Among my favorite wedding presents was a book my sister gave us. The book is called Milch Cows and Dairy Farming, authored by Charles Flint and printed in 1860. Charles Flint dedicated the book to The Mass. State Board of Agriculture, the Mass. Society for the Promotion of Agriculture and the Various Agricultural Societeies of the United States, Whose Efforts Have Contributed So Largely to Improve the Dairy Stock of Our Country.

 

All in all it’s a well-maintained book, especially given the fact that it’s 150 years old! I love reading old books for the sage advice about how it was done in the old days. How things operated before a significant amount of outside inputs were required. Back when you would sit on a plank to press your cheese.

 
 Pressing cheese on a plank

 Cover of Milch Cows & Dairy Farming

The author discusses the importance of dairy cows and how they fit in to a diversified farm. He mentions the use of whey as feed for hogs, which is a practice we hope to follow. He details various methods for the selection of dairy cows, highlighting "Guenon's Method" and the idea of "milk mirrors", which is the rating of a cow based on the fineness and shape of the hair that grows near the milk veins at the top of the udder (whoa). As Flint notes, the book is "liberally illustrated". Indeed.