242 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



AVG, 



Tbey invariably brought large calves, however, 

 which grew and fattened with remarkable rapidi- 

 ty. This is undoubtedly owing to the abundance 

 of caseine, or cheesy matter, which yields the 

 materials of the growing muscles and of the or- 

 ganic part of the bones ; while along with the 

 curd and dissolved in the liquid milk is the phos- 

 phate of lime, of which the earthy part of the 

 bones is to be built up. A grade Ayrshire, stand- 

 ing by the side of one of the above, not yielding 

 much more than half as much milk, would give 

 nine or ten pounds of excellent butter per week. 



With these facts before us, our Templeton 

 friends will see how difficult it must be to give a 

 satisfactory solution to their inquiry. 



In his excellent work on "Milch Cows and Dai- 

 ry Earming," Mr. Flint says : "Milk is exceeding- 

 ly sensitive to numerous influences, many of which 

 are not well understood. It is probably true that 

 the milk of each of the divisions of the udder dif- 

 fers to some extent from that of the others in the 

 same animal ; and it is well known that the milk 

 of different caws, fed on the same food, has marked 

 differeiices in quality and corriposition. But food, 

 no doubt, has a more powerful and immediate ef- 

 fect than any thing else, as it goes directly to sup- 

 ply all the secretions of the body. Feeding ex- 

 clusively on dry food, fqi* instance, produces a 

 thicker, more buttery and cheesy milk, though' 

 less abundant in quantity, than feeding on moist 

 and succulent food." 



It is quite clear, we think, that the quality of 

 the milk, and consequently the proportions of its 

 several constituents, vary with the breed of the 

 cow, with the food on which it is supported, with 

 the time that has elapsed since the period of calv- 

 ing, with its age, its state of health, and with the 

 warmth of the weather, — as in warm weather the 

 milk contains more butter, but in cold weather 

 more cheese and sugar. In all cases, the milk 

 contains the same substances, though in diflerent 

 quantities and proportions. 



Let ue see now what the influence is, of breed, 

 CONSTITUTION, FOOD, SOIL, &c., on the quantity 

 and quality of the milk. 



Both the quantity and the quality of the milk 

 are affected by a great variety of circumstances. 

 Every dairy farmer knows that his cows give more 

 milk at one season of the year than at another, 

 and that the quality of the milk also — its richness 

 in butter or in cheese — depends, among other con- 

 ditions, upon the kind of food with which his cows 

 are fed. 



1. The quantity and quality of the milk are af- 

 fected by the breed. — Small breeds generally give 

 less milk, but of a richer quality. Good ordinary 

 cows in this country yield an average produce of 

 from 8 to 12 quarts a day. Thus the dairy cows of 



Devonshire gi^e 12 quarts a day, 



Lancashire 8 to 9 quarts a day, 



Cheshire and ) o .. , 



Ayrshire \ ...8 quarts a day. 



during ten months of the year ; but crossed breeds 

 are, in many districts, found more productive of 

 milk than the pure stock of any of the native 

 races. 



The influence of breed both on the quantity and 

 quality of the milk appears from the following 

 comparative produce of milk and butter of one 

 cow of each of four different breeds, in the height 

 of the season, and when fed on the same pasture. 

 The 



mm. Butter. 



Holderneas gave 29 quarts and 38 ^^ oz. 



jMderney 19 " 25 " 



Devon IT " 28 " 



Ayrshire 20 " 34 " 



Not only was the quantity of milk very differ- 

 ent in the four cows, but the produce of butter 

 also — the Holderness, in the quantity both of milk 

 and of butter, being greatly superior to all the 

 other breeds. 



The milk of the Holderness and of the Alderney 

 breeds was equally 7ic7i in butter, as was the case 

 also with that of the Devon and the Ayrshire, 

 since one pound of butter was yielded by 



12 quarts of milk from the Holderness cow, 

 2 " " " Alderney cow, 



9J^ " " " Devon cow, 



9>^ " " " Ayrshire cow. 



Some stocks of Jersey cows produce one pound 

 of butter from eight and one-fourth quarts of new 

 milk, the year round, and at the same time con- 

 sume less food than others. 



The butter of the milk is often in great part de- 

 rived directly from the fat of the food. Hence 

 the value of food which, like Indian corn and lin- 

 seed cake, is rich in oil. Hence, also, those ani- 

 mals which lay the smallest proportion of this fat 

 upon their own bodies will be likely to give the 

 largest proportion in their milk. Thus the Ayr- 

 shires and Alderneys, which are good milkers are 

 narrow across the shoulders, and loiry and muscu- 

 lar about the flanks. They give a rich milk, but 

 rarely fatten well. The short-horns, on the con- 

 ti'ary, are celebrated for their fattening tendency. 

 They deposit more of the fat under their skin, and 

 impart less of it to their milk. In both breeds, 

 however, there are striking exceptions, because — 



2. The individual form and constitution of the 

 cow causes both the yield and the richness to vary 

 much among animals of the same breed. Every 

 dairy farmer knows that some Ayrshire, or Hold- 

 erness, or Devon cows are better milkers than 

 others. And even when they yield nearly the 

 same quantity of milk, the richness or produce in 

 butter may be very unlike. Thus, four cows of 

 the Ayrshire breed, fed on the same pasture, gave 

 in the same week — the 



MUk. Butter. 



First 84 quarts which yielded Z\i lbs. 



Second and third, each 86 " " 5>;i " 



Fourth 88 " " 7 " 



so that the fourth, though it produced only four 

 quarts more milk, gave twice as much butter as 

 the first. 



The tendency to yield butter, is, no doubt, con- 

 stitutional, like the tendency to lay on fat. 



3. The kind of food also exercises, as all cow- 

 feeders know, much influence upon the quantity 

 and upon the richness of the milk. 



If the food contain little fat, the animal still 

 produces butter. Is has the power of changing 

 the starch and sugar of its food into fat during 

 the process of digestion. It even robs its own 



