, with the view to convert it with the utmost
economy into food for man, and thus increase rathe?
than enrich his manure-heap.
The calculation of caseine in milk is based upon the
supposition that my milk is equal in its proportion of
that element to that analyzed by Haidlen. Several
analyses by other chemists show a less percentage, 4 to
4.50. As my cows are adequately supplied with
albuminous matter, I have a right to presume on their
milk being rich in caseine.
The loss of nitrogen by perspiration, 150.65 Ibs., is
nearly 17 per cent. Boussingault found a loss of 13.50
of nitrogen in a cow giving milk.
The abstraction of nitrogen in the milk is computed at £. 5. d.
316 Ibs., value, 990
The abstraction of phosphoric acid in the milk is com-
puted at 48^ Ibs. , 058
COMPOSITION OF MANURE.
401
Either the rape-cake or bran alone suffices for the
restoration of the phosphoric acid.
The amount of phosphoric acid in the manure is 393
pounds, being about sixteen per cent, of the whole ash
or mineral matter. The ash of meadow hay contains
about 14 per cent., that of rape-cake 30 per cent., bran
50 per cent., malt-combs 25 per cent., and turnips, &c.,
10 per cent, of phosphoric acid.
The amount of potash in the excrement is 616
pounds, being about 25 per cent, of the whole ash or
mineral matter. The ash of meadow hay contains about
20 per cent. ; rape-cake, 21 per cent. ; malt-combs, 37
per cent. ; turnips (various), 44 per cent. ; from which
it may be inferred that the sample of excrement sent to
Professor Way for analysis did not contain more than a
fair proportion of these ingredients.
To ascertain the quantity of excrement, the contents
of the tanks into which the cows had dropped their
solid and liquid excrement during five weeks were
weighed, and found to be 500 cwt. 2 qrs. 0 Ibs , from
18 cows, being 88 Ibs. per cow per day. The sample
for analysis was taken from that which the cows had
deposited within the preceding 24 hours. This was
collected in the mud-cart, well blended, and sent off
quite fresh.
It is sufficiently proved, by the experience of this
district, that 20 pounds of meadow hay suffice for the
maintenance of a cow of fair size in store condition ; a
like result is stated to be obtained from 120 pounds of
turnips per day. The six cows will have then required,
during the 27J weeks, for their maintenance, only
Per day.
Weeks.
Total
Weight.
containing of
« «
Albumi-
nous mat.
Oil.
Starch,
&c.
9130
9100
Ibs.
120
150
of hay or for
of turnips, or for
27 ^
27J
Ibs.
22,960
137,760
2127
2295
616
306
They will further have required adequate food —
34* 26
402
APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM.
Albuminous
matter, fibrin,
and caseine.
Oil and but-
ter.
Starch and
sugar of
milk.
For the production of
And for maintenance by turnips, . .
2,116
2,295
1,235
306
1,894
9,100
The food supplied is computed do
have contained
4,411
5 459
1,541
1 345
10,994
15 664
I omit the minerals, which are observed to be in
excess of the requirements.
For the maintenance of a fair-sized cow, for one day,
in a normal state, the following elements seem ade-
quate :
Mineral in-
Albumen.
Oil.
Starch, &c.
Lime.
gredients.
Phosphoric
acid.
In 20 Ibs. of hay, .
1.85
.536
7.95
.90
1.11
In 120 " " turnips,
1.98
.26
7.82
.97
1.9
When cows are in milk, there occurs a much greater
activity of the functions ; they eat and drink more,
evacuate more excrement, and, in all probability, spend
considerably more food in respiration. Whilst the
17.60 Ibs. per day dry matter in 20 Ibs. of hay are found
adequate for the maintenance of a cow in a store state,
the six cows in milk have eaten on the average 21.37
Ibs. solid matter per day during the 27| weeks. When
I have fattened cattle together with a number of milch
cows of similar size, which gave on an average eight
quarts of milk per day, the whole being fed with moist
steamed food, and receiving the same allowance of
green food, I have found the fattening cattle refuse
water, whilst the milch cows on the average drank
upwards of 40 pounds per day of water given sepa-
rately. The eight quarts of milk contain only about
17.58 Ibs. of water ; still, in several analyses of excrement,
I have noticed little difference in the percentage of
moisture in that from the fattening animals as compared
with that from cows giving milk.
