BRITISH MILKING- BREEDS.

Clutha Leader, Volume XVII, Issue 875, 24 April 1891, Page 3

BRITISH MILKING- BREEDS.

In relation to British dairy cattlo, j the Agricultural Gazette, London, England, says : — ' ' It is the smaller breeds — the Jerseys, the Guernseys, the Kernes, the Ayrshires — which are the milking breeds, par excellence, of the British Islands. Size of animals taken into ; consideration, they are far ahead of the J large breeds as milkers. As breeds, j the Jerseys and Guernseys are, we be- ' lieve, unequalled for quantity and quality of milk combined — unequalled as butter producers, in respect of quantity, quality, and color of the j butter they yield, unless, indeed, some ! of the Kerries come up to them. These three breeds, in fact, may be said to ; " take the cake " of the world for butter- ' making, and our American friends { would say that the Jersey take the first and biggest slice of it. Well known for a long period, and celebrated beyond measure, the Jerseys and Guernseys have been in their own island homes and in England ; and now the hardy little Kerries are taking rank with them in many places. For cheese-making purposes, and for butter-niaking too, the Ayrshires have long possessed a high character, not in Scotland only, bur, also in vaious parts of England, {Some of them yield extraordinary qnantities of milk ; and while some tribes are celebrated for the excellent cheese they yield, others are equally famous for butter.' In reference to the above, we may say that the Holstein- Friesian cattle are considered superior to all others in the West, since they are wonderful in the quantity of milk they give, rich both in cheese and butter fat. At the same time they compare fairly with the Shorthorns and Herofords in size, making excellent beef. — Prairie Fanner. ADVANTAGES OV ROTATION. Mr T. J. Willis, superintendent of Sir J. B. Lawe's experiments at Rothamstead, speaks as follows upon the important subject of rotation : — ' We see, therefore, that the economy of growing a rotation of crops is clue to the special functions performed by the different crops. We have, first, the corn crops, which possess the remarkable power of obtaining a supply of food from an ordinary unmanured soil, and also of growing upon the same soil for very long periods. They derive their nitrogen from the soil, chiefly in the form of nitrates ; and although the crops do not carry off large quantities, they are indirectly responsible for a great loss of nitrogen, owing to the early period of the year at which they cease to take up nitrates from the soil. The root crops, on the other hand, can obtain very little food from an unmatured soil, and are largely dependent upon a supply in manure, especially of phosphates. But they also take large quantities of nitrogen from the soil, chiefly as nitrates ; and owing to their growth taking place in the summer and autumn, more nitrates are formed in the soil and taken up by the crops, and there is less loss than with the corn crops. As cleaning crops also the value of roots is very great, especially to the corn crops. The leguminous crops, and especially those which are sown with corn crops, such as red and white clover, are great restorers of fertility, although there is still wanting a clear proof that, uuder the ordinary conditions of agriculture these crops obtain their nitrogen from the atmosphere. By sending their roots deep into the subsoil, and covering the land with green vegetation for so long a period, they are able to collect large amounts of food not available to corn crops, the effects of which we find in the increased fertility cf our surface soils.'