farm. It would
pay the wages and board of another man for six months. Can not it be
avoided? Good beef is relatively much higher in this State than good
cheese. Some of the dairy authorities tell us that cheese is the
cheapest animal food in the world, while beef is the dearest. Why, then,
should our dairymen confine their attention to the production of the
cheapest of farm products, and neglect almost entirely the production of
the dearest? If beef is high and cheese low, why not raise more beef? On
low-priced land it may be profitable to raise and keep cows solely for
the production of cheese, and when the cows are no longer profitable for
this purpose, to sacrifice them--to throw them aside as we do a worn-out
machine. And in similar circumstances we may be able to keep sheep
solely for their wool, but on high-priced land we can not afford to keep
sheep merely for their wool. We must adopt a higher system of farming
and feeding, and keep sheep that will give us wool, lambs, and mutton.
In parts of South America, where land costs nothing, cattle can be kept
for their bones, tallow, and hides, but where food is costly we must
make better use of it. A cow is a machine for converting vegetable food
into veal, butter, cheese, and beef. The first cost of the machine, if a
good one, is considerable--say $100. This machine has to be kept running
night and day, summer and winter, week days and Sundays. If we were
running a steam-flouring mill that could never be allowed to stop, we
should be careful to lay in a good supply of coal and also have plenty
of grain on hand to grind, so that the mill would never have to run
empty. No sensible man would keep up steam merely to run the mill. He
would want to grind all the time, and as much as possible; and yet coal
is a much cheaper source of power than the hay and corn with which we
run our milk-producing machine. How often is the latter allowed to run
empty? The machine is running night and day--must run, but is it always
running to advantage? Do we furnish fuel enough to enable it to do full
work, or only little more than enough to run the machinery?

"What has all this to do with making manure on dairy farms?" asked the
Deacon; "you are wandering from the point."

"I hope not; I am trying to show that good feeding will pay better than
poor feeding--and better food means better manure."

I estimate that it takes from 15 to 18 lbs. of ordinary hay per day to
run this cow-machine,