The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1883-01-04
arirnltnrnl.

.
\ AT tho annual eoaniry meeting Of the
Massachusetts, state board o. agriculture.
recently held at Northampton. Capt Henry
u Alvord Of Hopghton Farm, New York.
discussed the milk question. lna report
Of the meeting found In the New England
Farmer, ne make some extracts relating 10
that part OF the speakers snblsc, treating
upon the selling Of milk from the farm and
iis effects upon the soil Mr.. Alvord says
the sale Of milk is often quite alluring, be.
cause Of the steady, though perhaps small,
cash returns He believed that when the
many items Of cost were figured up correct
", il would be found that milk rarely sold
at profit, bu, tina, its sale is simply one OF
the methods by which farmers are dispos-
ing Of the fertility OF their lands. They are
really selling their farms by the quart and
pound. One thousand pounds Of milk
contain. besides other elements. in nitro
gen, potash and phospboric acid. the
three things we pay for when We buy ma
nures, not less than what would cost us
one dollar and fifty-four cents, so that real.
y gallon OF milk is worth one cent and
half to throw upon the compost heap.
The price Of milk must always be high
enough to pay what it will cost to restore
this fertility to the soil, or there is an inc.
vitable loss in the business
Further. farmers lose, or rather fail to
make profit from their milk when they
keep cows that yield but small yearly
amount. A COW that woaid soA yield
200 quarts Of milk per year, hs did not
consider worth keeping, tic woah prefer |
to make 2a00 quarts ,he minimum figure.
aud believed that standard could be easily
reached by cows that are Low ohtainab' e
He thought $500 quartz, or ..wice a. Ian,
pounds, would afford lair profit to the.
producers.
The idea bere advanced appears to be
rational enough; farmers selling milk
shor,.d aim to keep cows that will give
good average yield, otherwise they must
lose. While of course due regard should
be paid to the quality OF the milk, yet it
will undoubtedly be often found that cows
kept for butter would not be profitable for
the milk trade Farmers engaged in the
manufacture OF butter often make = mis-
take in keeping cows that from the large
yield of milk are supposed to be good or
extra, but which on testing are found TO be
poor for this purpose. In this case the
conditions are exactly the reverse Of those
mentioned by Mr.. Alvord. and show the
importance in both casee Of having COWS
adapted to the purpose for which they are
kept, whether for the production OF but
ter, cheese, or milk to SELL
But to return to the fact OF the exhaus-
tion of the soil by the selling Of the milk.
Mr.. Alvord says that in selling $500 quarts
of milk, or the production of one COW, the
farmer is In reality getting rid Of ten dol
lars worth Of the fertility of his land, as 1t
will cost him that much to get it back
again by purchased grain or fertilizers, at
the market rates. He further says that
many farmers who think they are feeding
quite literally are yet failing to restore
this depleted fertility. A daily ration of
four quarts each OF wheat, bran and corn
meal and one pound of cotton seed meal,
fed for 200 days, would still leave O
balance on the wrong side of the account.
From analyses of DR. Iawes found in
"Harris's book on manures, we find the
manurial value Of the above feed to amount
to Sll "a, but Of course in practice it will
fall short OF these figures.
Here follow some figures that will more
generally interest our dairymen, as most OF
them either make their own butter or have
the skinned milk at home if it is made at
factory.
OF the ten dollars per year which the
milk of a COW draws from the fertility Of a
farm, seven-eighths is contained in the
skinned milk which is fed TO hogs, while
nearly all of the remaining eighth is in the
buttermilk. Not more than six cents OF
the ten dollars is in the butter. From this
it would appear that keeping COWS for
butter making detracts very little from the
fertility of the soil, the skinned milk is
all carefully fed to pigs and calves and
pains taken to make all the manure pos.
sible from these animals But some al
lowancc must be made for the difference
that there will he between the figures
given by analyses aud the results that will
be Obtained by farmers, by their imperfect
and often wa,teful methods In the keep
ing OF pigs, for instance, one farmer will
SO manage as TO make twice the amount OF
manure by the aid of his animals that his
neighbors will, and this would be quite
an item on the right side OF the account,
and so Of many other things.
In the choice of stock for the farm and
in the disposal Of the products Of the same
much regard should be had as to the prob
able effects upon the soil, for the farmer
cannot afford to follow up any system that
will gradually but surely reduce the fer
tiliiy of his farm, unless it should be so
profitable as to enable him to make good
any deficiency In this direction from other
sources.
-
Apples are bringing high prices, and
viii sell still higher before spring. Bald