Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1849-04-05
THE FARMER.
DAIRY FARMS IN VIRGINIA.
From tie 1htaay C4liratOr.

I 4
The following letter from Mr. Marshall, q
Fauquier. win be read with interest:
HAPPY CREEK, Va, Jan. 70, 1919.
Eds. Cnltirdtor II fear that a direc
answer to the enquiries of your letter of tn,
9th INST may place me in the false and un
enyiable position of ..the scholar attemntine
to play the teacher Allow me. therefore
to give a portion Of the history, with such an
"ac 'ount o. M dairy as your inquiries pro.
pose to elicit.
In the year 1916, several gentlemen Of the
county adjoining this in which / live. and
Mr.. Jno. Z. Underwood, of Herkiner couu.
! ~, IN your State, determined TO establish
leach ia dairy farm in this district of country.
we began to purchase cows in the winter of
iS4I, aud aided by the kind exertions of Mr..
Underwood, We supplied ourselves with dairy
men and utensils, from New York. aud com.
meneed business the following spring.
was, fortunately, enabled by the Kindness
OF Alr. Underwood, and the recommendation
OF Mr., A i, Fish, of Herkimer. to secure
the assistance of Mr. ii. NJ Mattison. Of
Herkimer; and to his energy. patience. and
knowledge of his business, wliaterar- A--.I.-i
for success EeePor hTS47 We purchased our
my first cheese April 20th,-twenty one
pounds-from 9 cows. The spring was cold
and dry, the grass backward, the cows picked
up wherever we could procure them, calyed
irregularly-many very late-aGd of course,
in SO irregular dairy, cannot calculate
the average yield, as calculated in old esta-
blished dairy countries. | give mine as yield
ed by the cows at the pail,> believing that
your object is, not to contrast the yield Of
Virginia dairics with the yield Of New York !.
or New England, but to draw forth facts
which may enable northern men to form an
opinion upon the relative advantages offered
by the north, and so far south, for dairying
interests.
On the 18th Of May we MIXED 81 cows,
and made IS pounds of checse-fecding 2
bushels Of shorts. On the 18th juno MIXED
forty COWS, made l03 lbs.-fcd bushels of
shorts July 18th, 50 cows, l2S bs.-fed 8
bushels shorts August 18th, So cows, so lbs
fed 1 bushels shorts The drought, or
rather its effects, were felt until this time,
after which the pastures continued fine
through the season. September 10Th, 81
cows, 1873 lbs October 23d, | Is lbs, and
commenced making butter. November 18th,
43 COWS, 81 lbs OF cheese December 30th,
34cows, 81 lbs of cheese; and by the LIST
January, We had made 25, 24f lbs. weight
from the press
My cows averaged me in price, when
bought Gil AZ. / fatted on grass, after the
lst Septembc and sold in November, fifteen,
at the average price Of $40 We MIXED out
of doors until about the LIST of November,
when We got into our stable, Tho cheese
house webegan to use in July. Ny cheese
house is 60 feet long by 26 feet wide. Water
is conveyed to it in pipes under ground
The stable is l04 feet, by SO feet, with stanch-
ions for 63 cows. The cows stand in the
centre with their tails towards each other
The space between the rows Of stanchions is
l6 feet. The side alleys 10 feet each
There is q cellar "a feet BY So, under the
barn. for manure, which is delivered from
the stable through trap doors in the floor
Through the year is4s we kept 63 cows,
and made $4,000 lbs Of cheese cannot
lay my hands on my dairyman's butter ac-
count for either year We fed whey with
the shorts, keeping but few hogs. But We
raised 25 calves the first, and thirty the Sc
cond year. The cows had range Of nearly
400 acres of pasture, withabundaneeo Of water.
/ established second dairy last year, and
shall establish third the coming spring -
The second has 40 cows, the third will have
g. The number of dairies in the adjoining
counties has been increased from three to six,
and there is great deal of land well adapted
to the purpose. Myueighbor, La Col Ran
do.ph, now offers for sale farm Of SiI acres,
for S., 600, with grist mill, and : meadow
Of 40 acres, about one mile from the village
Our dairymen are all from New York
We use til. dairy stove, (haying been unable
to procure steamer and ! believe the only
variance from New York practice in making
cheese, is 70 scald and salt rather higher,
which We think Is rendered necessary by the
length Of our summers
= ROBERT NJ. MARSHALL
nsP. Sour COWS are considered BY the
northern dairsmen who have seen them. IS
fairly averaging, in point Of size and appear
ance, with the dairies Of the north
-. x. NJ n