ELEMENTS REQUIRED TO FORM BUTTER. 403
These facts would seem to show that upwards of 20
Ibs. more water were given off from the lungs and pores
of the skin of a milking than of a fattening animal.
The excrement of the six milch cows, 88 Ibs. per day
on the average, is found to contain of nitrogen 36,
equal to that in 2.25 Ibs. of albumen; whilst 1.85 of
albumen in the 20 Ibs. of hay is found adequate for
maintenance.
On comparing the supply of the food to the six milch
cows with their requirements and production, there
seems an excess in the albuminous matter, a deficiency
in the oil for the fat and butter, an excess in the starch,
&c. Taking, however, the increased activity of the
animal functions, and consequent consumption of food
by the milch cow, I am not encouraged to lower my
standard of food. That it has sufficed is abundantly
proved, as each of the six cows under observation has
gained in condition during 27£ weeks.
My observations on nutrition tend to the conclusion
that if you supply animals with starch, sugar, <fcc., to
satisfy their requirements for respiration, you enable
them to convert the oil of their food into butter or fat
to such extent as their particular organism is fitted for
effecting it.
On the 12th of March I purchased Mr. Smith's cow
(see p. 392) for twelve pounds ten shillings, being more
than her market value, for the purpose of trying her on
my food ; her yield of milk had then diminished to 8
quarts per day. On the 31st of March, four weeks from
the former weighing, and nineteen days after being
treated with my food, her yield of milk had increased to
9J quarts per day, and her weight to 8 cwt. 1 qr., being
28 Ibs. increase.
Mr. Pawson's cow, which was continued on the same
food, namely, meadow hay ad libitum, and a more
limited supply of turnips, reduced her yield of milk to
less than 5 quarts per day, without alteration in her
weight.
My cow first placed on trial with those of Mr. Smith
and Mr. Pawson gave a yield of milk of 12 quarts per
404
APPENDIX. — HORSFALL S SYSTEM.
day, and gained 28 Ibs. in the four weeks, her weight
on the 31st of March being 10 cwt. 2 qrs.
The weight and the yield of milk of the six, on the
31st of March, were :
March 4.
Yield of
milk
per day.
March 31.
Yield of
milk
per day.
Gain in
4 weeks.
Weight of No. 1.
" " 2.
cwt. qr. Ibs.
10 0 26
11 1 0
quarts.
8
14
cwt. qr. Iba.
10 3 0
11 3 0
quarts.
8.9
14.9
Ibs.
58
56
« « 4.^
10 0 0
14*
10 1 0
13
28
" «« 6.
10 3 0
14
11 2 0
12
84
'' « 7 1
11 0 0
10
11 3 0
10
84
" 11.
920
11
10 1 0
12
84
On referring to the previous weighing, there was
little or no gain from Feb. 4th to March 4th, the cows
being at that time in a somewhat more relaxed state.
During March they wholly regained their consistency.
The gain shown in the weighing, March 31, by the six
cows, appears therefore unusually great. It should,
however, be computed as made during the eight weeks
from Feb. 4th to March 31, being with an average yield
of nearly 12 quarts (11.66) per day each, at the rate
of 8g Ibs. each per week on the average.
No. 11, it will be observed, is stated as giving more
milk on the 31st than on the 4th of March. It
occasionally happens that cows drop their yield of milk
for a day or two, and then regain it, especially when in
use. The whole of these six cows were kept free from
calf till February, when Nos. 2 and 4 were sent to bull.
I had some hesitation in regard to No. 4, from her hav-
ing suffered from pleuro. Her milk, tested by a lac-
tometer, denoted a less than average proportion of
cream ; still, in quantity, and keeping up its yield for a
length of time, being of more than ordinary capability,
I decided to retain her.
