AGRICULTURAL ITEMS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 436, 3 February 1912, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL ITEMS.

It is unusual for a c->\v which carries a lot of flesh t-i give a lot of mil!;. Producers who have us?d it epeak highly of the value of sugar beet aa a cow fodder. Complaints as to the kru.-ekinp, bauot of empty cans on the railway are frequent. If your heifer come from an early

maturing breed you may breed from them early. Where iti s practicable the milking should be done under cover and under conditions of cleanliness. A good ewe "educated" a a a milker will yield as much as six quarts a day of milk richer than goats. Breed is not the result of food; and good blood, with the power of transmitting it, is not to be measured by fat. It is an admitted fact that the management, of the herd has much effect on the milking powers of the animals. Lady Pliyliis, the pick of the Jersey herd of Lady Rothschild, was sold at the distribution of the stuck for 205 guineas. On 10 acres of sorghum under irrigation a Victorian dairyman kept 40 cows all through autumn and summer in full profits. Most cream immediately after separation is in condition to make good butter; the sooner all cream gets to the factory the better. When the cow is nearly at the end of her term iook after her. Sh" may want a help, and will be grateful for a little attentoin. While hay is a good cow food, there is a decided drying in the summer; it is less luscious than ensilage and not nearly as palatable. The British Dairy Farmers' Association is to be represented at a conference proceeding in Holland, which sits to the end of the current month. Where the cows are fed with something substantial to supplement the picked up fodder of the paddock there is a marked improvement in the yield. Directly one of the cows shows any signs of being out of order, separate her from the rest of the herd. It maybe nothing, and it may be a serious trouble. When roots are fed to cows it is as well to take most of the dirt off; a little earth attaching will not be amiss, as the. animal will discard what it does not want. It is the little particles of cowdung which find their way into the milk that do more harm than all the dust. Care should be exercised to keep these out oft he bucket. Cows are money in the Old Country ; '45 of the Brandon herd of Lincolnshire Ked Shorthorns, owned by Mr John Ingham, of Grantham, sold recently for an average of .£22. In regard to feeding for milk prodcution there is more room for improvement than in any other direction; there should be a big banking in the silo when fodder grasses are plentiful. The Danish farmer now docs not confine his effort to keeping records of his cows, but the cow-tester also keeps track of the ration that is fed to the growing heifers and to the dry cows. Washing the udders with warm water before milking takes little time and costs nothing. It is wortii more than it costs, and will make for the improvement of the health of the animals.