[Reports and Appendices] of the Irish Milk Commission, 1911.

  • Great Britain. [Royal] Commission on the Irish Milk Supply.
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: [Reports and Appendices] of the Irish Milk Commission, 1911. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

    831/1108 (page 21)
    cow; while in County Tyrone the experiments showed this result—that on each of the five winter calvers there was a net profit of £3 4s. Od., whereas on each of the five spring- calvers there was a net loss of 5s. 9d. The experiments were made with cows selected for appearance, of similar type, size and value; and the calculations as to receipts were based on average creamery prices. Two important facts were established by these experiments. In the first place, it was shown that a cow can be induced to yield from 80 to 100 gallons more mim: when she calves in November instead of in April. In the second place it was shown that November calves leave a higher profit than those born during the spring months. The winter calves are stronger and hardier; and if the condition of the calves and the cost of keeping the cow when dry are taken into consideration the results would be decidedly in favour of winter dairying. (40) . In recommending winter dairying we premise the existence of two essentials : (1) that tillage is carried on, and (2) that cows kept are of good milk- yielding capacity. If for the moment we put aside the question of catch-crops, tillage is essential for winter dairying. Incidentally it provides work for a larger Mason, 742,822. population; and, by the cultivation of the land, conditions which favour the spread lioche, 14772-3. 3f disease among cattle are removed. At present there is in some districts scarcity ggg^' -^^le'^^o' )f labour, and if farmers wish to go back to tillage they might for a time find it lard to do so. Thus the failure to cultivate the land and the scarcity of labour interact, and disease among cattle is favoured by neglect of the land. The second point is that for winter dairying to be profitable, the cow must give a milk yield of not less than 600 gallons during the period of lactation. It is canoii 12.340-7 notorious that this quantity is well above the average yield in Ireland. In County p. j. Howard, Cork we were told that the average milk yield per cow does not exceed 450 gallons; l^^^^^;^ ^^^07 in County Clare it was put at 500 gallons; in County Limerick at 440 gallons These Boeddicker', are results obtained by haphazard breeding. In the herd of Lord Rosse, where milk -'los-io. records are kept and the dairy cows are carefully selected, the average yearly yield per cow for the last two recorded years is well over 610 gallons, and several cows gave from 700 to over 900 gallons. Sir Richard Barter has also by selection and Barter, ]4980-7. elimination raised the average milk yield per cow in his herd from 540 to 700 Gallons. It will be seen, therefore, that while successful winter dairying depends )n an average yield of at least 600 gallons per cow, it is possible to reach the ;tandard by the adoption of proved reliable methods, and we refer hereafter at ength to the necessity of dairy farmers keeping milk records as a condition of profitable cow-keeping, and to the valuable work begun by the cow-testing associa- tions established by the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction. Jatch-Crops. (41) . Another factor which tends to make winter dairying profitable is the practice of growing catch-crops, e.g., rape, vetches, rye, and hardy greens. For the last few years the Department's Agricultural Instructors, particularly in Counties Limerick, Cork and Kerry, have been teaching by theory in winter classes, and by practice on demonstration plots the advantages of catch-cropping. The advantages claimed for this system of agriculture are that the tillage is simple and can be done quickly; that the cost of cultivation is reduced to a minimum; that the ordinary risks incidental to the growing of root crops are avoided; that the land can be utilised the whole year round, instead of lying idle for about six months of the year, and that with catch-cropping less concentrated food is required, and the catch-crops can be so combined as to give in winter a ration much the same composition as June grass. What crop shall be sown, and when, are matters which depend on local conditions, and no hard-and-fast rules can be laid down. Ensilage. (42) The ensiling of fodder crops is a most valuable aid to winter dairying. We have received evidence that silage can be given to dairy cows without tainting the milk, the only precaution necessary being that it must not be brought into the byre until the milk has been removed. There are two kinds of silage, sweet and sour. Both forms are w^holesome for all cattle, but in the case of milch cows sweet silage is generally preferred. It is not necessary to have a built silo. Silage can Wibberley 18372-3. ' Appendix A, Vol. 2, p. 324.