THE BEST METHOD OF FEEDING DAIRY COWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1970, 22 August 1889, Page 6

THE BEST METHOD OF FEEDING DAIRY COWS.

Mr Lloyd's paper On "The Best Method of Feeding Cattle for Dairy Purposes," read at the opening meeting of the British Dairy Farmers' Association, at Stranraer, and published in the Witness of the Bth insfc., evoked considerable discussion, and which is deservedly reported at length in the columns of the North British Agriculturist, June 12. As the particular experiences of the speakers may furnish useful hints to dairy farmers in the colony, the following extracts from the report are submitted :—: — Mr John Speir, of Newton farm, in moving a vote of thanks to Mr Lloyd, said in reference to the test of proportionate food to weight of the cow, that every practical farmer knew that a milking cow, after calving, invariably fell off in weight if she were milking well, and most certainly she never increased in weight then, or else she were going to iai rather than to milk. The i suitability of silage for dairy feeding arose from the fact that it contained some of the properties of succulent food, but the difficulty with him was to find out whether it was more digestible than hay or not. In his experience he found that it required good weather for the making of 9ilage as well as hay. With comparatively good weather, they were able to make it sweet and palatable, and pleasant to animals, and those who had to deal with them. If they were "to use extremely sour ensilage with such an extremely sensitive animal as a cow, and with such a sensitive substance as milk, they would be sure to taint it. Mr Lloyd told them that any food over and above what the animal required passed into the manure heap. It did more than that, it actually acted as a poison and injured the system of the animal. He was not sure that, as Mr Lloyd had stated, " the amount of tissue to be repaired in a large cow was greater than in a small one," as a small cow had more surface to be exposed to the air than a big cow. Professor M'Connell considered that good weather was requisite for making good ensilage, although ensilage had been pretty near a failure withhim. He thonghtjthat Mr Lloyd, instead of telling them how many pounds of j albuminoids and so forth should be given to a cow, would have done better service had he j told them how many pounds of hay, or roots, or tares should be given, so that farmers would j easily understand it. He was astonished Mr Lloyd should have said thab Scotch critics did | not understand that the butter fat in milk was formed from the breaking up of the albuminoids j in the food, tor he (Professor M'Connell) was j I a Scotchman, and had known for 15 years ! at least that bean meal was the best concert- j trated food for the production of butter fat. "He ! would back bean meal against any food for the j production of butter,"- and approved of dispensing with the root crops to a considerable cxi tent. | . Mr S. Williamson Wallace, assistant professor | at Edinburgh, said Mr Lloyd would require to bring strong proof that any part of the oil in the food did not enter the butter fat in the milk, especially when he admitted that the oil in cake made the butter soft. '* Did not that show that the oil in the cake was converted into butter fat ? " Mr Lloyd had quoted Dr Thomson's words in support of his views, but Dr Thomson only said that bean meal' would give a greater proportion of fat than an oily food. They all knew bean meal would give richer milk tha» an^oily food. Professor J Arnold's book was the best book on dairying ' ever yet printed, and the professor said that

giving bean meal would increase the percentage of caseine in the milk, and would also increase the flow of milk. Mr Lloyd said the exactly opposite of this. Mr Somervilie, of Sorn, a well-known authority in dairying matters, said he started at ohq time on the principle of feeding a cow according to her weight, but he soon found it to be a mis. take. " There were some cows, as well as horses and men, which woi Id eat twice as much as others." As to varying the constituents in the milk by the feeding, his experience was exactly the reverse of that stated by Mr Lloyd. Ba object as a seller of milk was to reduce the pet. centege of caseine as far as possible. In big opinion the great fault of the milk given by Ayrshires was the high percentage of caseine it contained in comparison with the milk from shorthorns and other breeds generally. "g e altered the feeding considerably,and with marked results. When he started he had an average of 4*50 of caseine, and his sugar of milk wa3 much tho same as that Btated by Mr Lloyd, but as tha result of his altered feeding his caseins had been reduced to 33 per cent. To say then, that you could not vary the constituents in the milk was a statement he was inclined to traverse." Mr Robert Stewart, Kilgruff, said that he made 200 tons of ensilage every year, and always found it best when made in wet weather. Id. an ensilage stack the great matter was to have it spread evenly, whereas many people juafc chucked it into the silo and left it to settle itself. He kept Guernsey cows, and found they consumed much more food than any others of the same size, which showed that cows could not be fed according to their size. Mr Nufctal, of Leicestershire, a noted cheese* maker, stated in regard to waste of food in feedj ing, that he found some time ago iv Lord Vernon's dairy that the cows were getting 3018 of hay per day. He reduced the quantity to 151b, and found the cows gave more milk* and kept in better condition than before. He found ensilage best wheii carried in wet weather, and never had the same quantity or quality of milk as he had last winter when hia cows were fed on ensilage'; but is must be sweet ensilage. "If you fed your cows on sour ensilage you would implant the acidity of the sour ensilage so completely in your cow as to spoil your cheese." He found that the milk of cows fed on sour ensilage would coagulate with one-third less rennet than when fed differently. He was one of the largest^ cheese-makers in England, and he made about 400 tons of ensilage every year. He allowed ifc to rise to a temperature of 120deg before apply, ing the pressure, as the acids were not evolved till that temperature was reached. Bean meal was no doubt a most excellent food for cows, but black oats and tares were equally as good. He considered only a certain quantity of oil ia the food was necessary in the production of butter.