Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1875-02-17


them side by side.
When the Jerseys first began to attract the at
] tention 81 dairymen, was advised TO try them
but like many Others | could not believe tbt
! prominent that could not deny that there must
be something 10 them aud after corresponding
] with several who had the stock Tor sale, | con.
/ cludcd that ! would not he humbuggcd or pay
/ fancy prices, but that I would give them a iair
| test, aud purchased a half-Jersoy calf from n
good, so-called native COW, but think the mother
/ showed points indicating some Durham blood
Here let me saw that for all practical or dairy pur-
| poses, would ~ soon have grade as full blood
l jersey. This calf put with one the same age
/ from my best stock which had bred over twenty
years, but which originally sprnng from the Can
ada Ayrshire, raising them up alike with rs
good chance ~ | could command not feeding
too much grain. The two animals came In last
April az two years Of age thcyare good size, and
] may say each Is q good type Of their breed, and
each has done well through the season The ma
tive gave fair quantity Of rich milk-l think she
" ahead Of any native | have raised for a long
time. The grade, having the largest frame has
consumed the most food at the barn, | presume
also at pasture, and have calculated ~ give them
all they would eat, although Mt times not Of the
best quality as yet the grade ia ahead In guam
tity OF milk aud quantity Of cream, and the but
ter Is all right
Every dairy with which am acquainted. or Of
which have examined the record Of products,
that has the Jersey blood to any extent, has done
better in financial point than other therefore,
am fully Of the opinion that the Introduction Of
foreign or Jersey blood into our diaries Is an i'm
proyement
In opening the following discussion Prof.
Collier said he believed that full fifty per
cent. of the cows in Vermont could be
Knocked in the head with an actual profit to
the dairy interests of the state. The aver
age Vermont dairy COW gives one hundred
and twenty pounds Of butter in one year
One COW in Plainfeld, the skinner Jersey,
gave in the last season five hundred and
three pounds. This is an exceptions but
there are whole herds giving two hundred
and fifty pounds per COW, an increase Of over
one hundred per cent above the average.
We must know which of our cows pay and
which do not, aud by getting rid of the lat
ter improve our herds and increase the per
cent. of their yield. Any farmer can make
these practical tests Of the value Of each in
diyidual member Of his herd TO him. There
are several ways, but the simplest and cheap
est method is topurchase a dozen glass tubes,
which will cost, at liberal estimate, sixty
cents. Place these in a rack made for the
purpose, and fill with the milk Of different
members Of your herd Mark or designate
each with the name or number Of the COW
whose milk it contains then pay particular
attention to the matter of temperature as
TO make the test a fair one, the tubes must
be submitted to as nearly the same atmos-
pheric condition as possible. When the
cream rises, you can tell through the tubes
the comparative merits OF the milk of each
COW. You can make the test more expen-
sive and accurate by using graduated glass
tubes Repeat the test several times during
the season, and if attended by comparatively
similarresults,you wllknow the value of your
COWS to you in cream-producing capacity.
If You find a COW is poor one, don't keep
her, for she is only a loss to you.
Nathan b. skinner of Plainfeld, said he
differed with the Professor in regard to the
tube method Of testing milk, and the butter
producing capacity Of the COW. The amount
Of butter did not depend on the quantity of
cream. lie had some cows that gave two
thirds of the weight of the cream in butter,
while others would only give one-third. He
thought the true method of testing the herd,
was to keep each cows milk separate, churn
the cream. weigh and test the butter; then
you know exactly how much butter your
COW would give and what kind of butter it
was.
Prof. Collier said he meant to add that
the tubes We're only an approximate test.
lie explained the relative difference in the
specific gravity Of the cream of different
cows, and Of the same COW at different stages
Of its formation; therefore bulk of cream
was not a certain indication Of amount of
butter But the tube method was approx
mately accurate, and ii repeated number
Of times, it would show beyond reasonable
doubt the character and value of each COW.
Farmers did not always have the time and
patience to practice Mr.. SINNERS method,
and he wanted they should do something to
understand the individual merits Of their
herds, so he urged the tubes as labor and
time-saving, and tolerably accurate way Of
doing it, Mr., SINNERS method was, of
course, exactly accurate, and not approximate.
Hon. F. ID. Douglass, Of Whiting, ex-
member of the Board, said the great ne
cessity for the farmers of this state, is to
find out what their herds can do. They
cannot get these fancy breeds at once, be-
cause they cannot afford it, but each man can
60 to work 10 improve the herdh has now got
The first thing to do is TO experiment on
every member of the herd, and find ont
whether she is source of profit or loss.
If this is done intelligently, and acted upon
the yield of the dairy products in this state
can be increased 100000 in five or six
years. For instance, take an average herd
of twenty cows, yielding one hundred and
thirty pounds of butter per COW for the sea.
son, selling at an average price of twenty
five cents per pound, and your total income
from such a herd would be $3.50. This is
the average yield of the herds of the state.
On the other hand, take an improved herd
of the same number of cows, whose yield
had been raised from one hundred and thirty
pounds per COW TO three hundred pounds,
and the product selling at sixty cents per
pound-an he could name several herds in
the state in which this had been done-you
then have gross income of 50 G00-an ex.
cess of $1,000 from the same number of
COWS. Allow $3.50 for extra care and feed,
a liberal allowance, and you then have a
net profit of g., 600; the immediate result of
brain work in the improvement and care of
herds. Still further, suppose that the aver
age product of the diaries Of this state is one
hundred and fifty pounds of butter, or its
equivalent and that this is sold at an aver
age price of twenty-eight cents per pound,
which was the average selling price of 1873,
then add TO the yield of each COW fifty
pounds, which can easily be done without
extra keeping, by such methods OF expert
ment and selection as has been urged, and
S2,52l,OO0 is added to the income Of the
dairy interests of the state. In this esti-
mate the number of cows reported in the
last census is taken as a basis.
Mr. Douglass proceeded to describe his
method of testing the comparative merits of
members of his herd. He exhibited the
cans which he used for this purpose. They
were of tin, sixteen inches deep, by three and
IL L. a 4 a