6o8 Milk Testing Societies in Sweden. [jan., 



The system of co-operative milk testing by what are known 

 as " Control Societies," which has been found so successful in 

 Denmark* is reported to have been making 

 Testin^^Societies ra P^ strides in Sweden in the last few 

 in Sweden. years In 1904 there were over 200 of 

 these societies in existence, of which some 

 eighty-two were in the district of Malmo. The method adopted 

 by these societies is to employ a young man possessing the 

 necessary experience in milk testing to visit each of the dairies 

 belonging to the society once a fortnight and test the milk of 

 each, and enter up particulars of the yield &c, in books kept for 

 the purpose. The societies are usually federated in a central 

 organisation with the object of securing uniformity of pro- 

 cedure and comparing results. 



From a reportf of the proceedings of the Malmo Union it 

 appears that the increase in the milk yield of cows belonging 

 to members of the federated societies during four years has 

 been as follows : — 



Year. 



No. of 

 Members. 



Average 

 No. of Cows. 



Average Yield per Cow. 



- 



Milk. 



Butter- 

 Eat. 



Per Cent, 

 of Fat. 



1901- 2 



1902- 3 



1903- 4 



1904- 5 



227 



3ii 



626 

 860 



10,960 

 16,207 

 22,337 

 27,362 



Lb. 



3,134 

 3,424 

 3>4%4 

 3,539 



Lb. 



IOI 



in 

 ii3 

 ii5 



3'2i 



3-25 

 3*25 



3 "24 



Whilst the average yield of milk per cow has increased from 

 3,134 lb. to 3,539 lb., the average consumption of fodder has 

 decreased, so that the production of milk per 100 "feeding 

 units" has increased from 135 lb. to 155 lb. The method of 

 calculating the food supplied to cows in " feeding units " is 

 based on the assumption that varying quantities of feeding- 

 stuffs are equal to one another or to one " feeding unit," and by 

 recording the food given to the cows the quantities can be 

 reduced to feeding units so as to enable the consumption of 

 different cows, or of cows on different farms, to be compared 



* Journal, April, 1905, p. 21. 



f Mitt. Deut. Landw. Gesell, No. 42, 1905. 



