Dairying in America.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1424, 15 June 1899, Page 4

Dairying in America.

BY T. K. DON (Special Commissioner Melbourne “Leader.”)

DAIRYING HERDS. The results of scientific investigation and practical experience in America concerning the dairying qualities of various breeds of cattle have not led to any new discoveries of great importance. They have in. the main borne out and emphasised conclusions previously arrived at in the old world. The dairying breeds, which of course originated in the lod world, have in the main exhibited in tiie new those qualities for which they had already become famous. toe leading herds of the different breeds are so numerous, and situate in such widely distant localities, that an inspection of them would be a task of great magnitude, and one not promising results commensurate with the undertaking. The general effect would be apparently to confirm already accepted opinions concerning the respective merits of Jerseys, Ayreshires, Holsteins and milking Shorthorns, without much prospect of settling the fiercely contested claims of the supporters of the each for the supremacy of their respective breeds. It will perhaps serve a better ■purpose to touch upon some points in which American experience seems to be valuable as tending to remove popular prejudices or add to generally recognised facts. . JERSEYS, AYRESHIRES AND SHORTHORNS. The perfection to which these breeds have been brought in the United States is w T ell known and the milking records of some of the leading nerds have been published far and wide. The impression one forms from seeing some of the best specimens of the herds at, the agricultural shows is that the cattle are no better than are to be found in the leading Australian herds, and when the great extent of the United States is taken into account it is questionable if Australians have been much excelled in the matter of importing animals of the purest type from the old countries. Where the Americans have shown superior skill has been in the ieeding and management of ineir herds, and the climate of the country has assisted in developments in this direction. All cattle have to be housed and stall fed. Running out on pastute for so many hours a day during two or three months of the year is only a slight break in a continuous course of housing and -.ting. Where stall feeding is the normal treatment of i-ve stock, it is not surprising that great skill in the management of the system should be arrived at, and that in the case of stud herds a high degree of perfection should be attained; and it is as stud cattle that many of these herds which nave become so celebrated are to be regarded. A principal part of the profits which they bring in their owners is that derived from the sale of pure bulls and heifers to dairymen throughou tthe States, who wish to improve their dairy stock. The milking record of the cows is that which sells the increase of the herd, and it is therefore important enough to take pains over. The pure cattle are selected for their milking qualities, and they are treated under ideal conditions and fed with the best rations that science and experience can suggest. In these circumstances it is not surprising that record results are obtained. To who have to deal comparatively little with stall feeding, the . results. , are tmainly interesting and 'as . Showing what cattle of the /(different breeds are capable of producing under the most favourable conditions! Feeding‘and housing being general, it is easy to Understand that a breed which possesses hardiness and ability to give good results under ordinary conditions would not become as popular as one capable of giving maximum returns under the best' of treatment, so that the Jersey naturally finds more admirers than the Ayreshire. The milking families of shorthorns have been coming into increasing favour in America during recent years, and they now take a good position among dairying breeds. No breed, however, seemst to have made more steady advancement in public favour than the black and white Holsteins, or Holstein Friesians, as they are generally called. HOLSTEIN FRIESIANS. The Holsteins are well known to be heavy milkers, and it is just as popularly believed that their milk is deficient in richness.' The growing favours with which the herd is being received throughout the States is largely due td't’He removal of the prejudice against the richness of their milk. “The Holstein Friesian Association” has done much to remove the erroneous notion'concerning the quality of the milk produced by the breed and! by . carrying out a series of tests extending over some years has been able to set before the public a truer conception of their milking qualities. _ Of course, the milk of a Holstein cow giving a very large quantity is not likely to be as rich as that of, say, a Jersey giving a much smaller quantity, but it does not follow

