COWS AND MILK.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 589, 3 December 1920, Page 4

COWS AND MILK.

PROFITABLE METHODS.

Of all conditions that affect the j yield of milk none is more important that feeding. It is impossible to lay down anv hard-and-fast rule, and the nature of the food must more or less depend on the kind of foodstuffs grown on the farm or most cheaply purchased. There is a potential milk yield in every cow, and all the feeding in the world will not make her go beyond it. As far as possible, feeding should be made an individual matter. Too much food is better than too little, within limits. Cows must live before any of the food they consume can go towards milk secretion. There is also bodily | waste to repair and warmth to proI vide, also the strain of calf-bearing, and if cows are expected to milk | well and look well sufficient food ! must be provided. Food not only influences the yield of milk, but the amounK of butter that can be made from it. „ . , Special richness of milk cannot be produced by special feeding, but the continuous use of rich food will stimulate a cow to yield as much and as good milk as she is constitutionally I capable of giving. The preparation of food is of importance in aiding diI gestion and in furthering the assimiI lation of a greater amount of nutriment out of a given quantity of material For .'this reason it pays to chaff the whole or a part of the fodder, slice or pulp the roots, and crush all cake. Any change in food must jie made gradually, or disorders are apt to arise, milk cows being particularly sensitive in this respect, and show it in a decreased yield at first, though the flow will gradually return if the change of food be for the better. Some people advocate warming and steaming food in winter, but unless it is actually cold and frozen there is little gain from artificial heating. Quick and clean milking at regular intervals is a great factor in maintaining a good milk yield, while slovenly milking reduces the yield and premalturely dries up a cow. Good milking is an important feeding, and will do as much to keep up the yield, while inferior milking will injure a cow more than all good treatment will counteract. Quick milking produces more milk than slow milking and of a better quality. Clean stripping is very important. When every drop of milk is drawn from the udder day after day, the milk-secreting glands are stimulated and developed, while unclean milking causes inactivity of the glands, and they gradually become inactive. The last drawn' milk is by far the richest, and when the stripping is not thoroughly done a great part of this richness is naturally lost. Under ordinary circumstances the are at least six times as rich as the first quart drawn. While the last quart drawn previous tc the strippings is about four times as rich as the first quart. Gentle treatment should be the rule with all milkers. A cow is a sensitive animal, and when she is ruffled in any way will unwittingly hold up her milk. She should never be hunted by clogs or unnecessarily struck. Cows must be healthy to milk well and yield sound milk; a cow with a healthy, well-de-veloped organisation will milk better than one with a sluggish temperament. A cow attains her highest yield about six to eight weeks after calving, and then gradually declines until she goes dry; but there are certain conditions in feeding that will arrest to a certain extent this gradual falling off, such as the grazing of young grass in early summer, while, on the other hand, hot summer weather and dry pasture will accelerate this natural" shrinkage. Service heat affects the yield of some cows more than others'. With some the yield k hardly affected, while with others it is reduced and of a poorer quality, and butter made from such milk will be pale in colour. These changes do not last more than from two or three days as a rule, and disappear immediately the oestrum is over.

Cowsheds should be well lighted, soiiit&ry and comfortable, and the comfort of cows should be studied equally as well when they are outside as when they are in. Plenty of good water and shelter is necessary in both winter and summer. Every dairy herd should regularly undergo a weeding-out process, and the poorest milkers be sold out or fattened, for any cow giving less than 600 gal. is barely profitable. Young stock are better than old in many ways. A cow in good health will continue to improve in her milk-yield up to her seventh or eighth year, though, of course, there arc exceptions.