COMPOSITION OF MILK.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 232, 4 November 1873, Page 2

COMPOSITION OF MILK.

Fkom a report by Dr. A. B. Niahols and Professor J. HI Badcock it appears that genuine millt is composed of waterholding, either in suspension or solution, fat globules, caseim or cheesy matter, sugar, and various mineral matters or salts. It is a physiological fact that the quantity and quality of milk may vary, not only in different cows, but in the samecow, this variation depending upon :■ — 1. The breed of the cow from which it is obtained. Alderneys, for example, are* milk containing a large proportion of cream, and henceforming a very nutritious food for infants ; while Durhamsproduce a fluid richer in casein and, on this account, especially adapted to the manufacture of obeese. 2, On thenumber of calves born, and time sinoe calving. Less milk is given with the first calf than with the subsequent .ones ; for a week or ten days after every, birth a yellow, l||ick r stringy substance, called colostrum, is- secreted, whicu is unfit for use. 3. On the oharacter of the food< furnished to' the animal. When fed principally on carrots, there is * slight diminution in the amount of casein and butter and an increase in the quantity of sugar. This- is- still move marked when beetroot is made the chief article of diet. If thefood consists of the refuse of distilleries, the animals often become diseased, and the milk given is- manifestly unfit for consumption. The yield of milk is most abundant in spring,. In dry seasons the quuntity secreted is less, but the quality is richer. An unpleasant taste and odour i* said- to be imparted to milk by an exclusive diet of. turnips oc oil oake,. and the same is also the cue when the cows feed upon wild* garlic or other weeds and leaves of plants where the pnsturage is bad. 4. On the cleanliness and ventillatioit of! stablri,. and care bestowed upon the animals. It often happens that milk of high specific gravity and yielding a large percentage? of cream, becomes so thoroughly impregnated with the vitiated air of tho stables as to be decidedly reyulsivo to thetaste. 5. On the time of milking. Tho afternoon milk is* richer, on the average, by one- fourth than that obtained in> the morning, and the last portion of a milking is muoh therichest and is often reserved for cream.