COUNT- MEASURE- WEIGHT.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 2881, 17 December 1883, Page 3

COUNT- MEASURE- WEIGHT.

1 was milking in tho barn when younj 'Squiro Lawton camo in. " How uict anil clean your cowsaro," said he ; " ant y how fat and sloek they are." " Yea,' I] said I, " niy cows always have their go- . t to-meoting coats on ; always clean nnd neat, and feeling cloan and comfortable. Look at that milk now. You don't ace n ■• speck ou it, do you ?" Then I t. lifted up tho pail and hung it oon tho spring balance. "Just 131b," said I, and marked it on tho littlo board on tho w;ill opposite whero tho cow T Btontl. " What do you do that for I" " said hf. " Why I always count, measure, and wciy'i everything on this farm," said '; J. "My father taught mo that, when I ( was a boy, and ho kept a grocery store. He made me count the boxes of clothes pins, nnd if there was half-a---a dozen or so short he used to mark that 1 down on tho bill and take oil so much. > And ho used to do that, all through, i He used to say, 'As long as you live, my boy, you count, measure, and weigh everything — everything • — everything, mind. And you'll novur make a mistake or go wrong.' And so I can't help it now. And many a dollar and many a loss it h;is saved mo." 1 '' But what's tho use here," said ho ; "you have all tho milk, and no one can cheat you." " Don't you bo so sure of ; that. Many a man cheats himself, ! and badly too. Now look here. ! You see this board. That's Topsy's , milk account. Here you see is 171b, , lOjlb, 181b, and then comes 111b. That struck me all of a heap, aud I went right there and then to Topsy to seo what was the matter. Her nose was hot and dry, and her mouth was slobbering and she was not eating. I soon found what was tho matter. She had been chewing tho fence rails, and a big splinter was jammed into her mouth between her teeth, and her jaw was swelled badly. Now I mightn't have found that out for two or thtvedays if I hadn't weighed tho milk. Hut you see I soon set her right again. 1 have saved a food deal of trouble by it. And then look here. Here is 13ilb, 151b, 171b, ] 21b, I lib, 141b, and hero you see is only (iJilb, and all down u'Jlb, 71b, 7Mb, slb, sllb. Now look at that cow. She's pretty, ain't she i But bless you, handsome is as handsome does, and that cow don't stay here any longer than she is fat enough for beef ; for she ain't half handsome enough for a dairyman to keep. Then you see these glasses. These are to measure the cream by. A cow that won't give 15 per cent of cream won't pay to keep with the feed I give them ; and n. heifer that won't make 10 per cent won't pay to raise, and is only good to sell to those who sell milk. Now, how could I tell all this if I didn't weigh and measure. ? Seo hove, this is the feed measure ; one of those goes to the feed for every cow at every meal, and that scoop holds just two quarts. This basket holds a full bushel, and every cow gets that full every feed. And two or three get ono scoopful more. You see, it'e all brought down to rulo. No thumb rule either, but weights and measures every time. Tho man that don't moasuro and weigh everything about a dairy can't tell what he is doing, and it's just as easy for him to lose a dollar a day as it is to fall off ;v log. Now, my boy, put that wrinkle on your horn. It's worth a thousand dollars to you if you don't forget it, but you are welcome to it for nothing. " Going? Well, good-bye." And I thought to myself that, between you and mo and the lamp-post, that young follow would rather go and talk to Susan than listen to my preaching. — " Our Story Teller," in the JJainj, U.S.A.