The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1895-02-20
Testing Cows.

Among the useful and now almost in
dispensable inventions pertaining to
the dairy, the Babcock test, to ascer ain
the value of the milk by its fat con
tents, stands among the foremost. But
ter and cheese associations and most of
our large private dnirymen have
adopted its use-the former to deter.
mine the value of each patrons milk
and his share of the pro leeds, and the
latter to test his cows and determine
their value in the dairy. 1t is on this
latter point l wish to speak because L
have reason to believe that some at
least do not fully comprehend the sp.
plication of the test as relates to in-
dvidual cows under certain conditions,
and thus are led into error from its APP
plication. The test is all right as far as
1t goes, but the manner of conducting
the tests is faulty and thus owners of
dairy stock are led to erroneous conclu-
siOns.
In testing the m TX of COW to ascer-
tain her value in the dairy, something
more is needed than TO test her milk
from time to time to ascertain the
amount of butter fat it contains. An
indispensable adjunct to the tester is
the weighing scales. The two must go
together to form correct judgment re-
gardng the individual merits of the
cows of the dairy herd, for the quantity
of milk an individual COW gives is
equally important as the quality. A
COW may give very rich milk, a sample
of which may test high, and yet the
quantity she is giving may place her in
-. lat
which tests much lower in fat contents
ofhe milk, but is giving larger guam
tity of milk An instance came under
my observation recently. 1t was where
several samples of milk were brought
forward to be tested by the Babcock
tester. The tests showed the samples
to contain fat all the way from 2.8 TO
per cent; the larger number range
from 3 to per cent. The general
impression prevailed at first that the
cows which tested per cent and up
wards of butter fat must be the more
valuable ones of the lot. The sequel
showed, as far as single test could,
that another factor should be admitted
to determine the full value of the test
the quantity of milk each COW was
giving daily. One cow that tested 3.8
per cent of fat was giving about 35
pounds of milk daily, and the one which
tested the highest, 66 per cent, was
giving but Is pounds of milk per day.
The former was making pretty nearly a
pound and half of butter day, the
other but small fraction over pound.
Now, there are other modifying cir
cumstances which have direct bearing
upon the value of these tests-one is
the difference in length of time of lac.
tation in the two cows; another, the
number of pounds of milk each will
give in the course of the year. At first
thought, and the test carried no farther,
it would seem the cow that tested the
highest should be the more valuable in
the dairy, and while she might be, the
chances are that the lower testing COW
would outstrip her in the test of year.
Here is COW that is giving on an av-
erage through the season 5 per cent
milk, and careful weight of her milk
for 10 months shows that she has
yielded 1000 pounds of milk. Her
record by the test would be 220 pounds
of butter for that time. Another COW
shows 35 per cent fat in her milk, but