deterioration of the herd as to call for the utmost caution in his selection, which should be based primarily upon the performance of his immediate ancestors.

Whether the cows be grades or pure breds, it is of the highest importance in building up a dairy herd to secure a pure-bred sire of outstanding dairy merit. Unless the sire is descended from good milkers, it is folly to expect him to produce good milkers, no matter how fine or how ideal he may be as an individual. It is, furthermore, of importance to remember that the herd cannot be successfully built up unless the sires that are successively used belong to the same breed. If the grading-up is begun with a Jersey sire, the process must be continued uninterruptedly by the use of Jersey blood.

Another matter of prime importance in the successful management of a dairy herd is the keeping of a record of the milk and butter fat produced by the individual cows of the herd. The keeping of a daily record of the weight of the milk of each cow is a very simple and inexpensive task. All that is necessary is to have a small scale and a ruled sheet of paper upon which to record the weights of milk morning and night. The daily weighing of the milk from each cow is valuable also in serving as a check upon the work of the milkers. A rapid shrinking of the milk is usually detected on the milk sheet, and may be entirely due to careless milking. Great daily fluctuations in the yield of milk are also, in most cases, the result of indifferent and inefficient milkers. The milk from each cow should be tested about once a month during the whole period of lactation. A satisfactory way of doing this is to collect what is known as a composite sample, which consists in securing about one-half ounce of milk from each of six consecutive milkings and placing this in a half-pint composite-sample jar containing a small amount of preservative. The test of this composite sample will represent the average amount of butter fat for the period during which the sample was taken, and will serve with sufficient accuracy as an average test during the entire month.

By keeping a record of this kind it will be found that the owner of practically every herd is keeping cows which do not pay for their feed, and the only sure way of locating these cows is in keeping records as outlined above.

The

Another important matter in the building-up of a dairy herd is to select calves from the best milkers and to cull out the poor cows which by the records have been found to be paying either no profit at all, or only a small one. selection of calves from the best cows is the only sure and safe way of making any permanent improvement in the dairy herd. The practice of continually buying cows is not only costly, but is also a means of introducing contagious diseases into the herd.

Now, a word with regard to the subject of feeding. I wish to say at the outset that no dairyman can farm successfully who does not raise his own roughage. The man who continually depends on cotton-seed meal and cotton-seed hulls can never expect to attain a high degree of success in the dairy, not alone because of the high price of the hulls, but because of the unsatisfactory combination of these two feeds.

The cheapest and most satisfactory roughage that can be produced upon the farm is corn silage. Its succulence and palatability make it an ideal feed for milk production. This feed should be available upon the farm the larger portion of the year. In the winter it takes the place of some of the pasturage; in the summer and fall it is needed to supplement the shortage of pasturage which usually occurs about this time.

Cows giving a large flow of milk should be fed an ample allowance of grain. It always pays to feed a cow to the limit of her capacity. As a rule, 50 per cent of the total nutrients required by a dairy cow is necessary to maintain her own body, so that it will neither gain nor lose in weight. The other 50 per cent is converted into milk. If the farmer, therefore, feeds the cow threefourths, or 75 per cent, of the amount of feed that the cow requires for her best milk production, he may in that case expect approximately only one-half the amount of milk that he would get if he supplied the remaining one-fourth or 25 per cent of the feed. It is one of the costliest things in the management of a dairy herd to underfeed cows.

PROFITABLE BUTTER MAKING ON THE FARM.

By R. L. SHUFORD, Catawba County.

To make butter profitably on the farm as well as in the larger dairy we must first have good cows. Every manufacturer of goods on the market knows that in order to make the most profit he has to have the very best machine possible for that business, and it must be kept in the best running condition. Constitutional vigor in a dairy cow, the machine that we have on the farm for doing this dairy work, is something that we cannot pour into an animal with a bottle; it has to be bred in her and fed into her. What are some of the first steps in breeding animals to secure this constitutional vigor we desire and must have to make the most out of our business?

