190;.] 



Variations in Milk. 



209 



Table is 873 gallons. The milk of cow No. 7, which heads the 

 list as regards yield, had an average of 2*84 per cent, fat in 

 the morning and 3*40 per cent, fat in the afternoon. There is 

 little doubt that if this cow had been milked at equal intervals, 

 its milk, both morning and evening, would have been above 

 the standard for fat ; cow No. 3, which is second in point of 

 quantity, gives much poorer milk. Of the 16 cows in the above 

 table, only three of them — Nos. 7, 3 and 9 — gave milk with 

 an average of less than 3 per cent, of fat in the morning, and 

 only cow No. 3 had an average of less than 3 per cent, of fat 

 in the evening milk. It is worth noting that many cows whose 

 average percentage of fat is well above 3 per cent, frequently 

 gave milk containing less fat than this, especially in the 

 morning. 



With regard to the relation between quantity and quality, 

 it cannot be stated generally that when the yield is large the 

 quality is poor, or vice versa. For example, cows Nos. 9 and 11, 

 the second last and last cows respectively on the list in respect 

 of yield, give much poorer milk than many of the cows which 

 stand above them in the list as regards quantity. 



Mixed Milk of the Herd. — The percentage of fat in the mixed 

 milk of the herd was well above 3 per cent, till about the 

 middle of January, 1906. A gradual falling off in quality 

 then commenced, the milk remaining poor right on into June. 

 Cow No. 3, and several others giving poor milk, have now 

 been removed from the herd, and the quality of the milk 

 this spring has distinctly improved. 



Composition of the Morning and Evening Milk. — The average 

 percentage of fat in the mixed milk of the herd was 3-15 in 

 the morning and 3*91 in the evening, a difference of no less 

 than 'j6 per cent. It has already been pointed out that 

 the intervals between the times of milking are very unequal, 

 9J and 14J hours respectively, and that this is probably 

 responsible for the greater part of the difference between 

 the morning and evening milk. During the month of August, 

 the effect of milking at equal intervals was tried, and the 

 results (Table II) are in full agreement with those recently 

 obtained by Growth er at the Experimental Farm of trie 

 University of Leeds, and fully confirm the view as to the cause 

 of the inequality stated above, 



(1824) o 



