A WRINKLE IN DAIRYING.

Feilding Star, Volume III, Issue 9, 15 July 1882, Page 3

A WRINKLE IN DAIRYING.

♦ • I A correspondent writing" to tlie Ai_riculhir.il Gazette says: — On a 1 I visit lately I got a "wrinkle," by I which my friend is savins, close on £2 a week in his dairy management, so I | send it to you. The cattle in question are large-framed dairy pedigreed Shorthorns. During the palmy days of 1. hor thorn prices the calves were reared for sale, the new milk being consumed by them, with the exception of sufficient to churn for butter for fnmllv use. Recently the drop in prices induced mv friend to cast about for some scheme to lessen expenses, whilst not deteriorating- his young stock. He is the owner of a good many horses. mostly Clydesdales; and for these it is his custom to steam the food u -ing cut hay, turnips, malt en ins, crushed malt, oats, etc. He likes lo vary tbe food, using alternately such of the latter as are available, and malt and barley. He hid frequently beard of the virtues of hay tea for calves; but, like many others of us, treated it as an 'old wife's tale,' having every faith in t 1 c efficacy of new inrik. lhe ** broth* from the stoaniings of the horses' lood was mostly wasted, and the hay tea receipe was recalled. He determined to give it a trial. At the time of my visit it had been in use three months, so that we had a fair opportunity of com.larihtr rest. lts. For a trail only the calves over .3 months old had been selected, the young ones still receiving new mi.k. Those from 3 months up to G months were having twice a day 1 quart of new mi.k, 2 quarts of the broth or tea, 2 quarts of oatmeal wat'-r poridge, a handful of long hay, and about Ilb of oilcake per day. Calves fr m fi months to 12 months were getting 4 quarts oi tea at each end oi the day, with an allowance of chopped food, composed of swedes, brewers' grains, barley chaff, and crushed corn or mak — the latter only once a day ; also an allowance of long hay. The young bulls got 4 quarts of tea, with 2 quarts of blue milk, long hay, and chop each end of the day. The milk cows are gettin" a cow tub of chop such as described abuve, long ha}', and whole swedes twice a day ; nu oilcake or other artificial. They are thriving and milking well. By this substitution of " broth" for new milk my host hao been enabled to churn some 2olb of butter additional weekly, a saving of close upou £2 per week.