conveyed. 
“carry out 
October 1, 1908 
The ; Profitable Cow. 
ee 
It should be the aim of every dairy 
farmer te keep only such cows as will re- 
turn a substantial profit for the year over 
and above the cost of keep and manage- 
ment. In the United States the mini- 
‘mum quantity of butter per cow that 
is estimated to leave a profit is 2001b ; but 
few Australian dairymen know whether 
individual cows are producing 200lb or 
4001b per year, and it is impossible for 
them to know unless’ the animals are 
regularly and properly tested. The varia- 
tion in the tests of individual cows from 
day to day is often much greater than is 
thought possible, except by those who 
have tested a large number of animals 
-over a lengthened period. When a cow 
is giving her largest quantity of milk» 
shortly after calving, the percentage of 
butter-fat is generally much less than 
is found as the period of lactation ad- 
vances. Changes in feed, drink, sur- 
roundings, rough treatment, exposure to 
inclement weather, change of milkers; 
excitement, and many other causes in- 
fluence the quaniity and quality of the 
milk, and make it necessary for the 
greatest care to be taken in testing, so 
that a wrong impression may not be 
This is one of the matters 
on which advice from a competent dairy 
inspector would be of special value to 
producers, and is another reason why 
only trained men should be employed to 
work that has an ultimate 
bearing upon the future welfare of one 
of our great natural industries. 
Oe ET Se RS ee 
Of all the money the State spends 
there is none better invested than that 
‘spent in agricultural education, 
[TRALIAN GARDENER. 
Mechanical Cow Milker. 
———= 
Mr T. I. Mairs, of Pennsylvania, 
writes in regard to the test of a me- 
chanical cow milker :— 
Ten cows of a station herd were 
divided into two lots nearly equal as 
regards age, stage of lactation, and 
productive capacity as determined by 
past records. The experiment was 
divided into 4 periods of 4 weeks 
each. During the first and third period 
lot 1 was milked by machine and lot 2 by 
hand, and during the second and fourth 
periods lot 2 was milked by machine and 
lot 1 by hand. From the results of the 
tests, which are given for the various 
cows in detail, the following conclusions 
are drawn :— 
It required from two to three times as 
long to milk a cow with the machine as 
would be required by a good hand milker 
but one operator can handle two or three 
machines so he could milk four or more 
cows with the machine in less time than 
he could milk the same number by hand. 
In general, cows were milked cleaner 
as they became accustomed to the ma- 
chine, but individuals varied widely 
in this respect. ‘Two of the cows tested 
could never be milked with the machine 
without leaving one or more pounds of 
strippings. while the others were often 
milked as completely as would be done 
by hand under ordinary circumstances. 
No difference in yield of milk was ob- 
served that could be attributed to the 
milking machine; but there was usually a 
slight drop when changing from one 
method to the other, always in changing 
from handto machine milking. 
No injury to the udder took place that 
could with certainty be attributed to the 
use of the machine. 
The general health of all the cows re- 
mained good during the entire experi- 
ment, 
Wide variations in the flavor and 
keeping qualities of milk were observed 
from different cows, but the quality of 
he milk from each cow remained prac- 
tically constant whether she was milked 
by hand or machine.” 
27 
Interesting Notes. 
We take the following interesting ex- 
tracts on dairy farming from some 
American writers :— 
One account is given of thres experi- 
ments carried out in 1905-6 1906-7 with 
51 cows, in dairy establishments, to 
obtain information regarding the most 
desirable quantities of total food and of 
portein for milch cows. It was found 
that for a satisfactory milk production 
accompanied by a grain in weight of the 
cows a total ration with a starch value of 
14.4 lbs per 1,000 Ibs live weight, and 
supplying 3.1 lbs of total protein, or 2.0 
lbs of protein, was necessary, This might 
perhaps be increased to 3.5 lbs of pro- 
tein, but in that case increase in weight 
of the cows rather than in milk pro- 
duction would be the desired object. 
An investigation in which ensiled beet 
leaves and tops, and dried sliced potatoes 
were compared as food for milch cowse 
On the ayeraye the cows produced 
slightly less iilk and fat on the dried 
beet fodder than on the ensiled fodder 
but the difference was equalised by the 
more favorable influence of the former 
upon the live weight. Dried potatoes. 
had avery favorable effect on the quan- 
tity of milk, but the percentage of fat 
in the milk was smaller than with the 
beet fodder, 
large increase in body weight on the dried 
There was, hewever, a 
potato fodder. 
Testing Individual Cows. 
All who have given attention to the 
testing of the milk of individual cows 
agree that the sampling of the milk is of 
special importance. A correct sample 
of milk cannot be obtained by milking 
from the teats into a bottle or jar, or by 
taking some cf the first, middle, and last 
drawn milk from the udder, ~ All the 
milk from one milking should be 
thoroughly mixed by pouring from 
one vessel into another, and a sample 
immediately taken before the milk has 
had time to settle, As the quantity 
given by an individual cow varies con- 
‘siderably at times, this sample should be 
