THE DAIRY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 957, 4 July 1890, Page 14

THE DAIRY.

FEEDING FOR BUTTER. (HENRY SrEWAKT.)

One by one the scientific authorities are helping to put a .quietus on the misleading ana injurious statement that the, proportion of butter in milk can not be increased by feeding. It is strange that such a heresy should have obtained currency among those to whom dairymen look for instruction. The w > iter, led by long experience to differ from the pievaleut be ief, has singly fought the error and has sustained the. opposition to it alone for some years past. And now,the professors are coming to the rescue, one by one, and alr.ady a powerful i fiaence for the good of dairymen is exerted to encourage them to feed skilfully for increasing the fat s 'ids 10 the milk. First, the Wisconsin Experiment Station, in a bulletin, declared that by suitable feeding the proportion of butt' r fr.ra iu milk uaay be imrsastd ; then Prof. Phelps, of tht Connecticut Station, and now prof. C.tldwell, of the siv York Station, follow in making the same statemeufc. Eight or ten years agir f gave a detailed account of the effects of va-ious foods id this direction, observed through a whole year’s experimental feeding, which has heeu reprinted in the ‘American Dairyman’s Manual,’ a"d which shows how various foods, rich in oil, tend to increase the proporii.mate quanto; of the I .ter m milk, and how they also • ffeet the quality. The last effect has bee-- recently noted by the chemist oi tne ag o ohoral department at Wa-hingtn.i. and reported in a bulletin, and tide is exceeding]* he t-w.-i tbv as showing the importance or choosing those foods whose fat will not deteriorate the quality of the butter.

This point may be worthy of some explanation. For some years past physicians have known that fats in food or in medicinal preparations, when taken into tho stomach, ore not digested, but are mixed with the digestive fluids in the form of an emulsion, precisely in a similar manner to the mixture of tho fat globules in cream, and that this emulsion is absorbed without change by the

villi of the intestines, which are very fine tubes, set so closely together as to leave the appearance of tho pile of velvet, and whose office is to absorb the nutriment and pass it into the thoraic duct, the large vessel which is found passing along the spinal column and close to it, and which conveys the nutriment directly into the blood, so that the minute globules of fat in the food thus pass directly into the blood, by which they are distributed to the various parts of the body, and of course to the uusius glands of which the milk is formed. And when this glandular substance is broken down to form the milk, these same particles of fat are let loose and escape into the milk and form the butter. Thus, tracing the fat in the food in which it exists in the form of minute drops or globules in the oells which make up the tissue of plants or grains, we can follow it directly into the milk, without change ; and thus are able to account for the effects on the milk of the various kinds of foods given. This knowledge is of fundamental importance to the butter-makerj and the whole subject is worthy of the most careful study. It relates too to the varying ability of the cows to extract the fats from the food, for cows vary veiy mnch in this respect, and some can healthfully dispose of twice or three times as much fat as others, and some, as in the case of the Jersey cow Princess the Second, may be able to actually convert seven pounds of fata in the foods into butter in one day. This is a physiological function and ability, and is thus to be inherited and conveyed by breeding, while it is excited and encouraged—educated, as it may be said, or led out, as the word signifies—by feeding and training. Thus, it may not be right to think or speak of such cows as phenomenal, any more than we should call the extraordinary young horses Axtell or Suuol phenomena!. They are not so at all. They are instances of the result of human power skilfully exerted over the domestic animals, and overy one of the numerous examples of this successful exercise of man’s dominion over creation should be an incentive to exer> tiona in the same way by every infc elligent dairyman in the improvement of his herd, and in his pursuit of success and profit in his business.

NOTESIn feeding for the dairy (says the Jersey Bulletin) there is no period of the year.more critical than the few weeks in the fall when the pastures are failing, yet the dairyman thinks it too early to begin winter feeding. Cows are very apt to be allowed to fall off in their milk for the lack of food, and are qnite liable to lose milk and flesh too, from exposure to the early frosts. Naturally at this season of the year, cows that have calved in the spring are shrinking in milk, but the milk is correspondingly richer in butter, and there ought not to be the very sudden falling off in butter so common ic dairie o . A little judicious generosity in grain feeding during this transitive period between tbe green and the dry will pay a handsome profit all the winter long. An Irish farmer recently said :—• After many years’ experience I look upon vetches as one of tbe best crops, for summer housefeeding dairy Btook known to modern husbandry. No matter what the quantity given to the cattle, no taste is imparted to the buffer ; the flavour, on the contrary, oeing all the most fastidious could desire, the texture firm, and the general .characteristics of the article so high-class that it may be entered for competition at any show with every prospect of success. The Quality of the butter will be more especially fine if a fair proportion of oats 1b sown with the vetches, and the former in ear when supplied to the cattle. The mixture of oats improves the cream in a m.rked degree; and the butter has more body, and the flavour exquisite, provided that all tbe operations connected with its manufacture have been properly carried ont, with liberal treatment and good culture.’

