FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 September 1917, Page 7

FARM AND DAIRY.

CONSERVE THE DAIRY COW SHOULD iliE THK FIRST CONCERN' IN THE IMPENDING FOOD CRISIS. The following bulletin is issued by the American National Dairy Council: No programme of national preparedness for the impending food crisis in the event of war i,s wise nor eon: lete without sharp emphasis of conserving and increasing our l.ational stock of dairy cows. This is the statement of if. D. Munn, Esq.. president of the National Dairy Council. We must, of course, bond all our efforts to the prevention «f a war shortage in foodstutt's of all kinds, Mr. Munn continue., bub .when prices for beef 'begin to rise, dairy cattle must not be slaughtered nor dairy feeds diverted to other uses. The dairy cow is mankind's greatest friend. She produces man's best, most serviceable food, and one of the cheapest. ■A I'2oo-poimd steer, ready for market, contains only about 300 pounds of actual food. A dairy cow at two years of age begins to ju-.aduce and yield daily thereafter about 1100 pounds of edible nutrients in the year, and will continue to produce the same- amount for seven years thereafter; that is, she produces during her 'actual life 0300 lbs of human food. In other words, it takes li' steers to produce the same amount- of human food as a dairy cow produces during her lifetime.

I am indebted for these figures to the University of Minnesota. And the further very pertinent statement is made that the steer, before he pays for any of his food, is in debt to his master for "two years, and, upon payment, ceases to live, while the cow pays for her food daily as she goes.

It seems to me, therefore, that in any programme of preparedness in national food supply, first and foremost consideration should be given to this remarkable natural food-making machine, the dairy cow.

On behalf of the consumer, the widest publicity sliould be given to the bulletin issued last week by the United States Department of Agriculture, dealing with the great food value and economy of milk and milk produce, and showing milk to 'be an economical food even at a price of 15 cents per quart. "In energy-giving power, one quart of milk is equal to 11 ounces of sirloin steak, or i of a pound of rump steak, or Si eggs, or 10.7 ounces fowl," says the bulletin.

Our people should bear in mind, ai9o, the significance of the heart-rending appeal made to the German Reichstag by Meld Marshal von Ilindenburg. He cries for fat—fat—fat—fat for his soldiers and fat for the weakened people. The fate of Germany may hang upon the question of fat. At no time in history has the value of fat assumed ■: o ominous a meaning.

A plentiful stock of dairy cows meaus not only the quickest, richest and most continuous transformation of feed into human food, but above all, it means a daily dependable supply of butter-fat—-the finest of all fats—and forestalls the' possibility of such deep distress as is experienced in the shortage of fat by unhappy Germany.

A 2-year-old steer, ready tor market, contains only about 280 lbs of total fat, whiie a fair dairy cow will produce in her 6000 lbs of milk 300 lbs of fat yearly for seven years, or a total of 2100 lbs of fat during her lifetime, as against a steer's ?80 lbs of fat in his life.

Unless our people adopt, as to the food value of milk, the view expressed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the tendency of our farmers will be to quit dairying and to send their cows to tha butcher rather than perform tlie irksome services without profit and often at a loss. In consequence our stock of dairy cattle is lower to-day per thousand population than it has been for forty years.

As a nation, wei may well be,alarmed pver the certainty of further depletion, when further rises in the cost of feed and aggravated shortage of farm labor makes the production of milk wholly unprofitable or a losing venture at the very time when milk, butter-fat and the products derived therefrom, should be [ the country's greatest safeguard and reliance.

Moreover, further retrosression In dairying means a shortage in animal manure, lowered soil-fertility, a lower yield per acre of cereal products, an excessive rise iq the price of all foodstuffs coming frohi the soil, and a serious derangement of our economic life. It spells distress in its keenest form. It appears to me, then, to bo the immediate duty of government to keep stable and stimulate dairy .producion by intensive education of the farmer, to the end that he may increase rather than decrease his stock of dairy .;ttle, and equally intensive education of the consumer as to the food value and relative economy of milk. If it becomes necessary to take governmental action to safeguard our food supplies, the first decree to bo issued, in my judgment, should be a peremptory prohibition of the slaughter of productive dairy cows, and our next concern should bo an upward revision of the, prices of milk based upon the cost of production and a fair profit to tooth producer and distributor. Assured a rich supply of milk, plenty of butter and cheese, nations can laugh at starvation blockades.