First, breeding from nothing but strictly healthy animals. We do not want anything but strictly healthy dairy cows to raise dairy stock from. After we have healthy cows, we should know their capacity. Everything should be measured by its capacity for work, or, in case of the cow, by her production. A man is paid, or ought to be paid, for his ability to work, either with his mind or muscle. The value of a race horse is measured by his record. The value of the dairy cow depends upon her capacity to produce butter and milk at a profit. So the first thing we ought to do is to use the scales and Babcock tester and find out whether old Brindle is paying or not. If we were dairying for fun it might be all right not to know this; but if for business, we must use business methods. It is not enough to know that a cow gives a pail full of milk when she is fresh; we want to know what she produces in a year. To make butter profitably on the farm it is very important to know these things, because the small dairyman will have to breed and raise his cows, and if he acts wisely there is no reason why he cannot breed as good or even better than the larger breeder, as he can give the herd his personal supervision, while the large breeder has to depend on hired help, which in most cases will not take the interest that the owner would. I have been asked often whether or not a mule colt could not be raised to maturity as cheaply as a cow. My answer to this is, it probably can be, but why not raise a cow that will bring as much as a mule? This I have tried, and believe I have succeeded in doing.

To get the most profit out of butter on the farm it is necessary to do it in a co-operative way. Get several of your neighbors interested. This is particu larly necessary when the market is not convenient and the product has to be shipped, as it is rather expensive to ship a small amount often, which it is very necessary to do in order to get the best price. By combining the shipments the cost can be very much reduced, as each can do this in turn. It will be quite a while yet before creameries of any size can be run to any advantage. We will first have to get more people interested in keeping cows, but with the hand separator and proper handling of the cream there is no reason why we cannot make just as good butter, or even better, on the farm. If we try to learn, and have conditions right, we can be sure to turn out the best product. Our people should be educated to make a better quality of butter, as this will greatly increase the consumption. When there is a lot of inferior butter on the market, people use but little of it. I was once told by one of my customers that the only objection he had to my butter was "that it took too much of it," that he used double the amount that he did of cheap butter. However, this man is still buying the best butter he can get for family use and paying the difference in price.

Co-operation with your neighbors will also greatly help in breeding up better dairy cattle. By co-operating, we can buy the best sires and change our breeding without so much expense. I think every dairyman, it matters not how small his business, should make an effort to breed registered stock, as it does not cost any more to raise them, and when he has a surplus there is so much more profit in what he sells.

One among the most noted Jersey breeders in America to-day is a man who only keeps eighteen to twenty cows. He has bred and developed some among the largest producers. On the Island of Jersey the breed has been developed by small dairymen through co-operation. If the average farmer could get rid of his prejudices and false notions about registered stock and be persuaded to give up saying this, "They say grades are worth just about as much for business as registered stock," he would put himself far along on the road toward the improvement of his cows and a big increase in their earnings. They seem to stick to their notion that the haphazard cow is really better and more profitable for them than a cow born of an improved sire and dam. The same low grade of judgment prevails upon the subject of feeding. Many people really think they cannot afford to feed their cows well. It is true that no man can afford to buy feed, or raise it, either, for poor cows, but it is certainly true that no man can afford not to feed a good cow the right food and all she will eat and digest.

MARKETING MILK AND CREAM.

By WILLIAM D. SAUNDERS, Dairy and Food Commissioner of Virginia.

Our cities, for the most part alive to the interests of the health of their citizens, have established boards to control to a certain extent the production of the milk coming within their municipalities for consumption, the danger being that diseases of various kinds are frequently transported in milk and produce their characteristic troubles when taken into the intestinal tract, the principal requirements for the present being more cleanly methods in the production of the milk and freedom of the cows from disease. Some dairymen seem to resent interference on the part of the city authorities with their arrangements, while others are willing and eager to meet the requirements and do what the boards of health regard as necessary to be done in the interests of the health of the different cities.

