400 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 July, 1918. 



As 3 gallons of skim milk will produce 1 lb. of pork, worth, say, 

 6d. per lb., the value 6f the skim milk from each cow may be set down 

 at £5 5s. Consequently, there would have been a net profit of £11 17s. 3d., 

 to say nothing of the increased value of the calves from such a herd. 

 As a matter of fact, the milk from No. 2 herd was sold wholesale at 

 Is. per gallon, and thus the return from each cow amounted to £35. 



A remarkable fact of this herd is the quantity of milk which it 

 yielded on the 273rd day of the test, for the majority of the cows were 

 due to calve again within twelve months of their previous calvmg. 

 No. 1 cow of the herd was, at the time of the test, in her eighteenth 

 year, and is now (March, 1918) twenty years old, and still "going 

 strong." 



How TO Use the Babcock Tester. 



Suificient has been written to prove the necessity for the farmer being 

 able to use the Babcock tester, as well as to test cream and separator milk, 

 so that he may be able to ascertain whether or not it pays to feed and 

 milk the individual cows in his herd. The object of this article is to 

 explain the correct method of working this invaluable appliance. 



To insure satisfactory results it is necessary that a correct sample be 

 obtained — a sample that represents correctly the composition of the bulk. 

 The method of sampling milk generally adopted in butter or cheese fac- 

 tories is what is known as the drip system, in which the milk runs along a 

 chute from the weighing tank to the vat. A hole is punched in the 

 bottom of the chute through which the milk drips while it is running 

 along the chute. A vessel is placed to catch the drip and a small quantity 

 is put into a bottle. This is repeated with each delivery. A little 

 formalin is dropped in with the first lot to preserve the sample until the 

 end of the week when it is tested. 



Testing Cows. 



Talcing the sample. — Strip the cow thoroughly dry. Weigh the milk 

 on the scales (Fig. 2), which should be hanging in a convenient place, 

 and note the weight on the ruled sheet* (Fig. 3). Pour the milk from 

 one bucket to another three times, and immediately take 1 c.c. (cubic 

 centimetre) for every pound of milk, and place it in the sample bottle; 

 i.e., if there are 25 lbs. of milk, take 25 c.c. into the sample bottle. Put 

 into this three drops of formalin (40 per cent, solution) and mix by 

 giving a gentle rotary shake. Repeat this for six consecutive milkings, 

 except that no further formalin is required, the three drops added on the 

 first occasion being sufficient to keep the sample sweet until it is con- 

 venient to make the test. As each fresh lot of milk is added, the quantity 

 in the bottle should be mixed by shaking with a gentle rotary motion. 

 The sample, which should be kept tightly corked, should not be shaken 

 violently at any time or the cream may be churned, and this would 

 make the testing difficult. 



Making the test. — "When the milk has stood for a few days, the cream 

 will have risen to the surface and become tough and leathery, and will 



• Record sheets may be obtained from the D'-pirtm^nt of A?ric\ilture, Melbourne. When ordering, 

 applicants should state whether the weekly or monthly sheets are required, and whether for cabinet or 

 not. Ordinary slieets are on sale at Is. per dozen (post free) ; those for cabinet at 2s. 



