1906.] 



Butter Tests. 



197 



in such proportions was a little under yd. per gallon without 

 the separated milk, or 8d. including the latter. 



If we turn to the condition of affairs existing on ordinary 

 butter-making farms we find a very different state of things. 

 There is little doubt that the Shorthorn milk at Bickenhall was 

 of better quality than that from which butter is usually made, 

 at any rate in the West of England, since the Bickenhall cows 

 were better fed and better housed than is usually the case with 

 the milking cows of Somerset. Generally speaking, we may 

 assume that 3 gallons of the milk of ordinary cows is required 

 to produce i lb. of butter ; indeed, I have it from one of the 

 largest factories in the county that such is the quantity of 

 ordinary mixed milk required to produce i lb. of butter. 

 Where butter is made from milk showing such a composition, 

 and where, moreover, it is sold in the ordinary way, and realizes 

 no more than is. per lb. on the average, we see that the price 

 obtained for the milk is no more than 46. a gallon, or 5d. allow- 

 ing for the separated milk. It is little cause for wonder, then, 

 that butter-making should be regarded as the most unprofitable 

 branch of British dairying, though we must remember that it is 

 always combined with the rearing of stock, and that part of the 

 profits of the operation must be looked for in that direction. 

 One point, at any rate, is clearly brought out by these figures, 

 and that is the importance where butter is made of the milk 

 being good in quality. Where the milk is being sold for con- 

 sumption, quantity is a factor of importance and must be taken 

 into consideration. A reference to the table given above shows 

 that the difference between the butter ratio of 20 and 30 is no 

 less than 2d. a gallon where the butter is sold at is. per lb., and 

 there is no doubt that on butter-making farms more atten- 

 tion should be paid to the selection of cows which give milk 

 rich in quality as well as abundant in quantity, and that a 

 serious attempt should be made, by careful selection and 

 breeding, to build up a herd in which this characteristic is 

 strongly marked. 



Turning to another aspect of the question, the following 

 table shows the amount of milk taken and the butter obtained 

 in eighty-one tests during the four seasons 1901 to 1904 

 inclusive : — 



