November, 1912,] 



85S 



MILK OF INDIAN BUFFALOES. 



In a mixed herd ot buffalo cows, in Western India, and composed of 

 animals of the Surti, Delhi, Deccani and Jajfarabadi breeds — the number 

 ot cows of any one breed naturally varying from time to time, but with 

 the Stirti generally predominating, — the composition of the milk may oe 

 considered as fairly constant. The morning milk will contain between 

 6| and 8 per cent, of fat, and the evening milk between 1\ and 8A per cent. 

 Under the conditions of the Poona Dairy Farm, where green fodder is 

 grown and fed throughout the year, there will not be a very large drop in 

 fat content in the rains, though such a drop is obvious, more especially in 

 the evening milk. 



As with cows, the mixed evening milk is always richer than the 

 mixed moi ning milk, the difference in fat content being from 03 to as 

 much as 1*5 per cent. The " solids not fat " in the morning and evening 

 milks are substantially identical in amount. 



The Surti Buffalo- 



The average composition of mixed buffalo milk of the breeds at the 

 Poona Dairy shows a fat content as follows : — 



Morning milk ... ... ... ... 7"1 % 



Evening „ ... ... ... ... 7*9 % 



The milk of the Surti breed is richer than the above figures for mixed 

 milks, and the fat content gives average figures as follows :— 



Morning milk ... ... ... ... 8*3% 



Evening „ ... ... ... ... 8*5 % 



There seems little relationship between the composition of milk of 

 individual animals of the Surti bieed and the yield, except that the milk 

 becomes slightly richer at the extreme end of the period of lactation. 

 Apart from this, the milk yielded by a single buffalo does not seem to 

 vary according to the amount of milk it is giving. 



The average length of lactation for the Surti buffaloes is 53 weeks, 

 but this varies very much, — from 32 weeks to 67 weeks. 



The yield of milk from a buffalo during the lactation rises to a 

 maximum almost at once, and remains almost constant for about the first 

 two-fifths of the lactation period. After this there is a regular and 

 steady decline to the end of the lactation.— {Memoirs of the Department of 

 Agriculture in India— August, 1912.) 



THE COCONUT PAVILION. 



The Pavilion made of coconut wood erected by Mudaliyar A. E. Raja- 

 paksa of Negombo at the All-Ceylon Exhibition, which with other 

 exhibits won the cup for the best exhibit of the products of the Coco- 

 nut palm, has been presented to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, 

 and has been re-erected near the ferry where it commands a fine view of 

 the river and will afford shelter to those waiting to cross. 

 45 



