THE COW AND THE SCIENTIST

Evening Star, Issue 20989, 31 December 1931, Page 10

THE COW AND THE SCIENTIST

HOW RESEARCH IS HELPING THE DAIRY INDUSTRY FUTURE NEEDS IK NEW ZEALAND How is milk made? This is one of the unsolved mysteries of science, according to Sir William Dampier, F.R.S., who reviews, in the Empire Marketing Board’s latest report, the extent and objects of dairy research. Scientists have still to discover how cows turn the raw material —grass— into the finished product of which we make such good use. This report will be of special interest to New Zealand, for it answers the question “What is dairy research?” and gives a complete picture of the many types of scientific inquiry which are necessary to procure a better packet of butter —or to produce it cheaper. Dairy research covers a multitude of sciences, from the breeding of better pastures to provide food for the cow to the study of the changes which occur in milk when it comes into contact with certain metals. All fields of research are reviewed in the report, and suggestions are made as to the most important problems of the future. NEEDS OF THE FUTURE. Sir William Dampier, a well-known scientist, who is secretary of the Agricultural Research Council in Britain, states that future research is most urgently needed in the following fields:— Improvement of pastures by plant breeding and by better management—e.g., frequent cutting and intensive grazing. The effect of differences in rationing on the composition of milk. The inheritance of high milk-yielding qualities in cattle. The physiology of milk secretion. The inoculation of cattle against tuberculosis. . The survival of disease germs in dried and condensed milk. The ripening of cheeses and the effect of storage conditions on butter and cheese. Economics of the industry.

One of the suggestions made in the report is that the New Zealand system of payment for milk on tho basis of butter-fat content instead of purely by volume should be adopted in the United Kingdom, It is also suggested that the New Zealand test for adulteration —which is based on the freezing point of milk—may bo fairer than the British test (which “is based on fat and total solids percentages), and that an inquiry into the pros and cons of adopting the New Zealand method should be made by British experts. CHEESE RIPENING.

Another recommendation is that cold storage plant should be installed at the National Institute for Research in Dairying at Reading, so that conditions of transport and storage of New Zealand and other Empire butter and cheese could be exactly studied. The Dairy Institute has recently co-oper-ated with the Research Institute at Palmerston North, New Zealand, in a study of the ripening of cheese, and in particular of the changes which occur in cheeses during the voyage to London. Science has already achieved results which are of direct interest to New Zealand. In the field of nutrition, for instance, the most recent advance is the discovery that young, fresh grass has a high protein content which it comparable with expensive concern? trates, such as linseed cako. _ “ Young grass is specially efficacious in increasing the yield of milk,” Sir William Dampier says. “It is now, or soon will be, available in the form of ensilage or dried cake, and more experiments on its influence on the quantity and quality of milk should bo made as quickly as possible. It is of great importance to the overseas dominions as well as to Great Britain.” The discovery that natural pastures often fail to supply sufficient minerals to keep grazing animals in sound health is already well known in New Zealand. The work now going on at the Cawthron Institute (assisted by an Empire Marketing Board grant) is part of an Empire-wide investigation of the problem which has its counterpart in Australia, South Africa, Kenya, the Falkland Islands, and Scotland. TWO DISEASE VICTORIES.

Science is gradually triumphing over disease, the most deadly enemy of the stock farmer. The report records two big advances. One is the working out at Cambridge of “ 8.C.C.” vaccine, which protects cattle from the scourge of tuberculosis. Very promising results aro being obtained, although the vaccine is not yet a commercial possibility. The other is the discovery of a method of diagnosing Jolmne’s disease, ono of the most costly complaints of dairy cattle. By using this test the disease can be detected in its early stages, and the infected animal can be separated from herd and fattened. Many problems, of course, remain to be solved. For instance, Sir William Dampier directs attention to the question whether pasteurising milk destroys any of the vitamins. Preliminary work at Reading indicates that this may be so. Another problem needing research is the all-important question of the breeding of high-yielding cows—the very basis of successful dairying. In order to get results in a few years instead of having to wait for generations, Mr John Hammond, at Cambridge, is studying the inheritance of milk yield in rabbits. Ha has found that a strain of high-yielding animals can be obtained by crossing a highyielding female with her son and continuing this for several generations.