Farm and Garden

King Country Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 215, 9 December 1909, Page 3

Farm and Garden

r.r.hriPiNi; p<>wkr i.f cd\vs. Mr Primrose McConneil draws attention to a question that may be of some interest to dairy farmers, though perhaps it is not so important as in other countries, where more attention is given to developing the milking properties of cows. An American daily paper asks if we are not overstraining tbe capabilities of a cow when we force her to milk well and to carry a calf at tbe same time. Tbe editor points oat that tbe cowa which produce a thousand gallons of milk and upward yearly with a large percentage of butterfat in it, have, as it were, to be working at higb pressure, and have to stand a great strain on tbe system even if well fed. When, in addition to this, the animal has to be building up tbe body of a young growing calf in foetus the marvel is that she she not break down." "Everyone knows," comments Mr McConneil, "'of cases where barren cows nave remained in milk from fifteen to eighteen months at a stretch, and given remarkable yields, but this has been largely owing to tbe fact; that they had no duplicate work to do. On the other hand, we unfortunately also know of many cases where a splendid milker has yielded a puny calf, wbicb, if reared, never does much at tbe milk pail when it comes into work in due course. This in fact

is "men a common occurrence as to provoke the question as to the reason why. The answer is, of course, obvious that the mother has given her strength to yielding milk and not to growing her progeny, and thus her own good qualities are not transmitted to the next generation. The general law of hereditfy is, of course, that like produces like, and therefore the calf from a milky mother and a bull of milking strain ought to be a good milker in turn, but the progeny sometimes turns out to be a puny wastrel, for the reasons stated above; high production impairs the breedng powers of cows. There is the fact on the other band that comparatively few of our cows are pushed to tbe full extent of milkine. in other words, there are more inferior milkers in the country than good ones but as there is a strong movement now to improve our milking herds by selecting and breeding from the best it is just as well to remember that phenomenal milking powers mean a concurrent puny calf at the next birth in most cases. The practical outcome is to feed good milkers extra well when doing tbe double work, and to keep on selecting tbe best calves that do come for the next generation in the sure belief that eventually the breed will be permanently improved." The next thing to do is to see that the cows get a fair rest between drying off and coming into milk again.

It is stated that during next year there will be an increase of 200,000 to 250,000 in the lambs exported from the Argentine to Great Birtain.

If cheese makers would cool down the milk for one year they would get so much better cheese and so much more money that they would never go back to present methods. The addition of a starter to pasteurised sweet cream without subsequent ripening improves the flavour of the fresh butter without adding enough acid to cause nsbiness. The cow's udder is of special importance, ft should be large and its skin thin, with loose, soft folds extending away back, capable of great distension, when filled by shrinking back when empty. When one commences to cull be must keep uniformity in mind. A ewe, for instance, may be 8 good breeder, but if she brings lambs of a different stamp from the run of the flock it is better to discard her. Sows should be in good condition but not too fat. Grass, rape, or oats is necessary to keep tbem in good order. When within a few days of farrowing they should be penned up and fed lightly. Clean pens and fresh straw daily are absolutely necessary. Phosphoric acid is found in every part of plants, but accumulates more especially in the seed. It is also the principal constituent in tbe bone formation of man and animals, and where it is wanting in the soil plants grow feebly and animals do not thrive. There is money in pigs, as an adjunct to dairying any way we take it, but the man who provides weaners for sale in tbe spring gets the gilt of tbe profit. There must be a gold mine in selling six or seven weeks old pigs at from 12s to 16s eacb, ana every spring there is the same scarcity of young pigs. It is.bard to understand why the old hands should not make arrangemenu* to bave sows coming to farrow at the same time or a little earlier than the cows come to profit. It is a simple matter, and feeding two or three sows through the winter need cost nothing in comparison to what farmers have to pay for weaners when wanted.