Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1869-05-14
agrirultural, &t.
By our Agricultural Editor
Mich Cows-Milk.

Ihe mipFtance Ol eettlng tuEelHcI EeFVs lhai
will produce large quantities of milk, and Just
now seems to hinge on the one idea q
6reoG. Now while we would not ..back
down from the position that we have 50 often
taken, in regard to the desirableness Of intro
ducing new and better breeds, and breeding
them with all possible care, We would not
lose sight Ct the fact that many other con
siderations beside that Of breed should be
brought TO bear in selecting dairy herd ;
nor would We lose sight Of the fact that the
very best cows may be but Indifferent mixers
under unfav0rable circumstances. The ques-
ton Of good and abundant food is 10 less IN
portant than that Of good COWS. An aoun-
dance Of milk depends upon an abundance Of
food. Its "a very great mistake to overstoek
pastures, yet it is very generally practiced in
tie dairy regions. and when the fall feed Is
short a. it was last year the actual production
Of butter end cheese Is less than it would have
been with much less number Of COWS, and
barely sufficient DO; to sayabgndant feed. The
Avrshires. the best milking breed in the world.
are accustomed 10 an abundance Of succulent
feed in a moist climate, but on removing them
TO our parched and oyerstocked pastures they
are expected to yield as c1pious aow Of
milk a. at home, and are not unfrcgucntly
discarded because they DO not. Our dairy
m n seem to forget that lie must be sustain
ei first, and the secretion Of milk Is second
any In the name Of humanity we protest
against the over stocking Of pastures and
consequent starvation of COWS. that Is largely
practiced in our dairy towns. We know
whole dairies that wen: into the winter last
season worse than ''sFrins poor, " ard such Of
the poor animals as are not already dead are
reduced to mere skeletons. ~ amount OF
care or feed can ever again make such COWS
good mixers.
Itisa well established fact that poor keep
ny affects l-t The qualify Of the milk.
d. The quantity. 81. The flesh of the COW
and 4th. the constitution. Different kinds oI
food have different effects and it is possible t.
50 feed the animal as 70 vary these condition
and COW may give a good mess Of milk and
grow poor all the MIXED % death.
Thi-. however. is the result of unua,uaIy
stimulating tie secat0ry organs. and it may /
still be a question about the quality remain
ing unimrairei.
DR.. Augustus yolecker, Of England, refer
ring 70 a table Of analyses for which we can
not afford space, says Il have selected these
analyses from considerable number Of
analyses lately made in my laboratory.
They illustrate strikingly tie great differ
ences that exist IN the quality of new milk. /
It might readily be imagined that milk such /
as that which ! examined on the 9th or Sept. !
containing 9ol per cent. of water, had either F.
been diluted with water, or at least produced /
by cows fed on mangold tops, distillery wash, |
or similar food Such, however, was not the /
case. The cows which yielded this poor /
milk were ont in pasture, and every rrecau- /
ton was taken TO get fair average of the /
milkings from some eight or ten cows. The I
milk was received by me almost directly /
alter it had left the udier. and can thus |
voueh for its being genuine, and is wate-y /
condition natural. The pasture however. /
Was poor and oyerstocked, 30 that the daily I
growth Of grass furnished hardly enough
food to meet the daily waste (Which the AM
NAL frame is subject. and was thus not calcu-
lated to meet an extra demand of material
for the formation of butter and curd
The milk, consequently, became not merely
deficient in quantity, but also poor in qlali-
y. 1t is well, then, to bear in mind that an
insufficient qrantity Of food in the case be-
fore us caused the supply of milk to be sual.
and unusually poor. Thi,analysiz illustrates
and confirms a principle generally recognized
by good dairy farmers. that it Is had policy
70 keep more cows than can be literally sup
piled with food. The evenings milk On The
9th Of September, it viii be noticed. contain
ed about : per cent more water, and some
What less casein ami batter than the morn
ing milk of the saiae cows on the same day.
From this and other instances some may Re ]
iisplsei % infer TINT the morning. milk is 2
generally richer than the evenings milk
-iew which myself was disposed 90 adopt q
lntil larger range ofezperiments proved to Il
ne it, inaceuracv. In truth, the c0mara- =.
lively greater richness Of the morning or the +.
yening milk depends on a variety of circum-
tanees 50 complicated as to require a lengthy a
iscussion, which must postpone TO future :,
aper
The remarkable small quantity OF butter "
L79 per cent in the milk Of the 9th If sgy
ppears very striking when con-
lie proportion Of butter for -'7'' 9Th .
bout per cent. ar id IN 60 milk, .
impaired with tbr still mo'' % when
90 per cen. unusually lAIf quantity
alyzed ! contained in me rich milk
il on the on the i of'0ctobe-. This
like that of the 9th OF September was
rroonocd BY cows out in the grass, without .
nrv additional food 1ich in fat. such as lin
seed or rape cake, and Yet it contained near
" four times as much butter As that Of the
cows kent on an insufficient quantity ofpoor
,r,s. The beneficial influence Of abundance I
If GOOD pasture on the butter yelling quail .
ne. Of milk. and the contrary eject ola .
.tinted supply Of grass, are seen in bold re- /
lief in the lst and 9TH analyses.
Whilst the proportion of butter in differ
ent sample Of milk varies exceedingly the .
relative amounts of curd or casein, of milk
sugar and Of ash. though liable to certain .
fluctuations do not greatly differ in good /
Indifferent. 81 even very poor milk i .
would thus appear that the quantity and .
quality Of food, and other varying cireum- .
stances which the affect the composition oi .
milk. exert their influence principally on ;he .
proportion of butter. And as this Is certain
" the most valuable const itueut Of cheese .
and one pound Of butter sufces for about
two pounds Of saleable cheese, we can readi- .
" understand that in one dairy consider .
able quantity of cream may be taken ii the .
the milk. and yet a better quality and a great
er quantity of cheese can be made than IN .
another dairy, from the same quantity OF
milk. from which 10 cream has been re- .
moved.
The second analysis exhibits nearly Ier .
cent Of butter, proportion which Is deeid-
edly above the average. This analysis has
been selected as an example Illustrating the
increasing richness of milk in the fall Of the
year