INCREASING THE MILK YIELD.

Otago Witness, Issue 3488, 18 January 1921, Page 8

INCREASING THE MILK YIELD.

Every dairy farmer should wake up to the idea that a poor milker in his herd is likely to produce once a year only one poor calf, but a poor bull will get a Whole crop of poor calves in the herd in one season, and the. longer this “scrubb” bull remains at the head of the herd the quicker will production go down. That is bad enough, but although the “head of the herd” should be an animal well worth showing to visitors, there are other causes which go towards affecting the milk yield. There may be possibilities in the animals the dairyman already has grazing in his fields, it is possible, perhaps, to improve the milk flow of all classes of cows provided the proper methods are employed. It is not to be inferred, of course, that by feeding or different management a bad cow can be tranferred into a good milker. Every cow has her limits, and no amount of additional feeding or external treatment will make her surpass herself, except for a very short time, but in many instances animals can yield more milk than they do. In not every herd is the extreme sensitiveness of a cow appreciated. As with humans, so with cows. If external circumstances are pleasing then our task is done with a good grace. The aim of the cow-keeper should be to please his cow, to humour her little peculiarities as far as is reasonable'—in the feeding line particularly. Variety in the diet suggests itself. No human being will thrive very well if fed on a set diet for any great length of time, and a little ingenuity in the growing an'd providing of some' palatable foodstuff is recommended. Kindness is, of course, a highly paying virtue. I3e sure that in the management of the highest yielding herds you will find few that are harshly treated. True, one can be kind to a cow that is filling the bucket twice a day and is easily milked, but it is quite possible that a cow’s milk flow may be veTy appreciably diminished as a result of thoughtless cruelty. The supposedly poor cow, the hard milker, may not give a great lot of milk, but it may test 4.5 per cent, fat, and the cow may milk for a long period in the season. ‘There is not a doubt that the greatest means of attaining heavy yields is by feeding. It is the basis of successful milk production. A cow requires more feed than is necessary for her physical upkeep. An in-calf cow, for instance, giving two gallons of milk per day will need a mixed foodstuff containing, say, 2.51 b of digestible albuminoids, 12.5!b of digestible carbohydrates, and 0.51 b o-f fat per day, an 1 yet to feed a cow and a horse similarly would cause trouble. The reason is found in the complex nature of the cow's stomach, so different from the horse. Unless a cow gets a certain quantity of rough foods, hay straw and the like, she will assuredly develop digestive troubles. Not so the horse, which is soon content to view the fibrous feed as good enough for bedding, perhaps, but he wants some thing concentrated and palatable'—oats, lor instance. In order that a farmer may discover and dispose of his poorest and unprofitable milkers it is essential that the practice of milk recording should be generally adopted, while a careful study of methods of feeding may result in a better yield from the same expenditure on food, but to maintain a herd at 1 high average it is essential that the heifers reared to replenish the herd shall milk as well -or better than their dams. To attain this result the utmost care must he given to the choice of the sire and In the selection of cows which are likely to produce heifers of the desired type and qualities. Milk production is so prominently before all sections of the community at the present time that all true lovers of the breed will be interested in the performance of the Britsh Friesian cow, Hedges Mo s R ose. Hairy farmers who are working to increase the yields of their herds should take heart of grace from the splendid example set bv this famous cow’s owner. Mr J. H. Bean (Tansley Hill House. hhidlev). Last year she exexceeded the 2000 gallon yield, a performance she has repeated this year, thus being the first cow of any breed to have two vields to her credit of over 20.000!b of milk in the year. Her output of milk in two vears weighs over IS tons. Her official milk yields are as follows:

It will be seen that in considerably less than six years this great cow will ha/e had seven calves, and produced 9524 gallons of milk. One of her sons won second prizes at this year’s Royal and London Dairy Shows. All her living daughters (says the North British Agriculturist) are in Mr Bean’s herd at Chaddesley Corbett, near Kidderminster.

Calved. Days in Yield Buttcrmilk. in fat per gallons. cent age. April 1, 1915 289 1219 3.29 March 7, 1016 .. 266 1208 8.46 February 3, 1017 279 1012 8.45 January 10, 1918 259 1371 8.60 J anuary 7, 1919 285 2083 8.8G December 10, 1919 324 2001 — Due Nov. 26, 1920 _ 9524