APPENDIX.

The following is Mr. Thomas Horsfall’s statement, referred to on [page 138], with the omission of a few passages, relating to matters not immediately connected with the dairy. It is entitled

THE MANAGEMENT OF DAIRY CATTLE.

On entering upon a description of my treatment of cows for dairy purposes, it seems pertinent that I should give some explanation of the motives and considerations which influence my conduct in this branch of my farm operations.

I have found it stated, on authority deserving attention, that store cattle of a fair size, and without other occupation, maintain their weight and condition for a length of time, when supplied daily with one hundred and twenty pounds of Swedish turnips and a small portion of straw. The experience of the district of Craven, in Yorkshire, where meadow hay is the staple food during winter, shows that such cattle maintain their condition on one and a half stone, or twenty-one pounds, of meadow hay each per day. These respective quantities of turnips and of hay correspond very closely in their nutritive properties; they contain a very similar amount of albuminous matter, starch, sugar, etc., and also of phosphoric acid. Of oil—an important element, especially for the purpose of which I am treating—the stated supply of meadow hay contains more than that of turnips. If we supply cows in milk, of average size, with the kind and quantity of food above mentioned, they will lose perceptibly in condition. This is easily explained when we find their milk rich in substances which serve for their support when in store condition, and which are shown to be diverted in the secretion of milk.

In the neighborhood of towns where the dairy produce is disposed of in new milk, and where the aim of dairymen is to produce the greatest quantity, too frequently with but little regard to quality, it is their common practice to purchase incalving cows. They pay great attention to the condition of the cow; they will tell you, by the high comparative price they pay for animals well stored with flesh and fat, that condition is as valuable for them as it is for the butcher; they look upon these stores as materials which serve their purpose; they supply food more adapted to induce quantity than quality, and pay but little regard to the maintenance of the condition of the animal. With such treatment, the cow loses in condition during the process of milking, and when no longer profitable is sold to purchasers in farming districts where food is cheaper, to be fattened or otherwise replenished for the use of the dairy keeper. We thus find a disposition in the cow to apply the aliment of her food to her milk, rather than to lay on flesh or fat; for not only are the elements of her food diverted to this purpose, but, to all appearance, her accumulated stores of flesh and fat are drawn upon, and converted into components of milk, cheese, or butter.

As I am differently circumstanced,—a considerable portion of my dairy produce being intended for butter, for which poor milk is not adapted,—and as I fatten not only my own cows, but purchase others to fatten in addition, I have endeavored to devise food for my milch cows adapted to their maintenance and improvement, and with this view I have paid attention to the composition of milk. From several analyses I have selected one by Haidler, which I find in publications of repute. Taking a full yield of milk, four gallons per day, which will weigh upwards of forty pounds, this analysis assigns to it of dry material 5.20, of which the proportion, with sufficient accuracy for my purpose, consists of

Pure caseine,2.00pounds.
Butter,1.25“
Sugar,1.75“
Phosphate of lime,.09“
Chloride of potassium,
Other mineral ingredients,.11“
5.20“

It appeared an object of importance, and one which called for my particular attention, to afford an ample supply of the elements of food suited to the maintenance and likewise to the produce of the animal; and that, if I omitted to effect this, the result would be imperfect and unsatisfactory. By the use of ordinary farm produce only, I could not hope to accomplish my purpose. Turnips are objectionable on account of their flavor; and I seek to avoid them as food for dairy purposes. I use cabbages, kohl rabi, and mangold wurzel, yet only in moderate quantities. Of meadow hay it would require, beyond the amount necessary for the maintenance of the cow, an addition of fully twenty pounds for the supply of caseine in a full yield of milk (sixteen quarts); forty pounds for the supply of oil for the butter, whilst nine pounds seem adequate for that of the phosphoric acid. You cannot, then, induce a cow to consume the quantity of hay requisite for her maintenance, and for a full yield of milk of the quality instanced. Though it is a subject of controversy whether butter is wholly derived from vegetable oil, yet the peculiar adaptation of this oil to the purpose will, I think, be admitted. I had, therefore, to seek assistance from what are usually termed artificial feeding substances, and to select such as are rich in albumen, oil, and phosphoric acid; and I was bound also to pay regard to their comparative cost, with a view to profit, which, when farming is followed as a business, is a necessary, and in any circumstances an agreeable accompaniment.

I think it will be found that substances peculiarly rich in nitrogenous or other elements have a higher value for special than for general purposes, and that the employment of materials characterized by peculiar properties for the attainment of special objects has not yet gained the attention to which it is entitled.

I have omitted all reference to the beat-supplying elements—starch, sugar, etc. As the materials commonly used as food for cattle contain sufficient of these to effect this object, under exposure to some degree of cold, I have a right to calculate on a less consumption of them as fuel, and consequently a greater surplus for deposit as sugar, and probably also as fat, in consequence of my stalls being kept during winter at a temperature of nearly sixty degrees.

The means used to carry out his objects are stated on [page 138].

As several of these materials—rape-cake, shorts, bean-straw, etc.—are not commonly used as food, I may be allowed some observations on their properties. Bean-straw uncooked is dry and unpalatable. By the process of steaming, it becomes soft and pulpy, emits an agreeable odor, and imparts flavor and relish to the mess. For my information and guidance I obtained an analysis of bean-straw of my own growth, on strong and high-conditioned land; it was cut on the short side of ripeness, but yielding a plump bean. The analysis by Professor Way shows a percentage of

Moisture,14.47
Albuminous mater,16.38
Oil or fatty matter,2.23
Woody fibre,25.84
Starch, gum, etc.,31.63
Mineral matters,9.45
Total100.00

In albuminous matter, which is especially valuable for milch cows, it has nearly double the proportion contained in meadow hay. Bran also undergoes a great improvement in its flavor by steaming, and it is probably improved in its convertibility as food. It contains about fourteen per cent. of albumen, and is peculiarly rich in phosphoric acid, nearly three per cent. of its whole substance being of this material. The properties of rape-cake are well known: the published analyses give it a large proportion (nearly thirty per cent.) of albumen; it is rich in phosphates, and also in oil. This is of the unctuous class of vegetable oils, and it is to this property that I call particular attention. Chemistry will assign to this material, which has hitherto been comparatively neglected for feeding, a first place for the purpose of which I am treating. If objection should occur on account of its flavor, I have no difficulty in stating that by the preparation I have described I have quite overcome this. I can easily persuade my cattle (of which sixty to eighty pass through my stalls in a year), without exception, to eat the requisite quantity. Nor is the flavor of the cake in the least perceptible in the milk or butter.

During May, my cows are turned out on a rich pasture near the homestead; towards evening they are again housed for the night, when they are supplied with a mess of the steamed mixture and a little hay each morning and evening. During June, when the grasses are better grown, mown grass is given to them instead of hay, and they are also allowed two feeds of steamed mixture. This treatment is continued till October, when they are again wholly housed.

The results which I now proceed to relate are derived from observations made with the view of enabling me to understand and regulate my own proceedings.