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 treatment—a produce of butter less in quantity, and containing 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 rape-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 suitable 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 producing milk peculiarly rich in butter. When travelling in Germany, I well recollect being treated with peculiarly rich milk, cream, and butter, on my tour between Dresden and Toplitz, at the station or resting-place on the chaussée or turnpike-road, before you descend a very steep incline to the valley in which Toplitz is situated. 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 circumstances, 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 more than ordinary condition, and gave about 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 seventeen 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 November, 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 | lbs. | 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 somewhat higher than that of Mr. Smith’s. When the experiment was begun, on the first of January, no perceivable 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.