The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1893-08-25
AGRIrULTURAL,
STATa AGRICULTURAL \
EXPERIMENT STATION,
BURLINGTON, VT, 1898.
Bulletin No. IS. Newspaper Bulletin No.

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR
ma PART II.
Variations In Quantity and Quality Of Min
A full record has been kept at the sta
ton Of the milk of each COW year afte.
year, and many thousand analyses made
The voluminous records now on file fur
nish abundant data for determining tn,
changes that take place In the quantitt
and quality of the milk Of a COW ant
the influence that various circumstance
have on the quantity and quality.
A study of these records leads to tn,
following conclusions:
FiFst-An cows shrink in quantity Of milk a
they get further from calving. II they are far
row, this shrinkage in quantity is accompa
MED by almost no change In quality, oven un
til they go dry, provided they are still farrow
II they are in calf, the milk increases In quail
ity as II decreases in quantity. This increas
Is slight-but One-twentieth during the frs
six months after calying-but becomes quite
pronounced just before the COW goes dry.
Second-Cows that calve in the spring aver
age giving more milk during the first thre,
months after calyfng than those that calve IL
the fall. For the seventh, eighth and ninth
months this is reversed. Fall cows show
smaller variations In the quality of the mill
than cows that calve In the spring.
Third-The milk of COW for the first few
days or weeks after calving Is very variable In
quality. On the average It Is thinnest juSi
after calving, becomes slightly richer during
the next two weeks and then holds almost
uniform In quality for the next four or five
months,
Fourth-Cows vary In the quality Of theh
milk from one milking to the next and from
day to day, the quality rising and falling with
out apparent cause. Such changes are usually
within per cent of fat, though one COW wal
known to change 26S per cent In two days
The least change Of any of the cows In the sta,
ton herd during an entire period of lactatior
Is 0.33 per cent fat, the average change Is La.
per cent, and the greatest change ais per cent
The largest variation in yield of butter is from
milk that required 20 pounds to make pound
Of butter to quality Of milk which would re-
Quire but lit pounds. 1t is probably possible
that cases may occur Of q doubling of the rich
ness Of the milk during different times In the
same period of lactation.
Fifth-Just after calving the milk Is poorer
In fat and In solids not fat than Just before the
COW went dry. The average drop In fat is LII
per cent, tho greatest change being 235 pei
cent and the least 90 per cent. The average
change In solids not fat is fall of 047 pei
cent, with variations from decrease Of Lei
to an increase of 0.42 per cent.
Sixth-Most cows give about the same quail
ity Of milk year after year, beginning with this
quality at the first calving. There is no gen.
eral tendency for the milk to become either
richer or poorer as the COW grows older.
Seventh-From one calving TO the next cows
maY BIO expected to vary the general quality Of
their milk not much more than sixth of Del
cent fat, and scarcely ever will show varia
ton of more than quarter of l per cent
Eighth-The milk Of a heifer tends to agree
very closely in quality to that Of her dam. The
average variation is a third of per cent of fat
and the greatest difference is per cent-in the
case Of an Ayrshire COW crossed with Jersey
bull.
Ninth-The present cheap, rapid and easy
methods Of testing COWS leave no excuse fol
any dairyman's not knowing the quality Of the
milk of each one of his cows. If two tests are
made, each of a mixed sample of four days
milk, one being taken six weeks after the COW
calves and tho other six months after calving,
the average of these two tests will agree almost
exactly with the average quality Of the milk
given during the entire milking period. There
will seldom be a difference of as much as a
quarter of per cent of fat.
Tenth--If 1t Is desired to know from tests
nearer together what quality of milk a COW
gives, very accurate results will be obtained By
making two tests 10 days apart, four months
after the COW calves, each test being on
mixed sample of four days milk. The average
Of these two texts with one-eighth of per cent
Of fat added is surprisingly near the truth fol
the average quality of the years milk.
Eleventh-Il the long run, just about the
same results are obtained whether COWS are
tested once month or twice a month.
Twelfth-Cows that have been properly fed
at the barn do not shrink in quality of milk
when turned to pasture. They usually increase
both In quality and quantity.
Thirteenth-Full feeding with grain at the
barn and while the cows are on pasture pro-
duces much larger flow of milk during April
and May and causes the flow to keep up coz.
siderably later In the fall. No attempt was
made to ascertain whether this increase was
sufficient to pay for the extra grain.
Fourteenth-The milk produced by the cows
of Vermont during the entire year contains on
the average A. per cent of fat, and would II
rightly handled make pound Of butter from
each p pounds of milk.
Fifteenth-The station herd was troubled
with abortion, and the trouble ceased after
thorough disinfecting with sulphur and plen.
uful use OF laudanum. There Is nothing ia
prove conolusively that the treatment was the
cause of the cessation Of the disease.
Sixteenth-The most noticeable effect OF
abortion on the quality of the milk Is to make
1t richer than 1t would have been had the cow
gone full time. This quality, however, falls
during the first few months after abortion
until by the third or fourth month It Is OF
about the same quality as would have seen
given II the cow had calved naturally.
Seventeenth-The worst effect Of abortion Is
the decreased quantity of milk given, which
with the cows Of the station amounts to about
a third of the full yield.
Record of the Station Herd For 1892.
Careful and very complete records Of
the station herd were kept during the
year 1893 and showed that the 10 regular
members of the herd averaged 7,107
pounds of milk, Of such quality as to
make 351 pounds of butter each. The
records also showed that the herd con-
tanned on the average 81 COWS, and that
these produced 7,02S pounds of milk
apiece and 884 pounds of butter.
The best Ayrshire gave 9,055 pounds
Of milk and 845 pounds Of butter; the
best three Holsteins, OSLO pounds Of
milk and Ss9 pounds Of butter; the best
three Jerseys, 7,13O pounds of milk and
1879 pounds Of butter. The best record
of any COW in the herd within the year
was Il, 1924 pounds Of milk and 500 pounds
Of butter.
Relative Value of Cow For CheesemaIx-
ing and Butter Making.
When the records of the various COWS
in the station herd are compared as to
the amount of butter and of cheese that
could be made from their milk, it is
found that if 81 pounds Of cheese are