Nos. 1 and 7, which are giving respectively 8 and 10
quarts per day, are in a state of fatness ; they will
probably be sold in June as prime fat, when their yield
of milk will probably be 6 and 8 quarts per day each.
PROPORTION OF CREAM. 405
They may be expected to fetch twenty pounds to
twenty-three pounds. No. 6 is also in a state of for-
wardness. No. 11, which suffered considerably from
pleuro, is in comparatively lower condition.
During the season from the close of October to the
close of January, I avoid purchasing near-calving cows,
which are then unusually dear, my replenishments being
made with cows giving a low range of milk, and
intended for fattening. I find them more profitable
than those which are quite dry. The present season I
had additional grounds for abstaining from buying high-
priced cows, from the recent presence of pleuro.
On the 2d of March I had occasion to purchase a
calving cow, which was reported to have calved on the
28th of February. Her weight on the 4th of March was
9 cwt. 1 qr. I supplied her with 35 Ibs. of mangold, and
hay ad libitum, of which she ate 22 Ibs. per day. The
greatest yield she attained was somewhat more than 13
quarts per day. On the 31st of March her weight was
9 cwt., being a loss of 28 Ibs. in four weeks. Her
yield of milk had diminished to 11J quarts per day. A
week after this her milk, during six days, was kept
apart, and averaged 10 quarts per day ; being at first
rather more, at the close rather less, than this. The
cream produced from these 60 quarts was 9 pints, the
butter 63 oz. The butter from each quart of cream
was 14 oz. The proportion of butter to milk was 63
oz. from 60 quarts — rather more than 1 oz. per quart.
An equal quantity of milk from a cow (calved Oct.
8th) treated with steamed food, and set apart for com-
parison, gave less than 7 pints of cream, which pro-
duced 79 oz. of butter.
In quality and agreeableness the butter from steamed
food and cake was decidedly superior to that from hay
and mangold.
Mr. Stansfeld, of Chertsey, has supplied me with the
following interesting particulars of two Alderney cows
which were treated as follows :
From Dec. 1st to Jan 15th; with Swedes and meadow
bay.
406
APPENDIX. — HOKSFALL'S SYSTEM.
From Jan. 15th to Feb. 17th, pulped and fermented
Swedes, meadow hay, and 3 Ibs. rape-cake, 2 Ibs. bean-
meal, 2 Ibs. bran, 2 Ibs. malt-combs.
From Feb. 17th to May 1st, 5 Ibs. rape-cake, 2 Ibs.
bran, 2 Ibs. malt-combs.
Results :
December 1st to January 15th, yield of butter from
each quart of cream, 10J oz.
January 15th to February 17th, yield of butter from
each quart of cream, 14 oz.
February 17th to May 1st, yield of butter from each
quart of cream, 18§ oz.
The yield of butter in proportion to milk, Dec. 1st to
Jan. 15th, is described as unsatisfactory.
The yield of butter in proportion to milk, Feb. 17th
to May, as 2 oz. per quart, which is their maximum pro-
portion.
Soon after calving the two cows gave 18 quarts of
rnilk per day ; on the 15th of May, 15 quarts per day.
Mr. Stansfeld has completely satisfied himself that
by the process of fermentation the turnip loses its
disagreeable taste, and that his butter is of excellent
quality.
If I take the supply of turnips, 120 Ibs. per day, as
requisite for the maintenance only of the cow, the
nutritive elements will be :
Albumen.
1.79
on.
.264
Starch and sugar.
7.92
Reckoning the oil as used for respiration, and computing it
in proportion of 5 to 2 as compared with starch = . .66
8.58
The food supplied to the cow consists of:
Lbs.
Water.
Dry.
Albu-
men.
Oil.
Starch
and
sugar.
Fibre.
Mine-
nils.
Phos-
phoric
acid.
Hay, . . .
Stored mangold,
22
35
2i
28.0
19.36
7.
