The NORTHLAND FARMER

Northern Advocate, 16 April 1938, Page 14

The NORTHLAND FARMER

Reasonable Care.

Well-bred individuals, successful as breeders and as show specimens, usually come from animals that have enjoyed a good environment for a number of generations previously. It should then be evident to all that if we wish their offspring to mature like their parents we must give them an eoually good chaijce for such development. In fact, the more highly bred and the more highly developed an animal may be, the greater the necessity for good care in every possible way in order to secure the very best results. It is a mistaken idea that a scanty food supply and poor care in general results in increased stamina, for such is not the case. Animals should not be pampered, but they should be given that which would be considered reasonable care and nourishment by those familiar with that breed. Food has perhaps the greatest effect on development of any one thing. It would be absurd to expect a Shorthorn bull to develop into a really heavy animal unless he received the right kind of food and a sufficient amount of nourishment. Good feeding and good breeding should always go together. Climate also - has a great influence on the development of animals. Some animals have a greater power to accommodate themselves to changes in climate and temperature, I and some breeds find it easier to do so than others.

Recording Milk Yields. A system of recording the quantity and quality of the milk yielded by dairy cows is of value to the milkseller, to the butter-maker and cheesemaker, and to the breeder according to the object for which the cows are kept. It enables the milk seller to know exactly what yield his herd of cows is giving and the quantity and quality of the milk given by each animal. He can thus identify cows that consistently give a low yield or produce milk of low quality, and, by disposing of them, prevent the loss due to the maintenance of animals not worth their keep. It must be remembered that some cows give large daily yields for a comparatively short time, whilst others give moderate daily yields over a long lactation, and that a difference of 100 or even 200 gallons is not easily appreciated when spread over the whole period. When butter fat sells at 1/- per lb. a difference of 100 gallons represents £2 if the test is assumed to be 4 per cent., and it is probably not too much to say that cows in the same herd frequently differ in the value of their annual production by as much as £4 without their owner being aware of it. When butter or cheese is made, the importance of obtaining milk with a high percentage of fat is obvious, while to the breeder the practice of recording

A page prepared for the purpose of . helping the Northland farmer to make the utmost use of the remarkable advantages which Nature has bestowed on Northland, and thereby « to develop the most fertile territory in New Zealand.

is perhaps even more important, as by this means he can select with certainty his best cows, and bulls descended from, his best cows, for breeding purposes. The keeping of production records enables a farmer not only to distinguish between good and bad cows, but has many other advantages, including the following:—(1) Any slight reduction in yield is brought to notice and investigations as to the cause can be made at once. For instance, when a cow is unwell, her milk yield generally diminishes; milk records, therefore, may often be the means of delecting an ailing cow. <2) Feeding may be carried out more economically. As

Edited By C. E. Cuming

the market price and milk-producing value of foods are not necessarily directly proportionate, it is quite possible to feed a cow expensively and not produce any better results than could be obtained from cheaper foods. (3) Where production records are kept, the influence of change of food, and the effect of different climatic conditions, can be noted. (4) There is increased interest on the part of both farmer and stockman in their labours. The faculty of observation is developed, cause and effect in milk production are studied side by side, and a stimulus is given to the further,study of data bearing on the work. Records have, therefore, a distinct educational value. (5) Milk records supply data that enable the breeding, selection, and feeding of cows to be conducted in an intelligent manner and they thus materially assist in placing dairy farming on a sound business footing. Milking qualities are largely hereditary, and the progeny of a heavymilking cow are likely to inherit the characteristics of their dam. It is therefore of the first importance that the dairy farmer should have a record of the performances of his cows, and should select the heavy milkers of good constitution to breed from for his own herd. Dairy qualities are also transmitted through the bull and it is equally important to be able to know with certainty that he is descended from a heavy-milking strain. Flavours in Milk. In view of the experimental work that is now being carried out at the Ruakura State Farm, Hamilton, in regard to the question of feed taint in milk, it is interesting to note how the question of taints is considered overseas. Milk produced with the greatest care would seem to be more prone to develop certain abnormal flavours, partly as a result of the reduction in bacterial numbers in the milk, points out an Irish writer. It is evident.

therefore, that clean methods in themselves will not ensure at all times a milk of satisfactory flavour. There are other factors less under the immediate control of the farmer. The occurrence of that group of abnormal flavours known as oxidised has only become widespread and of definite commercial importance since clean milk became more common and pasteurisation was more widely adopted In fact, he states, oxidised flavours are more prevalent in those milks of lowest bacterial numbers, viz., certified milk and pasteurised milk. These flavours termed oily, tallowy, cardboard. metallic, or simply oxidised by many investigators first came into con-

siderable prominence just over 10 years ago, when it was claimed that these were due to the contamination of the milk supply by traces of certain metallic ingredients, particularly copper. The presence of additional copper accelerates a chemical change in the butterfat portion of the milk with the production of the abnormal flavour. The Irish writer goes on to say that while it is undoubtedly true that metallic contamination is most often the cause of one or other of the oxidised flavours, and the problem of their prevention is largely the protection of the milk on the farm from all copper, copper alloy or rusty surfaces, other factors are concerned in the development of these off-flavours.