THE RURAL WORLD.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 490, 10 August 1912, Page 6

THE RURAL WORLD.

HOW TO DOUBLE THE PRODUCTION OF MILK.

In the pooling of milk and handling of a milk herd the yield of any one cow ia immediately lost sight of. "There is no permanent, tangible or visible bulk or weight," according to Mr Whitley, who has charge of this work in Canada. Poured into the weigh can, the milk of one cow loses its identity in the general total. Being a fluid," it is indistinguishable by its shape, size or colour, and thus is radically different from other farm products—the fat steer, the plump chicken, luscious berries or ripe grain. The yield of the individual cow must be noted and recorded at the moment of'her milking; then at the end of the season intelligent action can be taken in selection. Thu3 will be seen the value of records; they are indisputable; they are simply kept, cost only a trifle, and their value increases as they ar« continuous. Their use must appeal to every dairyman as being of immense and immediate benefit. It would be profitable to increase the total production of milk in this country by at least £6,000,000. We will never see that increase or anything approaching itfrom the increased value, oi a gallon of our product, for that is the end of the business over which the producer has very little control; but he has full controj over his end of the business, and it is high time that those who are engaged in the production of milk should pay more attention to the questions over which they have absolute control and no concern themselves with other matters. Mr Grisdale. the wise, prudent and progressive director of the Canadian Experimental Farms, would go further. He believes it is quite possible with the same herd to double our produets. He bases this statement ' on' observation from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic, over which he has to travel.*

-A young man in Ontario started in with a herd whose return was four thousand pounds a year per cow. He kept records, weeded out the worst cows, and the result was that at the end of five years the herd yielded over eight thousand pounds a cow, and there is nothing to prevent any. farmer from doing the same. If one keeps records only once in ten days he will effect a tremendous increase, because he cannot help paying attention to the care and feeding of his cows. Of course, with this increase one must feed better. You cannot get eight thousand pounds of milk with the same feed required to produce four thousand pound 3; so> you see, it is not the selection of the cows alone, but it is also the feed you are giving' them. The great trouble w"th dairy farmers is the lack of care they give their cows. I think with all dairy farmers the great need is the improvement of their herds and that improvement can be brought about by no better means than keeping records. In fact, it is the only absolutely certain way of improving a herd. It is encouraging to see that not only the average farmer, but those farmers who think they are well up in the business, are going into it more and v more. I believe this testing business will bring a tremendous awakening in dairy operations.

To determine the value of a cow to the dairyman three questions must be asked and answered: ], how much milk does she give; 2, how much fat does that milk contain; 3, what does it cost to produce her milk? Such questions can readily be answered if a simple record system is adopted.— J. A. Macdonald, Ottawa, Ont., in Tribune Farmer.

SEED TESTING. -. A seed-testing device which is often used and proves very satisfactory' is to fill the bos with moist sand in place of sawdust. Stretch wires across the top both ways, and two inches apart, making the Bquares. Plant the kernels right in the sand at a depth of one-half inch. Keep in warm place and well moistened. At the end of about seven days the kernels may be taken out and observe the same as in the other test, or you may leave it until the corn commences to grow and judge the strength of tha kernels according to their growth. The above test has proved, very successful on the writer's farm. —Weekly, InterOcean.

EAR-SUCKING CALVES. One of the most difficult habits to overcome in a bunch 0? young waives is that of ear-sucking. When we feed calves milk from the pail, they eat so rapidly that they .fail to relieve the mouth of the saliva which naturally mixes with the milk while they are sucking.

In order to relieve their mouths of this secretion which their organs of digestion demand, they will seek something to stick which will relieve their mouths of the safiva which has been retained to a large extent, and their favourite object is the ear of the calf next to them. Unless this is prevented, the calves are likely to grow up with the habit of sucking themselves or the other cows in the herd. The only way to prevent this vicious habit is to tie each calf by itself until its oigestive organs have developed sufficiently to enable it to digest grain foods, such as ground oats and wheat bran. Then they will eat the dry grain, and in that way relieve their mouths of this saliva. After they will eat dry grain feeds and nibble bits of hay, them will be no danger of them acquiring this habit if they are turned together.—Farm Journal.