2.03
1.05
.59
8.74
4.20
6.05
1.05
1.95
.70
.30
.05
26.36
3.08
.59
12.94
7.10
2.65
.35
OIL OF THE BUTTER. 407
The 13 quarts of milk yielded of butter, .... 13.60
Deduct for moisture, &c., 1 / 2.28
11.32
Butter in the skimmed milk estimated as 68
12.00 oz.
12 ounces of pure oil in the butter are | Ib. =* . . .75
The oil in the food, 59
The starch and sugar, 12.94
Used for animal respiration. 8.58
4.36
There appears, then, in this supply of food, .59 Ibs. oil
and 4.36 Ibs. starch for the production of .75 in the
butter from 13 quarts per day, the cow's greatest yield.
At the time the milk was tested, aftermath hay was sub-
stituted for first-crop hay, in equal quantity. This, it
will be observed, is decidedly richer in oil. Her prod-
uce had lessened to 10 quarts per day ; her production
of butter was 10.50 oz. per day, or of pure oil about 9
oz. ; for the supply of oil the aftermath hay alone would
be much more than adequate.
On examining the adequacy of the food for the sup-
ply of albumen for the caseine,
Ibs.
I find this to be, 3.08
I assume that in 120 Ibs. of turnips, as required for
maintenance, in a normal state, 1.98
1.10
Which, according to Haidlen's analysis, will be adequate
to the supply of 8.60 quarts per day. The supply of
mineral substances is in excess.
The cow, under this treatment, gave,
Soon after calving, fully 13 quarts per day.
Five weeks after calving, 11± " " "
In less than 8 weeks after calving, . . 9 " " "
And with this there occurred also a loss of weight.
We find this cow supplied with food amply rich in
408 APPENDIX. — HORSFALL'S SYSTEM.
every element suited to her wants and purposes, with
the exception of the nitrogenous principle only, lower-
ing her condition, and likewise her yield of milk, till it
approaches a quantity for which her food enables her
to supply a due proportion of caseine.
About the 20th of April, the cow's yield being re-
duced to 9 quarts per day, her food was changed to
steamed mixture. Soon after this her yield increased
to 11 quarts per day. Her weight, April 28th, 9 cwt. j
May 16th, 9 cwt. 14 Ibs.: yield of milk, 11 quarts.
I now introduce the dairy statistics of Mr. Alcock, of
Aireville, Skipton, who has for some time been prac-
tising my method of treatment, with such modifications
as are suited to his circumstances.
During the winter season, Mr. Alcock's food consisted
of mangold, of which he gave 20 Ibs. per day to each,
uncooked, together with steamed food ad libitum, con-
sisting of wheat and bean straw, and shells of oats.
Carob bean and Indian meal, for each, . . 3 Ibs. per day.
Bran and malt-combs, ....... 1 " " "
Bean-meal, .......... 3£ " " "
Rape-cake,* .......... 3 " " "
Of extra food,
From March 19, when his store of mangold was ex-
hausted, he increased his supply of Indian meal to 4
Ibs. per day, and omitted the carob bean.
During the month of January, Mr. Alcock obtained
from 759 quarts of milk 1323 oz. of butter, being from
each 16 quarts 26| oz. ; during February and March,
from 7368 quarts of milk 12,453 oz. of butter, or from
each 16 quarts fully 27 oz. : so that rather less than
9J quarts of milk have produced 16 oz. of butter.
The average produce from each quart of cream was
20J oz.
Mr. Alcock fattens his cows whilst giving milk, and
sells them whilst giving 4 to 6 quarts per day. He
* The rape-cake used by Mr. Alcock was of foreign manufacture, evi-
dently rich in oil, but containing mustard, and on this account supplied in
less proportion.
QUALITY OP THE BUTTER. 409
quite agrees with me that it is far more profitable to
buy far-milked cows for fattening; and obtains, from a
change to his food, 2 to 3 quarts per day more than the
cow had given previously.
Though Mr. Alcock's cream is not so rich as what I
have described on pp. 377 and 378, it is more than
ordinarily so. His mode of separating his milk from
his cream differs from my own, his milk being set up in
leaden vessels, from which, on the cream being formed,
the old milk is drawn, by taking a plug from a hollow
tube, with perforated holes in the centre of the vessel.
