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‘uncommon for a cow to have 3°6 per cent. of butter fat in her milk one week 
and only 3:3 thenext. He had no difficulty in hand-feeding calves. He brought 
them up upon skim milk; and although at first he had been troubled with the 
scours, he now had a good receipt for that complaint. With regard to a standard 
in milk-testing, the creameries in his district used from 8-4 to 38. If the milk 
went under 3°4, it was below the standard; if over 38, it was above, and con- 
sequently obtained a higher price. A defect in such a standard was, that an 
- inducement was offered to people with, say, 3°7 milk to water it to bring it down 
to 3:4. Rape was an excellent dairy fodder, and was, moreover, very economical. 
It also made a very good green manure. 
Mr. K. W. Scnonz (Stanthorpe) supplied a quantity of practical informa- 
tion in the matter of feed for dairy cattle, together with several interesting 
details about dairy farming in Europe. He made special mention of the great 
use to which mangold-wurzel and beet roots were putin this connection. 
‘Mr. T. Wurreney (Rockhampton) would not admit that Queensland dairy- 
_men could not compete with the Victorians. In his own district, the best 
local butter generally fetched about 3d. per lb. more than the “foreign” 
article. He would ‘be glad of some information on the practical working 0 
co-operation in dairying. His idea was that such dairies should be purely 
_ farmers’ co-operations. 
Mr. Manon said that he agreed that in co-operative dairies, the majority 
_ of shareholders should be from the milk suppliers and farmers, but at the hea 
of them it was essential to have a good business man with plenty of financial 
' Knowledge and tact. Farmers themselves were generally too much occupied 
directly with their own work to be able to devote much time to the small but — 
necessary details connected with the business management of such companies. 
Mr. Toomas Armstrone (Logan) also strongly advocated the advantages 
of co-operation in dairying, and stated that he would like to see a large 
co-operative farming company and butter factory established in Southern 
Queensland. 
__ Mr. M. O’Keere (Lockyer) concurred with Mr. Mahon in his remark 
about the absolute necessity of co-operative butter factories, &c., being well 
managed. . 
Professor SuEtton replied to some of the inquiries that had been made. 
_ Ensilage began to decay from the outside, never from within. Consequently 
when it was necessary to feed it out, start from the top and work downwards, 
and if it was used every day none would ever be lost by rotting. He 
cautioned them against growing Johnson grass as a winter fodder for dairy 
cattle. Once established on a farm it was bound to become a nuisance, and it 
3 _ was a plant that could never be got rid of.* It had its good qualities, but im 
' winterit was useless, and on the whole a worse pest could hardly be introduced 
on to iand, 
Mr. A. Warr (Beenleigh) mentioned Swede turnips as a valuable dairy 
feed, and it had struck him the College land would be very suitable for this 
crop. A heavy return could always be depended on in a fair season. In 
Scotland the Swede turnip was the mainstay of the farmer in winter, and on it 
ag he fed both bullocks and cows. It had been objected against Swedes, as 4 
- dairy cattle feed, that they imparted a flavour to butter made from milk 
obtained from cows fed on them, but although this was true of white turmips 
he did not think it was the case with Swedes. 
In reply to Mr. Caswell, Professor Suxtron said Johnson grass was 
sorghum, which it resembled except that it had a very much finer growth. It 
was a coarse grass, with a flower very similar to ordinary sorghum, but it was 
perennial, and filled the ground with a dense mass of fibrous roots. As a pest 
it was a fair rival to nut grass. In reply to Messrs. Adams and Wilson, the 
_ Proressor said cow pea had been used a good deal for ensilage, but the reports 
had not been altogether favourable. When used, however, in combination 
*An article on the destruction of Johnson grass appears on another page.—Ed, Q. A.J. ° 
