Dairy Farming i this District.

Feilding Star, Volume XIX, Issue 34, 9 August 1897, Page 2

Dairy Farming i this District.

are indebted to tba coor.'eny of the undermentioned dairy farmer* who have kindly consented to supply uk with the returns from their respiciive herds. Tbe figures, which are reliable, may easily be verified, and should prove of in tercet to a great number of our readers wbo are directly interested in (be dairy industry. Tbe returns referred to are : - Mr A. Dermer, of Cloverdene, near Feilding, baa a berd of 61 cows, composed chiefly of half bred to pure bred Jerseys, being mostly high grades with a few ordinary cow*. Mr Dermer separates tbe milk on tbe farm and from tbe proceeds he has received a money return of £647 Hi sd, or an average of £10 12s 4d per cow for tha past year. This n exolusive of pigs roared on the bye-produoti (which might safely be estimated lo return another £1 per cow) and hsifer calves which have been reared entirely ,on separator milk ; and, also, of thi ! butter and milk usad by tha family and employee*, which amounted to trom two to three gallons of milk per day, and ten pounds of butter per week. As he " breaks in " his own heifers, a considerable number of Mr Banner's berd ara firal and tecond year's he'ifen and no! near their prime. No artificial fodder was provided the pasture being on naturally grassed land which has never bean " laid down," but there is a large amount of white clover in the pasture tbis being indigenous to the soil. The accuracy of Mr Dermer's statement as to the money returns may be verified if anyone des ; res to do io, or doubts the accuracy of tbe figures, as Mr D»rmsr hai expressed his willingneßr to thow anyone bis bookt. One of tba leading suppliers of tbe Rongotoa Dairy Factory bs,a provided os with statistics which show that be has milked equal to 26 cows dnriag the past twelve months. Tbe bard is a mixed one so far as breed ia concerned, but there is a preponderance of Jerseys. Tbe quantity of milk sent to the factory gave an average return per cow of 602 gallons for tbe year, the amount received from tbe factory being £219 2i 6d, or about £8 8s per cow. The highest average test was 48 and the lowest 3*6, the average test for the year being 4. Tbis farmer feeds bis cows daring winter, when tbey first come in, with hay and green oa'tß, tbe ordinary pasture being rye and clover. Tbe above figures' may be proved by an inspection of the factory books, and may be con* sidered very satisfactory. Mr T. Heayns, of Cheltenham, Las carefully kept his returns for tbo year ending June SO, 1897. His herd ia a mixed oue and includes Shorthorns, half-bred Jersey and Ayrshire crosses, but there is a preponderance of tbe former. During the months of July, August, September, a portion of October, a portion of May, and the whole of Jane Mr Heayns made bntter on tbe farm from bis milk, which yielded 584 lb of butter and this was sold at lOd per lb - for the greater portion of tbe time, bat during the month of May be received 8d and for a portion of Jnne 9d per lb. For the remainder of the months, via-, part of October, November, December, January, February, March, April and part of May, Mr Heayns sent his milk to the Cheltenham butter factory, the total quantity of milk sent for those months being 116,639 pounds, or taking tbe average per cow and reckoning lOlba to the gallon— 2l cows having been milked— sso gallons of milk for the seven months of the year. For tbe milk sent to tbe factory be received equal to from 6jd to 7Jd, or an average of about 7 jd per pound for the bntter fat in tba milk. According to tbe tests— which ranged from 33 to 3 8— there were 3954 lbs of butter made from tbe milk sent to the factory, tbe total amount paid for it being £118 12s lOd. Adding this to tbe amount obtained for butter made on the farm a total of £141 19s 6d was received, or an average of £6 ISs 8d for the 21 cowr. Probably for the wbqle year tbe cows would give an average of from 620 to 625 gallons of milk pei cow, reckoning a gallon at lOlbs. The highest test was abtained in May and the lowest in November and February, the greatest quantity of milk being 20,2291 b« in November and 21,9271bs in December, the latter month giving a test of 84. From December the milk snpply gradually fell away and after Febuary the tests commenced to improve. These cows were fed on bay during the winter months in addition to the ordinary pasture which consisted principally of cocksfoot, with a mixture of rye, clover and other grasses.