GENERALITIES.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2192, 5 March 1881, Page 2

GENERALITIES.

[“Prairie Former,’’] It must excite surprise that the valuable information communicated through the agricultural journals concerning dairy management should be so generally disregarded as it is. If we discover any improvement it is rather in tho economy of the produce than in the treatment of the cow. This unwillingness to deviate from accustomed practice may arise from the erroneous opr-ion that the extra time and labor required in attending to apparent trifles will never be compensated by a proportionate increase either in the quality or quantity of the produce. But can anything be justly called a trifle which adds to the profit of an animal kept expressly for that purpose ? It is well kr*wn that any kind of live stock is profitable or expensive, according to the method of keeping tho same • bat cows, under tho worst management, are profitable, and few will deny but they may bo made more so by proper treatment.

Tho dairy house should be located in a situation which is airy the walls and roof protected from the influence of the sun, that tho temperature throughout the year may range from fifty to fifty-five degrees. Hence, a northern aspect will be most desirable. A dry situation should bo selected, as it gives gives facility to cleanliness, and both milk and cream retain their sweetness much longer in dry than in damp air. All stenches ore injurious, and should be guarded against. The utmost cleanliness should bo observed throughout. All the utensils employed in making butter should be scalded, scrubbed, rinsed, and dried every time they are used. In making cheese it is not so necessary to scald tho utensils as it is to have them well washed and dried every day. When vessels become tainted with the acidity of milk, they act like a leaven to everything placed in them, and should be thoroughly cleansed by boiling, or by tho use of alkali. What particular breed is best suited for the dairy, may be a matter of opinion ; but whatever breed may be preferred, it should be remembered that there is a material destination to be observed between the form of the cow adapted for tho dairy and that of one best adapted for fattening. Among the points indicating a good milch cow may be mentioned a thin and hollow reck, light forequarters, with little dew-lap, a well-rounded johest, broad loins and hips, and in no parts showing much indication of a disposition to put on fat. The hide should be thin and mellow, the hairs fine, and the tall small. But especially the udder should be full and round, yet thin to the touch, and should bo of equal size and substance throughout. If it shows more behind than before, it is deemed a sign of the milk falling off soon after calving ; and if it feels coarse and lumpy, the bag will be found not to contain a largo quantity. The teats should stand square, at equal distance, and should neither be very large, nor very thick towards the adder, but nearly equal, yet ending in a point. Another very material consideration is the temper, for kindly cows will not only give less trouble than those of an opposite disposition, but they are generally remarked to possess a greater quantity of milk, and from parting with it more readily, they are less subject to fall off in their milking. When butter or cheese is the principal object, such cows should always be chosen as arc known to afford tbe best milk and cream, and in the largest quantity, of whatever breed they may be. But the weight of butter to be made from a given number of cows, must depend upon a variety of contingent circumstances, suoh as the size and goodness of the cows, the kind and quantity of the food, and the distance of time from calving. As to the first, it need scarcely bo mentioned, that it i» not always the largest cows that give the most milk, though cows of equal size differ as to the quantity of ore&m produced from the milk of each. It is, therefore, on those cows whose milk is not only in large abundance, but which, from a peculiar inherent richness, yields a thick cream in large quantity, that tho dairyman is to place his chief dependance ; and where a cow is deficient in either of these, she should be parted with, and her place filled up by one more proper for this nee. It is unnecessary for a cow to go dry long before she calves; the thing will tell for itself. When tho milk changes brackish, she should be dried off ; that may bo in three, four, or five weeks before she calves. Milch cows seldom go dry before, unless it bo from neglect, poverty, sickness, or bad milking. If at any time roots or cabbage are given to milch cows, care should be taken not to give them any rotten or withered leaves ; one rotten turnip or cabbage will affect the flavor of milk and butter more than a cartload of such food when perfectly sound. When milch cows are obliged to seek their food over a large range, they will never produce that quantity of milk that they will when confined to a smaller range. Be particularly careful to milk cows regularly and clean. Many cows are spoiled for want of patience at the close of milking them.