Judicious Feeding of Dairy Cows.

Opunake Times, Volume I, Issue 37, 6 November 1894, Page 4

Judicious Feeding of Dairy Cows.

The chemists have had a great deal of discussion on this subject of late, in 'which they have been joined by Mr Speir and others, who have made experiments on the subject, and one conclusion has been arrived at by them which will sound rather strange to practical men in general, which is, that feeding' cows with quantities of oilcake, meals or other auxiliary foods, has no effect whatever on the proportion of fat yielded in the milk, al though it would increase materially

the quantity. To account for this, the • supposition is entertained that when the diet is a low one, and the animal is unable to extract therefrom sufficient fat for the normal quality of her milk, she would secrete it from her own body. But, supposing the cow is herself exceedingly low in condition, and has no fat whatever to supply from her bodily system, what would be the result then? In all probability, these experimenters, scientific and practical alike, tried their high and low food rations on animals in far higher condition than the generality of dairy cows usually are found to be in, especially at the present period of the year after spring calving. The conclusion, in its entirety, can scarcely then be deemed fully established until further experiments be made on very lean as well as high-conditioned cows. In this further enquiry the point to be determined would be whether, sup- • posing the cow had no fat in her bodily system to secrete, would the milk in that case not be enriched by the fat being supplied in the food, and if not would it fall below the normal quantity in her milk as the natural consequence? There is good evidence, if not actual proof, that under such circumstances, as a lean cow and a high dietary the proportion of fat in the milk, as well as its quantity, would be increased. In two of the earlier volumes of the Journal of the R. A.S.E. (Vois. XVH and XVIII, first series) are to be found papers by Mr J. Horsfall, an intelligent Yorkshire agriculturist, which certainly go to prove that auxiliary food given to lean dairy cows materially heightens the quality, or in other words, the proportion of fat in their secretions. He was accustomed to buy barren cows, cast out from the dairy herd after they were considered to have yielded their season of profit, and to put these at once on high fattening. diet, but to continue milking them. According to bis testimony, their milk yields not only rose considerably in quantity as the result, but became so much richer in fat and solids, that after the cream had been thrown up, to use his own phraseology, “a pennypiece would not sink when laid upon it.” Mr Horsfall was accustomed to get profit out of a high-class dietary in two ways, and consequently a great gain resulted therefrom. His cotfs continued yielding rich milk up to the time they went to the shambles, and a great many dairy markets in the metropolis and the suburbs of other populous places, as well as some farmers themselves engaged in the direct sale milk trade find it to be strictly advantageous to keep their, cows on high food rations all the time i they milk them, so that they would be fit to go at once to the butcher when done with. It is deemed much more economic to do this and buy in fresh calvers every year than to have to keep dry cows out of profit for a month or six weeks that they may calve again.