THE 
AGKKJULTUKAL mAGAZmS, 
COLOMBO. 
Added as a Supplement Monthly to the " TBOPICAL AGKIGULTURLST." 
The following pages include the Contents of the Agricultural Magazine for 
June : — . ; j. , 
Vol. XIIL] JUNE, 1902. [No. 12. 
VAKIATION IN THE COMPOSITION OF 
COW'S MILK. 
HE variatiou in the qualityof milk 
lias perplexed many a dairyman. 
As a rule variation below the higher 
stand is attributed to adulteration ; 
and while it is certain that the 
instability of the standard is taken 
advantage of by the unscrupulous dealer in milk, 
the honest man is often unjustly blamed for what 
he cannot help, through the vagaries of his milking 
stock, 
' Those who are interested in this subject and are 
desirous of informing, themselves, instead of 
dogmatising in their ignorance, should carefully 
read the article by Mr. Herbert Inple, F.i.c, of 
the Yorkshire College, Leeds, who takes up no less 
than thirty pages of the latest number of the 
Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural 
Society of Scotland in detailing the results of 
investigations into the inconsistent results as 
to the quality of milk under regulated treatment 
and feeding of cows. 
The various points which were carefully con- 
sidered in the investigation were (1) determination 
of fat, (2) determination of specific gravity, (3) 
period of lactation, (4) season of the year, (5) time 
and manner of milking, and (6) the effect of food. 
The records given are interesting to those who 
hare the care of milch cattle, but it suffices us to 
reproduc* the general coucUnions to be drawn 
from the results brought out by the practical 
investigation into, the subject. 
1, The percentage of fat in the milk of indivi- 
dual cows is liable to enormous variation from 
time to time, from causes which are unknown. 
2. Morning milk is much poorer in result than 
evening milk, though slightly richer in solids not 
fat and more abundant. This statement applies 
to cases where the night interval is much longer 
than the day. 
8. The percentages of fat and solids not fat in 
milk tend to diminish for two or three mouths 
after calving, and then steadily increase aa 
lactation advances. 
4. Foods rich in albuminoids ieem to improve 
both the yield of milk and the proportions of fat 
and solids not fat, at least for a time, while large 
quantities of • carbohydrates, though slightly 
increasing the yield, appear to diminish its quality. 
5. The mixed norning milk of a herd may often 
fall below 3 per cent of fat in the late summer or 
autumn, if the milking be performed at the uiual 
unequal intervals. 
While the variations referred to under the heads 
2, 'i and 4 are thus accountable and to some 
extent controllable, that referred to as being 
due to unknown causes must remain a very unsatis- 
factory element in the dairy industry. With thi« 
Tariation in the percentage of fat, will vary the 
specific gravity of milk, and to depend upon the 
lactometer as a gauge of the purity must lead to 
very erroneous conclusions. 
It is to be hoped, however, in the interests of 
all concerned in the production of pure milk, that 
the mystery will be soon unravelled and the 
unknown causes that are responsible for sometimes 
lowering the quality of milk will, with the help 
of science, be eventually made known. 
