ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13614, 6 December 1907, Page 8

ON THE LAND.

, WATERING COWS. ;.: • ..•; The answer, "As much as slio can drink," might ho considered the. proper reply to such as question as to how much water a, cow should have Many dairymen, -.however, fail to realise the importance of giving their cows all the water they require. In fact, some do not know how much water a cow needs. During the summer a cow is usually allowed to get all she wants,cither from the spring in the pasture field or from a well-filled trough. Not so during tlio winter. Very often cows tiro only allowed out once a day to get a drink, or perhaps the water is carried to tliem in the stable. In this way it is impossible for tho cow at one drinking to take in enough to do during the day. Sometimes, if tho water has to be carried very far, the cow can only get on© or two pails per 'day. This is not sufficient to allow her to assimilate, and digest her, food properly. Though roots form part of the- cow's ration, slio will require considerable water, and that oftcaer than once a day

Last winter a prominent dairyman made a test of tho cows in his herd in this particular. Ho found that while a heifer not in milk drank only two or three pails daily, his cows drank as high as ten pails daily. Two cows, fresh in milk, drank from eight to ten pails daily, while some others longer in milk, and consequently not giving so much, only drank from four to six pails daily. Ho. also found that olio heifer when dry, in August, only drank from two to three pails daily, but after sho had calved in December, required from six to eight pails daily.

These figures will, no doubt, bo surprising to many. It is hard to realise that one cow, in a day, can drink eight pails of water. If a milch cow required that amount, ono thing is certain, sho cannot take it into her body at ono drinking, and, therefore, should have access to water at least twice a day. Wo also learn from this experience that a ,cow giving milk requires considerably more water than a dry cow. Water is very cheap, and if a cow requires more of it iu order to assimilate her food and convert it into milk, sho should have it. If bygiving the milch cow a pail or two more water, and at more frequent intervals than is done by many dairymen, sho will increase five or six pounds in'her flow of milk, it seems to bo a profitable way of converting nothing into something, and of getting well paid for the labour attached to it.

Undoubtedly, tho best way of watering cows during the winter is in stables. Of course, if tho water has to be carried very far, the cows are not likely to get all they want. There, should be, however, in every well-regulated dairy stable, a trough running in front of the cows, filled with water, so that tho cows can drink whenever they wish. It will not be very difficult to do this if there is a pump near the stable. A good plan is to pump the water up into some elevated tank in the stable, and havo pipes connecting the tank with tho water-ing-trough. By keeping this tank filled with water tho chill will bo taken off before the water reaches the cows. A cow let out of the stable on a cold, bleak day to get a drink will become chilled after drinking the cold water, and somo of the food she gets after being put in the stable again will, instead of producing milk, go towards bringing the temperature of her body back to its normal condition. It is not, therefore, an economical way of caring for cows to allow them to become chilled unnecessarily. This subject of the amount of water a cow needs requires more attention than wo can give it just now. We would, therefore, like to have the experience of other dairymen in this particular. FERMENTATION IN MILK. Fermentation, or the souring process, is not as well understood in the dairy as it should be. Dairy folk do not realise tho rapidity with which these souring germs spread. A few arc sufficient in a very short time to contaminate tho contents of any receptacle. In milking nobody should dream of allowing the first few draws from the teat to enter the milking pail at. all. Unless prevented, tho germs, which ever lurk ill the neck of the teat, will bo drawn off into the nail, and contaminate, the full contents. Having ', established the, required amount of care at tho commencement of milking operations, one can safely go ahead (assuming pails and other receptacles to have been thoroughly scalded and cleansed) until the stripping has to take place. . The stripping is of paramount importance, seeing that if a cow be not, milked out clean every time, she begins to store up, or secrete, less and less milk, and dries off considerably earlier than she should do. The actual loss of income from a cow, neglected to the extent of as little as a. quarter of a pint at each niilkiiisr. will figure out in excess of £2 per annum. This « in itself a very weighty consideration, even if one cannot determine how much sooner such neglect has dried her off.