I will deal with this question first, so far as it concerns the dairyman who is trying to supply cities with such milk as will satisfy their health officers and protect the consumer, so far as science indicates that it can be done. I think I will take a text at this point, as there are two words I want to impress on you, and want you to hold to and practice what I am going to say in connection with them:

CLEANLINESS AND COLD.

Cleanliness about the stable, in the first place, is most important. We want our stable where the drainage is good; we don't want mud around it so deep we can hardly get through it all winter. We want the stable itself arranged so that it can be kept clean. Cement floors, with gutters for carrying off all liquid material, are most important. The stable should be cleaned out as often as necessary to get out all material and keep the floor clean. It is just as easy to clean the floor once daily as once a week, and twice daily as once. Getting in the habit of doing it is all that is necessary. We are all victims of habit. If we ever get in the habit of doing anything, we find it is all right. Another practice of keeping the dry feed over the cows is one that should be changed when new barns are being built, and for several reasons. When the forage is being fed, a considerable dust is raised in the barn, which is not good for the cows, and also tends to infect the milk, to some extent, with germs that, while they may not be harmful, had better be kept out. More light is wanted, as well as more air. Light, especially sunlight, tends to destroy germs and moulds, which might cause trouble and which may be present in the barns. Plenty of light and ventilation also tend to bring about better conditions of health amongst dairy cows. Cows, when milked, should first be

brushed off along their sides and udders, their sides and udders dampened, so that as little contamination as possible will get into the milk from this source; hairs from the sides of the cow, dandruff from the udder and dirt and dung from the tail will add foreign material to the milk, carrying more or less germs of various kinds that should be and can be kept out. The pail in which the milk is drawn should be carefully washed and sterilized before any milk is drawn into it. This is again a source of contamination. Steam is essential for sterilizing all vessels used in handling milk. A small boiler costing about $25 will answer every purpose and drive a small turbine separator, if desired. The dairyman who is undertaking to provide a milk free from most objectionable features should, in the first place, provide good healthy cows. These cows, if it is practicable to be done, should be tested for tuberculosis regularly, as there seems to be a growing demand that only milk from cows tested and not reacting be allowed to be sold in our cities and towns. Whatever we may think of tuberculosis and its transmissibility from cattle to human beings, one thing we are all agreed upon, and that is its contagious character as to cattle. One case in a dairy herd threatens the entire herd, and sooner or later every cow in a herd may contract tuberculosis from one tuberculous animal. Knowing this, are we not as much interested in controlling this disease as anyone else who may be trying to lessen the possible risk of contracting this disease through the milk? We should observe cleanliness about the barn, cleanliness about the cows and cleanliness in handling the milk after it is taken from the cows. As soon as the milk is drawn, it should be removed from the stable and to the milk room. The milk room should be located some little distance from the barn-far enough to be free at all times from the odors about the barn, and as far as possible from the flies that are around a stable at all times. In order to get rid of the flies as far as possible, screens should be provided for all the openings to the milk room, and kept closed, except when it is necessary to open the room. As soon as the milk is taken to the milk room it should be strained through two thicknesses of cheese cloth to remove whatever may be in it which may have gotten in in spite of whatever precautions may have been taken; these strainers should be carefully cleaned and sterilized by boiling, if used again, or, what would be better, discarded each time after being used. The better way, however, to cleanse milk is to pass it through a cream separator, the separator holding all the foreign matter which may have gotten into the milk, except what may have gone into solution in the milk. As any strainer, from the nature of the case, is composed of material with small holes, allowing the milk to pass through, it can be seen that sufficiently small material will pass through with the milk when the milk is strained. In the case of passing milk through the separator, practically all solid matter is held in the separator bowl. Immediately after the milk is cleansed, whether by passing through a separator or straining, it should be cooled to as low a temperature as possible, short of freezing, and even some freezing would make no difference. This can be accomplished by using a Champion milk cooler, or a cooler of this type, and plenty of ice, reduced as fine as practicable, and with water to float it; filling the entire cooler with the ice and water, this is stirred at short intervals while the milk is slowly run over the outside, reducing the temperature of the milk to near the temperature of the water and ice in the cooler. If one passing of the milk over the cooler does not reduce the temperature sufficiently, then it can be repeated. One passing over will usually reduce the temperature to about 35 degrees Fahr., or below. This temperature should be maintained until the milk is delivered. To do this the milk should be placed in a tank with plenty of ice and water surrounding the can containing the milk and held at a temperature as near 33 degrees F. as possible until delivery is made. When ready to ship. the can should be surrounded with some nonconducting material, so that the temperature of the milk will be held as near as possible to what it has been brought to until delivered; this is done by using felt jackets, which are made specially for this purpose, strapped tight to the cans, holding the temperature, with very slow rise, during the period of delivery. While ice is an essential, almost, to the successful handling of milk and cream, a great many dairymen do not provide themselves with ice, and cannot, for that reason, handle their milk as has been suggested. In such cases they should use as cold water as

