298 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Ocr., 1897.. 
I may state that the Canadians consider their standard very low, and are 
endeavouring to raise it every year. 
The above figures may be taken as very nearly accurate, and go to show 
the great amount of money that is being lost annually in this colony, exclusive 
of the waste of food and iabour. 
The question is very often asked: Does it pay to grow feed for dairy 
cattle? ‘lo whichI reply with the only answer: Yes; if the feeding be carried 
out with skill and judgment, and no animals be kept in the herd but such as 
will pay for the food consumed—a poor animal will quickly eat her head off. 
The comfort of the cow in the way of shelter must receive attention, otherwise 
feeding will show but very poor results. 
The power of yielding large quantities of milk is not altogether a natural 
characteristic of the animal, but has been developed through influence of 
treatment, which is connected with hereditary qualities and, in a variable 
degree, is an individual quality. It is folly to expect an inferior animal to 
respond in proportion to the amount of food she consumes; it is also 
unreasonable to expect a good animal to develop her full milking capacity from 
poor feeding. 
I feel sure that 90 per cent. of farmers at the present day would feel 
hurt if told how to feed their herds to enable them to obtain full results, but I 
yet think that a little advice in this direction would benefit many ; at the same 
time I do not suppose for a moment that the farmer lacks sufficient intelligence 
to feed his animals, but { say that when feeding is carried out indiscriminately 
a great deal of waste is the result, and in some cases the health and constitution 
of the animal are impaired. 
Food should be given until the full milking capacity of the animal is 
attained, which can be done by increasing the quantity gradually until the 
cow has reached her highest standard. 
Feeding should be done regularly, and always after milking. No more 
food should be given than the animal will consume. If this rule be not 
strictly adhered to, there will be a considerable waste. It isa mistake to throw 
food into the yard or paddock where cattle trample over it and waste as much 
as they eat. 
If feeding on concentrated food, it should be steamed, which process 
makes it more digestible. Concentrated foods are not equal to succulent 
foods for milk production, aithough all foods should contain a certain per- 
centage of dry matter. In nearly all food there are to be found nitrogenous 
compounds or albumenoids ; other foods contain nitrogen, such as starch and 
sugar, but, so far as their value as a food is concerned, they are both the same, 
and contain that substance which is termed “carbon.” The next substance is 
fat, which is found in all foods, and particularly in seeds. Chemical analysis 
shows that this oil contains a large percentage of carbon, and performs the 
same functicn in the animal as aerah and sugar do. These compounds are 
heat-producing substances, of which sufficient should be supplied to maintain 
the heat of the body, and are not only necessary to maintain life, but also for 
the production of butter fat. 
Some people may imagine that the production of fat is similar to the 
production of milk, because milk contains fat, which is not the case. The fat 
inside the animal is the production of fat only ; the production of butter fat in 
the milk is the production of other compounds which is greater than the actual 
fat in the milk. There is as much casein in ordinary milk as butter fat ; 
therefore, unless the animal be fed to produce casein as well as butter fat, she 
will not produce milk. F. J. Lloyd, B.C.S., in delivering a lecture on dairying 
in the west of England, stated that in the formation of fat in a fattening animal 
there is no formation of casein; the two things, fat production and milk 
production, are therefore distinctly different. 
There is a great deal of waste product on the farm every year that could 
be profitably utilised if a little care and attention were bestowed in conserving 
it for a time of need. 