WEARING OUT COWS. Some old fogies have an idea that high feeding as they call it, but what sensible men call full feeding, exhausig tne vitality and energy ot the cow, causing her to wear ont sooner than she would on a short diet. Possibly a cow may be overfed, but it will be difficult to make her eat more than she wants or needs if she is fed regularly. A starved sow might gorge herself to her injury, but a cow ib »t- has reeuiarly as much to eat a.i she wan,s will not injure 10.-reelf by eating, no iiiutter how uiuo.j is given her. As t,. exhausting her, it atnkv.s us that she would hold out much longer, hs well as do c ueh better, if she were fed up to her lull capacity. A man on half iatoms would wear out and break down much sound' than if he had lull rations. The same is true of a milch cow or of a working animal. There is no hing gained by a starvation diet. It does not prolong but shortens life. Suppose, however, it shortened life, would there not fe more profit in a latge yield for a few years than :n a small yield foi double the number of years ? The small yield mirfh' not pay e-St, while the large yiel.i would afford a profit. The loner the cow is k- ;<t f, a loss toe yfefi.frr m the total loss, It n5.,,1 to he thought that there was a profit, in keep pigs in a half-starved condition for a year or fifteen months, and then fatten them. But pig-raisers have become wiser, and now keep tfl o ?•!? growing from the start, and make him weigh at the end of a few monthc as much as he used to do when a year older, J-ney get the same result in less time and with less feed. So a cow kept in a thriving condition gives a larger return in less time, and it is, therefore, more profitable. Do not, says the Dairy World, be afraid of wear*

mg out or exhausting a cow by giving her enough to eat, beoause she consequently gives more milk. ' Keep her at her best.

MANUFACTURE OF. OLEOMARGARINE IN THE UNITED STATES.

In tbs course of his recent annual address to the Chemical Society of Washington, the president, Mr Edgar Richard, referring to oommon food substitutes and adulterants, described the manufacture of oleomargarine. The ingredients which enter into its composition are (1) neutral or leaf lard, used in the proportion of from 25 to 60 per cent., made from the leaf fat of freshly-Blaughtered hogs ; (2) oleo-oil, used In the proportion of from 20 to 50 per cent, made from the caul and suet fats of freshly-slaughtered beeves ; (3) some liquid vegetable oil, as cottonseed, sesame, peanut, used in the proportion of from 5 to 25 per cent, made by orushing the seeds and extracting the ©il by pressure or solvents ; (4) milk or cream, used in the proportion of from 10 to 20 per cent; (5) outter, used in the proportion of from 2 to 10 per-cent, generally bought from the best creameries for its tine flavour ; (6) salt; (7) annatto or other colouring matter. Some factories employ no vegetable oils in their oleomargarine, preferring to use a larger proportion of ‘neutral’ lard, with a small amount of butter to obtain the desired butter consistency. In the higher quality of creamery butterine' the proportious of oleo-oil are reduced, the vegetable oils are discarded, and butter is used to make up the charge for the churn. The method of manufacture closely resembles that used In ordinary butter-making, except that the churn is steam-jacketed, and the animal fats are . previously melted before being placed m it. From a personal inspection of some of the largest factories, Mr Richard is convinced that the greatest cleanliness is observed throughout all the operations; that nothing but the fresher animal fats are used ; that machinery is emploved as much as possible and large quantities' worked at a time to reduce the expense. When made in a cleanly manner and from fresh fats o eomargarine is, be said, a perfectly wholesome article of food. Another by-product ° c B^au ghter- house is compound or refined lard, made by melting the fat left behind after obtaining the oleo and mixing it with some cotton seed oil and leaf lard. Another is ‘prime steam lard,'as disgusting a mixture as can be imagined. The entrails and other viscera, head, feet, and every other part of the animal whioh contains the faintest traces of fat are all thrown into the rendering tank. Steam is turned on until the fat is thoroughly melted out. Tho highiy-Bavoured mass of impurities is drawn off, wished with hot water, packed in tins or casks, and sold as ‘ prime steam lard.' In spite of recent legislation in the United States against oleomargarine, including a high license on its sale, the manufacture and consumption have increased larselv since ISB6. s 3