221 
MILK  AND  BUTTER  TESTS  AT  THE 
GLOUCESTER  SHOW,  1909. 
I.— MILK- YIELD  TESTS. 
The  prizes  offered  by  the  Society  in  these  classes  were  on 
the  same  liberal  scale  as  those  given  at  Newcastle  while, 
through  the  generosity  of  the  Devon  Cattle  Breeders’ 
Society,  an  extra  class  was  provided  for  cows  of  that  breed 
“ yielding  the  largest  quantity  of  milk,  total  solids  and 
percentage  of  butter  fat  to  be  considered  in  making  the 
awards.” 
These  conditions  differ  from  those  governing  the  other 
milk-yield  classes  in  that  the  “ total  solids  ” have  to  be  taken 
into  account,  but  seeing  that  as  a rule  the  “ solids  other  than 
fat  ” are  fairly  uniform,  the  fat  percentages  usually  accounting 
for  the  differences  shown  in  the  “ total  solids,”  the  records 
of  the  Devon  Cows  have  been  included  in  all  the  tables  for 
the  purpose  of  comparison  with  the  yields  of  the  other 
Dairy  Breeds. 
The  actual  difference  in  the  “ solids  other  than  fat  ” 
between  the  two  prize  winners  in  the  Devon  class  was 
only  ’26. 
The  scale  of  points  governing  the  milk-yield  prizes  was 
the  same  as  at  Newcastle,  but  the  number  of  points  necessary 
to  be  gained  before  a prize  or  commendation  could  be  awarded 
was  revised  as  below  : — 
Cows 
5 years  Cows  and  Heifers 
and  over,  under  5 years. 
Shorthorn,  Lincolnshire  Red  Shorthorn, ) „ . 
and  South  Devon  . . . . ) 
Red- Poll,  Ayrshire,  Jersey,  Guernsey,  1 
and  Longhorn ) ^ 
Kerry  and  Dexter  . ^ 45  40 
The  Devon  awards  were  made  without  any  reference  to 
the  disqualifying  condition,  as  that  breed  is  not  mentioned 
in  the  classes.  The  cattle  were  stripped  on  the  evening  of 
Thursday,  June  24,  at  5 p.m.,  the  milk  of  the  next  twenty- 
four  hours  being  taken  both  for  the  Milk-yield  and  Butter  Test 
trials.  The  milks,  both  in  the  morning  and  evening,  after 
being  weighed,  were  sampled  by  Dr.  Voelcker  for  analysis. 
In  accordance  with  the  recommendation  in  last  year’s 
report  the  trials  were  postponed  until  the  third  day  of  the 
Show,  and  it  is  satisfactory  to  point  out  that  the  average 
points  gained  this  year  seem  to  show  that  the  change  of 
date  has  been  for  the  better. 
The  following  Tables  I.  and  II.  give  the  full  results  of 
the  Breed,  and  Special  Milk-yield  Classes. 
