FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, 1 August 1930, Page 16

FARM AND DAIRY

FEEDING ON TEST.

- -HAS NO EFFECT. In a Minnesota dairy herd improvement report appears the following discussion by Professor C. IL Eckles, an aminent dairy authority, on the effect of feed on the test of milk and cream: •It would seem entirely reasonable that the richness of the milk produced by a cow would depend upon the feed received. Let us look at it fiom another point of view. Nature provides the milk for the young. If the coinposition and food value of milk varied with every change of feed, the calf would have a hard time to exist under conditions of nature. No, the milk does not change in composition with different feeds except in unimportant respects. If the cow secreting milk is short on some of the materials necessary to make the milk, she takes it off her bodv. If lime is short, it comes out of the bones; if enough fat is not supplied by the feed, the body gives up some of its surplus. To be sure, there is a limit to the amount of stored material the body can supply, but it is enough to tide over temporary periods of shortage in the feed supply. If the animal has a surplus of mineral matter, she puts it back into her bones, and when her feed furnishes than needed in the milk, it is stored on the body. The practical question as to the relation between feed and milk test has received much attention by experiment stations bathvin this country and in Europe. The/eyfdeiice-is conclusive that the fat percentage of the milk cannot be changed permanently by any method - of :■ tifeeding. Certain experiments show that sudden changes in the • ration, for ■ example- the ' addition - of. large Quantities of oil; may raise the test- a little for -a few'■milkings' with some individuals; with others no change is found. Notation or method of feeding is known by which a Shorthorn or. Holstein can- (be made to give milk as rich as that’of a Guernsey or Jersey. The- New’i'York- Experiment - Station: made a study along this line, covering four years .and including twenty-one cows. *A record of the amount and-test of milk was kept for one year on a farm where the feeding conditions were poor. /The average milk production was 3,3401 b., with a fat pecentage of 4.40. The herd was next brought to the university and well fed for two years. The average milk produced was 6,383: lb; fat 4.65 per cent. The herd was. again returned to the original farm for a year, where the milk produced averaged 44921 b. with a test , of ' 4.43 per. cent. Note the better feed nearly doubled the milk yield, but the test remained the sabie. Judging by the test alone, the good feed did not give better results. However, the increased milk yields is where the gain is made. I had a similar experience with a farmer selling milk by..test. He told me he took good care of his cows and fed them liberally, while his neighbour did quite the reverse but still got the better test at the milk station. “How am I getting -repaid for the better feed and care?” he asked. We looked up the amount of butter fat each had sold per cow, and told the story. The better feed and. care did repay, in increased milk yields and more butter fat, but not in a better test. There is a tendency for tests to run a little lower during the hot weather and to increase in'the fall with the approach of cold weather. Because the cows are on grass during the summer, it is easy to connect the lower teste; which often occur, with the nature of the feed at this season. The lower tests will come just the same, if the cows are kept on dry feed all summer. It is the heat, not the. feed, that lowers the test. Towards fall, about the time grain feeding becomes rather liberal,, the test is inclined to go up, causing the impression that it was the result of adding the grain to the ration. . The thing to' remember is that the richness of the milk produced is inherited by the cow, just as is the colour of her hair, and is almost as difficult to change by . feed. As feed does not influence the test of -milk, it follows that a higher or lower test in the cream cannot bn attributed to a change in the feed. It is true, richer . milk, produces a -higher testing cream, but the richer milk as stated cannot be made by controlling the feed. WOOL POOL. ‘ j i! ® GRAZIERS’ OPPOSITION. “What the Minister for Agriculture said of Hie plight of the graziers because of the slump in wool is unfortunately true,”, the chairman of the Australian Woolgrowers’ Council (Sir Graham Waddell), said in Sydney the other day, “but 1 cannot agree with him that co-operative marketing or a pooling system offers the way out as far as this industry is concerned. “The whole subject of wool marketing was thoroughly discussed in Brisbane by the annual meeting of the Australian Woolgrowers’ Council, which agreed that the adoption of any scheme which had as its basis the artificial fixation of prices, or ignored the law of supply and demand, would not be in the best interests of the woolgrowing industry. The meeting was attended by delegates from all the farmers’ organisations, as well as the graziers’ associations, in all the States, and represented 90 per cent, of the woolgrowers of Australia. "Faulty marketing did not bring about the slump in wool prices, and I am among those who believe that wool is better marketed in Australia. than j any other big primary product in the ■ world. I “We are agreed that our wool mar- I keting can be improved in certain directions, more particularly by careful regulations of offerings through established channels, together with scientific research and publicity, and perhaps through the co-ordination of offerings iu Australia, Britain, South Africa and New Zealand. Probably the established channels can be put to still better use, but we desire to retain those channels —we cannot see how a pool would work better, or as well, or for the matter of chat ‘work’ at all. “It is also our emphatic opinion that to restore the wool industry to a sane economic footing, costs must be got down all round. The Australian Governments could help here by striving to reduce taxation and transport char- ' ges, by the tariff to Australian pastoral conditions, and by en-

