A FACTOR IN DAIRY FARMING. 55 



lucerne to be trie principal and most economical of ccw feed gives 

 one not cnly a better ccnditicn and a more healthy ccr.diticn, but 

 it gives one the absolute control of the calving period, which is in 

 itself cf inestimable value to the dairy farmer, besides which a 

 herd of cow r s trusting to the veld for sustenance will net bleed &nd 

 increase regularly during time of adversity ard dici^ht; en the 

 other h&nd again cows fed reasenably and the feed pi.t lefcre them 

 in a proper way will thrive year in and year cut, increase quicker, 

 and give a more handsome return, which will peimit of dairy 

 industries creeping up in our midst to the benefit of the producer, 

 the crerirery and the public. At present it is net to our credit 

 that in a lovely cttt'c ecuntry like ours we aie cnly able to support 

 the barest minim n. of cieameries, and those working to excess for 

 a short f ericd. and \ rc.ctically more or less closed down for the 

 remainder of the yei.r. 



Luce:ne of aM ci\ p3 gives the heaviest >ield. and can be had 

 to feed in ihe fivsii given state for many months of the year, and 

 when OMCO thoroughly e3t--iblisliL\l detie:- tj a certain degree the 

 perk.dic;il drurghis uf shortor duralion, i.iul is th?:-efo:e a centainty 

 to the cl..iryman : and if one point is essential mere than another to 

 the milk i reducer it, is regularity in fax! supply fir his milch 

 cows. It c,:.nnot be gainsaid on this most important score that any 

 economical food can approach lucerne. Bfesides the extraordin- 

 arily hi avy crops in a fresh green state, the farmer can save his 

 surplus in the form of 



HAY AND SILAGE, 



eaeh of which form of fodder hc.s its cwn special merit. Whilst 

 touching en this side of the question, il might be w-eil to counsel 

 a 1 milk producers to rrcst thoitughly thrash out and argue the 

 merits and demerits of this form of winter feeding. I myself 

 advocate it to the utmost as a milk producer, but yet on the other 

 hand knowledge and care are essential in using it, as there is a 

 possibility of trouble ensuing by careless use. Lucerne, in the 

 form of hay, is excellent as a life- sustaining and fattening food, 

 but it is not a food that tends towards a heavy secretion of milk, 

 while green lucerne and ensilage, being a food of a highly nitro- 

 genous nature, requires a slight admixture of a carboydrate to 

 balance the whole food to prevent waste through the excess of one 

 food constituent over another. To balance this excess, I cannot 

 recommend a better admixture than crushed mealies ; they are, 

 I think, the most economical to the farmer. 



Lucerne as a factor to dairying has a most far-reaching and in 

 every sense beneficial influence upon regular milk production. If 

 the milk supply were heavier, more regular and more certain, it 

 would afford great stimulus to co-operative dairying. It is not 

 that we have not the cattle in the country sufficient to create and 

 support these industries, but that, they have been bred, speaking 



