DAIRYING IN-DENMARK.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 668, 19 November 1909, Page 10

DAIRYING IN-DENMARK.

• (By' H. T. 8./ Drew.) ,

BOUND TYPICAL FAEMS. (Specially written for Tne' Dominion;)

/; N0..,2. : At Copenhagen I presented credentials (from ■The Dominion, anil tlioNow Zealand'''Minister for Agriculture) at the oifico of . the Danish Minister for '.Agriculture; was courteously given an-' interview with a leading- official, and supplied, ivith useful letters of introduction to people, and places in the.kingdom. The Danes are the kindest and most'courteous "of .people —particularly to Britishers, though wo. did take away their last fleet. Theso introductions were exceedingly useful. ' Ono was to a gentleman who pioneered' tho cheese industry in a lending dairy district in New Zealand, Mr. .T; H. Monrad. They enabled me to ac. s quire the information contained in, theso articles . Jirst hand from Government papers and from : other reliable and varied sources, ■ and to visit some of the "model" dairies and factories. . ';

"Set the Dog on Us." '..,' . But the best insight into the industry was obtained in the course of potterings about tho country on a bicycle, during which a great portion of tho kingdom was ransacked./ 1 carried' an open lotter in tho: Danish language asking dairymen to let a' Mew Zea'lander loolj over thoir premises. Several, times permission was refused—suspicion of "£h'o "ferretting- ,1 inspector exists hero also—once a dog was'set 'upon us, onco we entered by mistake the stables of a "prince in country residence; on another occasion a slow-going, yokel-in-charge was so_ sti'uck. by the writing on tho paper that ,his open-moiith wonder was appalling; he couldn't speak, and after. five. minutes we left, : and fled onward,'to behold him from' down tho "horizon, still gazing' after us. On the whole, and,?after seeing many, farms, one is i tempted to say. either that all that -New Zealand . dairy-farmers are told by experts about: the contaminating influences of the proximity of ■ germ-bearing agencies—pigsties,: manure heaps, filthy! sheds and stables—is thcorotical" extravagance, or elso that Danish butter, would" fail to stand tho test of cold storage,". - and that tho $few Zealand article is oubjected to. . Certainly some of the large" milking estates aro ran on-mbdel lines, but the rank and-file places are not as clean , as their contemporaries in' New-Zea-land. Photographs-taken" en route can afford proof. Statements," to! the :. contrary ,must emanate from gentlemen who—as ••■ so 'often happens to distinguished visitors- to our own shores—were shown,. under escort,; only; '■ ■. the best and;most 'famous "model".dairies.' :: ;.'n.:- ' How many Danish dairies would conform to the -regulations'-of the ■ New 'Zealand' Agricultural Department? •-■-. ... :/ ; - ■ . ■ .'■ Premises far from Clean.',,■'. ■■■•.■•:■ - -The Danish farm 'building's form a square; leaving a square -','courtyard" in the ■ centre. ■Iμ .old. idea was, I believe, that' in the .-.■ enclosure',, the cattle'would.bo.secure" of a night' from wolves. All "have high gable-roofs, and thick-straw thatch,, and are constructed'ex-" clusively of brick or 'cemented composition Some old English homesteads, exist on the saiuo lines. One. Bide of the. square will comprise the :dwellmg-houso and ite appurtemmces; another the milking-shed, dairy, winter quarters of tg G co , w s, calf-shed, bull-shed, and pigsty; another.- the hay and grain shed, fowlhouse etc., and so on. Tho size of the square pends .pn,,,the ,sizeVpf..the farm.,, Sometimes &h en^H '■s ]U >te 'i C9bbl6d ' Wt eves, then $fm'fi ■ th l .■:tof- acciimulato.' bqmetlmes a temporary manure heap stands about. Generally, .however, the. manure, s thffif" 1 ? ■ a ! } «fPtaole: ; ar=/the- Har'% the-stable,; a few yards', away/. It .collects, "and, i 'in ;; SmS ? i f O '"-< b T'-'hecomes:V)iMescr-ibabl6: in up-tq-date^; ; . places,,, ...the", ,•• reQ -^% -■- I? :''^'oricrete-.",bm.■ -In ™;fr■;t a^, ■H g6o^&pS^^^sK^,fl6 concreted; he.-milk]ng:shetr-was cobbled'; - ho 7rZ m k' a , l i5 l Uld : S W 't e * yards"away l7ft>^Hift? d " *ev?raT• months ; -old. and^ putrid; tho p.g-stiesAdjoining,thp-milkfng shed; and the ..bull-shed was next;,- horses nvere m tho shad_ next .to,.that, ..Being, summer, the' co.ws wera-thbn; ih;.:.thb v '«eld."'' , ."fa , hiir'w htlquatters;/On. t^..other^sid O 'vSf.'4he ,miS shed,-were spacious, but," owing to tho litter v: l was ™P° sslbl e to see if (the floor "was con' S? 3 ■ ahy 1 : New Zv>lamf, of Aly notes ,'of. another farm "run' as- follow-M,ilking-shcd stock,.quarters.. : all in- one shed, and pig-sty in.ia.,corner.}jmanure heap" in front of milbng-shed in "coucrefe pit • adjoining roadside; odour horrible. , I was unable to .discover what was done with the night's

