which we have been talking about, even when kept
warm and comfortable; and if exposed to cold storms, probably not less
than 20 lbs. of hay a day, or its equivalent, and this merely to keep
the machine running, without doing any work. It requires this to keep
the cow alive, and to prevent her losing flesh. If not supplied with the
requisite amount of food for this purpose, she will take enough fat and
flesh from her own body to make up the deficiency; and if she cannot get
it, the machine will stop--in other words, the cow will die.

We have, then, a machine that costs say $100; that will last on an
average eight years; that requires careful management; that must have
constant watching, or it will be liable to get out of order, and that
requires, merely to keep it running, say 20 lbs. of hay per day. Now,
what do we get in return? If we furnish only 20 lbs. of hay per day we
get--_nothing_ except manure. If we furnish 25 lbs. of hay per day, or
its equivalent, we get, say half a pound of cheese per day. If we
furnish 30 lbs. we get one pound of cheese per day, or 365 lbs. a year.
We may not get the one pound of cheese every day in the year; sometimes
the cow, instead of giving milk, is furnishing food for her embryo calf,
or storing up fat and flesh; and this fat and flesh will be used by and
by to produce milk. But it all comes from the food eaten by the cow; and
is equal to one pound of cheese per day for 30 lbs. of hay or its
equivalent consumed; 20 lbs. of hay gives us nothing; 25 lbs. of hay
gives us half a pound of cheese, or 40 lbs. of cheese from one ton of
hay; 30 lbs. gives us one pound, or 66-2/3 lbs. of cheese from one ton
of hay; 35 lbs. gives us 1-1/2 lbs., or 85 5/7 lbs. of cheese to one ton
of hay; 40 lbs. gives us 2 lbs. of cheese, or 100 lbs. of cheese from
one ton of hay; 45 lbs. gives us 2-1/3 lbs. of cheese, or 111 lbs. of
cheese from one ton of hay; 50 lbs. gives us 3 lbs. of cheese, or 120
lbs. of cheese from one ton of hay.

On this basis, one ton of hay, _in excess of the amount required to keep
up the animal heat and sustain the vital functions_, gives us 200 lbs.
of cheese. The point I wish to illustrate by these figures, which are of
course hypothetical, is, that it is exceedingly desirable to get animals
that will eat, digest, and assimilate a large amount of food, over and
above that required to keep up the heat of the body and sustain the
vital functions. When a cow eats only 25 lbs. of h