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THE GENESEE FARMER. 



DAIR7 MANAGEMENT IN SCOTLAND. 



Sir John Sikclaiu lias stated that "it is sup- 

 posed that tlie same (juantity of herbage that would 

 add 224 lbs. to the weight of an ox would produce 

 900 English gallons of milk." Now, if we reckon 

 6 oz. of butter to bo the average weight obtained 

 from a gallon of milk, we will get 337 lbs. of butter 

 from the same quantity of herbage as was supposed 

 to produce 224 lbs. of beef. If the hypothesis of 

 Sir J. Sinclair be correct, there can be no doubt 

 that it is the interest of tlie farmer to adopt the 

 dairy system in preference to the feeding of cattle. 

 But even granting that the difterence between the 

 production of beef and butter is not so great as 

 stated by him, yet it is generally admitted that 

 there is a considerable margin in favor of butter, 

 particularly when we take into account the relative 

 price of the two at the present time. 



The importance of the subject being admitted, 

 we may inquire shortly as to what kind of feeding 

 is best adapted for producing the largest yield of 

 butter. AiTON, in his Agriculture of Ayrshire, 

 published about the beginning of this century, tells 

 as that the winter food of the dairy stock at that 

 lime was the straw of oats, or, toward the muirish 

 parts of the country, the hay of bog meadows, fre- 

 •:juently but ill preserved. " For a few weeks after 

 they calved, they were allowed some weak corn 

 and chatf, boiled, with infusions of hay; and by 

 way of luxury, a morsel of rye-grass or lea-hay 

 once every day ; and of late years, by some farmers, 

 a small quantity of turnips in the early part of the 

 winter, and a few potatoes in the spring, have been 

 added." The effect of such feeding on the animals 

 is apparent when they are turned out on the grass 

 in summer ; " many of them are so dried up and 

 emaciated that they appear like the ghosts of cows, 

 their milk vessels are dried up, and it is not till 

 chey have been several weeks on the grass that 

 they give either nmch milk or that of a rich qual- 

 ity." The summer feeding was generally pasture ; 

 and though a much better system of feeding has 

 been i)racticed throughout the country since the 

 introduction of turnip husbandry, yet an approxi- 

 uiation to that described by Mr. Aiton will be 

 round in some of the upland districts. 



Farmers have now, however, a great variety of 

 food from which they can make a selection ; and 

 the problem to be solved now is not how a suffi- 

 ciency of one particular kind of food is to be gath- 

 ered together to keep the cows in life tor a consid- 

 erable period of the year, but rather what variety 

 of food, or, better, what mixture of varieties, how 

 much, and in what .state (raw or cooked), will 

 prove most profitable for the production of butter. 

 The mainstay of the dairy farmer now as formerly 

 in summer is grass; in winter, however, there has 

 been a great improvement in tlie feeding of the 

 cows, from the use of turnips and other roots, as 

 well us many other substances, such as beans, draff 

 or distillers' and brewers' grains, linseed and rape 

 '•ake, &c. Even now in sunmier, in some districts, 

 ii is found advisable an«l profitable, where butter is 

 wanted more th.m milk, to give the cows some 

 nourishing food, in addition to the i)asture, at the 

 very licight of the season. Draff and bean meal 

 are the two substances more generally used in such 

 lircumstances. 

 If the productioo of batter is to bo the main ob- 



ject of keeping a dairy, there are two things to 

 which the farmer should pay particular attention : 

 the kind of cows he keeps, and the feeding. When 

 we speak of the feeding, we mean not merely the 

 quality of food the farmer purchases, but of what 

 is grown on his farm. It is well known that the 

 gi-ass and turnips on some farms will produce far 

 more butter from the same quantity of milk than 

 those grown on others. We have known cattle fed 

 on turnips alone from particular fiirms made fat in 

 the same time as similar animals fed on turnips 

 with the addition of two or three pounds of linseed 

 cake each per day, the treatment and housing of 

 the animals being alike in both cases. Certain 

 fields will give a larger proportion of butter to the 

 milk than others on the same farm. A farmer, 

 therefore, should be guided, not only by the local- 

 ity, but by the farm, in determining what depart- 

 ment of the dairy he should turn his attention to. 



Without referring at all, at present, to the kind 

 of cow most profitable for a butt«r dairy, we pass 

 on to a consideration of the kinds of food that may 

 be used most profitably for the production of butter. 

 The great authority on this subject is Mr. IIors- 

 FALL, who has laid the public under great obliga- 

 tions to himself for the publication of his experi- 

 ments and views on this interesting question. His 

 method of feeding is the following : 



In May, his cows are turned out on rich pasture 

 near the homestead. Toward evening they are 

 housed for the night, when they are supplied with 

 a mess of a steamed mixture, to be afterward de- 

 scribed, and a little hay each morning and evening. 

 During June, mown grass is given to them instead 

 of hay, and they are also allowed two feeds of 

 steamed mixture. This treatment is continued till 

 October, when they are again wholly housed. After 

 this they receive steamed food ad libitum three 

 times per day. After each meal, cabbages are 

 given, from October till December; kohl-rabi till 

 February ; and mangels till grass-time — the supply 

 of each of these varieties of green food being limited 

 to 30 or 35 lbs. per day for each cow. Four lbs. 

 of meadow hay are also allowed after each meal, 

 or 12 lbs. per day for each cow, and water is placed 

 before them twice a day, of which they partake as 

 much as they feel inclined for. The steamed food 

 spoken of above consists of "5 lbs. of rape-cake, 2 

 lbs. of bran, for each cow, mixed with a sufficient 

 quantity of bean-straw, oat-straw, and shells of 

 oats, in equal ]iroportions, to supply thcra three 

 times a day with as much as they will eat. The 

 whole of the materials are moistened and blended 

 together, and, after being well steamed, are given 

 to the animals in a warm state. The attendant is 

 allowed 1 lb. to H lbs. of bean-meal per cow, ac- 

 cording to circumstances, which he is charged to 

 give to each cow in proportion to the yield of milk, 

 those in full milk getting 2 lbs. each per day, others 

 but little ; it is dry, and mixed with the steamed 

 food on its being dealt out sei)arately," This is 

 certainly high feeding, but it is amply repaid by the 

 results ;' for, while cows fed in the ordinary way 

 seldom jiroduce milk which yields more than 1 oz. 

 of butter to every quart, Mr. Horsfaix's milk gives 

 upward of li oz. for every quart. It is also an im- 

 portant part of his system never to allow his cows 

 to fall otf in condition. He considers the mainten- 

 ance of the condition essential to a large yield of 



