780 



Another cow increased to 18 quarts in eight days, and there was no 

 increase in the percentage of butter fat. The third one before the 

 exper.ment gave 4-2 per cent, of butter fat, and at the end of two 

 weeks, when she had increased to 20 quarts, her milk was found to 

 be two-tenths per cent, less, only giving 4'o per cent, butter fat. 



Of course, the total yield of butter for the week in each case 

 was very much greater than it had been before, but that was on 

 account of the extra quantity of milk the cows gave, and not due to 

 the increase in the percentage of butter fat. The experiment was 

 kept up for a month and the percentage of butter fat varied very 

 little after the first fortn'ght. 



A similar result took p'ace among the suppliers to a large butter 

 factory in the Western district of Victoria. A number of fanners 

 bought ten tins of treacle among them, and ted it to their cows 

 night and morning. When the milk was tested they were greatly 

 astonished to find that there was little or no increase in the per- 

 centage of butter fat, and immediately charged the manager of the 

 factory with swindling them. There was a great row, and the 

 suppliers refused to furnish any more milk to the factory, unless 

 they got what they called fair play. The manager tested a 

 quantity of milk in their presence, but they were not satisfied, and 

 then said the tester was wrong. At last it was decided to obtain 

 the services of one of the Government analysts. He came down 

 and tested the milk, and proved that the manager was correct, 

 much to the disgust of the farmers ; but they all admitted that the 

 quantity of milk h:id increased considerably, but they did not 

 reckon that the increas- was equivalent to the extra expense. 

 That this is approximately correct almost any one can prove for 

 himself. Suppose you have a Jersey cow, and that she is in poor 

 condition and on poor feed, you will find that although she gives 

 very little milk it will always be rich in cream. The quantity 

 may increase or fall off, but the milk will always be rich. From 

 the foregoing it will be seen how important the question of feeding 

 is in order to get the best returns possible from the cows. Of 

 course, it will not pay to feed cows on a large scale with as much 

 bran and chal't" and treacle as thev can eat, at prices such as are 

 quoted for them now, but both in summer and winter milch cows 

 should have something more than can be obtained in the ordinary 

 grass paddocks. For summer feed a good supply of green fodder 

 should be grown, and in almost any part of this colony, with a little 

 care and trouble, green teed could he had at almost any time of the 

 year, or if it cannot be grown, an excellent substitute can lv used in 

 the form of ensilage, oi which I shall speak later on. For winter 

 teed something more nutritions is needed, and if bran is not too 

 expensive it is one of the best winter fodders, so also is mai/e, 

 boiled or steamed until it is quite soft. At that time of year what 

 is wanted is some food rich in carbo-hydrates to supply warmth and 

 make up for the extra amount of animal heat required. A really 