deavouring to. establish a saner Industrial outlook. ‘‘Our wool problem is acute,” Sir Graham added, “but we who are in control, of marketing are certainly not disposed to try desperate remedies.” NEW ZEALAND SOILS. . MINERAL ’DEFICIENCIES. Mr. B. C. Aston, in his admirable report on the mineral control of pastures, says;—“ln future one hopes for great benefits that an intensive study of the mineral content of New Zealand pastures will procure. The influence which a properly-balanced mineral ration has on the health of etock is becoming better known and cases are being reported in many countries of obscure diseases caused by diet deficiency. In New Zealand several new instances are coming to light where the pasture apparently, good to the eye, does not produce the.result hoped for in the stock grazed on the pasture. In the more instances there is trouble which cannot be referred to any definite micro-organism or .parasite, which does not spread on to adjoining lands and does not infect other stock. The troubles are definitely referred to diet by experienced veterinarians and -it has been left to the chemist to determine what particular- ingredient or ingredients are deficient. In advanced cases a malnutrition affecting certain parts of the body may be diagnostic of certain elements lacking. Progressive anaemia affecting many stock on the same diet points to iron and malnutrition of the bones and indicates the boneforming elements, calcium and phosphorous, as being respectively' the deficient elements. If a very extensive hairleesness in pigs or enlargement of the thyroid glands in dogs or horses occurred one ■ might suspect iodine deficiency. What the symptoms would be in the case of deficiency of some 16 other elements which are' considered essential to animal life one cannot surmise. The study of such matters is in the preliminary stage and it is only proloiiged and systematic research of a peculiarly arduous and difficult nature that" can throw light on the- matter. STERILITY IN COWS. DOUCHING BENEFICIAL. Douching is beneficial, but not a cure for vaginitis and sterility in cattle, because no treatment which will completely .cure the disease has yet been discovered. Treatment, however, can lessen the acute manifestations of vaginitis to such, an extent as to permit of Successful service. Of eight cows that had consistently failed to breed, all conceived after douching, comments the’ l Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales. In this case treatment consisted of: (a) Syringing out the vagina daily with 0.5 per cent, potassium permanganate until the animals showed heat, and (b) syringing out the vagina with a weak solution of ea.lt and water before putting the animal to the bull. Generally speaking, any weak solution of disinfectant may be used for the douche, providing that it is weak. Strong solution will increase the inflammation. One per cent, of any disinfectant, such as lysol, has given as good. results as potassium permanganate. Soda solution (one tablespoonful of: baking soda to one gallon- of water);, may be used just prior to . service, instead of salt solution, if desired. Some farmers who have adopted this treatment for cows . temporarily sterile have been so satisfied with the results that they make it a routine treatment for all their cows. By this means they have considerably lessened the number of services required for conception. It must be borne in mind that all cows suffering from granular venereal disease do not fail to breed, but when the disease is prevalent in a herd a percentage of cattle will constantly return to the bull. I I I SPRING GRASS. EFFECT'S ON- STOCK. The importance of adding some form of supplementary food to grass is hot as widely recognised as it should be and New Zealand farmers who depend so largely on grass for the feeding of their stock might well consider if they are making the best use of their pasture. Mr. T. Shaw, of the Seale-.Hayne Agricultural College, says that spring grass is an unbalanced stock food, very definitely short of carbohydrates and Jikely to cause scour and other trouble in stock owing to its succulence and its richness in protein, which is ’not’ hhe same form, of protein as exists in the later growth of grass. New Zealand dairy farmers have noticed tho tendency to scour in. stock during the spring

and have simply put it down to the laxative nature of the feed, but in some cases this scouring is an indication of unbalanced feeding and is due to digestive troubles. This trouble with dairy cows, says Mr. Shaw, can be Overcome by supplying from. 31b. to 41b. of crushed oats and bran per day, an addition to the ration which will increase the feeding value of the grass and keep the animal in good condition. FARMERS’ PROBLEMS. HOW ENGINEERS CAN HELP. The dairy industry is entering a period when it may make effective use of engineering knowledge and method says Mr. R. L. Perry of the agricultural engineering division of the University of California (U.S.A.) “Profit in dairying,” Mr. Perry said recently, “is seldom determined by the quality of the product alone. Quality standards are normally prescribed by regulation. Each producer faces two problems; he must use processes that will ensure a product meeting the standard and he must carry out these processes by economical methods. , “Dairying to-day is organised into two groups, producers and manufacturers. Fifty years ago there was one group, tho producers; Transition of manufacturing from the farm to the plant introduced the problem of maintaining quality under quantity production methods. The solution of this is no longer obscure, thanks to fruitful efforts of manufacturers, equipment builders and educational institutions.

“The dairy industry," he added, “has not attracted the attention’ of the engineer to a great extent in the past, because-. production and manufacturing units were-too small to take advantage of engineering methods, * and ditta on dairy production and manufacturing wero not available. Now that, the’margin of profit is narrowing, the size of the operating units is growing, utilisation of equipment-is increasing, basic information is developing and the interest of dairy men in engineering and of engineers in dairy is increasing.”