may be available, and reduce the temperature of their milk to as near the temperature of the water as possible; this can be done by using a Champion milk cooler and running the water through it while the milk is running over it. The Star milk cooler is a very good cooler to use, when it is desired to use water only to cool with. The temperature of the milk, if passed over either cooler slowly, will be reduced to near the temperature of the water used.

The proper cleaning of all vessels used is very important; some fat solvent should be used in the water. Sal. soda makes a very satisfactory material for this purpose, and all vessels used should be washed in this solution; the first water should be cold and the next as hot as the operator can stand. As soon as the vessels are washed they should be rinsed in hot water and placed over a steam pipe, allowing the steam to run slowly into the can or vessels and remain heated in this way for several minutes; this provides sterility or destruction of whatever germs may be present in the corners or crevices of the vessels from which they cannot be dislodged by washing.

I will now endeavor to indicate how to prepare milk and cream for market in large quantities. It will not be necessary to repeat the method of handling the milk only after it has come to the creamery, the method up to this time being practically the same as far as it is possible to do it. As soon as the milk comes to the milk plant-not more than an hour or so should elapse before getting it to the plant--it should be treated so that it will be changed but little, if any, from what it was when received. The proposition, then, is to maintain this condition until the milk is put into the hands of the consumer; to do this it is necessary to destroy the germ content of the milk as far as possible, as milk two or three hours old contains large numbers of bacteria; to destroy these bacteria and not affect materially the taste of the milk is what is desired to be done. This can be done by raising the temperature of the milk to from 140 to 160 degrees F. and maintaining this temperature a sufficient time to destroy the bacteria present; this period will be longer in the case of the lower temperature; twenty minutes at 160 degrees F. destroys practically all bacteria present in milk. This treatment is called pasteurization. After the milk has been pasteurized, the germs being practically destroyed, a condition of temperature should be provided which will prevent the growth of such bacteria as may get in afterwards. This we do by reducing the temperature of the milk to a point at which the bacteria cannot develop or as near 33 degrees as possible. To maintain this temperature until delivery, the milk is frozen to some extent, about ten to twenty per cent of the can being frozen; this, with the protection the felt jackets give, will maintain the temperature from 12 to 15 hours at about 33 to 35 degrees F. It is understood that such precautions in the way of washing and sterilizing all vessels used in connection with handling the milk, both before and after pasteurizing, as has been indicated, are most important. After the milk or cream, as the case may be, has been pasteurized and partly frozen, it can be held in cold storage at a temperature of 30 degrees F. for several days without its condition being affected but very slightly. Milk and cream prepared in this way can be handled between points which can be reached within 36 hours very successfully; in fact, our creamery at Blacksburg has shipped cream prepared for shipment as has been indicated, to points requiring 36 hours to make delivery. Cream has been shipped, prepared for shipment as has been indicated, from the creamery at V. P. I. to Palm Beach, Fla., a distance of 1,200 miles, requiring 36 hours for delivery; to New Orleans, La., 800 miles, and requiring about 24 hours; also to Little Rock, Ark., and various points in North Carolina-from the mountains in the west to the seacoast on the east. Milk treated in the above manner could be as successfully handled as cream.