To this difference I am disposed in some degree to
attribute the less richness of Mr. Alcock's cream. On
examining the cream with a spoon, after the dairy-
keeper had drawn off the milk, I observed some portion
of milk, which would have escaped through my per-
forated skimmer.
Mr. Alcock's proportion of butter from milk, which is
the matter of practical importance, is greater than what
I have shown on a preceding page, being from each 16
quarts of milk 27 oz. of butter.
QUALITY OF BUTTER. — In January, 1857, samples of
about 56 oz. each, of butter of my own, and also of
Mr. Alcock's, were sent to the laboratory of Messrs.
Price & Co.'s candle-works, at Belmont.
My butter was found to consist of (taking the pure
fat only),
Hard fat, mostly margarine, fusible at 950°, . . . 45.9
Liquid, or oleine, 54.1
100.0
Mr. Alcock's,
Hard fat, mostly margarine, fusible at 10°, . . . 36.0
Liquid, or oleine, 64.0
100.0
For these analyses of butter the agricultural public
is indebted to the ' good offices of Mr. George Wilson,
director of Messrs. Price & Co.'s manufactory. It will
be observed that Mr. Alcock's milk is richer in butter
35
410 APPENDIX. — HOKSFALL'S SYSTEM.
and that his butter is also richer in proportion of oleine
to margarine than my own.
Professor Thompson ("Elements of Agricultural Chem-
istry," 6th edition, p. 317) states that winter butter
consists more of solid, and summer more of liquid or
oleine fat.
An analysis of butter made in Yosges gives :
Summer. Winter.
Solid or margarine fat, 40 65
Liquid (or oleine) fat, 60 35
100 100
In Lehmann's "Physiological Chemistry" (Leipsic
edition, vol. ii., p. 329), an analysis of butter by Bromus
gives :
Margarine, 68
Oleine, 30
Special butter-oil, 2
100
It will be observed that my butter may be classed as
summer butter, and that Mr. Alcock's is the richest in
the proportion of oleine. Both were produced in the
month of January.
These results are important, and completely establish
the conclusion I had previously formed, that the quan-
tity and quality of butter depend essentially on the
food and treatment; and that by suitable means you
can produce as much and as rich butter in winter as in
summer.
INDEX.
