FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 287, 3 April 1913, Page 8

FARM AND DAIRY.

; TliK MILKING JtOiJPvS. i DANISH EXPERIMENTS. i' The report of the Royal Agricultural r Laboratory, according to a Danish 1 writer, tells about experiments in milking cows two or three times a day. and : the short summitry reads: » ''As regards the question whether to ) milk twice or three times a day, seven i experiments have been made. As a main result may be mentioned that with [ cows which average 28 to 31lh. daily, we , got on an average 1.7,51b. more milk when milking three times a day (nearly ti per cent, more) than when only milkI big twice. The hours of milking three times were 4 a.m., 10.4."i a.m., and (i p.m., and. when milking twice, about twelve hours between (4 to 4 or 5 to 5). ''Milking oftencr did not show any appreciable change in the fat percentage, but where the feed was not liberal. , it has allVctcd the condition of the cows, I milking them lose a little in weight: yet ; this loss is so small as to be of no great importance. ! "The experiment does not enlighten the question of the influence which a more frequent milking might possibly have in the long run when started on heifers on their milking capacity." It is suggested that possibly the results' 1 might have been more favourable to the | frequent milking if it had been carried out more regnlarlv with an interval of just eight hours, at least on the farm where the milking was most irregular, having intervals of G'/ ; . B'/,. and 11 hours, the increase was the least. It is also remarked that if (he result is lower than that obtained in- practise shown hv the milk records, which is usually claimed to be about 10 per cent., it must be remembered that in these experiments the various groups were fed alike in the same periods: unless this is done (here is danger of crediting the more frequent milking with an increase due to the belter feeding, which as a rule follows the greater yield.