FOOD F0R DAIRY GATTLE (Concluded.)

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1574, 5 August 1882, Page 4

FOOD FOR DAIRY GA TTLE (Concluded.)

It isatquestion that' must' be settled by, local circumstances, whether the smaller !^^'.be^tcrproduct is topre'oV less profit,ji, larger and inferior one. The \stjffi] varieties of red clover, large am] ioB™jhH> are extensively used both for soiljsingjOnd grazing. .The pointswhich give them preference with dairymen are, the large amount of, nutritious feed they 'I&AWf « yjthe rapidity with which their 0 jm>vfth is renewed, their ability to enjiirturOj drought by reaspn of thoir long fusiform 'roots, and their well-known actiqnj ,as,f fertilisers. . More butter and - cheese can be made from a given area of clovetfi' than of grass. Clover, in its green and succulent state, especially when the.growth is young and very rank, carries in its sap a property that modifies cth'<J flavbW: and quality of both butter and cheese. This property, whatever it maybejiiis often carried into milk in such quantity, when clover is young and 'fresh\ as to produce taint in the milk, and flpatiug curds, and is perhaps identical with the cause of hoven. But this peculiarity fades away as the plaiit approaches flowering, and is destroyed by drying. Green and succulent food is ."best for milch cows, but the succulence 1 'of food should not be in excess. Pood containing more than about 70 per cent. t of Water, will produce more milk by ''evaporating the water in excess of that quantity. Green fodder corn, for instance, which contains from 80 to 85 per 'cent, of water, will produce more milk by evaporating 10 to 15 per cent, of its ' moisture. Another item to regard in 1 the selection of food for milk production, ', is that the digestible elements of the food should contain flesh-forming and respiratory matter in the same relative proportions, or as near as may be, as they exist ' in milk. If there is an excess of either, it will be fed at a loss ; if a deficiency of either, the quantity will diminish. Where proper proportions do not exist, they may be regulated by mixing different feeds. Thus fodder corn has an excess of respiratory matter ; clover of flesh-form-ing ; by mixing the two, both are fed profitably. In grasses these elements aie pretty well balanced ; so they are in wheat, and rye bran, and various other foods. So far as milk is concerned, an excess of albuminoids occasions less loss than an excess of starch, sugar, and tat, and a deficiency of albuminoids will also occasion the greater loss. The quantity of milk vaiies pretty nearly with the supply of flesh-producing food, when other circumstances arc equal. Whatever course is taken by the dairyman to keep his cattle in the best milking condition, some provision must be made for keeping tip the flow when grass first fails. If this is not done, diminished milk and milk products must be expected the remainder of the season. After a cow is well along in the milking season, and especially if she is with calf, if she is al- • lowed to fall away in milk she cannot by any after feeding be brought up to give as much as she would have given had the flow been kept up all along. High feeding will then stimulate the growth of the fcetus, and the cow will run to flesh rather than milk. Earlier in the seasen, especially for a few weeks after coming in, the activity of the milk glands is such that they will rob the blood of the cow of what is necessary to supply her daily waste, and she will grow poor under thoir action if she is not abundantly fed. But later in the season those glands abate their activity, and the increasing vigour of the cow and her growing foetus, make the strongest draught upon her nutrition, and if there is any deficiency, it will be felt in the milk. Hence the great necessity of never-stacking in the supply of feed after the middle of the summer. In the autumn usually some succulent food will bo icquircd to keep the milk from dropping down too fast. In the absence of any such feed, wheat or rye bran will be found an excellent 'substitute. It is about as good as soiling at any time, and is more convenient to feed. If not very much dried of their milk five or sik pounds of the bran per day for each cow, wet and thrown on to some coarse fodder, will make a pound of milk, or more, for evciy pound of bran, and the milk will more than pay the cost of the bran and labour of feeding. Bran is excellent food for cows at any time when extra food is required. We have generally been able to yofc from it more milk than from an equal cost of any other ground feed. It is bolter suited to warm weather than meal. As the weather becomes cool, if the co^s arc at all tliin, meal may be profitably added. At any rate feed enough of sonic kind should be given to keep both milk, and strength all the autumn. One of th" woist errors a dairyman ever commits i& to let a cow go into winter quarters (hooping. The idea conveyed by the phrases "a cow is a cow," and "it costs a& much to keep a poor cow as it does a good one," is HOW discarded by intelligent dairymen : a good cowD^afis more fi>Di\ tUaii a poor one, {UUt the moie milk she gives the move food she requires. But here I must be allowed to remark, it is not the quantity of milk that pays cither vendors or factories, but it is in the quality of the milk. To be 5.1110, a\ i 1 1 1 the many who cave more for themselves, than for the public good or thoir on 11 reputation, tho aim of their feeding is nut to get the most good milk, but the laigest possible yield without regard to quality. But the time has come now that the system of associated dairying is made a .science of, and all milk tested by the various factory managers. That those \\ ho make quantity without quality the only aim will bo pushed to the wall until they learn new lessons in the care and good feeding of their cattle. The milk of cows ha\ing insufficient food, or of poor quality, not only give less milk, but what they do give is poorer in quality than the milk of cows well fed. The diffei ence in quality • caused by difference in feed, is much wider than dairymen arc apt to suspect, and it often amounts to great injustice to cheese factory companies. I have noticed in testing the milk of the different patrons of a factory, ten to fifteen per cent, in the value of milk for cheesemaking is a very common difference, a difference, due wholly to quality and -supply of feed, and the. least injury done to a cheese factory company by way of watering milk or skimming, or saving out shippings, will leceive the most prompt'attention and exposure whenever detected, and a most watchful care is always on the alert to jtuard against 1111r just loss in any of these ways. Supporing cows to have been w ell provided for 1 so as to have arrived near the milking season with flesh and strength unabated, preparation for spring may^ be entered , upon by a moderate increase of , feed two or three weeks before the v aro expected to "come in." /M This is necessary to increase their vigour , f .to,sustain them in the, severity of ap- , proaching labour and supply the, rapid s . growth of the frotus, some kind of grain should be, used for this purpose. Corn is often p.sed, but any other of the sepals is ',' better, porn is;a, little too heating for. - ihis period. Some food 1 icher in albuminoids such as bean meal or pea meal, , ,^houjd besised r . But nothing fed at this >i/ Qcrijicaljseason Q crijicalj5eason v of the, year has iev^er proved, i-HtiUffiQieritj iv good results as . grepn and/ '^&o,tut.io^ s^eh ' /iia^ugarrbeets/i. wMMstWxkto(\WW<i*£* ; They ; improve ,

