298 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK n. 



quality. In spring most of the cows are newly calved, and the 

 fresh grass, forming a very succulent food, causes an increased flow 

 of milk of a poorer description. In summer the cows frequently 

 suffer from either excessive heat, which burns up the pasture, or 

 continuous rain ; and these unfavourable conditions are reflected in 

 the production of milk, which becomes inferior both in quantity 

 and quality. 



It may be inferred from Dr. Vieth's diagrams, which are constructed 

 on the graphical system, that the average composition of milk, deduced 

 from the results of 84,746 analyses of samples received from 30 to 50 

 farms during the eight years 1881 to 1888, is : 



Water 87'1 



lot Fat: : : : 1-1} 12>9 



100-0 



This result is very interesting when placed alongside the general 

 average composition of milk as given in, for example, Professor 

 Sheldon's " Dairy Farming," which is as follows : 



Water 87'25 



a ,., f Fat 3-50) , . 7P . 



Sollds |NotFat . . . . 9-25 j 



100-00 



Further value attaches to Dr. Vieth's paper, in that it separately 

 records the analyses of the morning and evening milk, from a number 

 of distinct farms, for a period of eight years. The particulars are 

 these : 



Farm A, situated in Cheshire ; 30 Shorthorns ; 2,407 analyses. 



Farm , in Wiltshire ; 60 Shorthorns ; 2,246 analyses. 



Farm C, in Berkshire ; 35 Shorthorns ; 2, 243 analyses. 



Farm D, in Wiltshire ; 140 Shorthorns ; 4,815 analyses. 



Farm E, in Wiltshire ; 33 Shorthorns and 2 Alderneys ; 2,213 analyses. 



Farm F, in Berkshire ; 57 Shorthorns ; 2,063 analyses. 



Farm 0, in Berkshire ; 50 Shorthorns ; 2,617 analyses. 



It is found that, with exceedingly rare exceptions, the evening milk 

 is richer in every respect than the morning milk. Dr. Vieth is inclined 

 to ascribe this difference to the inequality of the interval between the 

 two milkings; a larger yield of poorer milk being produced after 

 the longer interval from the evening milking to the morning milking. 

 The proportions of morning to evening meal vary from 100 to 94 in 

 the case of farm E, to 100 to 78 in the case of farm A . 



A year's analyses of the milk of three distinct breeds of cattle kept 

 at the Aylesbury Dairy Company's farms at Horsham, afforded some 

 valuable comparative results. The herds comprised 84 Shorthorns, of 

 whose milk 1,006 analyses were made ; 17 Jerseys, with 236 analyses ; 

 and 35 Kerries, with 410 analyses. The yearly average percentage 

 results are summarised in the subjoined tables : 



