FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 204, 7 December 1910, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY

QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF MILK. The' question whether the quality of cows' milk is influenced by the quantity > yielded has been the subject of investigation by Professor Wilson, of the Royal College of Science. Dublin, whose report has been published in jamphlet form as part of their scientific proceedings by the Royal Dublin Society. Professor Wilson \ lias mad;' an exhaustive analysis of the milk words published by the Ayrshire t'fittle Society, and finds the quality of milk is in no way dependent on the quantity. !t is a. common belief among dairy farmers that heavy milking-eows are likely to give milk of poor quality, and that rich milk will be obtained from cows Whose yield is small. Professor Wilson has examined the records of nearly 3000 cows, and has classified'them according to the quantity and quality of the milk produced. From the table which he has compiled it is at once evident that yield has no influence on the quality. The cows are divided into four groups, according to the quality of milk they yielded, and in every group the proportion of the cows that give poor, medium and rich milk is very much the same; so that with the Ayrshire cattle at least —and there is no reason to suppose it would be different with other breeds—the conclusion that quantity and quality of milk are independent of each other is justified. Immediately muic is drawn from the cow it contains a lot of air, and is at a temperature of about it) 1.5 deg. F. When it is cooled to about oOdeg. F. the volume will be much less than when drawn, although the weight will remain the. same. The cow pea is one of the good cattle feeds. It is nearly equal to lucerne in food value, and is an enricher of the land. The day has arrived when farm work has to be got down to a system. The time of the rule of thumb has gone «y. There are few dairymen who have not observed the immediate reduction in the amount of milk drawn daily after the cows have been exposed to cutting wind or a drenching storm. Prepare for the elementsSeveral excellent returns from' dairy herds have been reported already this season, but (says the Palmerston Standard) the following record will take some beating. He is milking forty cows, which are giving an average daily supply of 43 lbs each, with a 4.3 test. The return for the month of October from these cows average £2 3s 6d each. There were no less that 57 wool-buyers stopping in one-hotel in Napier one night last week. Many remedies for codlin moth have been printed, but perhaps the most novel was that suggested by a writer in a newspaper 'recently—that geraniums be grown under fruit trees. .Mr. A. Pickering, of Palmerston North, read the paragraph, and 'tried it, he says, with successful results. H 0 is now a believer in the remedy.

Southland farmers are having a great time just now in all departments, says the Southland Times. Oats have risen with a boom, stock of every description is easily saleable, and feed is plentiful.

At .a sale of Leeston farm lands at Ohristchurch last Friday, one lot of 37 ac-r.es fetched £42 per acre; another of Hi) acres £3O per acre. - / Shipping and Commerce 'for November 11, referring to the export of horses from the Dominion, says: "The large shipments of draught horses from New Zealand to Australia continue unabated. During the month of October over 600 horses were shipped from Wellington, Lyttelton, Dunedin, and Bluff,, and practically every steamer takes a large number to New South Wales and VictoriaFarmers in some parts of the Dominion are now fearing that the absorption of draught stock by Australia may prove dangerous to New Zealand interests, while Australians are asking why they> cannot supply their own needs. Dr. S. S. Cameron, the chief veterinary officer of Victoria, recently stated that Victoria i imported £IOO,OOO worth of draught stallions and mares annually from New Zealand. He quoted statistics which showed that during the past five years nearly every stallion which had won. first, second, and third prize at the premier show of the State was imported either from New Zealand or Scotland, and even the three horses on top- at Horsham show were all imported from New Zealand. A return prepared by the New Zealand Department of Agriculture stated that the number of horses exported from the ( Dominion to Australia ill the year ending March 31, 1910, was 1972, comprising 152 stallions, 1090 mares, and 730 geldings. The export has, since April 1, been on an even larger scale, the weekly shipments being limited only by the accommodation on the intercolonial steamers. The demand has been created by the extraordinary development of agriculture in the Commonwealth."