ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13070, 9 January 1906, Page 7

ON THE LAND.

HOW MILK IS PRODUCED

1 Mr. F. J. Llotd, F.C.S., F.1.C., consulting analytical chemist and dairy bacteriologist to the British Dairy - farmers' Association, delivered an address on The Production of Milk*' at Chelmsford recently, in connection with the market-day lectures for farmers. In describing the formation of milk, lie said there was first a secretion of liquid and then a mixing "with it of cellular tissue, which gave the milk its white opaqueness. The cellular tissue enriched the milk. The solid constituents coming from broken-down cells it was remarkable that the constituents of milk were not always in the same proportion. Nor was the, fat always the same. The difference was sometimes duo to the fact that between the milking?, there had not been sufficient time for the cellular tissue to 1 e completely built up. Of course, a greatdeal depended upon the feeding <f tie cow, especially as the formation of nn'k was from two processes, and not one. viz., partly a secretion and partly a growth. The quantity of milk a cow was capable of producing was determined by the rapacity of the, udder, and therefore it was necessary f« see that the cow kept was the best "machine"' obtainable. Tit© food consumed by the cow made blood which was necessary if or the udder to perform its function and take from the blood what it required for the manufacture of milk. For this reason if. was impossible to fatten and milk at the samo time: and so a good milking cow was comparatively thin. The function of the udder was supreme when in

active use, and if the feeding were not proper, or during a drought, the cow would get the food required for its blood out of its own body and lose weight. The quality of milk would thus go down, and, before that milk could be improved by better feeding, the food would be first used by the cow to replenish its own diminished body. Nitrogenous food was most important for milking cows. If cows were fed as Nature intended they should be fed they would never hear of milk falling below the standard fixed by the Board of Agriculture. Another cause of difficulty in

maintaining the quality of milk was excitement, which immediately affected the secretion in the udder. The absence of excitement, he believed, was the reason why the Channel Island cattle gave such beautiful milk. They were tethered, and every care was taken that they led lives as quiet and peaceful as possible. Then there was the time of milking; milk could not be taken at equal intervals. The difference in fat was ?, per cent, for each hour of difference in the intervals of milking. The milk first drawn was generally poor because the cellular tissue had not yet got down into it, and hence the importance of mixing the milk. Much also depended upon the skill of the milker as to whether the cowgave clown tho cells for the milk or not.

WHEN SHOULD COWS BE FED? Some give their cows a bite before they begin to milk, others nothing until the milking is done, and then a good feed, while others feed all first and milk after. As to which is the best opinions will be divided. To a considerable extent, it is a matter of habit. If cows are. fed before milking for a time they become accustomed to this, and take all amiably, but if a change is suddenly made and no food given before milking they would be very restless and discontented till the new habit was acquired. It makes no difference to the quantity of the milk whether they are fed before or after milking, but with some foods it- makes a considerable difference to the quality. Many have been annoyed to find swedes give a nasty flavour to both their milk and butter. There are ways of preparing them to avoid this, but all require considerable labour to rectify, and the most simple and easy way out of bad flavours is never to give swedes to cows before milking in the morning or evening but to supply them when milking is finished. Jll the north of England, where swedes are much more, used than in the south, feeding after milking is thought to be of so much importance that in many of the milk contracts it is stipulated that no sv<sd»s are to Ik? given to the, cows till after milking. With mangels, there is nothing of the sort to contend with, but that such things have to be taken into consideration shows that the question whether oows should be fed before or after milking has influences which must be taken into account. Apart from any flavours milking before feeding is desirable. When newly fed a cow prefers peace, and this is beneficial, but to begin and bustle about her milking, etc., as soon as she is satisfied with food cannot be regarded 1 as good management. !

j SUMMER PRUNING TOR FRUITS. This is on the whole the best time of the year to commence thinning and shortening the shoots of apples and pears which are not supplied with a sufficient quantity oi bearing spurs. The warmer the climate the shorter the period required tp make and ripen fruitful wood, and as no two kinds of trees nor any two seasons are exactly the same, it follows that no absolute time can he named nor amount of trimming decided on to serve all trees, districts or seasons. To ensure success in the work first see that tho tree has more leaves in some parts than it can bring to perfection, or that wads and masses may be screening other parts and thereby run bare. Thinning alone may be sufficient for some trees, whilst others, after they have been thinned, should have some of the shoots cut back to two or more leaves, according to their strength and the opportunity existing in the way of space. The stronger the tree the further apart its leaves should be arranged so as to allow a fair amount of sunlight to play upon the heavy wood. All spurs must be given two or more leaves, otherwise they are liable to die through the leafless stump having little or no power to draw up sap and furnish new growth. On the whole, thinning and stopping are best for apples, but pears make spurs freely after being well thinned towards the end of December and throughout January. In very strong trees the weakest, or at least* moderately weak and spreading shoots or spurs, should bo striven for, whilst trees of weaker growth need stouter and more upright growth to ensure free fruiting. Once a tree has borne fruit, it is an easy matter to discover what typo of wood has borne most freely, and this seen to summer work is easy and sure, always providing that the resources of the season and general condition of the tree can bo accurately estimated.

