BUTTER-FAT COMPETITION.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 334, 22 October 1908, Page 5

BUTTER-FAT COMPETITION.

EXPERIMENT AT CARTERTON,

HOW. THE TESTS ARE CONDUCTED.

A largo amount of interest is being shown by Wairarapa dairy-farmers in the butter-fat competition which is now proceeding upon Mr. W. Howard Booth's Carrington Station, Carterton, under the auspices of the Wairarapa A. and P. Association,, in connection with noxt week's show. The competition (writes our Wairarapa correspondent) is the first of its complete Kind in the district, and is an indication of the genend desire by dairy-farmers to study their milk-producing cattle from a scientific point of view. The idea is th\t if ono can obtain as much milk from a dairy herd of fifteen head as from twenty head, the goal-post of success lies in the selection • or .breeding of tho fifteen, everything' else being equal, except the •imount 'of feed appropriated. The problem bas been largely solved in many portions of Taranaki, and now, with high land values and the demand for first-class produce, Wairarapa thinks that it can very well afford to follow' the examplo of the greatest dairying province in: the Dominion. A Cood Lot. In tho butter-fat competition under review there have been entered twenty-five dairy cows, which may be said generally to bo tho pick of the ■ district. Granted that there are one ot two sceptical farmers, who aro holding back with cows which "give 401b. a ■ milking,' sir, and whoso chances of life aro ■ not going to be. sacrificed through depastur- .. ing, sir, the animals aro as good a samplo of their milk-producing kind as one could wish to see anywhere. Ayrshire and Jersey crossbreds /predominate, but there are a numher of. tho Shorthorn cross and a few Holsteins. . Tho : Crazing Ground. The cows are being grazed for the ten days prior -to ; the show upon ,a. 16-acre paddock, owned by Mr. Booth, which was sown i a year ago with ryegrass and a mixture of clover/ -Prior to its present usage, tho paddock had been shut up for six weeks. The cows'have no other feea'but that. afforded by this Rugging is allowed, however, and eleven of the twenty-five animals are clothed.; The Milking. ' _ Milking is taking place night and morning'during'the ten days,' incarceration, but the tests will not be commenced until this evening, -when they will be continued until Monday'morning. - At the present time, however, the animals are being milked night and morning, and the milk is being weighed,' just, to show how the beasts have progressed as, 1 they become, used to their new-surroundings. - The milking is being done by hand.by-four experienced men and' occupies something. over an hour and a half. The greatest care is being , taken of tho cows. They are not allowed ■ to be rounded up By dog, horse, or whip, and it is especially laid down that they are to bo treated kindly. ; ' An Apologetlo Milker. , ■ r AVhen our. representative visited the sceno • of operations, he noticedthat one' of the milkers twisted a charge's tail almost apologetically when that female; withthe privileged perverseness of her sex, refused to walk into, the bail. In most dairysheds tho twist of an obstinate cow's tail is usually given with; such vigour as to convince the victim that; her head, and not her hindquarters, were being dragged out by the roots. Antiseptic Regulations. Another wise regulation is that all milkers shall wash their hands in an antiseptic solution before and after, milking each cow, that the udders and teats are to be -wiped with an antisepticised wet cloth, and! that any teats. sh£wing_signs pf v rp.ughness;; are. to. be vaselined; >! Some or tho* cows were 'evidently liewi to the antiseptic cloth sponging, for they kickedvlbn'g and ; vigorously runder the strangS infliction. 1

1 SomeHlolds. ■ For the first' three days' milking there were 3217' pounds of milk, an average, of 134" pounds per' cow. One animal, whose breed is not stated, milked 33 pounds on Saturday morning. Another, a dehorned Ayrshire, almost purebred, milked 33 pounds on Tuesday morning, 301b. on the other mornings, 'and 261b. "or thereabouts in the evenings. It will, be noticed, that a cow. yields greatest at the morning milk. This particular cow leads so far as quantity is concerned, ( her, average for the eight riiilkings being something over 56 pouiids a "day—a good yield..: .Two other cows,' whose records • are close, to-that of the dehorned Ayrshire, are crossbred Ayrshires. The daily yields of milk iin -pounds' from-the-herd- up to ' Monday night are as follow, the daily avert age being placed in parentheses Saturday, (4.4); Sunday,:ll23l (45); Monday, 11471 (46)... It is expected that from yesterday (Wednesday) the. yields will-be over 60 pounds per cow per day. A Good Scrub Cow. :■ Nearly, all the cows,are in very good, condition for dairy cows,- and generally they are of a good type. A notable exception is a freak, with the head and body of , a working bullock, but who has been ;milking her 27 pounds, night- and morning.;. "She's a' good poor farmer's cow," .said. " Jack" Abbott, ;the champion milker, whose fingers manipulate the teats with- something' of. the grace .and lightness of a • pianist on .the piano. "You .can illfeed;and ; illtreat her, in fine or rough weather, she. will still give her.samo daily return.". An Admirable Specimen. The best-looking cow of the buiich was an 'Ayrshire-Jersey, crossbred, owned by a wellknown 'Dalefield dairyman.' She was a picture, well -set "and' square' 'ciit, arid broad down her hindquarters like a champion Shorthorn bull. Her colour was a soft mottled reddish brown, her ribs were nice and well placed, and a most intelligent-looking head completed as good a specimen of a dairy cow as one could wish to see.- She -has been photographed for tho Government Agricultural Department. The milking ,'is being superintended by Mr, A. T. Hubbard, Government Inspector of Stocky in the South "Wairarapa, who very courteously-placed his services and information on tho 'subject "at the disposal of our'representative.