the general health of the animal, they are easily, digested and assijnjlatcd, they increase 1 t;he volume of the blood," making it thinner, and, its circulation into the minute vessels more complete and evrn, and thereby aid' most effectually in the relaxation of tissues and expansion of parts so necessary at this particular time. Where roots have been given 'two or three times in advance,' labour has been 'easier and sooner recovered from, and the How of milk has been larger an'd i better than when , they have not, bceiv used, whether it will pay to raise roots, to feed through the entire winter as a substitute for hay, may be a question, but that they contribute to the general health of the animals at any time when fed in reasonable quantities, is not doubted. Though good at any time, they have a special utility in the spring. They not only prepare the cow for an easier labour, bnt they prepare v the whole system for an easy and gradual change from foddering to grazing, so that no shock is felt. They cleanse the blood, and put riot only the milk glands, 'but the entire glandular system in perfect working order, and thus extend their influence through the whole summer. When cows come in during the foddering season, there is nothing that will so prepare them for a bountiful return during the whole remaining period of lactation, as a moderate use of green food while the foddering lasts. For feeding at such a time, itpays its cost many times over; let the question of profit at other times be answered as it may. If there is any profit in milking at this season, it is in making the cow digest all she can. To this end she should not only be supplied with all she can eat of food rich in the elements of milk, but her dry food should be selected from such materials as will digest most easily and rapidly Professor G. C. Caldwcll, of Cornell University, says one of the most useful results of the German feeding experiments, is that which shows the importance of protein or albumonoids for milk, that fodder rich in protein gives the most good milk. The food of animals is not one homogeneous mass or single composition. It is composed of several distinct parts, each of which performs a distinct part of the economy of life, and cannot bo substituted for any other. One kind of food having a definite composition, builds up flesh, and restores its waste, and exists in several different forma, and is known under different names, as albumen, fibrin, easeine, glutin, etc. They arc all included under, and are designated by the terms, albuminoids, " digestible protein," or Jiesh-forming food. Another kind supplies the material from which aie geneiated animal heat and force. Tins kind of food is made up of fats and oils, starch, gum, sugar, etc., and are called supporteis of tespiration, or heat producing food. Besides these water and certain minerals, as soda, lime, phosphorus, iron, etc., enter into the composition ol the bodies of animals, the latter chiefly to build up the bones. As the minerals, excepting salt, arc usually in Ssuflioicnt supply in all kinds of food, albuminoids and heat-producing foods must sustain certain relative proportions according to the condition and circumstances of the animals. If a cow is not in milk she may not need any more albuminoids in cold than in warm weather ; but she would need more heat-producing food to keep her warm. In the summer, for every pound of flesh-forming food she uses, she will require three pounds of heat-producing food, and in winter, five or six pounds ; a cow can live well on food in such proportions if she is doing nothing but lh ing Rapid and perfect digestion are all important in feeding cows in milk. One lesson our natural pastures teach us, that variety is al&o an element in food, a lesson I must say, not always taken by feeders ; not a meadow, not a pasture, not paddock, by river's bank, or on a hill side, but what has plants eminently condi mental in flavor and action. The dairyman who varies the food he gives to his cows, will, lam sure, have a great advantage over him who docs not attend to this. Horace Waipole. To Awamutu.

Notices.