Farm  Prize  Competition , 1910. 
245 
the  cow  for  four  or  five  days  and  given  milk  for  three  weeks. 
Twice  a day  they  are  given  half  a pound  each  of  a mixture 
made  up  of  the  following  : — 
2 parts  of  oat  meal 
2 „ pea  meal 
2 „ ground  linseed 
4 „ sharps 
This  mixture  is  soaked  in  cold  water  at  night  and  scalded 
in  the  mornijig.  Some  milk  or  whey  is  added  to  this  food 
for  the  calves  to  drink,  and  they  thrive  well  on  it. 
There  are  five  cow-houses,  each  capable  of  accommodating 
fifty  cows.  There  is  a 6-ft.  passage  in  front  of  the  cows 
and  a 5-ft.  passage  behind  ; earthenware  troughs  in  front  of 
the  cows  and  a good  manure  gutter  behind.  Care  is  taken 
with  regard  to  ventilation  and  cleanliness. 
The  milk  contracts  require  that  4,200  gallons  of  milk  should 
be  supplied  weekly,  the  price  of  which  varies  from  Id.  in  the 
summer  to  9 \d.  per  gallon  during  the  winter.  Any  surplus 
milk  there  may  be  during  the  summer  months  is  made  into 
cheese,  from  4 to  5 tons  of  cheese  being  made  each  year. 
No  absolute  record  of  the  milk  yields  is  kept. 
For  the  Stock,  the  best  foods  only  are  purchased.  Each 
cow  is  fed  according  to  her  special  requirements  as  to 
the  period  of  lactation,  or  whether  coming  on  as  a calver,  or 
being  fed  off  for  the  butcher. 
The  foods  used  are  ground  oats,  maize  meal,  pea  meal,  bean 
meal,  decorticated  cotton  cake,  brewers’  grains,  cabbages,  and 
roots.  When  on  full  rations  of  cabbages  or  roots,  the  quantity 
is  regulated  to  each  cow’s  requirements.  • 
The  cabbage  usually  lasts  until  about  the  third  week  in 
February.  This  year,  however,  the  crop  was  used  up  during 
January,  so  swedes  were  substituted,  followed  by  mangolds  in 
April.  A large  quantity  of  mangolds  are  kept  back  each  year 
for  use  after  the  first  flush  of  grass  is  over. 
Most  of  the  dairy  cows  are  bought  in  at  first  or  second 
calf.  If  good  milkers,  they  are  kept  four  or  five  years,  and 
are  then  fed  off  or  sold  as  calvers. 
In  winter  the  cows  are  turned  out  daily  for  a drink  of 
fresh  spring  water,  while  their  sheds  are  being  cleaned  out 
and  rebedded. 
The  dairy  stock  are  turned  out  to  grass  from  about  May  12 
until  the  middle  of  October.  All  cows  are  washed  in  November 
and  February  with  McDougall’s  wash  and  hellebore  : half  a 
pound  of  the  hellebore  to  4 lb.  of  McDougall’s  wash,  mixed 
with  every  12  gallons  of  water.  This  treatment  destroys  the 
warble  fly  egg  and  lice,  and  ^ays  well  for  doing,  besides  being 
a comfort  to  the  animal. 