Aiton'8 opinion of dairy stock, 13, 14, 19
Albuminous substances, value of as food, 122-128
American cattle, origin of, 50, 51, 53, 64. 55, 60
American cheese, 260
Analysis of milk, 216, 397
'" butter, 239, 379, 409
" cheese, 268, 269
" hay and grasses 390,379
" " cotton-seed cake, 127, 128, 197
" and value of manure 198,398,401
Animals, large and small, 10, 111
Annatto for coloring, 250, 251, 328
Artificial shades in pastures, 1 35
Ayrshires, as dairy cows, 11,17,19,22,25,75,77
origin and points of, 11, 12, 14, 16, 22, 23, 25
yield of, 18,19.20,25
Barn, plan of a, 150, 151, 153
'* cellar, convenience of, 154
" temperature of for cows, 154
Bean-vines, value of, 139,370,371
Beauty of stock, 28, 36, 41, 72, 73, 104
Berkshire swine, crosses of the, 362, 363
Boussingault's equivalents, 125, 126
Breed, meaning of the term, 49
Breed, an element in judging dairy cows, 91,92
Breeds, some must be kept pure, 361
Bull, selection of for breeding 62, 63, 66, 75, 77
Butter, origin of, 217
** not made by the early Jews, 217
** from cream first skimmed the best, 218
" making of, .... 220, 221, 228, 220, 230, 232, 302, 309, 320
" modes of churning, .... 225, 226, 228, 232, 309, 311, 318
" salting of, 238, 321, 386
" composition of, 121, 239, 379
•• producing localities, . . 392
** quantity of milk to make a pound of, 382
" qualities of, 239,391,409
" worker, 226, 231, 235, 236
" from poor and rich pastures, 391
" use of the sponge to remove butter-milk, 231 , 234
" fat or oil of, 239, 240
412 INDEX.
Butter, in winter, 233,385,410
in lumps, 238, 323, 327
time of churning 229, 236, 319, 386
cleansing the casks for, 324, 325
mode of packing, 237, 238, 323, 326
coloring of, 328, 359
made by burying cream, 239
Butter-milk, use of, 329, 345, 361
proportions of, 379
Buying dairy stock, HI
Calves, raising of, 155, 156, 157, 160, 162, 165, 167
value of Guenon's method of judging, 102,110,155
feeding of by hand, 157, 159, 160, 163
diseases of, 290,291,292
" must have the first milk, 157, 159, 290
immediately taken from the cow 158,159
" starving and over-feeding, 161,167,168
" feeding hay-tea to, 165
" food required, 167, 168
Calving, treatment of the cow at, . . . 13,130,131,275
Cattle, importance of weighing, 387,396
" fattening of, 388
Cheddar cheese, mode of making, 261
•* analysis of, 269
Cheese, early history of, 241
" composition of, 121, 122, 268, 269
'* made of cream, 242
" " " skim-milk, 243, 266, 331
" making of, 243, 245, 247, 252, 360
" breaking the curd, 245, 247, 253, 350
«' new and sweet milks 246,339,345,348
" pressing of, . . 247, 251, 252, 254, 264, 268, 270, 334, 336, .341:
