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Milking and Butter-Test Trials. 



At all those shows where the double trials have taken place 

 there has been a marked difference between the churnability of 

 some milks as compared with others, and the milks have generally 

 ranged themselves under the different breeds of cattle, without 

 requiring any systematic sorting. It would be beyond the 

 scope of this article to go thoroughly into this question, 

 as it has been already discussed in the Journal of the Bath 

 and West of England Society for 190 1 — 02. It is sufficient 

 to state here that the want of uniformity in the size of the 

 fat globules in the milk is undoubtedly the cause. This 

 question of non-churnability has an important bearing on these 

 trials, as it shows that a chemical analysis is not a fair way 

 of estimating the value of a cow for butter production, since, 

 although the analysis will give the correct amount of fat, it 

 cannot state how much, or how little, of that fat will be 

 converted into butter at the first or any subsequent churning. 



Another fact, and a not unimportant one, demonstrated by 

 the butter-test trials, is that colour and quality of butter go hand 

 in hand, and similarly in the case of milk. All the butters are 

 judged, and the best butters are invariably those which are the 

 deepest in colour, while the poorer qualities of butter (and there 

 are often a good many of these) are light in colour, indeed, 

 sometimes almost white. The size of the fat globules has, un- 

 doubtedly, something to do with this, as the butters which are 

 made from the milks credited with large and uniform-sized fat 

 globules are invariably the best in every way. 



The influence of food is also seen in the butter made at 

 these trials, but whether food affects the size of the fat globules 

 is a matter not yet investigated. At Tring all (and at the other 

 shows a good proportion of) the cows are entered in both trials 

 consequently the feeding is reflected in the butter. A cow giving 

 a large quantity of milk is usually fed with a view to win a 

 milking prize, while those yielding rich milk only compete for a 

 butter prize. An examination of the butter tells almost to a 

 certainty with what object the cow has been fed. The butter 

 from the milks of those cattle which are milking heavily is, as a 

 rule, inferior both in colour and texture, while the flavour is also 

 bad. It is frequently difficult to work and make up, and 

 looks as if it contained an excess of water. On the other 



