DAIRY PRODUCTS.

Matamata Record, Volume III, Issue 118, 6 February 1919, Page 4

DAIRY PRODUCTS.

An American Opinion. Mr G. E. Frevet, an officer of the Bureau of Animal Industry, United States Department of Agriculture, in a recent review of the dairying industry in America, remarks that butter-fat is, and no doubt will continue to be, the leading product of the dairy. In fact, many dairymen have given every consideration to the byproducts and economical utilisation of them. Under the stress, however, of the recent war conditions, the value of the by-pro-ducts becomes of greater importance, and one which dairymen should give more consideration than they have in the past. ( In the past such by-products as. skim-milk, butter-milk and whey have been carelessly used in the feeding of farm animals, such as pigs and calves. No doubt even at the present time it is profitable under some conditions to use these products in feeding pigs and calves. However, groater care should be used in combining these products with other feeds in such ways as to get the maximum results. For instance, on some farms where skim-milk is plentiful calves are over-fed on it. This brings about indigestion in the calf, and sometimes its loss. Herry's "Feeds and Feeding" points to the fact that skim milk fed to pigs is much more valuable when fed with corn. The problems of how to feed skim-milk, butter-milk or whey is ono that must be determined largely by the individual farmer under his own farm conditions. The fact should be born in mind that skimmilk is a protein feed, and thatsome carbonydrate feed should be fed with it. This also applies to butter-milk. Whey, on the other hand, is a carbonydrate feed, and should be supplemented with protein. From an economy standpoint skim-milk should not be fed to animals when it is possiblo to utilise it direct as human food. Skim-milk consumed as such has a food value approximately seven times greater than the amount of pork that it will produce when led to pigs. It is therefore important at this time that as much skim-milk be utilised direct as human food as is possible. The fact is that dairy products are much cheaper in most all instances than meat. Cottage cheese, for instance, yields about 171 b per 1001 b of skim-milk, and is more than equivalent in food value to meat pound for pound. This means that when skim-milk is consumed in the form of cottage cheese 1001 b of it is equivalent in food value to over 1701 b of pork. The economy lies in the fact that when fed to pigs skimmilk produces only about 4.81 b of pork per cwt, and the whey, which has a feeding value onehalf that of skim-milk, is still available for feeding to pigs and calves when cottage cheese is made from skim milk. While skim-milk and butter are valuable as food and are more valuable when directly consumed as such than they are when fed to animals, there are many conditions where it is impracticable to market them and have them utilised as human food. In such cases, of course, it is better to feed them to pigs and calves so as to make the best possible use of them. A market, however, for such products as cottage cheese and skim milk can be developed in most any town Or city under the present food situation in the United States. In addition to cottage cheese there are many other ways in which the manufacturer of dairy produce can use milk and buttermilk. Condensed milk could be used quite extensively in bakeries, confectionery shops, and especially ice cream factories. There are, no doubt, many creameries that are so situated that instead of receiving cream they could buy whole milk and by installing a small condensing outfit they could prepare condensed skim-milk to supply ice cream makers and confectioners. It takes time and effort, however, to find and develop markets for these products, so that the creamery-man must expect to do considerable advertising and put considerable effort into the business. There is no time like the present for developing markets for creamery by-products. The dairyman and especially the creamery-man should look into these matters carefully, they mean added profits to the creamery.