" salting, 254, 258, 261, 338, 342
" varieties of, 254, 255, 330, 348
«• coloring of, . 250, 353
" Cheshire, how made, 256, 257, 258
" Stilton, " " 259
«« Gloucester, " '« 260, 269
" Cheddar, " « 261, 269
" as a digester, 269, 270
" Dutch, making of, . 330,331,339,345 346
«' Gouda, " » 330, 331, 339, 344
" Edamer, " " 349
" moulds, 335, 337, 342, 351
Cheshire cheese, mode of making, 256,257,258
Choking, cure for, 283, 284
Churn, forms of the, 226,227,228,310,312,315
Churning, 225, 228, 232, 236, 309, 383, 385
" temperature for, 383,385
by lever . . . 311, 313
" by dog-power, ' 317
" by horse-power, 225, 318
Cleanliness the Srst requisite, .... 146, 221, 255, 300, 324, 330, 357
INDEX. 413
Climate and its effect on stock, 16, 37
Clover, value of for milch cows, 183, 184, 187
Constitution, indications of, 86, 104
Cool-bath, use of the, 803,304
Costiveness in calves, treatment of, 291,292
Cotton-seed meal, analysis and use of, 127, 128, 197
Cows, in the natural or wild state, '. 9,68,136
" " calf, treatment of, 130,131
" classification of, 102, 106, 108, 10J
Cream, treatment of, ' 236,378,385
" difference in quality 377, 38J
Cream-pots, 34, 2'.)8, 308
Crosses and their results, 23, 54, 55, 58, 62, 63, 74, 77
Dairy cows, management of, . . 113, 116, 117, 119, 123, 140, 367, 392
«• " too many for the food 113,116
" regularity of feeding, 117,119,120,133,137
'• room, 233, 237, 383, 384, 386
" utensils, treatment of, 296, 2i)7, 299, 322, 347
Dairy-fed pork, excellence of, 361
Dairyman's motto, 117, 120
Dairy-woman , letter to a, 355
Denmark cattle, 53
Diarrhoea, cause and treatment of, 287, 291
Digestive organs, 22, 86, 10D, 130, 277
Diseases of dairy stock, 271, 279, 286, 2;>0
Dunlop cheese, 261,262,264
" " analysis of, 269
Dutch cattle, . . .* 14, 15, 32, 37, 52, 104, 107
Dysentery, symptoms and treatment of, 288
Early maturity, importance of, 23, 36, 362, 304
Elements of food, 116,120,122,125,138,397
Escutcheon, form of the, 24, 65, 66, 69, 91, 93, 95, 97, 99, 101, 103, 105
transmission of the, 65,66,67,68,70
" of calves 102,110,155
Exceptional and characteristic qualities, 9, 59, 68
External signs of milkers 80,87,88,89,110
False presentations in calving, 274, 275
Fat of animals, how formed, 120,121,127,374
" forming elements, 120, 122, 128, 381
Feeding, course of, . . 118, 123, 124, 127, 129, 131, 133, 138, 140, 168
Food and shelter, 10,56,113,116,117,119,136,168
«' to produce quantity, 117,122,127,136,139,387
" adapted to the animal, 381, 396
" economy of, 400
" bulk of, 144, 381
•• variety of required, 121, 143, 144
" steaming the, 387, 396
Foul in the foot, treatment of, 284
Garget, symptoms and treatment 271, 272
Gentleness in the care of stock 147,148,164
35*
414 INDEX.
Gloucester cheese, mode of making, 260, 261
analysis of, 209
Grade and native cattle, 49, 54, 55, 60, 74
Grasses, culture of the, 169,170,172,176,180
" varieties of pasture, 169,170,184,185
•* cutting and curing of, 186, 187
Grass-fed cows, 123, 124, 133, 137
Great milkers, form of, 28, 72, 104
Guanon's method of judging cows, 24, 64, 90, 91, 92, 109
" " explanation of, • . . 65, 91
Hafting and its results, 21
Harley's experience, 20, 137
Hay cut and moistened, value of, 117,122,127
Hereditary qualities, 24, 6S
Herefords, origin and characteristics of, 38, 40, 43
Hornless cattle, 78
Hoove, cause and cure of, 282, 283, 292
Hoose, treatment of, 286
Horsfall's system of feeding, 138,365,370,380,383
Hubback, fame of, 32, 33
Hungarian cattle, 78
Ice, use of in the dairy, 236,240,244
Ice-creams, modes of making, 214,215
Inflammation of the glands, treatment of, 286
" " lungs', " " 286
Indian corn, culture arid curing for fodder 188, 189
Jersey cattle, origin and characteristics of, 26, 27, 29, 30
" " Haxton's opinion of, 27
" cows, milk of, 30, 76, 391
Lactometer, use of, 149,210,211
Letter to a dairy-woman, 355
Lice on cows, how to get rid of, 289
Linseed-meal, value and use of, 128, 197, 381
London dairies, 35, 74, 136
Loss of cud, cure for, 290
Male, selection of the, 62, 66, 75, 77, 362
Mange, symptoms and cure of, 288
Manures, economy and use of, 154, 198, 400, 401
Medicine chest, importance of, 293, 294
easily procured, 293, 294
Milch cows, yield of, 18, 20, 25, 116, 133, 301, 372
« " selection of, ........ 10, 61, 64, 67, 71, 79, 80, 86