"ROPY" MILK. A very common complaint of milk is that it turns thick and viscous, and can be drawn out into long threads. This condition, known as "ropy," is duo to the action of several sorts of microbes, among the chief of which is tho bacillus lactis viscosus. This organism, howe\tr, takes some, time 'to do its work at ordinary temperatures, and therefore, under such circumstances, tho viscous condition of the milk may 'bo duo to some other microbe. There are two such which have the property of rendering milk ropy in a few hours. The one has been isolated from thick milk used in the manufacture of Edam cheese; the other was discovered at Heme, and in other parts of Switzerland, and was called Freuckmreich's micrococcus. Tho first of these microbes does not liquefy gelatine; the second does, and this property must bo borno. in mind in making a study of the subject. < . This does not exhaust the list of germs to which ropy milk may bo attributed. t The condition is sometimes'observed' in eases of mammitis, when a microbe is found in the milt: as .soon as it is drawn, which shortly after renders it viscous.' Some of these microbes, then, are found in the udder itself, others come from without: and many cases have been observed in which the condition known as '' ropy" was due to the action of a bacillus contained in water used for washing the utensils. MAKING STACK ENSILAGE. Mr. Gorman, manager of one of the Australian State experimental farms, gives the following information on stack ensilage-mak-ing. He calculates the cost of making at 3s 9d per ton, and reckons the weight of made ensilage at 50 cubic feet to the ton. As to making ensilage, he says:—Guided by experiments in the United States, I built no foundation for the stacks. All that. was done was to select a fairly level piece of ground, with a very slight slope; tho last condition mainly to allow the black fluid oozing from the bottom of the stack to have a clear run off through an opening om a light plough furrow, made some three or four feet away, and around the stack. Tho mowing machine was set to work at daylight; the rake followed immediately behind, and then came the waggons, on which tho stuff was pitched. Towards the end of tho day's work the rakes went over the leavings, and this . was gathered up and taken straight to the stack. Tho stacks were from 18ft to 20ft long, and 13ft to 15ff wide, built straight up to a height of 20ft, when they were allowed to settle for three or four weeks.' The _ system was to build three stacks at one time, starting the first, say, on Monday, the second on Tuesday, and the third on Wednesday. Then on the Thursday, operations were resumed on -the first stack. The first thing was to rake down the sides of the stack with stout iron handrakes, and the rakings were then thrown on tho top of the stack. In building the stack the outside parts were continually trodden down, which was necessary to ensure least waste. Constant raking "assists this greatly, and after the stack has been finished a good plan is to fire the sides. Then the least resistance is afforded to tho atmosphere. If well made, the waste should riot .bo more than Hiri of the outsides of tho stark. When, the stack was almost: 20ft high, it was domed off loosely, and a couple of logs, one at each side, held together with fencing-wire, were put on top to keep the wind from blowing the loose material away. The stacks were then left to settle down for three or four .weeks, when they would be about 12ft high. They were then further built up to 20ft or 22ft, properly domed off, and the top kent in place with the two logs mentioned. I found that on an average tho' stacks used to settle down at \ from 17ft to 18ft in height to the caves. . The average contents of the stacks was close on 100 tons, and the average waste half a ton. • No stack was used until two years old. By that time tho fodder was splendidly conserved.' ■When opened up' it resembled a cake of good medium-strength tobacco. In fact, the men used to chew it, and say it had a pleasant . tasto.

