£0 July, 191 i.] Field Experiments at Rotliamsted. 489 



Where labour is hired, the combined cost of grazing and handling a 

 milking herd cannot be set down at less than ^^5 los. per cow a year. 



Allowing lod. per lb. for butter fat the year through, and id. per 

 gallon for skim milk for pig fattening, there are in this herd : — 



19 cows which profit only £o 12 6 per cow per annum. 



10 ,, >> 2 13 4 „ ,, • 



it) „ „ 3 13 9 



10 ', ,, 4 14 2 ,, ,, 



If each lot of cows averaging below 500 gallons were culled out, beginning 

 ■with those at 300 gallons, note the possible increase in gallons and profit 

 per row for the herd : — 



The minimum profit at which a dairy farmer can afford to work his 

 <ows is a matter for each to compute, according to his acreage and the 

 labour he has to employ. There are many dairymen at present trying 

 to make a living from cows that do not average more than 300 gallons 

 a year. They do not cull ; and, when they say there is no profit in cows, 

 they are, under their system of working, coming close to the truth. 



But there are very many others who have carried on their dairying in 

 a thorough business manner. They cull out all cows that do not show a 

 reasonable profit ov^r working expenses ; and these are the dairy farmers 

 who have no complaint to make against the milking cow. 



Included in Mr. Stansmore's herd are several pedigreed Ayrshire and 

 Shorthorn cattle. These are typical dairy stock ; and, havhig come suc- 

 •cessfully through the test of profitable milk production, each will from now 

 on have a more definite and much enhanced value for breeding purpo.ses. 



FIELD EXI^EllIMENTS AT THE ROTHAMSTED 

 EXFEiU MENTAL STATION, 1!)1(). 



{Extracted from the Annual Report for 1910 of the Rotliamsted 

 Experimental Station, Harpenden, England.) 



T. .1. /. Smitli, Chief Field Officer. 



From \hv al)<)\f l\e]H)rt can l)e gleaned some useful information which 

 applies to Victorian soils more or less, according to the prevailing climatic 

 conditions in various parts of the State. 



PJiosphatic Fertilizers. — ^The sea.son was an exceptionally wet one, and 

 ■one result in connexion with the use of phosphatic fertilizers was emphasized 

 ii a marked degree, viz. : that phosphoric acid lias its maximum effect in 

 wet and cold seasons. Plots unmamirt-d wilh phosphoric acid fell to a 

 very low level, while those trc.ited with phosphatic fertilizers gave the 

 best results. 



I.ime. The effect of lime on the phns was not so marked as usual, 

 though its \alue was \ir\ apparent where the soil had U'come s<")ure<! 



77'.t7. s 



