DAIRY SKIMMINGS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 279, 7 July 1888, Page 6

DAIRY SKIMMINGS.

Breeding a Dairy Herd.— Both enterprise and intelligence are required to build Up a gcod dairy herd — enterprise to buy bulls of pure pedigree, and intelligence to choose those breeds best suited to produce the desired result, and to select the best bows to mate with the pure males. Besides the introduction of dairy blood, whether it be from the Channel Island breeds, of which we have good specimens in this colony, or whether we choose the deep milking strains of the Shorthorns, or the Holstein-Friesian or Dutch cattle, we must also take care to cull out cows that prove to give either a small quantity or a poor quality of milk, and those which do not continue to give a liberal supply of milk for at least nine months after calving. A cow that is not a persistent milker is as useless to a dairyman as one whose milk is deficient in quality or quantity. Those who want good resultß should not make the mistake of .supposing that all bulls of dairy breeds are alike suited to their purpose. Many heixls of so-called dairy cattle are not bred scientifically, with a purpose to make each generation superior to the last for dairy purposes, but inquiry and investigation will enable anyone who knows what he wants, to buy at a reasonable price a sire whose calves out of common or "scrubber ' dam? will grow into fine dairy cows. This has been done again and again by men who 'weiil UK \york intelligently, and can be' done agam by^anyone, in the time that will be- required tp teach the boys and hired men how to care for and I milk claiiy cows so as to get the greatest possible profit out of them Pkriodh or Milk Production. -- Pro fes&or Sheldon says : "The period of milking may be classed in three parts. For the first six to seven weeks after calving the largest quantity of milk per day is produced. After this the yield falls off pretty considerably, but then remains at the same figure for two or three months, when a steady decline set« in until the cow is perfectly dry. By careful feeding the best parts of the milking periods may be prolonged, and this ought to be thu aim of all milk producers. It green fodder and other food which stimulates milk secretion, can be used at the right time a considerable extra quantity of milk may be produced." Guernseis as Dairy Cattle. — In speaking of the Guernsey cows, a writer in the Fancier's ikt'Mle says, as compared with the .1 ersey : First. They give a larger quantity of milk, and of equal quality. Second. i They are hardier, and not so liable to drop ; after calving. Third. When sold to the butcher, they fetch a far higher price. Fourth. Cheaper to buy. All these good • qualities mark them out as about he very best cattle for dairy farmers. Tiik Larding or Milk. — Mr Fairbank, i the great lard man of Chicago, was a witI ne^s before the Committee of Congress on 1 adulterated lard. Speaking of the use of lard in the creamery establishments of Illinois and lowa, he said they buy neutral I oil and lard of Chicago dealers evidently for use in mixing in the milk which is churned into bucber. He said that probably fifty establishments do more or less of it. Being i 'asked whether any now make such purchases since the Oleomargarine Bill was passed, ho \ said, with a smile, that he wouldn't like to i go into details on the subject. Feeding axd Milk Production. —To get the most possible profit out of the dairy cow, she must be fed to her full capacity. She is a machine for turning coarse feed into milk, and the more she can turn into I milk the more profitable she is, and one cow that will turn a gi.ven amount of feed into fifty pounds of milk is worth more, as an investment, than two cows which willido the same thing — it requires, more room and more care for two cows than for one. It is no objection to a dairy cow that she is a large feeder. The more food she consumes the better, if she puts it to good use, and the most successful dairymen are heavy feeders. j In this lies the objection to cows with a i beefy tendency. When fed heavily they take on fat instead of increasing the flow of milk, and do nol return the feed in the , form which is profitable to the dairyman. , The stronger the milking tendency in the dairy cow the bettci, but the dairyman must expect to feed heavily fiom good feed to get the most profit. Kkkp Only thk Bi^t Cows. — The cow which gives the largest quantity of milk is , not always the most profitable. The ' quality of fehe milk is quite as important. I For this reason the milk of every cow in a dairy should be weighed separately, and tested separately to ascertain the percentage of cream, for a sufficient number of days, to , fix her \alue af a milk and butter producer. I Advantagks or CuvuiMi vv. — To show in actual figures how much may be done to , add to the value of our dairy stock by grading up with bulls of the best milking breed, we may cite the experience of a correspondent ot the Country I'wtieman, who states that in 1875 he stai ted with a herd of common cows, what w e in New Zealand should call " scrubbei -.'' These cows averaged 125 pounds of bultcr a year : in 1880 they were all grade Jei^eya. averaging 187 pounds per cow ; in 1887 they were onehalf pure Jerseys and the rest grade Jerseys, and they averaged 276 pounds per cow. This farmer knew what he wanted to do and kept breeding towards better dairy cows e»ch year. Does not this record of actual experience prove the truth of what has been so often urged in The Farmer — that we could add enormously Lo the profits of dairy faiming in this country by improving our class of dairy cattle by introducing Jersey, Guernsey, or Ayrshire blood into our herds according to whether butter or cheese was the chief object '! Devonshire System or Cream Raising. — In many parts of the United States the Devonshire system of cream raising is finding favour with dairy fanners. Wo notice that Professor E. W. Stewart is recommending that butter made from cows long in milk, or nearly dry, will be improved in quality, and much increased in quantity, if the milk is heated in a water bath to 145 degrees Fahr. before setting in shallow pans This causes the cream to rise more completely and to churn , to butter much sooner and in better form than when not heated. Professor Stewart states that he is making, on an average, six and threefourths pounds of butter from 100 pounds (ten-gallons) of milk *o treated. Of course this is not exactly the Devonshire system, but it is coming towaids it. A Ducjikss in tjik Butter Business. — The Duchess of Hamilton, wife of the premier peer, of Scotland and sister-in-law to Lady Mandeville,; has opened a retail butter shop at Ipswich, in the neighbourhood of , the White Horse Inn immortalised by Pickwick,, and is,., accord ing to latest reports, with orders. Salt. Encrustations on Butter. — Salt gathers on the , outside of, butter, writes Professor Arnold, because of the evaporation of water contained in the brine formed by the salt added for seasoning the butter, -the brine being* .crowded out, of the butter by. contraction from, change of temperature. It. occurs ( \y,hen too much moisture is left ,in. butter when, working it, and when ' there is 'so much water in the composition I of butter that ib-separates freely and forme

an excess of brine when salt is added. In the latter case the butter contracts from the liberation of moisture without change of temperature, just as curd contracts from liberation of its whey by the action of rennet, or as lean meat contracts by separation of its moisture from the application of salt. A Wonderful Hereford Cow. — It is believed that the inmost profitable cow of which we have actual record was the purebred Hereford cow Gentle 12th. She was born at Guelph, in Ontario, in 1867, and was purchased and taken into Colorado in 1870. She died on December 22 la&t at the age of 20 years and a month. She produced 16 bulls* and two heifer calvof, and at 'the time of her death her direct desqenda« ta numbered 237 head. This very remarkable bit of stock history is given in the Breeder*? Gazette of Chicago, and will have a good deal of interest for the breeders ot the white-faces in this country.