commend it as an invariable practice in every dairy, to keep each cow's milk separate on the first day of every month at least throughout the year, for the purpose of ascertaining the quantity and quality of the milk yielded by every one of them individually. Were this practice strictly adhered to, it would advance the practical knowledge of the dairy more in the space of one year, than can be done in the random mode of procedure usually adopted in a century; because it would lay open to view innumerable circumstances of great importance to the welfare and prosperity of the owner that are not at present suspected, and that never can come to be generally known among this clafs of persons, unless something of the kind here advised shall be done. I shall have occasion to specify some of these circumstances in the sequel, that I know will be disregarded by many dairy owners, merely because they never have had an opportunity of remarking them. The case that gave occasion to this remark is a striking example; but there are many others equally unattended to, and which daily occur.

Of this nature I shall briefly beg leave to specify the following diversity that daily occurs among different varieties of cattle without being sufficiently adverted to. Some kinds yield a very large quantity of milk soon after calving, which continues to flow for a short time in vast abundance; but this flush of milk lasts only for a short time, like a horse without bottom, who sets off at the beginning of a journey with surprising alacrity, but soon becomes jaded and tired, and must have rest or he will die. Others, like a horse of true mettle, set off with lefs speed, but con

tinue to make an equal progrefs as at first for a long while, so that, although the first greatly outwent him at the beginning, the last leaves the other a great way behind at the end of the journey; so some kinds of cows give nearly as much milk after having calved ten or twelve months, as during the first month after calving, if equally well fed. Such cattle would thus, and thus only, have their comparative value clearly ascertained.

In the second place, this experiment proves, that milk may be yielded by varieties of the same species of animals which may differ as much from each other in some of their economical peculiarities as the milk of our ewes differs from the milk of our ordinary cows, though to appearance they are not very different from each other. It may therefore happen, that among the varieties of cattle which exist, there may be some kinds whose milk would yield much less butter, and that of a worse quality than could be obtained from others, though that very milk might give a much greater quantity of cheese than the other, and that also of a much better quality. I do not afsert that this is the case; for, unfortunately, my experience in regard to this particular has been equally confined as that of most other persons; I only say, that it may be the case; and that, therefore, this circumstance ought to be kept in view in all comparative trials on this head. This consideration, I believe, has never been once adverted to in any thing of the kind.

It is well known, for example, that the small Alderney breed of cattle affords, beyond dispute, a milk that yields a greater proportion of butter, and that also

of a richer quality, than the milk of any other breed of cows common in this country; but I do not know whether it has ever been ascertained, what are the comparative qualities of that milk in the production of cheese; or the proportion of milk given by these cows in respect to their size and the quantity of food they consume when compared with others. It is, I believe, a very general opinion, that such milk as affords the richest butter will also necefsarily produce the best cheese; and vice versa. We have already showed, that this is not a necessary consequence; and therefore the fact requires to be proved before it be admitted. It has also been supposed, that the milk which contains the greatest quantity of butyraceous or oily matter will necessarily afford the richest cheese; by which word, richest, I suppose is meant that which is most pleasant to the palate, and that has most the appearance of butter when put to the fire. This fact also requires to be proved, which I think will not be an easy matter; for I have seen cheeses that were made from milk only, which ate richer and more mellow than others that were made entirely of cream. We are in all cases disposed to be too rash in our conclusions. There are, doubtless, cheeses made from materials that have as little oily matter in them as the Suffolk cheeses, which have nothing of their horny hardness; other circumstances tend to produce this effect.

I shall only farther remark on this subject, that different kinds of milk may also vary from each other in respect to the qualities of the residuum that remains after the separation of the butter and the cheese. But

it is sufficient barely to bring this into view, without enlarging upon it; for I am afraid of tiring the reader with these niceties, as by too many, I am inclined to suspect, they will be deemed: leaving these then for the present, I return to some other particulars that are so plain as to be within the reach of every dairy-owner in the kingdom.

It is well known, that among every kind of cattle in the kingdom there are found individuals that give a much greater quantity of milk than others of an equal size: it is also known, that there are some cows that give much richer milk than others do. These two facts are universally recognised and admitted among all who concern themselves with dairies. It is also equally well known by them and by graziers, that there are some beasts which feed more kindly than others, and fatten sooner upon the same pastures: but it is not so universally recognised as a truth, that individuals may be found that give at the same time a great quantity of milk, and that of the richest quality, and fatten as easily, and are as hardy in all respects as any others. This fact, however, I have already stated, and I venture to state it once more as a truth; nothing afraid that it will ever be contradicted by experience, when the business of the dairy shall come to be conducted with the necessary degree of accuracy and precision: to which I beg leave to add, that these qualities, whenever they are found, are transmissible to the descendants of the beasts which possess them, among which descendants, by a proper degree of attention, these valuable qualities may not only be prevented from degeneration, but may be kept on for

an indefinite length of time in a state of progrefsive improvement. If it should chance that the statements I now give should be well founded, Who can pretend to say what would be the difference in the total amount of the produce of the dairy throughout Great Britain, should the time ever arrive when an attention to this article shall become universal? I shall not pretend to estimate it; but I have no hesitation in saying, that the dairy produce would in this event be more than doubled; and all this not only without augmenting the expence of the dairy, but even, in all probability, by diminishing it.

According to the present practice, a dairy farmer, who relies in general upon the common market for a supply of stock, not only does not obtain the best cows with respect either to the quantity or the quality of the milk, or the kindly feeding of the beast, but the very refuse of all these; for who that has cows to dispose of will sell the best while he has others of inferior value that are to appearance in a market equally good, if he has any occasion for such himself? No one. The dairy farmer who goes to market for his cows must, therefore, be contented to put up with the worst; and, as the breeder considers the milk (farther than for show) as an object of small account, he bestows little or no attention on the circumstances that I have above stated. Thus it happens that these circumstances are unknown, because no one feels himself strongly interested to observe them. Were dairy farmers universally to breed their own cattle, the case would be quickly changed: each of these would then find himself directly profited by the improvement of his breed,