THE JOURNAL 



20 jut ^906 OF THE 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Vol. XIII. No. 4. 



JULY, 1906. 



BUTTER TESTS WITH SHORTHORN AND 

 JERSEY COWS. 



Between the years 1900 and 1904 a series of tests of con- • 

 siderable practical importance was conducted on the Experi- 

 mental Farm of the Somerset County Council, situated at 

 Bickenhall, near Taunton. The main results are here set out in 

 the order in which the work naturally developed. 



The first object in view was a comparison of Shorthorn and 

 Jersey cattle as butter-producing cows. The milk of these two 

 breeds has during recent years been the subject of frequent 

 experiments at the meetings of the Bath and West of England 

 Society, the British Dairy Farmers' Association, the Tring 

 Agricultural Society, and at other places. The results obtained 

 in this way, though valuable, are necessarily imperfect, since an 

 agricultural show lasts at most for four or five days, whereas to 

 settle the point at issue comparison is necessary extending 

 possibly over some years, so that the effects of the unaccus- 

 tomed surroundings in which cows find themselves at agricul- 

 tural shows — surroundings which may affect the quality of their 

 milk — may be eliminated, while at the same time those conditions 

 arising from the season of the year, the difference in the period 

 of lactation, the variations in food, which are met with in ordinary 

 farming practice may have an opportunity of making themselves 

 felt. 



In starting the test ten pedigree Jersey cows were bought at 

 sales in the county, while six non-pedigree Shorthorn cows were 

 obtained from Westmorland. The numbers in the respective 



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