BUTTER FAT IN MILK.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1194, 18 January 1895, Page 7

BUTTER FAT IN MILK.

The percentage of batter fat in milk (says the W&ekly Times of Victoria) depends almost exclusively upon the breed of the cow, feed only being a minor consideration when compared with breed. There are thousands of cows that could not be improved as butter producers by any special system of feeding. They will convert the food into beef instead of butter fat. The cow that the factory and creamery supplier should keep is the one that will record the highest possible percentage of butter fat in her milk. He should fix a standard for his herd, and improve his cows by breeding and selection up to that standard. Very many dairy farmers judge their cows by appearance only, and look upon the cows in the best thriving condition as the best cows for butter. No greater mistake could be made. The wellconditioned cow with the glossy skin is converting the bulk of her feed into beef, while the low-conditioned cow has been all along supplying butter fat instead of beef. The beef cow is not paying for her board as a milker. A. few of her sort in a herd ruins the reputation of a supplier at factories where milk is paid for by results, Now, paying for milk by results, or according to the actual amount of butter the Babcock tester shows it contains, is the only fair method of buying and selling this commodity. The buyer gets full value for his money, and the seller full value for his milk. That all milk suppliers should be paid alike, however, is quite another question. In every district there are milk growers* who aim at the improvement of their herds by increasing the percentage of butter fat in the milk they-are supplying ; but, unfortunately, there are lots of others who are utterly careless as to quality, quantity being the object of their grasping ambition. Quantity, of course, is a very desirable poiut, provided quality accompanies it. But when quality does not accompany it, suppliers of the inferior milk at once begin to grumble when their neighbours, who attach importance to get paid per gallon for their milk in proportion to the percentage of butter fat it contains. The grumblers never consider how unfair are their claims for the payment of a uniform price for milk. Take two suppliers, A. and B, by way of illustration. A supplies milk containing 3 per cent, butter fat, while B’s milk contains 4 per cent, of butter fat. Assume the average milk can holds ten gallons, or 1001 b milk, and that A and B each supply three cans of milk every morning to a factory or creamery. Bach can of B s 4 per cent, milk contains one pound weight of butter move than there is'in A’s can of 3 per cent. milk. In the three cans, therefore, B is supplying daily 3lb of butter more than A, or 211 b of butter per week. Yet A has the effrontery to demand the same

price per gallon for his milk as the purchaser is willing to give to B. If the price paid for milk were uniform, what inducement would there be for a farmer to improve the butter-producing capacity of his cows ? There has been a good deal of grumbling this season amongst the suppliers of inferior milk but, with low prices for butler, purchasers of milk are compelled to conduct the management of their factories on business principles, and the first great principle that has to be strictly attended to is to pay no more per gallon for milk than its contained butter fat proves it is actually worth. Suppliers of inferior milk who are dissatisfied with low prices have their remedy. It is a simple one; Test. your cows, and get rid of all those that fall below a 3 5 per cent, standard. Lower prices for butter will demand increased judgment on the part of the producer, and owners of herds registering a low percentage of butter fat have a field where a judgment can be turned to profitable account.