1907.] Cost of Food in Production of Milk. 



323 



feeding has extended, something like 7,000 cows have been dealt 

 with, so that where little inaccuracies exist, the over-estimates 

 should to some extent be balanced by the under-estimates. 

 In calculating the value of the foods consumed in Ayrshire 

 and Lanarkshire, where all fodder crops are easily sold, each 

 was valued at the following rates : — 



i s. a. 



Timothy hay (ist class) ... 3 o o per ton, or 3 lb. for a penny 



,, (2nd class) ... 2 6 8 4 ,, 



Rye-grass and clover hay ... 300 3 ,, 



Rye-grass hay seeded ... 200 4^ ,, ,, 



Meadow hay ... ... ... 200 4J ,, 



Straw... ... ... ... 200 ,, 4J „ 



Turnips ... ... ... o 10 o ,, 19 ,, 



■Cakes, meals, &c, at cost price. 



In Kirkcudbright and Wigtownshire, where there is little 

 or no market for hay or straw, and where turnips are more 

 easily grown than in most of the districts of Ayrshire, the home- 

 grown foods were valued at the following rates : — 



£ s. d. 



Rye-grass hay ... ... 2 6 8 per ton, or 4 lb. for a penny 



Meadow hay... ... ... 200 4^ ,, ,, ' 



Straw... ... ... ... 1110 ,, 6 ,, ,, 



Turnips ... ... ... 080 ,, 24 ,, ,, 



Cakes and meals at cost price. 



According to district, quality, and season, the rates may in 

 -some cases be too high and in others too low, and in order 

 to get greater accuracy in future years, it might be desirable to 

 have them fixed for each district by the farmers in the neigh- 

 bourhood, but in any case it is hoped that they will form a 

 basis sufficiently reliable to permit of comparing one farm 

 with another, especially in the same district. What would 

 probably be the better plan to follow would be for the whole 

 of the south-west of Scotland to adopt a system of food equiva- 

 lents similar to that which has been in use in Denmark, Sweden, 

 and Norway for about 10 years. Such a system gets rid of 

 the variation in values in different districts, so that there is 

 only the difference in quality to disturb the results. With 

 such a system the feeding of cows in one district can be much 

 more satisfactorily compared with that in another than is 

 possible at present. 



Cumnock and District. — Among the members of the Cumnock 

 and District Milk Record Association few turnips are grown, 

 and on only one farm were they used at all, the quantity 



x 2 



