MIXED MILK OF DIFFERENT BREEDS

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1715, 11 January 1905, Page 68

MIXED MILK OF DIFFERENT BREEDS

It is til© custom in many butter dairies (says an English paper) to keep two or'more breeds .of cows, the milk of which differs in salient features, in or der that a better balanced return may foe obtained. The usual plan, except, perhaps, in private country-house dairies, is to'keep non-pedigree Shorthorns and one or two Jerseys to every eight or ten of the former, the idea being for the cosmopolitan variety to give the quantity, and the island cows the needed degree of quality to the product. That the practice has much to' commend it is firmly contended by those who have had longest experience in its operation, and who are the most careful observers respecting matters of the kind. It is always desirable, however, to be able to adduce concrete, as well as general evidence, in justification of any economical system, and with the object of obtaining the former, the management of the Somerset County Council farm have carried out. experiments designed to test the value of the proceeding. Shorthorn and Jersey milks were mixed in varying proportions “with a view to determining whether any more butter was obtained from the mixtures than would be made from the milks if churned separately.” For the purposes of the first experiment two mixtures of Shorthorn and Jersey milk, in the proportions of 90 per cent, and 10 per cent., and 80 per cent, and 20 per cent, respectively, were made, the weights of milk used being, where possible, 271 b Shorthorn and 31b Jersey, and 241'b Shorthorn and 61b Jersey. The amount of butter contained in each mixture was then separately determined. Thus the experimenters made on the same day determinations by actual churning of the butter contents of Shorthorn and Jersey milk, together with those of the same milk mixed in two different proportions, and by comparing the yields they were able to decide whether any actual gain resulted from the simple expedient of mixing the milks. The first set of tests was conducted in October, and the second in February, so that the results obtained may he held as fairly product of the winter, or house-feeding season. In the meantime similar investigations are being carried out with summer and autumn milk.

The teaching of the inquiry is wholly and emphatically indicative of the wisdom of the mixed method. In every instance, whether the results wree determined by actual churning or theoretical calculation, there was an appreciative increase in butter, or butter fat, due absolutely to the simple process of mixing the milks of the two breeds named. The gains in the first instance

amounted to about 23$lb, and 701 b respectively, on the annual yield of nine cows, and although they do not mean a great deal of money, the consistency of the results materially enhances the importance of the verdict. It is noticeable that, in the February experiments the gains were larger, the best results accruing from the mixing of the milks of seven Shorthorns and two Jerseys. On the basis of this result, the mixing of the milks of a herd similarly comprised would produce an actual gain of about 1551 b of butter in the year, which at Is per lb would represent the profit from mixing. The advantage derivable from the mixing is not to be measured entirely by the increase in quantity, however. The colour and quality of the butter are very sensibly improved as a result of the Jersey admixture. In private dairies the Jersey breed has established something approaching amonopoly, but the tenant farmer would not be well advised to dispense with the general purpose Shorthorn as his mainstay. Besides producing a readily marketable calf, she yields the quantity of milk and butter that is so essential. But if he were to include a few Jerseys in the proportion of two to seven, it is evident that he would be appreciably benefited.