THE MILK YIELD

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 33, 2 November 1918, Page 10

THE MILK YIELD

[:; vCAPACITY #-THE COW. KEEPING RECORDS

[,'; On the interesting subject of (('A Gow's ■ Milking Capacity/ "an.'exchange publishes tho following'article:— ■■■~' W It is more than;;likely:that j the keepf-; ing. of accurate milk records ;originated (■■■/ in Denmark and Sweden, or they at >.:.least went into the business systematically, and rightly appraised a dairy cow ■ on her actual milk yield and butter-fat i test per annum and not solely on her ,:'"looks." The Danish farmer first recog-

', nieed that the milking appearance, of ■ cows was deceptive, and could not be icj>. lied upon, and that a heavy: yield at a j: certain stage wlfen the COW; was in milk }'■■: was no true index to the total yield proj'- duced during the entire period the animal p. remained in milk. The test of a cow's l't~ milking capacity could be decided only in (:, one way—by keeping accurato ; records of '.her-yield daily, or.eveh weekly,; during, ~ her complete milking period. 'The' Danes, j therefore, set out to keep their best! ' r milkers, and .culled the indifferent

fyielders. They alao furnished greater . ciuantities of food to those cows recordI: ing the biggest yielding capacity, recogi.'-.■ nising that this was the way to profitt,: ably convert food into milk. About the '[, same time as dairying was developing in I': Holland we ; find that great strides were j,; taking place in the United States. The l>: butter-fat test is .the other factor, in dei' termining profits in as far as the cow; £ herself'is concerned, i:nd with the Ba!>i ; cock testing machine American chemists i .'we're hard at work. Sweden, too, helped !-. the industry along by inventing mechanical appliances for handling milk, etc. The '■■' success of the Danish farmers by their !; co-operative methods'in establishing cow- '' testing associations and the great results i.i of selective breeding attracted'general ati; tention, and was followed on eimijar J lines in Scotland among her Ayrshire I herds and in and among purebred herds ' of Shorthorns. It bocamo more or less , ;■■. common to refer to n cow as being an '.■:• SOO-gallon bow or to a bull as!being from j-. a 900-gallon dam by a bull with an cqual- !.'. ly good record. Total yield for the niilkA h: ing season and not the look to the eye, i:,the size and shape- of the udder (however {;! important these be), nor yet a measured f. quantity of milk given for one particuI : lar' day, showed itself as the only r'elij;i able guide to a cow's worth at the pail. f'.The working bees and the drones, bo to |- epeak,. under no testing are fed alike, ■'when the latter are a source of loes and [ .the workers alone make the profits for '■.'■ the dairy 'farmer. After all, the keeping h'of milk records cannot entail either much

L'trouble or expense for a farmer. It ;' means, however, regularity in the prac-fi-tice of weighing and entering the milk & yields of each cow on one particular day t.i each week from the first few days after [;. Bhe has calved until she finally is dried ■ off—say, a space of 42 weeks. A. spring j balance to show the-weight of milk given ['; at the morning and evening milking and >V ,a suitable milk record book are all that

;"~..is necessary. In.addition, a bottle to hold f,'a; composite earn pie of the four milk [..- qnalitios taken during the month may ;-'•' be necessary, and "then there is the oris ganising or arranging required in order f:, to have the percentage of butter-fat ';■: taken. The figures after the first year ■' ; - will indicate the honest moneymakers p- end which are tho gay deceivers, and a j■-■■ move .may be made for the re-. ;■ tireinent from the milking herd. The

":[ period soon arrives when, having by & !•-. policy of selection, nothing but good ;.; yielding cows, something extra in the |V way of a bull with an approved milking t;: pedigree is <lesired. Like begets like is sv

i. doctrine which it true in breeding for •; milk as it is in producing cattle- that ; • fatten readily and come quickly to ma- [■■■ turity. A dairy bull should, be made use jTi-pf, if- possible, which, with the selection' : 'of heifers from' the cows which' mill; ; .heaviest as shown by the records, prnc- •: tically places the. means of increasing ;' the milking quality of his cows under !. ;the!-guidance of nech-owner: The keepl'"ing of Tecords is already fairly wideI;; spread,, but the practice owing to the :- ! after-knowledge it affords is deserving of j.-r still more general rdoption.