THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



May 1914 



Ions. I From this one can see that 

 the test carried out at dillerent 

 l)eriods is not as reliable as when 

 carried out daily. 



It is possible for the fanner, by 

 weighing, to ascertain the amount 

 of milk that each cow in the herd 

 produces, and ever since the inven- 

 tion of the Babcock test, or the 

 Gerber test, he has had an easy 

 means of knowing the fat content 

 of the individual cow's milk. Very 

 few farmers, however, take advan- 

 tage of this opportunity ; not be- 

 cause it would not pay theini to do 

 so, but largely because the testing 

 and totalling up at the end of the 

 lactation period is tedious work, 

 and requires care and regularity 

 to make it correct. To be suc- 

 cessful, a system for obtaining 

 these data must be independent of 

 other work on the farm. 



With the daily method of test- 

 ing, samples of milk will have to 

 be taken at least once a fortnight 

 and tested by either a Babcock 

 or Gerber milk tester, to determine 

 the percentage of fat present in the 

 milk. The fortnightly test is the 

 most frequently carried out, the 

 evening and morning's milk being 

 weighed once a fortnight and a 

 sample taken to determine, the 

 fat percentage, and the total cal- 

 culated from this. 



An example of this would be :— 



Number of Cow 



Milk. 



Date. Per 



Day. Days. 



Kven. Mom. 



1st ,Ian. lo 15 

 10 



25 14 



15th ,, 10 12 22 *I4 

 * 14 is the number of days since t 



At the end of the lactation 

 period the yield of milk is totalled 

 up, also the number of pounds of 

 fat, and from the two the aver- 

 age percentage of butter-fat for the 

 year is also calculated. 



A vast amount of information is 

 placed before every farmer who 

 keeps a milk record, if he knows 

 how to use it. By persevering 

 with his herd in this way it will 

 graduiilly attain a higher standard 

 of milk ijroduction without any ad- 

 ditional expense in labour and food 

 consumption. 



It can be seen from the forego- 

 ing that a certain amount of la- 

 bour is entailed in the keeping of 

 milk records by the farmer, and to 

 simplify mutters, milk record asso- 

 ciations have to a great extent 

 taken the place of the periodical 

 test as carried out I)y the farmer 

 himself. The chief aim of a milk 



record association, or cow-testing 

 association, as they are sometimes 

 called,- is to obtain records of the 

 }earlv production of milk and 

 butter from' each indi\idual cow in 

 the herds of the members, and with 

 these data as a basis, by selection 

 of the best producing cows for 

 breeainif i)urposes, to develop a 

 strain of cows which would pro- 

 duce a larg^e quantit}' of milk rich 

 in butter fat. 



The usual way of organizing an 

 association is lir.st to ascertain 

 the extent of the interest in dairy- 

 ing in a com.munity, and to call 

 a meeting and explam the merits 

 of the milk record association as 

 an institution. If sufficient inter- 

 est is exhibited to warrant going 

 on with the work, the district is 

 canvassed in search of farmers 

 who wish to become members of 

 the asso.ciation. When enough have 

 been secured, a second meeting is 

 called, at which the organization is 

 perfected, officers efected, and rules 

 drawn up. 



In order to^ support the milk re- 

 cord association it is necessary to 

 have at least twehe members en- 

 rolled. This number would allow 

 for the fourteen-day test being car- 

 ried out. If the herds are conve- 

 niently located, eighteen members 

 could be enrolled, and in this case 

 the twenty-one day test carried 

 out. 



Date of calving 



Fat 

 per- 



Total centage. P'at. Remarks. 



350 3-4 11.9 

 308 3-0 9-2 



he last test was taken. 



The method of operation is ; — 



The recorder arrives at the farm 

 in the afternoon, weighs and sam- 

 ples the milk at the evening's 

 nrjlking, and the same at the 

 morning's milking. The mixed sam- 

 ple of the two milkings of each 

 cow is then tested for butter-fat, 

 and the result, along with the 

 weights of milk, entered in a book 

 which the recorder carries with 

 with him — one copy of which is 

 , given to the farmer himself for 

 future reference. When this has 

 been accomplished the recorder 

 packs up his outfit and goes on to 

 the next farm, to be there in time 

 for the evening's milking. The 

 mode of conveyance from one farm 

 to another may be accomplished in 

 either two ways, arrived at be- 

 tween the members of tlie associa- 

 tion, namely : — 



The recorder is proved with a 

 horse and trap, by which he tra- 



vels between the farms, or each 

 farmer is responsible for his de- 

 livery at the next farm after he 

 has completed his testings. 



The testing outfit carried by the 

 recorder consists of a twelve-bottle 

 Gerber tester and all necessary ap- 

 pliances, such as glassware, alco- 

 hol, acid, etc., along with a spe- 

 cial spring balance -and bucket for 

 weig'hing the milk. 



The milking at all the farms 

 should be done at the usual itime, 

 in order that the average yield may 

 be obtained as accurately as pos- 

 sible. The recorder has much to 

 do with the successful working of 

 an association. He should have 

 had a special training for the 

 work. Punctuality, regularity, and 

 accuracy are necessary and of 

 great importance, for unless he has 

 these qualities the records may 

 not be a true indication of the 

 \alue of the respective cows. The 

 recorder should also have the abili- 

 ty to advise farmers as regards 

 the feeding of the cows, calves, 

 etc. A milk record association de- 

 pends largely for its success upon 

 the reliability of the recorder, and 

 also to a great extent on the mem- 

 bers themselves. They should be 

 willing to benefit by the lessons 

 which the m.ilk records teach, put 

 into effect such changes in feed, 

 etc., as the records show will be 

 profitable. — J. B. Fisher in South 

 African Agricultural Journal. 



Crossing. 



A rather striking result of cross- 

 ing was recently recorded in the 

 Live Stock Journal by a breeder 

 who ^;rossed his Jersey cows with 

 an Angus bull. The ' first cross 

 Jersey- Angus, he says, is a very 

 fine cow -without horns, very like 

 an Angus, with a Jersey head and 

 eyes, and an excellent milker. He 

 bred her to a Jersey bull ; her 

 heifer calf was of a lighter colour 

 —almost blue-black ; not so mas- 

 sive a cow, but an excellent milk- 

 er giving very rich milk. He 

 crossed her heifer calf again with 

 a .Tersev bull, and he bred the cow 

 he was anxious to get — a dark, al- 

 most black, Jersey, with beautiful 

 Jersey head and horns, rich milk, 

 an excellent milker, and a very 

 handsome animal, mnch more ro- 

 bust than a true .lersey, still re- 

 taining all the goo'd (lualities of 

 the Jersey. Her breeder intends 

 to continue breeding her with a 

 Jersey bidl. Pie adds : " The dis- 

 tant cross of the Angus is all I 

 want to make the Jersey cow live 

 and do well on any pasture. This 

 last cow of mine has not been 

 housed all the winter, and is in fine 

 condition." 



