THE RURAL WORLD.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 512, 26 October 1912, Page 6

THE RURAL WORLD.

THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD MILKING. Anyone who has had a large dairy herd knows how difficult it is to get first-class milkers who will draw the milk rapidly from the udder without injuring that delicate organ, and yet get every drop the cow is capable of producting. The cow is a sensitive creature and requires to be handled in a very gentle manner, and no portion of her budy is as sensitive as the udder. It is a great relief to the cow to have her overdistended udder relieved of the milk that is in it. How often have we stood in front of a cow which is being milked by a skilled and gent ! e milker, and no one, unless he is gentle and sympathetic, will ever make a really good milker, and seen the look of contentment which comes in the eyes of the cow; with half shut eyes and a dreamy look she gladly yields up the lacteal fluid we ask from her. She is prepared to do her part by man, and she asks in return that man do his part by her by drawing the milk quickly,but gently, rapid nut by unnecessary tugging at the teats, but by gentle, rapid pressure, with a downward movement of the fingers. Good milkers are rare, and they are a priceless blessing on any well managed dairy farm. It goes without saying that the cow should be milked regularly and at the same hour each day, and always by the same milker. A change in the time of milking or in the milker means a decreased flow of milk until the cow becomes used to the ways of the new milker, and there is a bond of sympathetic confidence established between him and the cow.

THE DAIRY SIRE. Improvement may be brought into a herd through the sire at a iower cost than through the cow as one sire will serve many cows. Community of ownership of a sire is perhaps practicable in a locality where there are several small dairy herds located within a few miles of each other. In this way a good sire can be purchased, whereas, if each small farmer were to own a sire he would likely have a cheap one of poor breeding.

Under no circumstances should a grade or beef sire dp used. In order to improve the dairy herd it is essential that the ancestors of the sire were of one of the four leading dairy herds, Jersey, Guernsey, Aryshire, or Holstein. These breeds have been selected and bred along dairy lines for centuries. For this reason milking qualities are more liable to be transmitted to the offspring. The record of butter-fat production of the sire's should be carefully studied before purchasing. If he has a line of ancestors that have been good producers the chances are that his offspring will be good producers.'— G. E. Frevert.

A GREAT RECORD. The latest "queen of the dairy world" ia Banastine Belle De Kol, a five year old Holstein from Ohio. In one year she produced 27,404.4 pounds of milk testing an average of 3.86 butter fat. This is over nine gallons of milk per day, or enough to supply 36 families each with a quart of milk per day. This represents 1332.9 pounds of butter —the largest on record. A GOOD MILK COOLER. Obtain a large, common flower pot and seal the hole in the bottom with plaster of Paris. Place in the pot the bottle containing milk, or a covered crock containing butter, and fill the pot with water to as great a depth as possible without the bottle or crock floating. Cover the pot with a board or plate, and set out in the open air, away from the direct sunlight, and preferably where there is a current of air. The evaporation of the water from the surface of the porous pot will keep the contents several degrees colder than the outside air, where there is the slightest amount of air stirring. The higher the wind, Or the drier the air, the greater will be the cooling effect. From Woman's Home Companion.

ANOTHER NEW USE FOR SKIM MILK. The more uses we can find for mik the better for the dairy farmer. "Science Siftings" announces that a new and exceedingly profitable use has been discovered for the waste skim milk produced in such abundance by all creameries. There are places where this waste is used to often fatten pigs by the farmers who sell the cream, but then again there are districts where the milk, thoroughly skimmed and watery in character, is allowed to run down the drains. It has been found, however, that by mixing the milk with phosphate of lime a most efficient phosphate is produced. The phosphate of lime is placed in a hollow heap on the floor, the waste milk is run into the hollow, and a handful of yeast is added. In course of time the whole is turned and thoroughly mixed after the fashion of mortar. After it has been dried and is broken up it is a most efficient fertiliser, containing about 12. 30 per cent, of phosphate and a little more than 1 per cent, of nitrogen. Unlike the manufacture of most phosphates, this process is not attended by any of the disagreeable smells and other nuisances so closely associated with the ordinary fertiliser factory.