" teeth of, 81, 83, 85, 86
M k, nature and composition of, 199, 200, 201, 203, 216, 369
oily parts of, 200, 204, 216, 217, 218, 239, 389
cheesy parts of, 200,204,216,241,369,389,400
temperature for raising cream, . . . 200, 201, 205, 212, 228, 233
" curdling, 244, 245, 246, 253, 267
* intoxicating liquor from, . . . • 201, 202
' difference in quality, 203, 207, 209, 219, 375, 383
INDEX. 415
Milk, specific gravity of, 203, 209, 210
setting for cream, . . 205, 207, 222, 223, 225, 228, 232, 234, 308
effect of climate on the quantity, 207
treatment of, .... 207, 208, 212, 219, 221, 223, 295, 302, 308
adulterating, 208, 209
ice-creams from, 214
of spayed cows, 215
measures for, 216, 296
room, 221,222,231,383
testing the quality of, 149,209,211,376,397
feeding fur, 66, 114, 115, 117, 123, 127, 129, 131, 132
greatest yield of on grass, 123, 124, 132, 137
Milk-fever, symptoms and treatment of, 275, 276, 277, 278
Milking, manner of affects the yield, 145, 146, 147
** women best adapted for, 149, 295
in the Dutch dairies, 295
«« qualities, artificial, 9,68,136,148
Milk-mirror, transmission of the, 66,67,68,70
form of the, . 24, 65, 66, 67, 69, 90, 91, 93, 96, 97, 99, 101
" explanation of the, 65
Milk-pans, forms of, 223, 224, 296, 306
Milk-yoke, use of the, 295,296
Milk- veins, size of the, 88,104,106,110
Millet, culture and value of, 189
Mixed food, conducive to health 121, 143
Moist and succulent food, .... 117, 122, 127, 133, 136, 139, 144, 387
Native or grade cattle, 14, 49, 50, 64, 56, 60, 61
Nitrogenous substances, value of, 122, 128, 381
North Devons, origin and qualities of, 44, 45, 47, 76
Nutritive value of articles of food 125,126
Oakes cow, yield of, 72, 73
Oil-cake, value of, 127 129, 381
Origin of breeds and races, 9
Parmesan cheese, mode of making, 266, 360
Parturition, treatment at, 131,273,274
Pastures, different qualities of, 391
Patton stock, 35
Philadelphia butter, quality of, 230, 234
Points of a dairy cow, 21, 22, 47, 61, 64, 73, 80, 86, 88, 110
Pork, best quality of, 362
Practice in judging stock, 80
Principles of breeding 23, 32, 58, 61, 62, 69, 71, 74
Puerperal fever, treatment of, 275, 276
Purgatives in use for cattle, 281
Rape-cake, value of as food, 381,391
Red water, treatment of, 285
Regularity, importance of, 117, 119, 133, 137, 143
Relative size of male and female 16,62,70,71,862
Rennet, how prepared, 247, 248, 249, 259, 332, 349
use of, 255, 257, 332
Rings on the horns, 81
416 INDEX.
Roots for stock, 118,119,122,127,137,138,39(5
" culture of, 191,192,193,196
Rye, culture and use of, 190
Scours in calves, treatment of, 291
Selection of cows, 10,61,71,79,80,86,110,111
Shaving the milk-mirror, 95
Short-horns, origin and characteristics of, 31,33,35
" influence on American cattle, 34, 35, 74
" beef of the, 36,42,43
Simple fever, symptoms and treatment, 279, 280
Size of animals, relative, 10, 70, 111
Skim-milk cheese, 243, 266, 331, 360
Slinking the calf. 274
Soiling, plants for, 132, 135, 142, 143, 144
" advantages of, 141, 142, 143
Sponge and cloth, use of the, 231,232,234,358
Spring, treatment of cows in, 131,133,137
Square box the best churn, 228
Stamping of butter, 323, 359
Stilton cheese, mode of making, 259, 260
Stock, improvement of, 57,58,60,63,71,168
" selection of, 10,58,60,64,66,71,86
" age of, 80, 81
Suffolk swine, crosses with, 362, 363
Surfeited cows, treatment of, 138, 290
Swill-milk, how produced, 144, 208, 209, 216
Swine, the kind of wanted, 362, 363
" treatment of, 364
Symptomatic fever, treatment of, 280
Teeth, indicative of age, 81,83,85,86
The piggery, 361, 364
Time a cow should run dry, 130,131,273
" ofc-dving, 131,272,273
Treatment of dairy stock, 56, 130, 131, 133, 134, 136, 138, 140, 148, 168
Typhoid fever, treatment of, 281
Udder, attention to the, 43, 88, 89, 104, 108, 272
structure of the, 145,146,202
Vegetable oils, 379, 389, 409
Virginia, importation of cattle to, , 35,50
Warbles, injure the hide, 290
Warmth and ventilation requisite, 136, 149
Whey, use of the, 344, 354
Willowbank dairy, 20, 137
Winter food for cows, 127, 131, 134, 186, 139
Wood for butter casks and firkins, S24
Yorkshire cattle, notice of, 30, 32, 35, 74
Youatt's opinion 18, 47, 272, 277
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