ll calf, which had a double cross of Pieterje 2d and Pauline Paul, and
which seemed an unusually fair specimen, was kept for further
development.

The cow barn was finished about April 1st, and shortly after that the
herd was established in permanent quarters. As the dairy-house was
unfinished, and there was no convenient way of disposing of the milk
which now flowed in abundance, I bought a separator (for $200) and sent
the cream to a factory, using the fresh skim-milk for the calves and
young pigs and chickens.

From March 22, when I began to sell, until May 10, when my dairy-house
was in working order, I received $203 for cream. Thompson had sold milk
from the old cows, from August to December, 1895, to the amount of $132.
This item should have been entered on the credit side for the last year,
but as it was not, we will make a note of it here. These are the only
sales of milk and cream made from Four Oaks since I bought the land.

The milk supply from my herd started out at a tremendous rate,
considering the age of the cows. It must be borne in mind that none of
the thoroughbreds was within three years of her (probable) best; yet
they were doing nobly, one going as high as fifty-two pounds of milk in
one day, and none falling below thirty-six as a maximum. The common cows
did nearly as well at first, four of them giving a maximum of thirty-two
pounds each in twenty-four hours. It was easy to see the difference
between the two sorts, however. The old ones had reached maturity and
were doing the best they could; the others were just beginning to
manufacture milk, and were building and regulating their machinery for
that purpose. The Holsteins, though young, were much larger than the old
cows, and were enormous feeders. A third or a half more food passed
their great, coarse mouths than their less aristocratic neighbors could
be coaxed to eat. Food, of course, is the one thing that will make
milk; other things being equal, then the cow that consumes the most food
will produce the most milk. This is the secret of the Holsteins'
wonderful capacity for assimilating enormous quantities of food without
retaining it under their hides in the shape of fat. They have been bred
for centuries with the milk product in view, and they have become
notable machines for that purpose. They are not the cows for people to
keep who have to buy feed in a high market, for they are not easy
keepers in any sense; but for the farmer who raises