302 



Milking and Butter-Test Trials. 



The sire of the first cow was from an animal tested in 1895, 

 which made 2 lb. 35 oz. in the day. 



The following illustrates the value of using a bull descended 

 from milking ancestors : — A red Lincoln bull, whose dam won 

 the first prize and the Lord Mayor's Cup at the London Dairy 

 Show, 1885, sired the second prize winner at the Royal Agri- 

 cultural Society of England's Shows at Birmingham and Maid- 

 stone in 1898 and 1899, which yielded an average during a period 

 of years of 1,100 gallons of milk per annum. 



The third and last example is an instance of regular breeding 

 by a good milking dam : — A red Lincoln cow, with fifth calf, gave 

 911 gallons milk in 46 weeks; her daughter, No. 1, gave 802 

 gallons milk in 41 weeks ; her daughter, No. 2, gave 773 gallons 

 milk in 36 weeks; her daughter, No. 3, gave 532 gallons milk 

 in 18 weeks, and is still milking well. No. 2 cow won first prize 

 for milking at the Oxfordshire and the Bath and West of 

 England Shows in 1901 and 1902. 



Another noticeable feature, brought out by the figures given 

 at these trials, is the tendency of certain breeds to keep up the 

 flow of milk for an extended period. Prolonged lactation in a 

 dairy cow is most valuable, if for no other reason than that it 

 prevents them putting on flesh at a time when they should be 

 kept low for fear of parturient apoplexy. Of all breeds, the 

 Jerseys seem to be the most persistent milkers, which is, I 

 believe, mainly owing to careful selection of sires, to the practice 

 prevalent in the Island for many years of judging bulls with 

 their dams, and to the attention given by the old breeders to the 

 " Escutcheon " theory, which in this respect is, in my opinion, of 

 the greatest value. 



But perhaps the most important fact that the combined 

 trials have brought out is the variation in the quality of the 

 milks of the different breeds of cattle. The analyses in the 

 milking trials, and the butter ratios {i.e., the number of pounds of 

 milk required to make a pound of butter) in the butter-test trials 

 show these differences, but as average figures are fairer than 

 individual records, I have taken the following from the milk- 

 ing and butter test reports from the London Dairy Show for 

 the year 1901.* 



* Journal of the British Dairy Farmers' Association, Vol. 16. 



