10 Milk Records. 



reluctance usually shown by them to make any changes in 

 their ordinary roiitine of work. 



Other and more definite objections have been given to me 

 from time to time by working farmers, of which the following 

 are the most cogent : — 



(a) That the time lost daily in weighing and recording 

 the individual weight of milk is considerable, particularly in 

 those cases where an early delivery of such milk is necessary, 

 and to this must be added the time subsequently taken in 

 entering the returns into the permanent record book. 



(h) That the ordinary cowman cannot be relied upon to 

 weigh and record the milk accurately, while it is impossible 

 for the owners always to be present in the cowsheds during 

 milking time. 



(c) That in many cases, where an animal is inclined to put 

 on flesh, it would be useless to trouble about the milk she gives, 

 as she is milked until dry, and then sold to the butcher. 



{d) That farmers do not want to have outsiders coming to 

 their farm to do work which can be done equally well by 

 themselves — an inspector of any sort being "an abomination " 

 to the farmer in England. 



Over and above these reasons must be added a latent fear 

 that the milk records might show that the cows were not so 

 good as their owners believed them to be, and this, coupled 

 with the expenses which necessarily would be incurred if the 

 work was carried out by a society, is, in my opinion, the real 

 explanation for the apparent indifference shown by dairy 

 farmers to the keeping of milk records. 



It is not necessary to describe the utensils wanted for weigh- 

 ing and testing milk, as full descriptions and instructions for 

 practical use are given in the catalogues of the various dairj- 

 implement makers. The milk of every cow in a herd should 

 be weighed both morning and evening, either daily or weekly, 

 the weight of milk being written down at the time on the card 

 or slate in the cowshed, and subsequently transferred into the 

 permanent record book. When samples are wanted for analysis 

 they should be taken directly after the milk has been weighed. 

 To get an accurate sample, the milk should be poured at least 

 twice backwards and forwards from one bucket into another, 

 before the quantity required is taken out. Milk for analysis 

 should be put into a specially numbered bottle, and before 

 being tested b^- the Gerber process should be heated up to 

 101'^ F., otherwise a correct reading may not be obtained. 



Whether milk should be weighed daily or weekly is a 

 question on which there is a difference of opinion, some 

 insisting that daily weighing is necessary to gei at the 

 correct actual yield of milk ; others contend that weekly 



