DAIRY, all that concerns milk and its management on a farm; or the place or house where the milk is kept, cheese made, etc. (The old word dey, the milkmaid who pre sided over the deyry or dairy, is probably allied to dug, a teat, and to Lat. due-, to draw, or milk; in Polish, dole is to milk; and in SW. deja is a dairymaid.) Throughout the best cultivated districts, both of England and Scotland, the growing of corn and green crops, and the rearing and feeding of stock. were at one time to a considerable extent carried on in conjunction with the dairy. This mixed system of husbandry, though it may have reduced the farmer's risks, has gradually decreased. In many districts of tine country, however, such as some parts of Ayrshire and Lanarkshire, the midland coun ties of England, and in Cork and neighboring Irish counties, great attention is still given to milk-cows, and dairy produce pays the bulk of the rent.
The selection of cattle of it sort profitable for the dairy, is a point of the first im portance. Certain breeds have long been famed for their milking properties; at the bead of these is generally placed the Ayrshires. In proportion to their small size, and the limited amount of food which they consume, they yield a large quantity of rich. good milk, and have been long and justly prized by the dairymen of Glasgow and other Scottish towns, as well as latterly by those in several districts of England, and Highland portions of Scotland. With all their superb milking properties, however, they are com paratively worthless as feeders or beef-producers unless crossed with the Short-horn. Some Ayrshire cows have been known to give from 18 to 20 quarts of milk daily, and yield 14 lbs. of butter per week. The cows of the Channel islands also stand in high re pute. The elegant; deer-like Alderneys are kept, more especially in England, by those who prize rich milk, and many landed proprietors and farmers have one or two amongst their herds to impart a higher color and richer flavor to the milk and butter. Alderneys frequently give 16 quarts of milk daily, and S or 9 lbs. of butter per week, while in stances occur of their yielding as much as 12 or 14 lbs. The small Brittany breed, scarcely larger than goats, have also been brought to this country, and are profitable for gentlemen's families, and where only one or two cows are kept. These breeds are., how
ever, in little favor with those who, besides dairying, look also to the breeding of profit able grazing-stock, Some families of the Short-horns unite, with size, substance, and aptitude for fattening, excellent milking properties. Short-horns, or animals with a large infusion of Short-horn blood, constitute the bulk of the handsome and high-priced cows seen in metropolitan markets, and long preferred to all others by the London dairymen. Throughout the n. of England, such cows were in favor, and were used by the late Mr. Horsfall, whose excellent papers on dairy management, published in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, should be read by all interested in this subject., With his liberal dietary, fifteen to twenty cows daily average, for seven or eight months, ten or eleven quarts of milk each, producing a pound of butter. The original Short-horns, in the hands of the Brothers Calling, Mr. Bates, the Earl Ducie, and other earlier breeders, were excellent milkers; and even at the present day certain families are to be found still retaining their ancient character. Of late, however, many breeders of our more fashionable and prize-taking Short-horns have devoted their un divided attention to early maturity, flesh, and quality, neglecting altogether the milking properties. This, in some respects, is to be regretted. Prize stock of this and some other breeds give no more milk nowadays than fosters their calves, and some of them, indeed, make a poor job of that. Many of the animals are thus never milked by the hand. Herefords are not particularly famed for dairy purposes. The blood-red, plump I)evons are more remarkable for the richness and butter-producing character of their milk than the quantity of it. The ancient Long-horns, once common in the midland counties of England, and prized for their milk, have mostly given place to more handy, symmetrical breeds. The old black Fife, or Scotch horned cows, included some famous milkers in their day, but scarcely any of them are to be met with now. The polled Angus, the Galloway, and the. West Highland cows have a fair quantity of milk of re markably tine quality, that of the West Highland breed in particular. The small Shet land breed produces an astounding quantity of splendid milk, and so do the Kerry and some other Irish cows.