FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 March 1922, Page 6

FARM AND DAIRY.

CIRCUMSTANCES INFLUENCING MILK YIELD. A careful observer soon realises that the producing powers of the cow are very susceptible to the influence of circumstances over which he has no control. Although dairy qualities are inherent, food is nevertheless one of the greatest factors which influence the milk yield. It is true that the quality of the food influences the composition of the milk very little, if any, and even under the very best conditions, we cannot turn a three per cent, butterfat cow into a five per cent, one, yet we can increase the productivity of either by a sufficiency of well chosen food. The manner of milking—particularly when it is done by hand —undoubtedly influences the milk yield to a very great extent. It has been proved beyond any doubt that quiet, swift, clean milking increases the yield of both milk and butterfat. On the other hand, slow and generally careless milking is the surest way of putting a cow prematurely dry. The habit of one milker ceasing to milk for a minute or two to talk to another should not be tolerated in any well managed dairy. The detrimental effects of general rough treatment have often been pointed out in these notes, and are too obvious to need emphasis. Unnecessary noise in the cowsheds sets the cows’ nerves on edge, and undoubtedly affects the milk yield. The lack of shelter also influences the yield, and a sufficiency of drinking water is of the utmost importance. It has Been calculated that for every pint of milk yielded a cow must drink five pints of water. The health of the herd is, of course, a most important matter. A sudden decrease in the flow’ of ipilk Is a sure sign of some ailment, and the flow may almost entirely cease in the first stage of oestrum. The superficial observer does not give the cow much credit for intelligence, vet it is a fact that the most intelligent cows as a rule are the greatest producers.