that the one cow therefore produces less butter than the other. Upon the basis of the quantiay of butter per cow it must be admitted that the Holsteins never have been able to make a good showing. Too much has evidently been made of the alleged thinness of the Holstein’s milk, and it is plain that in the States the breed is increasing rapidly in favour. Messrs Henry Stevens and Sons’ herd at Laeona, in the State of ew York, one of the most famous Holstein herds in the country, furnishes evidence both of the heavy yield of butter per cow and of the rich quality of the milk itself. In many of the records which are published from time to time an allowance should fairly be made for the friendly bias of the owner, hut in the case of the Messrs Stevenson’s Brookside herd we have the advantage of a. number of tests made by official experts, who have no personal interest in the results. For the purposes of the various competitions for prizes offered by the Holstein Friesian Association many official tests have been made, and these, which are quite reliable, are very instructive. The tests deal with the milk of the whole herd, as well as with that of individual cows. I have been shown the results of two tests of the whole herd made by an authorised official in the New York State. The first test gave 4.- per cent of butter fat, and the second, made two months later, gave 4.6 per cent., which is good for a fairly large herd of deep milkers. SOME RECORD COWS. One of the handsomest cows at present in the herd is called Aagie Grace ll.’s Pietertje. She is large and of the true dairying type, not only as to shape, but brit in the matter of thinness of flesh and great development of the milk vessel. Her extraordinarily large milk veins are remarkable. She gave 1001 b of milk in a single day at an official test, and Messrs Stevenson and Son’s manager says that no other cow has ever reached such a record at an ocial test. He, of course, does not refer to unofficial tests. Her official record for butter is 281bs Boz in seven days. Many of her herd mates have exceeded the butter yield. Thus Netherland Hengerveld gave 26 2-3 lb in an official test, which is claimed as a record as far as official tests are concerned. An- * other great cow is Dckol 11., with an official record of 2611 b of butter in seven days, while there are several with considerably higher yields, but these tests are not official. The last-mentioned cow won a prize at a one day test, the yield for the day being 4.31 b of butter. These figures, which cannot be questioned, certainly show that the breed holds high rank amongst butter producers. That the cows are larger than the other dairying breeds is claimed as an advantage by Holstein supporters, while it is regarded as the opposite by its opponents. Upon this point the Brookside manager says : “It is not the quantity of food a cow eats tftit the use she makes of it that is important. If a machine does good work we don’t object to its being large. ' As a matter of fact, this matter will never be settled unless tests are made in which the quantity and value of the food consumed are taken into account. There are not as yet a sufficient number of such tests to enable definite conclusions to be '’■awe. Some of the best work of this kind has been done at the Minnesota University College. THE FOOD VALUE TEST. The experiments carried out by Professor Haicker, at Minnesota, seems to be based upon the right principle. It is . questionable if his tests covered ground enough to justify all his conclusions, for lie had only some 22 cows under trial, and the variations among individuals are great; but bis results undoubtedly throw much light upon the question of economical butter production, while his method is tone that ought to be extensively followed. His plan was to select three, or four cows of a given type irrespective of breed, and form them into a group. He formed four gi-oups, the first representing the beef producing type, the last representing the time dairying type, and the two intermediate types repersenting steps between the standard types. Ail these groups were specially fed and milked, the food in each case being eighed and valued, and the milk being weighed and tested for butter fat, with the result that in each case it was ascertained at what cost the butter fat was produced. There is no doubt that this is the only way to settle a number of points that are always in dispute among the supoi’ters of different breeds. The experiment did not deal with herds, but types. The system, however, would be equally effective in fixing the relative merits of the different dairying breeds. RESULTS OF THE TEST. The beef producing group, consisting of Shorthorns and Polled Angus cattle produced butter fat at an average of 17.5 c. per lb, say 9d. The second group having a less tendency to fatness were crossbred Jerseys and crossbred Guernseys. They produced butter fat at a cost of 15.1 s. per lb, say 7d. The third group, appi'oaching the dairying type, being spare and angular, but lacking depth, were crossbred Guernseys and crossbi’ed Holsteins. They produced butter fat at a cost of 14.1 c. per lb, say 7d. The fourth group, consisting of cows of the true dairying type, spare, angular and deep, and being selected Jei’seys, Holsteins, Guernseys, Shorthorns anti crossbreds, pi’oduced butter fat at 12.1 c. per lb, say 6d. These results show the importance of dairy farmers keeping cows that are suitable for dairying purposes. I cannot do better than give Professor Haicker’ own summary of the results : —“lt ap-

pears that group 1., the heavy beefy cows, consumed 20.811 b of dry matter per day, and required 31.251 b dry matter lor a pound of butter fat; that group 11., the cows having an angular form but a tendency to lay on flesh, consumed 20.371 b dry matter per day, and required less to make a pound of butter fat that- the first group; whilst group 111., the spare cows lacking somewhat in depth of body, consumed 19.951 b food daily, and required less dry matter for a pound of fat than spare, deep-bodied cows, consumed the most food per day and made the best use of it. The cost of butter fat seems to depend move upon the type of cow than the the breed, there being less variation in cost of production between cows of a certain type than between cows of the same breed. The cost of 1001 bof di’y matter was 57c.: estimating the price of a pound of butter fat at 25c., the cows in group I. returned a net profit of 23c for each 1001 bof dry matter consumed; group 11., 37c.; group 111.. 41c.; and group IV., 61c. Referring to the averages of the four groups, it will he seen that the first group consumed on an everage 20.811 b dry matter per day, returning 4.7 c. profit; the cows in group 11. ate 20.37ib dry matter and gave 7.5 c. profit; group 111. ate 19.951 b each, and returned 8.1 c.; while group IV. ate 21.861 b each per day at a profit of 13.3 c., or nearly three times as great a net profit as the bloeky cows in group I.