THE DAIRY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XL, Issue 9269, 19 December 1891, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE DAIRY.

DAIRYING IN DENMARK. The following paper was read before the third congress of the Central Agricultural Bureau, Adelaide, by Mr Paul Lowsen, Appila, Yarrowie :—: — " As dairying has taken a prominent part during the last couple of years amongst the producing class of our community, and we know so little about it, I wrote to. Den mark for reliable information. My first question was — ' What was the reason the small farmers of Denmark gave up growing grain and started dairying ?' Second - •How did they start the smaU company dairies ?' Third — ' Was it a success'from the beginning, and if not, what was the rea»on ?' The reply from Denmark was : — ' Old Friend, — You want to know how the small farmers started their dairy factories, and if they were a success ? The farmers could not compete with the corn imported from foreign countries, through heavy taxes and expenses as well as dear land, and the majority of them were nearly ruined, and were, therefore, obliged to try something else. Dairy companies were started. Each farmer took shares according to the number of cows. They got a competent manager, built a dairy in the largest centre, had cream separators (auxiliary to the central factory) outside where there was sufficient inducement to fetch milk, and sent the cream once a day to the head dairy. Small places outside, where four or six farmers live together and have from 20 to 30 head of cows to milk, have small cream separators of their own. They take it in turn once every day to carry the milk and cream to the head factory. Some sell the" whole of their milk and some only the cream after it is separated The milk and cream is all bought by weight and not by measure. The price is fixed according to the market for butter and cheese. At first the system was not very successful, but at the worst times it always' paid for itself, and the reason was that the farmers had the wrong class of covrs for dairying and they did not understand how to feed them or what they required. , So many I different breeds of cows and so manydif- J ferent ways to feed them made an uneven quality of milk, and the factory was not able to turn out first-class articles from that. But it did not take long to overcome that difficulty. First, each farmer weighed his milk once a week from every cow, and thereby soon found out which cows paid to keep, and the others went to the butcher. The company bought bulls from good breeds adapted for dairying and distributed them among the shareholders. They shifted them from one district to another every two years, and the farmer himself soon learned the most profitable way to feed his cows. At first the cows on an average only gave from 151 b to 201 b of milk a day, and now they average from 301 b to 351 b per day, and in many instances above that average The farms that could at first only keep eight or ten cows can keep sixteen to twenty on the same amount of land and still increase their stock. The farmers thatsome years ago were next door to ruiu are now in a flourishing po-ition, and instead of taking their straw to the paper mill and their grain to the market, they use it all on their farms to feed the stock, and thereby enrich their land from year to year. You mentioned you were afraid your summer was too warm for dairying, but you can overcome that the same way we overcome our cold winter. Lay pipes through the dairy, where we force warm water through them and therefore regulate the temperature, and you can do the same with cold water ; and after what I have read of your country, the rich pasture and mild climate i for the greatest part of the year, your country must be well adapted for dairying. Old Friend, if you intend to start a dairy factory I would advise you first of all to get a good manager — not one that only understands to work the milk and cream, but one that understands to select cows for you of the right sort, and also to teach you to grow the most suitable food for them 'and the most profitable and economical way to give it to them. Without those qualifications no man would be reckoned a competent manager. Any time you write to me I shall be ever willing and glad to give yon any information you may want. — I remain, &c , Ole. Matiben, Boehblm Dairy, Denmark." Many 'have discoursed on the necessity of good shelter for cows in the winter time Shelter in summer is hardly less necessary. [f the pasture has no natural shade, plant, aome trees in a clump, and while they are growing give the cattle some temporary protection. The old i<lea that any kind of cow was good enough as an adjunct to the cheese factory if she only gave a large quantity of milk is now exploded. It has been found since science took hold of the matter, that the cow whose milk ia generally poor in butter fat, also produces milk poor in casein, the chief component of cheese. Ex-Governor Hoard, of Wisconsin, says' j — "For a strong constitution in a dairy cow or other animal always look at the

navel and abdominal region. If it ia strong and well-developed the animal has a strong constitution, or, in other words, a large amount of vitality and endurance^ But if it is weak and flabby the animal has no constitution, and will give out under a little strain or fatigue." An Italian chemiat his been trying to find out why the milk sours during a thunderstorm. It was at first thought that it was the electricity, so he passed electricity through milk, and the milk was not only not soured, but kept sweet thereby. Then he came to the conclusion that tbe electricity did not cause the souring of milk, but that it was caused by the ozone in the air, ozone being formed in the air by electricity.