MILK PRODUCED IN SOUTHERN CHINA ' 



By C. O. Levine 

 Of Canton Christian College 



ONE PLATE 



Through investigations begun in November, 1916, some inter- 

 esting data have been secured in regard to the milking qualities 

 of native and European cattle in southern China. 



Three classes of milk animals have been studied: European 

 cattle, the native water buffalo (known in the Philippine Islands 

 as carabao), and the native, humped cattle. The work has been 

 done chiefly in the vicinities of Canton and Hongkong, the only 

 regions in Kwangtung (which is the southernmost province in 

 China) where dairying has as yet developed into an industry of 

 any extent. 



European cows, or foreign cows as the Chinese call them, are 

 the most popular for dairy purposes. In the dairies of Canton 

 and Hongkong, which utilize approximately 1,600 cows, about 

 1,200 are European. The European cows have been imported 

 from Australia, America, and England, or are the offspring of 

 such imported cows. In the various dairies may be found Short- 

 horns, Holsteins, Ayrshires, Guernseys, Jerseys, and crosses 

 among these breeds and with the native, humped cows. There 

 are a few pure-bred cows. The Shorthorns, which are the com- 

 monest, are chiefly of the white, hornless variety that have been 

 imported from Australia. 



European cows are never allowed to graze because of the 

 presence everywhere in the grass of the fever tick. They readily 

 contract fever when exposed to it, and the disease usually proves 

 fatal. However, European cattle born in southern China readily 

 become immune to the fever, as they do in Texas where fever 

 is common. In spite of the greater labor and risk experienced in 

 keeping European cows, they are preferred to the native cows 

 because of the larger amount of milk given and their efficiency, 

 as compared with native cattle, in converting feed into milk. 

 A good description of the water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis Lyd.) , 



* Some of the data contained in this paper have been published in bulletin 

 17 Canton Christian College, Canton, China. 



91 