ORCHARD MANURING

To make an orchard pay and to produce first-class fruit it is necessary to have only healthy and well-nourished trees, which will then grow perfect fruit. To obtain

this result let us consider what do plants and fruit trees feed on.

From the composition of soils and plants it. will be seen that there is everything in the soil that is in the plant, yet it must not. be taken for granted that the plant takes everything from the soil. Carbon, which forms the wood, is partly absorbed bv the plant, from the air, and partly from the soil; but with this exception the plant gets all its food from the soil. If the" soil does not contain all these or contains them only in small quantity, they must be put in in the form of manure, else if there is insufficiency of any one element the plant becomes unhealthy. Most, of the chemicals are in the soil in great abundance, but the few that are absorbed in the greatest quantity are not abundant enough. Those are nitrogen, potash, lime, and phosphoric acid. Phosphoric acid almost invariably begins to fail first, for most soils contain more nitrogen and potash than they do phosphoric acid; next nitrogen fails." and finally potash and lime. These are the four substances about which we must concern ourselves in manuring. We can dispose of lime at mice, as it is not possible to supply phosphoric acid without at the same time supplying lime. Nitrogen is obtainable from sulphate of ammonia, nitrate of soda, dried blood, dried offal, bonedust, stable <::• farm manure.. Phosphoric acid is obtainable in superphosphates, Thomas' phosphate, bonedust, guano, and stable or farm manure. Jn superphosphates it is in the most readily available form: while in guano, bonedusf", j and Thomas' phosphate it is in an insoluble, j or only partly soluble form; in farmyard j and stable manure it is contained in com- j paratively small proportions. Potash is obtainable in muriate of notash, sulphate ot potash, nitrate of potash, ami kainit. and in small quantities in farmyard manure. '

SCOURS IN CALVES,

" Undoubtedly the greatest difficulty that the calf feeder has to contend with is scours. Here, as elsewhere, ' an ounce of prevention is worth a. pound of cure.' The principal causes of this difficulty are overfeeding, sour milk, feeding; cold milk, feeding grain with the miik, using dirty rnilkpail", very cold water, too much water after periods of thirst, and irregularity in feeding. ' The careful feeder will watch very carefully the effect of his feed upon his calves, and as soon as there are any signs of scours the milk should be reduced one-half or more, and gradually increase again as the calf is able to stand it. The Kansas station has been very successful in using dried blood as a tonic for weak or scouring calves. A mild case of scours can usually be cured in from one to two days by 'reducing the milk and adding a teaspoonful of dried blood while the calf is drinking. In severe cases of scours the addition of one or two eggs with the dried blood has been found to be very effective. Another remedy that has been found to be successful i- to give from one to two ounces of castor oil in the morning, and follow in about twelve hours with 15 to 20 drops of laudanum and a. teaspoonful of dried blood. It the case is a persistent one one or two raw <•'_'•_'■, may be added."—Farmer's Bulletin.

BREVITIES. The importance of obtaining the be»t stock which can be secured with his available means cannot, be too often impressed upon the beginner in dairying or in any other class of farming in which live stock plays a leading part. Japanese girls seldom drink mil!;. The cow is almost an unknown animal in Japan. But without, this article frequently found in the fashionable woman's health and beauty menu, the Japanese, women, while not robust in physique, are delightfully well-rounded, every bono and muscle covered with a suffiicieut quantity of flesh, and they have skins of noticeably fine texture. _ Standard milk, as defined by the United States law courts, must contain not less than 12 per cent, of total solids, and not less than 3.25 per cent, of milk-fat. Skim-milk is milk from which a part or all of the cream has been removed; and standard skim-milk must contain not less than 9.25 per cent, of milk solids. Cream is defined as that portion of milk, rich in butter-fat, which rises to the surface of milk on standing, or is separated from it by centrifugal force. Standard cream must contain not less than 18 per cent, of milk fat. Butter is defined as the production obtained by gathering in any manner the fat of fresh or ripened cream into a mass, which also contains a small portion of the other milk constituents, with or without salt. But two Acts of Congress, passed in 1386 and 19C2. butter may also contain additional colouring matter. The question has from time to time been raised as to whether fowls arc able to appropriate inorganic lime from oyster shells and limestone, for the construction of egg shells. W. H. .lack-son, in Commercial loultry, gives the result of an interesting experiment in which the fowls were so placed that they could get no food or picking other than that supplied by himself. Then all food was weighed, and the amount o? lime in it taken into consideration. Oyster shells were placed before the birds continuously. It was found that in six months the fowls laid 692 eggs, the shells of which contained over 90oz of lime, while the amount, of that mineral in the food was but little under soz, proving conclusively that oyster shells are valuable in supplying this need. Mr. Jackson further states "that the difference in the amount of shell consumed when the liens were and were not laving was in itself quite sufficient to make* the tact indisputable.