THE BRITISH DAIRY CONFERENCE, 1892.

Otago Witness, Issue 2008, 18 August 1892, Page 6

THE BRITISH DAIRY CONFERENCE, 1892.

The annual Dairy Conference held under the auspices of the British dairy farmers has come to be regarded by those who follow the pursuit in the Home country with, for them, unusual interest, and mainly for the reason that at the meetings the most notable dairy farmers and dairy experts assemble to discuss the practices of successful managers, and the validity or rather feasibility of suggestions tendered by the experts. This year the conference opened at Ke ml al on the 7th of June, and the proceedings lasted three days, during which excursions of inspection were made by tho visitors to some of the most noted herds in Cumberland and Wi stmoroland. A representative of tho North British Agriculturist attended the conference, and from his report and the review of the proceedings in that journal we are enabled to glean information of a decidedly distinctive and practical character which ought to prove instructive to dairy farmers in tho colony. In the first place it is necessary to explain that while dairying is carried on in Cumberland and Westmoreland to a very limited extent, these counties contribute large supplies of dairy cows to principal centres of population, and, strange to say, tho animals are either purebred shorthorns of milking strains, of course, or of high grade crosses of the breed, so that the staple industry is the breeding and rearing of young stock. Some of the Scotch visitors remarked that most of the cows they had seen were better fitted for making margarine than for tho dairy, but this characteristic offhand and superficial judgment is disposed of in the following remarks in the N.B. Agriculturist in reference to the paper road by Mr Punchard, commissioner for Lord Bective, on the cattle productions of Cumberland and Westmoreland. That journal says :—: —

" The cows in the two counties number, in round figures, 75,000, and most of these are sold when carrying their fourth calf. Each cow, with ordinary luck, will produce one calf per annum, and if the sexes be equally divided and the heifer calves all reared, that will provide for a draft of 32,500 cows being sold from those counties every year. Practically, therefore, the whole of the cows reared in these counties find their way to the Edinburgh dairies, for tho dairy herds of Edinburgh and Leith number 22,000, nearly all of which come from Cumberland and Westmoreland, and, with scarcely a single exception, they are only milked for eight or nine months, when they are sent to the butcher. The Edinburgh dairies, therefore, form tho great vortex into which nearly all tho cows reared in these two counties are drawn just at the time that the cows are coming to their best. The comparatively disappointing yield of milk given by these massive shorthorn cows, in comparison with that of the smaller and easier kept Ayrshire, was a matter of comment by many of tho visitors. But there can be no doubt that this comparatively disappointing yield of milk given by these cows on their native pasture is due partly to the fact that they are sold to Edinburgh, and such like places, just when they are coming to their best ; and partly also to the fact that the system of feeding practised in Cumberland is not of the most intensive order. Some of the cows which Mr Graham, Edengrove, had rescued from the short, but final, abode in an Edinburgh dairy, were shown to be giving a yield of 900 gal, or one-third more than the average yield of these cows on their native pastures, and it is a notorious fact that these Cumberland and Westmoreland cows give a very heavy yield of milk when fed in the intensive style whjeh prevails in the Edinburgh dairies."

Now, city cow keepers, and especially Scotchmen of the class, are supposed to know well the sort of animal that yields the largest returns of milk with the least depreciation from original cost, and it must be therefore admitted that the Edinburgh dairymen's patronage of the North of Eogland cattle is more than significant. But Mr Graham's evidence on the point is of much value. This gentleman has patronised the " old stylo " shorthorns, and numerous animals from his herd have gained the highest positions at the leading exhibitions in the country. When the members of the conference inspected the quite large number of purebred cows brought under their notice, Mr Graham explained that he had made a special point of aiming at developing the milking properties as well as the beef-producing properties of his shorthorns, and "he would never think of buying a bull unless he had seen his dam and satisfied himself that she was a good milker." This sentiment was cordially endorsed by Mr Speir (a great Scotch authority) and all the other dairy farmers present. The question of shorthorns as milkers, and of the best crosses for the purpose, evoked much discussion. It was admitted that some shorthorns would scarcely rear their calves, while others bred from "milking strains" are the be6fc dairy cows in the world . One acknowledged authority said at the meeting : "He knew a cow got by a shorthorn bull, and, while an extraordinary milker, she was fit to go into the county show ring and win against all comers. He had seen more good milkers among shorthorns than he had ever seen in any- other breed," Regarding breeding for milking properties, various opinions were given expression to. One practical dairy farmer said } — -"Tho first cross between two good dairy strains was tbe best, But then how were you to proceed after you got tho first crosa f Jf you crossed tho shorthorn bull with the Jersey ew, weire ?cu tQ put ttie prp4aee of Ihui;

to a shorthorn bull or to tho Jersey bull ? His own idea was that you must go back to tho original milking type. He had invested in Holsteins and Ayrshires, and had crossed tho Ayrshire with tho Dutch; the Ayrshire and the shorthorn; and also tho shorthorn with the Dutch. He was not so much enamoured of tho Jerseys, as they could not stand the climate, but ho highly approved of the Holstem. People said they gave very thin milk, but they gave plenty of it, and if there was not so much cream to the eallon there was as much over tho whole yield of milk. Tho fact was the cream went in at tho mouth, and the better you feed your cattle the more cream you will produce." Experiences were cited of crosses between shorthorns and Jerseys, polled Angus and Jerseys, none of which were a success, and a Mr Jasper Stephenson reiterated the familiar argument- "If n cow gave from 750 gal to lOOOgal per annum of milk for eight or nine years, it mattered little what amount of beef she carried by tho end of that time, as she had paid her way well enough. There is no cow, we may here observe that will give the quantity of milk stated by Mr Stephenson unless given more or less costly supplies of highly nutritious foods, and certainly there are no "bigs of bones" animals that will pay in their milk production for extra food, and leave a profit to tho farmer at 3d per gallon for milk. At the conference, of course, opinions on the subject differed, but Mr George Barham, managing director of tho Dairy Supply Company, London, and who has a more extended opportunity of acquiring a knowledge of milk production averages than any other speaker, said regarding the Cumberland and Westmoreland cattle, " That part of the country was celebrated for its shorthorns. They had heard that these cows gave an average of about 600 gal per annum, and he thought that was a very good average. For one cow that gave lOOOgal, he was certain there were at least 50 which never gave over 500 gal. But with their good milking properties, the shorthorns combined a great aptitude to fatten, so that they were good butchers' beasts, as well as good dairy cattle." There were many other points of material interest to colonial farmers, discussed at the conference, and which wo shall bring under notice in a future issue.