Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1906. THE FEEDING OF DAIRY CATTLE. SOME FRENCH EXPERIMENTS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLI, Issue 306, 15 November 1906, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1906. THE FEEDING OF DAIRY CATTLE. SOME FRENCH EXPERIMENTS.

In continuation of our articles c especial interest to farmers, it may c of value and. help to those who ai devoting increased attontion to dair; ing to learn the results of some c: periments in the feeding of dairy coy that have been made recently i France. The question that most fr quently presents itself in a dairyin district, which it is hoped Nelson ma become ere long, is one that turr upon the relative feeding values < different kinds of forage, with specii reference to increasing the butter-f; percentage of milk. While in gei eral terms it may be laid down thi quality is bred into rather than- fe into the cow, very much of value ma be gleaned from the experiments i feeding made from time to time i various parts of the world.. A few weks ago M. Malpeaux rea a paper before the International Daii Congress on "The Formation an Quality of Milk," and in it he gai to the systems of feeding general! preferred on the Continent of Europ Of course each individual farmer wi bo guided largely by his own cond tions and environments; but M. Ma peaux's data are interesting at leas and possibly of use in giving vali able hints. French dairymen' appa ently make considerable use of sever vegetables little known in the cow die ary here. They have discovered thi garlic, ensilaged maize, and Jerusale artichokes impart a disagreeable tas both to butter and milk, whereas, c the other hand, parsley, thyme, pa snips, and carrots "give the butter pleasing perfume." Oats and beai ire "found to be inferior to bran an oilcake." Roots and tubers general! have been found to be favourable 1 milk production, but the large propo tion of water in their composition rei •J.ors them "little nutritive," and, i with turnip and beetroot tops, sotr dry food, more concentrated, such i oil cake, must be used. It is a curious, though generally a. cepted belief among dairymen on th Continent that the potato, nutritive ; it is to human beings, is inferior t beet-root as a milk food. But wit tubers generally, a slight excess c milk is gained at the expense of casei and butter. Improved machinery says M. Malpeaux, and more read means of communication, have brough within roach many concentrated food in the form of cakes which are rich i fat-producing matter, and counterac the effect of too many watery roots Four pounds of oil cake a beast a da has been found to have the best effect Of all cakes — and their name is legio — the best is still found to be the old fashioned decorticated cotton cake, be ing richer than linseed cake and cheap er; also in producing both milk am butter it is proved to beat linseei cake. Cocoanut cake has little effec on milk. It makes the butter firmer and does not help its keeping quali ties. Colza cake — of which we havi little experience here, if any — is far in ferior in results to cotton cake, anc gives a bad taste to the butter. Cake of sesame is also inferior to linseec :ake, as also is cake made from gardei pinks. Sesame cake, it is said, cost: much more than cotton cake, produce: moderate milk, a cream hard to churn md soft, white, poor butter." Cake; )f this sort, as also "decorticated earth rats," flour of cotton, and cocoa, and iome others which the author names, >nly need mentioning to be dismissed from consideration, although we have 'requently seen advertisements extollng their food vajue. Among staple foods, on the Continmt as here, bran of wheat is still retarded as the best of cow foods. Like ake, it induces animals to drink reely. Only two or three pounds a lay will be of benefit to each milch ow, so that the first question arising pith, regard to bran-feeding — the cost -is disposed of to a certain extent. Vith bran fed in the proportions amed, and not as a. main diet, that is o say, at the rat* -of about two or hree pounds for each cow, it is con;nded that the cost is more than reaid. While French dairymen prefer ie cotton cake if fed airtgly, a mixture of cotton cake and brail is strongly recommended by M. Malpeaux. In conclusion, it is of iiitbrest in this district especially to learn that "radicelles," or the sprouts of malted barley, while not of value as a food in itself, is of great use in the production of butter. Tho Continental experience is that butter produced by an admixture of radicelles with other cow food gives butter of firm texture and excellent quality both in flavour and keeping properties. Brewers' grains, however, on the other hand, though good for feeding purposes in a minor degree, will not bear comparison with beet-root for dairy purposes, for though the milk be equal in quality, it will be deficient in fatty matter. A little more attention may therefore be- turned to radicftlles, or malted barley sprouts, of which a supply should always be obtainable in a barley-growing district such as Nelson. A use may thus be found often for many spoilt lots on the farm which the farmer has frequently had reason to bewail, for apparently it is nrt absolutely necessary to malt the bailey by the recognised processes to obtain the sprouts.