FARM AND FIELD

Lake County Press, Issue 2790, 19 June 1919, Page 7

FARM AND FIELD

(By F. 0.8.)

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

VEGETABLES FOB COWS. Pumpkins are au excellent food foi producing milk, and cows are particularly fond of thein. When grown bj themselves they yield an abundant crop, and make a nice variety for stall feeding. A few apples may be safely given, but if fed in largo quantities they will give a peculiar flavour to the milk. Sour apples are supposed to have a tendency to dry up tho milk. When potatoes are cheap and plentiful they may bo fed to cows, but are more profitable when boiled and given to pigs. Potatoes are so starchy that a grain ration rich in protein should be fed with them, otherwise the cows will go down in their milk flow. Potatoes will make tho milk and but ter whiter. Carrots appear to exercise a specific action on the milk glands, and cause an increased secretion of milk. Cows are very fond of cabj bages. If the cabbages are sound, and a limited amount fed after milking 1 , no serious objection is found to the milk. In feeding all such foods can must be taken, or the milk will be offflavoured. STOCK FOOD. The food supplied to animals is digested more or less completely ac-j cording to the condition in which it is given. The food should, therefore, be.] supplied in such a form that the greater proportion can bo assimilated, and for this reason a rational preparation of (he food is advisable, both to make it more easily digestible, and also to excite tho appetite of the animals. If roots are too big they should be cut up, straw should be chaffed, hard grains should bo crushed or soaked, especially if given to old animals whose teeth have lost part of their grinding power. Foodstuffs of poor quality should be mixed with others of a richer character, and foods having little flavour with others more palatable. For example, if straw is supplied by itself, cattlo can digest jnly one-fourh of the nourishment in t, but if associated with good roots a : ar larger proportion can be absorbed )y tho digestive system. Potatoes should, as a rule, be cooked, as then ;he saliva can act on them more effev lively. It has been found that pigs :an digest a third more of the tubers vhen cooked. And the daily rations hould be varied as far as practicable 5 gradations.

THE CULTIVATION OF OATS. Oats are cultivated on a wider acreage than either wheat or barley, and it is expected that during the coming spring a still more extensive area win be devoted to the crop if the weather is favourable during tne preparation of the land. It is very important that the seed should be entrusted to the soil at an early date. If the grower should have been fortunate in this respect and has selected a variety suitable to the locality ; if he has also cultivated the land well and taken care that the plants have a sufficiency of suitable nourishment at their disposal, he can then anticipate with some confidence that he will harvest a satisfactory crop. A sufficiency of suitable nourishment. That is most important. How can it bo best supplied? It must be remembered that the crop from start to finish is only about five months in the ground, and therefore the fertilisers should be furnished in a quickly-acting form, otherwise the crop will not be able to utilise th^i

If the crop bo grown after roots fed on the land, or any other heavily-ma-nured crop, it should require the application of nothing except a little nitrogen, and this can be suitably given by a top-dressing of lcwt. to ljcwt. oi nitrate of soda.

If, however, the crop is grown aftei wheat or barley, or a previous crop of oats, then it should have a liberal supply of suitable fertilisers, and the following dressing can bo recommended: 3 cwt. of superphosphate mixed with 1 cwt. sulphate of ammonia at time of sowing, followed up when the plant appears above the ground by \ cwt. to 1 cwt. of nitrate of soda. To top-dress evenly such a small quantity of nitrate of soda, it should be first mixed with some dry earth. If the soil in which the crop is grown is of a light kind, it will be wise to add to the superphosphate and sulphate oi ammonia a small quantity of sulphate or muriato of potash, cwt. of eithej should suffice, or 2 cwt. of kainit.

WEEDING OUT COWS. Those who have initiated herd-test-,ig, or any dairyman who wishes to mprove his herd, must set himself a standard to attain and fix a standard below which ho will not keep a cow. It has been calculated that a cow's keep is £8 per head per year. Anything over that amount may be regarded as profit. A profitable dairy cow should milk for ten months in the year, if adequately and judiciously fed. at the rate of frbm two to three gallons per day. Any cow which does not do that does not give its feed justice. Of course, if she only milks nine months in the year the calculation is a different one altogether. Tho most profit is derived from the cow that maintained her flow for a full period of ten months. Supposing the standard is fixed at two and a-half gallons per head daily for 300 days, that would amount to "750 gallons, which, with a 3.5 test, would vield 262£1b. of butter-fat annually. This might be valued at Is., and bring in £l3 2s. per cow at a profit, ;tfter deducting tho keep of £5 2s. per head, of, say, £lO2 per annum for the dairyman milking twenty cows. If tho standard is reduced to two gallons daily, we might see how it would work out. Two gallons for 300 days yields 600 gallons per annum. With the same test the amount of butter-fat would bo reduced to 2101b. at the same valuation worth £lO 10s., showing a profit of £2 10s. per cow, or for the man who milks twenty cows the sum of £SO. Therefore, an additional half-gallon from each of twenty cows gives the successful dairyman about an extn 20s. per week.

COWS TEMPERAMENT. The temperament of the cow is great factor in milk production, and

should be closely studied by every dairy ; farmer. With health; digestion, good temper, and absence of nervousness, fluctuations in the quantity and quality of the milk would be less frequent There is strong evidence that the nervous system of the cow exercises conmilk and the yield. Take, for example, siderable influence on the solids of th>! milking. When the hours are regular, the animals are taught to yield their milk at a certain time, and a continuation of this excites a sensibility in thecow to give her utmost, and to maintain both quantity and quality as long as other conditions remain favourable. Altering the hours of milking, or milking at irregular periods, is inimical to the activity of the mammary glands or, in other words, to the temperament of cows, hence the teachings of expectancy are not brought into force with the same success as would follow if the hours were regular.