FEEDING OF. MOTHERLESS LAMBS. The'first drink or two which the lamb gets from its mother arc medicinal in character, and will move tho bowels. In feeding motherless lambs oh' cow's milk this must ' bo the object sought to begin with. If tho | •lamb has had no chance to suck tho ewe, : then ha!f a teasnoonful of castor oil should bo administered with the first drink given. J This is usually enough to clear the bowel, j and gives tho lamb : a, chance for life. At i the same time, tho tail must bo cleaned, and kept clear of any. accumulation of excrement. For the first week tho cow's milk should bo diluted in strength ha 1 f water and half milk, given at blood heat, five times a day, in quantities of not more than half a breakfast cupful. The mixture may bo strengthened the' second week to tho proportion of two of milk to one of water, and gradually increased in strength till - pure sweet milk alone may be given at the end of tho third week, if the lamb is doing well. THE CHEMISTRY OF FRUITS. In an interesting bulletin just out, the United States Department of .Agriculture has the following to say of fruit ripening and its effect on composition:—As fruits grow to their full size and ripen they undergo marked changes in chemical composition with respect both to tho total and to tho relative amount of tho different chemical bodies present. When stored after gathering tho changes continue, somo fruits improving on storage and others deteriorating very rapidly. In general, ripe fruits aro less acid than green, and contain less starch, woody material, erudo fibre, and the carbo-hydrates commonly referred to as pectin bodies, and correspondingly larger amounts of the different sugars. Fruits contain ferments, and these are believed -to play a very important part in '"chemical changes which accompany growth and maturity. Many diverse views have . been expressed regarding tho exact nature and extent of tho processes involved and tho compounds formed in ripening fruit. The question as a whole has been a favourite one with- chemists, and the agricultural experiment stations have made a number of important contributions to tho subject.' One of. tho most recont and valuable contributions, both from a bibliographical and from a chemical standpoint, is the series of investigations published by Bigelow and his associates, of the Bureau of Chemistry of the Department of Agriculture, on the ripening of winter and .summer apples and peaches. With winter" apples it was found that the starch increases from early summer until the maximum is reached in midsummer, and then decreases and finally disappears. The malic 'acid content decreases from early summer until maturity, while cane sugar and invert sugar increases. In the case of peaches, as the fruit develops from early summer to ripeness, the proportion of flesh increases and the pit decreases. During this period the weight of reducing sugars increases about eight times, and that of cam? sugar and acids considerably more than this. An increase' is also noted with the various forms of nitrogenous substances. Throughout the whole period of growth the proportion of solids to water in the flesh of the peach remains fairly constant. The pit, on the other hand, becomes harder and tho percentage of water in it decreases as growth progresses. It is interesting to nolo that throughout the whole period of growth no appreciable amount of starch is found, in the peach. Between tho condition known as market ripeness and full ripeness considerable growth takes place in the peach, there being an increase iu both water and solid matter and in reducing sugar and cauo sugar. A German investigator found that when black currants were picked when slightly green and . kept; for a few daysthere was an increase in sugar and a decrease in the acid content.. Tho changes which take place in gooseberries do not appear to bo of tho same character. Picked when green, they contain 3.9 per cent.. sugar and 27.2 per cent. acid. When stored at a cool temperature for six days they bad taken" on the dark colour of ripo berries and contained somewhat smaller proportions of both sugar and acid. A knowledge of the changes which accompany the growth, ripening, and storage of fruits is very important, commercially as well as from tho housekeeper's standpoint. For ' instance,' in cider-making it is desirable that tho fruit should bo used when the sugar content is high, as tho quality of cider and vinegar is largely determined by tho amount of sugar present, As every housewife knows, under-ripe fruit is the-most satisfactory for jelly-making. In tlte'rose" of bananas -tho under-ripe fruit, rich in starch, is best for cooking, and tho very ripe fruit, in which the starch has Imjcu changed info sugar, for use uncooked. It is not unlikely that failure to recognise this distinction is responsible for the digestive disturbance when many persons experience when bananas are eaten, as the raw, under-ripe, starchy fruits are generally conceded to bo difficult of digestion. The under-ripe banana's, when dried, sliced, and ground; yield a flour or meal rich in starch,, while the riper fruit with the : higher sugar content, sliced and dried, is very sweet, and not unlike figs in flavour and :>. composition. ■ ■ .. • . BREVITIES. Filthy milk, cooled quickly and kept so, shows fewer bacteria than will cleaner milk which has not been cooled. The first year is the most important in the education of the dairy cow; Gentleness is as important as good management. , If a new settlor has experience and capital ho has nothing much to fear; but if he is a novice ho may easily encounter disaster.

Butter-making, according to tho amount of capital and labour involved, is beyond question, the most, profitable branch of agriculture. - . ,*■■ ; A process by which very thick concentrated cream can. bo obtained is to make the milk extremely hot and then separate it ata very high velocity. • ", There is no substance that will entirely take the nlace-of milk for -the feeding of calves, although there are foods that permit of the milk allowance being reduced'.to a minimum. ' ■ • ; . ■ bilking pastures, when they receive directly : from " the cows . much autumnal' manure, are likely, to pay better for that ! manure- than if it. had been gathered into a manure heap from tying up cows. The treatment, of dairy stock is one. of considerable, importance, and particularly so if you want to produce either good, wholesome milk or butter. Feeding bears largely upon the taste of milk and butler and their quality. " When the buttermilk is drawn off rinse tho butter with water. In hot weather the water may be as cold as possible. Revolve the churn about a dozen time's, remove- butter' from churn, and salt it. Use one' ounce of salt to the pound. ' ; A. currycomb and brush aio used quite frequently to assist in keeping cows clean, besides making them look and feel better. Sides and floor of stables are scrubbed with broom and water as often as'is necessary to keep them clean. ' - -' A cow belonging to Mr. James Gall, postman, Mardgate, England, has -just given . birth to three calves. All are alive and apparently quite healthy. The cow is seven years old, and never before produced more than one at a birth. , In order to ascertain whether a sample of butter be genuine or. adulterated with an admixture of other fats, it is tested for percentage of the fatty volatile acids in it, and if these fall below the recognised standard there is a suspicion that tho butter is not 'pure,;- '' We 'write and talk much about breeding - better cows, and we should never cease, but, we have thousands of. cows to-day whose breeding is in'advance of the care and feed they get. Of what value is conformation unless an udder of comparative development is attached? ' '.