MILK AND BUTTER TESTS.]
343
DAIRY-FA R,M I N G
proposed the formation of a society to be called the British Dairy Farmers’ Association. This was unanimously agreed to, and thus was founded an organization which has since been closely identified with the development of the dairying industry of the United Kingdom. In its earlier publications the Association was wont to reproduce from Household Words the following tribute to the cow:— “ If civilized people were ever to lapse into the worship of animals, the Cow would certainly be their chief goddess. What a fountain of blessings is the Cow ! She is the mother of beef, the source of butter, the original cause of cheese, to say nothing of shoe-horns, hair-combs, and upper leather. A gentle, amiable, ever-yielding creature, who has no joy in her family affairs which she does not share with man. We rob her of her children that we may rob her of her milk, and we only care for her when the robbing may be perpetrated.” The Association has, directly or indirectly, brought about many valuable reforms and improvements in dairying. Its London shows have provided, year after year, a variety of object-lessons in cheese, in butter, and in dairy equipment. In order to demonstrate to producers what is the ideal to aim at, there is nothing more effective than a competitive exhibition of products, and the approach to uniform excellence of character in cheese and butter of whatever kinds is most obvious to those who remember what these products were like at the first two or three dairy shows. Simultaneously there has been a no less marked advance in the mechanical aids to dairying, including, in particular, the centrifugal cream-separator, the crude germ of which was first brought before the public at the International Dairy Show held at Hamburg in the spring of 1877. The Association in good time set the example, now beneficially followed in many parts of Great Britain, of providing means for technical instruction in the making of cheese and butter, by the establishment of a dairy school in the Yale of Aylesbury, subsequently removing it to new and excellent premises at Beading, where it is known as the British Dairy Institute. The initiation of butter-making contests at the annual dairy shows stimulated the competitive instinct of dairy workers, and afforded the public useful object-lessons • in more recent years milking competitions have been added. Milking trials and butter tests of cows conducted at the dairy shows have afforded results of much practical value. Many of the larger agricultural societies have found it expedient to include in their annual shows a working dairy, wherein butter-making contests are held and public demonstrations are given. What are regarded as the dairy breeds of cattle is illustrated by the prize schedule of the annual London Dairy Show, in which sections are provided for cows and heifers of the Shorthorn, Jersey, Guernsey, Red Polled, Ayrshire, Kerry, and Dexter breeds, the characteristics of which are set forth in the article Agriculture. A miscellaneous class is also provided, the entries in which are mostly cross-breds. There are likewise classes for Shorthorn bulls, Jersey bulls, and bulls of any otjher pure breed, but it is stipulated that all bulls must be of proved descent from dams that have won prizes in the milking trials or butter tests of the British Dairy Farmers’ Association or other high-class agricultural society. The importance of securing dairy characters in the sire is thus recognized, and it is notified that, as the object of the bull classes is to encourage the breeding of bulls for dairy purposes, the prizes are to be given solely to animals exhibited in good stock-getting condition. Milk and Butter Tests. The award of prizes in connexion with milking trials cannot be determined simply by the quantity of milk yielded in a given period, say twenty-four hours. Other matters must obviously be taken into consideration, such
as the quality of the milk and the time that has elapsed since the birth of the last calf. With regard to the former point, for example, it is quite possible for one cow to give more milk than another, but for the milk of the second cow to include the larger quantity of butter-fat. The awards are therefore determined by the total number of points obtained according to the following scheme :— One .point for every ten days since calving (deducting the first forty days), with a maximum of fourteen points. One point for every pound of milk, taking the average of two days’ yield. Twenty points for every pound of butter-fat produced. Four points for every pound of “solids other than fat.” Deductions.—Ten points each time the fat is below 3 per cent. Ten points each time the solids other than fat fall below 8'5 per cent. This method of award is at present the best that can be devised, but it is possible that, as experience accumulates, some rearrangement of the points may be found to be desirable. Omitting many of the details, Table I. shows some of the results in the case of the Shorthorn and Jersey cows to which prizes were awarded in 1900. The days “ in milk ” denote in each case the number of days that have elapsed since calving; and if the one day’s yield of Table I. Prize Shorthorn and Jersey Cows in the Milking Trials, London Dairy Show, 1900. Cow.
Age.
In Milk.
Milk per Day.
Years. Days. Shorthorns eligible for Herd-Book— Heroine III. Musical Lady Rosedale Shorthorns not eligible for HerdBook— Granny Cherry . Chance. Jerseys— Sultane 14th Queen Bess . Gloaming IY.
Other Total Solids. Points. Per cent.
Per cent.
No.
61 16 48
52-4 45-2 47-8
3-7 3-2 3-5
899-0
91-5 90-8 887
33 103 23
70-2 55-5 60-0
343-
8-9 8-9 8-
144-1 1271 124-6
12 256 n 136 7 156
41-7 39-4 30-5
44-8 67
99-0 9-5
112 101 94-9
9 9 6
milk is desired in gallons, it can be obtained approximately1 by dividing the weight in pounds by 10 : thus, the Shorthorn cow Heroine III. gave 52-4 ft>, or 5 "24 gallons, of milk per day. The table is incidentally of interest as showing how superior as milch kine are the unregistered or non-pedigree Shorthorns—which are typical of the great majority of dairy cows in the United Kingdom —as compared with the pedigree animals entered, or eligible for entry, in Coates’s Herd-Book. The evening’s milk, it should be added, is nearly always richer in fat than the morning’s, but the percentages in the table relate to the entire day’s milk. The milking trials are based upon a chemical test, as it is necessary to determine the percentage of fat and of solids other than fat in each sample of milk. The butter test, on the other hand, is a churn test, as the cream has to be separated from the milk and churned. The following is the scale of points used at the London Dairy Show in making awards in butter tests :— One point for every ounce of butter ; one point for every completed ten days since calving, deducting the first forty days. Maximum allowance for period of lactation, 12 points. 1 A gallon of milk weighs 10'3 lb, so that very little error is involved in converting pounds to gallons by dividing the number of pounds by 10.
