FARM TOPICS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 591, 10 December 1920, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARM TOPICS.

DEHORNED CATTLE.

It is generally considered that dehorned cattle put on weight quicker than those which have been allowed to keep their horns, but apparently such is not always the case. An actual test is reported in the Breeders 7 Gazette as having recently taken place in the United States of Amejrica. A line of 10,199 range steers from Montana were marketed on different days during two months at Ghicago and Omaha. Of these 4870 were horned, and averaged 10741b; and 5329 dehorned averaged 10731b., or lib less. It is stated that the cattle were run on the same pastures, were of approximately the same age, and were marketed under similar conditions. Dehorning involves a certain amount of work and expense, and if it makes no appreciable difference would hardly be' worth troubling about.

. MILKING HINTS.

It is not impossible to over-value rapid milking, 1» which cows submit in the long run with .pleasure to themselves. A slow milker (according to the London Live Stock Journal) is always a bad milker. It is true that gentleness and firmness are two necessary desiderata with all animals, inclusive of servants earning wages. Noise and disorder tend to want of discipline and confusion. A good- practice is to serve, in troughs some, kind of food, whether in hay or chaff* immediately before the cows are tied up. There is absolutely no risk of the cow spilling milk unless she is hurt or rebellious. Only quite exceptionally does the good milker meet with the rebellious cow. The milker should always wash his hrnds with soap and water and thoroughly dry them before commencing to milk. The milker's hands are made supple bv washing and drying them for all kinds of manual labour. But gentle mastership over milking cows is a sine qua non.

SEDIMENT IN MILK,

Sediment in milk indicates carelessness in its production or handling. Sediment contaminates milk and makes it less saleable. Most of the sediment in milk comes from the bodies of cows, and consists of hairs, manure, bedding, etc. Straining removes only the coarse particles of dirt and removes neither the bacteria nor the fine dirt from milk. Straining improves the commercial quality of milk, but does not appreciably' improve its healthfulness. The best system is to prevent, as far as possible, the entrance of dirt into milk. This can be done best by having clean cows in clean stalls, milked with clean hands into clean buckets. Filter cloth and absorbent cotten are efficient materials for strainers. Cheesecloth and wire are less effective.

THE COST OF MILK. Mr. A. G. Rustin, University of Leeds, recently gave a lecture in Middlesborough on "The factors influencing the cost of milk production, and while intended for English producers, many of the points dealt with are of considerable interest to those associated with the industry in Australia. Taking the cost of production on one farm near Leeds, where the costs had been carefully checked, he showed that the actual cost of production at that time was 2s 9d, as against 4%d in 1913. The increased cost was due mainlv to three causes. First, the high labour bill. The increased wages paid to the men was responsible for, roughly, 2d per gallon on the cost of the milk at the farm, or %d a quart to the consumer, and no man could object to paying this if "by so doing he was making the life of the farm worker better worth living. The one ftctor which more than anything else was responsible for the high price of milk at the present day was the high price of the purchased feeding stuffs, which was responsible for more than a a gallon in the price of milk, and if the prices of these were brought down to a reasonable figure the cost of production of milk could easily be reduced by 4d per gallon on the farm, or a penny per quart to to consumer. Another factor in the case, said Mr. Ruston, was the difference between the buying-in price of a cow in milk and its selling-out price whey dry. Before the war a man who bought his cow when newlycalven and sold it fat would rarely drop more than £3 on the transaction. To-day he might drop £2O. If, as was the case in many industrial areas, the whole of the herd was replaced yearly, it would mean that the depreciation would be responsible for S)d or Is per gallon, as compared with less than a penny in pre-war days. This was the direct result of partial control—fixing the price at one end and not at the other, having an open market for nearly-calven cows, and iixing the selling-out price for those going for beef. If milk was to be produced cheaply, said Mr. Ruston. a herd of heavy milking cows must be built up.