,1 hose seemed to be a fair sample' of tho ordinary .dairy; though', no doubt, there were exceptions. In winter what happens when the cows are fed under;-cover .1 c.an'.t pretend to say. During.. the ■' summer, there seemed to bo practically no regard for scrupulous cleanliness. Certainly the ■ interiors of the sheds , .Were all' carefully whitewashed,-, and : were kept thus Contrast Now"...Zealand's regulations the ,pig-sties..and stables must bo a certain distance, 'away <■■:. from'■; the milking-shed and dairy; -prhere; the ,milk. must .be aerated; /where, in; certain cases,', the cow-sheas must'h'ave concrete, floors, and bo'washed down after every milking; where the manure must be removed a certain distance.. . ■' ■'. . .■.■-.. !>c' |;i; <■■;; : .y- : -,''■'■ •'. ;,'•]■}• : "j" '•'.'• ~'..y ..','*•''. T|ie. Cows:,.ißousingiand!■'Pasturage.-t i. ■, ,' : .The cow-bails consist of- upright poles, ,, ' to , ; which-wero,attached'chains., -livery cow wears &! h .fadsl:all,yand,wlien being: milted has its headstall,snipped to the/diaiu! On tho beani' above each pole wore figures evidently representing the''r«or,ds'pf cacli cW.: .?i'his'i's-always■ ■do.no: to enable'the'yields to be noted:" Tno figures, in one 'shed ran- from-20.t0 421b: (the Danish, lb. is:atriile heavier than tho.English equivalent).. In v summer, of-course, the'eows live in tho open and'aro milked in tho open. Thoy.are tethered by their headstalls to iron stakos driven.in the ground. l . Sometimes you see loiig lines'-, up-;to fifty .of them; stretching across a paddocK eating .the rich' clover or grass. So many, times a'day a man will go down the line with a : maul and move them inward into the, rich pasturage. They cut inward liko a line of reapers. A water waggon will also pass down "the, line onco or twice a day. ; : • ,_- : ;-.. ;......-.;.{.._■; ; :,«; r . ».>}•;;. :: ■ The Girl iMilkers. : : ' •'' : ■■

Three , :times' a- day ri the-'girUmilkers do the same thing. In the early dawn—tho summer opens at 2.30 o'clock—you see theso maids coming from the; farms with stools and mauls.' The v first milkiiig' is at i-α-m., and the 'btlier twb at : 11 a.m. ahd -1 p.m.: Tho cows stand patiently at their tethers. , Tho .milkers pour, the milk from their pails into .the creamery cans. The system, : is .undoubtedly, clean' and' whole- , some. On .some of the larger estates the.milking: machine has been installed. It. is in a portable form, and the cows are. tethered oh each , side. ....,,. ;"";■;• :■; ';Ih:;wihter, of.course, the three , milking?'. are reduced to the two.' : The tethering process dispenses the. necessity l for fences. The Danish cow; doesn't know what liberty is. She'eats her tether chain taut,;and .then.lies down patiently and chews her cud. \fe Saw very' few■■ paddocks of .grass, as-, the, colonial understands the terra. By scientific manurihg and diligent and intelligent treatment the Dane gets the very utmost out of his land. Generally ...the cows were'..eating back rich, high, mossy-thick growths of clover. I give, later; calculations regardingi.'a day's, supply; I'When one paddock is cropped, the cows will be put: on'to another, and preparations for the future ■■(rill follow them up.- In: other parts- of the farm: will.be growing the winter feed.- But one of the most noticeable features .everywhere was the ■ luxuriance of: all'the , feedgrowths, and' particularly of-tho clover. There ard. some things undoubtedly the Dane can teach us. ■'.'■'.■' •-"' . ~ ■ ■• . ;■■''•-*'• ; «'■■ «:•■•» '«■ Vl' ■-' : ' Utensils. " ; '■:■''" .■■.:• "• ;, ";-"-:' , ' .-';•';■' /' : " ■;. When .tho morning's milking'is- done the cans are stood on tho roadside,-and there they remain •'until the creamery.; cart' shall., come along,..pick thorn up, and' carry,-.them- to', the creamery. The farmer does not 'run , ,his- own cart backwards .and forwards; >'■*'■ The' , '-.process struck- one as an 'economic//advantage in .respect to wear and.tear of .roads,: for in "New Zealand tho "vicinity of a-creamery, ; is' always foreshadowed by-the ragged stato.bf.the roads.. The cans are cleansed by steam'at the factory and roturued by the creamery", cart with the skimmed milk, which is also sterilised-before givon out. Tho cans used hero are about' half the size' of tho New Zealand onesi and'their tops narrow..- In the early /mornings, youvsee,, the .creamery carts—sometimes- light:, lorriesrolling along the roads,.can's.! piled.up-.ori them, and suspended from hooks at'-;the..rear and sides/ It iriay bo said .that system ;wou|d- be impossible in New Zealand;owing to'tho'numbcr. of ■ byroads, biit in Deiimark.,there. seenied to be more side and intersecting , roads than in .New; Zealand.: : : ' ,; '>i-,-''■'!'.■,■■'-.'.:■■-.•■ : , ; ..'.;;■ ' (To ;bo continued.)-,;,'.w.-'