Dairy industry

“ Notwithstanding the splendid achievements of the dairy industry it is safe to say that it may not be profitable in any and every locality. Given the soil, the climate, the water, the people intelligent and disposed toward the exacting duties of this business, there are still many questions to be considered and many mistakes to be avoided.
It has been a pet idea in this country that competition is the corrective of all industrial evils. ”

“ The production and distribution of milk is a paramount industry of the state, and largely affects the health and prosperity of its people. Dairying yields fully one-half of the total income from all farm products. Dairy farm investment amounts to approximately $1,000,000,000. Curtailment or destruction of the dairy industry would cause a serious economic loss to the people of the state. ”

“ The owners of cows were bent on turning all the full-milk at their disposal into money. The spread of the dairy industry, the development and productiveness of the milk trade, tempted them to disregard the claims of their own establishments. A strength-giving milk diet became a rarity in the country, and in its stead recourse was had to unsubstantial skimmed milk, inferior substitutes, vegetable oils, and, unfortunately, alcoholic drinks as well. ”

“ The stock are grown to full size in the pastures, and are then (such at least as are designed for Paris) shipped to the fertile plains around Paris, to be stall-fed and fattened. In like manner, the cattle sent to London from the north of England are 'finished,' to use the trade phrase, in a semicircle of country to the north of that city. The dairy industry must be sharply distinguished from cattle-raising. The economic problems presented by the two are quite different. In France the dairy industry nourishes, especially in the low-lying, moist plains which border the English Channel. ”

“ The advance of our civilization during the last half century has seen a marked expansion in the extent of the dairy industry. With this expansion has appeared the necessity for new methods, and dairymen have for years been looking for them. ”

“ The establishment throughout the chief districts of co-operative factories, owned and managed by the farmers themselves, and the introduction of cold storage greatly stimulated its growth. During the last decade its advancement has been remarkable. The Australian dairy industry is based on the world's markets. Every year the demand in various countries for Australian and other dairy and farmyard products increases, and the large home market is also expanding. ”

“ At present the industry is only in its infancy. It is capable of almost unlimited expansion. So far, farmers have confined their attention almost exclusively to butter, but the first steps have also been successfully taken to manufacture cheese and condensed milk, and to open up a regular market for fresh pork, hams, and bacon.
A large portion of Victoria is suitable for dairy farming on account of the suitability of soil for the production of pasture and fodder crops, and the mild climatic conditions. ”

“ It has to be observed that pig raising does not require either the capital or experience demanded in the case of sheep."
These facts relate in a general way to the industry as it is possible to be carried on in all parts of the Commonwealth. A dairy man or mixed farmer finds that the carrying on of his work at a maximum of profit involves the growth of a number of different crops with which to supplement the rations of his dairy herd. Peas, barley, wheat, maize, pumpkins, carrots, mangolds, lucerne, rape, and other crops are more or less used for a succession. ”

“ Farming is more and more adjusting itself with reference to the development of the dairying industry. The State is naturally well adapted for this, and her dairy products are of a superior quality. The acreage of the hay crop is about four times that of all other crops combined. Oats, the most important cereal crop, is decreasing in acreage, while that of corn is increasing. ”

“ The State Governments are doing what is possible to spread abroad scientific knowledge in dairying matters, and a younger generation is growing up that has been made familiar both with the practice and the theory of milk production. When their time comes it is certain they will make dairying highly profitable. The fact that, with an average milk yield of 'something under 250 gallons per annum,' the industry as a whole is in a prosperous condition affords the most remarkable testimony pos [Pg 10] sible to the excellence of Australia as a dairyman's country. ”

“ But now a considerable portion of what would otherwise be lost is saved by passing the milk through separators, and churning the cream into butter.
Previously to the enormous development of the urban trade in country milk, dairy farms were in the main self-sustaining in the matter of manures and feeding-stuffs, and the cropping of arable land was governed by routine. To-day, on the contrary, many dairy farms are run at high pressure by the help of purchased materials,—corn, cake, and manure,—and the land is cropped regardless of routine and independent of courses. ”

“ No branch of agricultural interests has changed so much and received such an impetus, especially within the last five years, as the dairy. Entire new modes of making butter and cheese and of setting milk have largely taken place of the old ones. Competition in making dairy products becomes keener each year, and every process by which the labor can be lessened, or the products be cheapened, meets with recompense. ”

“ An anonymous writer very truly remarks that the dairyman, by the force of circumstances, has to become versed in the breeding and management of stock, especially that of dairy breeds; hence, in the very nature of things, he becomes a thoughtful, studious, observing man, and, what is better, he attains a higher intelligence. The advantages of dairying call out, among other things, enhanced revenues, because butter and cheese have become necessities; it enriches the farm, and is perfectly adapted to foster the breeding and raising of better and more stock. ”

“ In my experience dairies of fifty or sixty cows have an enormous advantage; they can have perfectly designed dairies; they have enough cream to make butter daily throughout the year (which saves much trouble, loss, and occasionally inferior butter) ; they can maintain approximately a uniform supply. In short, they beat, undersell, and displace the small cowkeepers wherever the large dairy is moderately well managed. ”

“ The milk of cows fed on distillery wash, turnip, and mangel tops, coarse herbage, and other kinds of inferior food, is always of inferior quality. Hence it is of great importance that dairy stock be kept in good old pastures in summer, and fed on Swedish turnips, mangel-wurtzel, and oil-cake during winter. It is true economy to supply dairy cows with abundance of nutritious food; and it should be constantly borne in mind that the milk from two well-fed cows will give more butter than can be obtained from the produce of three badly-fed animals. ”

“ As a rule, it may be said to be the duty of every dairyman to breed from the best blood obtainable, and to rear the heifer calves from his best cows. Unless this condition is fulfilled, the dairy as a whole must run down. It is only by constant care and breeding from the best that the present status can be maintained, and possibly a little progress made. It should be the ambition of every dairyman to constantly improve the value of his herd, and to make progress in every department of his dairy, while improving the quality of his product. ”

“ The city milk supply comes from a large number of farmers who produce milk as a side issue. The methods of feeding and caring for cattle on these farms is in the main contrary to the instructions given by the dairy department at the State Farm. The men who made dairying a business here were learning and following agricultural college methods. They had good grade dairy cattle and produced fully twice as much per cow as do the farmers now in the business. ”

“ At the same time the fact has not been overlooked, that to breed and perpetuate a profitable dairy stock, regard must be had to hardiness and strength of constitution, and also to such fattening tendencies as will insure a profitable return from calves fattened for veal, from steers reared for beef, and for cows, which having served their turn in the dairy, are at last dried of their milk and prepared for the shambles. ”

“ The large heap of manure being dried up by the sun in the midst of the farm-yard, has a look of unthriftiness, whilst the small, dark, and ill-ventilated dairies make us wonder that the manufacture of the famous Brie cheese should be the profitable thing it is. At one farm we visited, we saw thirty-six splendid Normandy cows, the entire milk produce of which was used for cheese-making. Yet nothing could be worse than the dairy arrangements from a hygienic point of view, and the absolute cleanliness requisite for dairy work was wanting. ”

“ Many things, indeed, concur to produce the best results, and it would be useless to underrate the importance of any; but, with the best of cows to impart the proper color and consistency to butter, the sweetest feed and the purest water to secure a delicate flavor, the utmost care must still be bestowed by the dairymaid upon every process of manufacture, or else the best of milk and cream will be spoiled, or produce an article which will bring only a low price in the market, when, with greater skill, it might have obtained the highest. ”

“ The supply of milk is conducted, to a large extent, by towns' dairies, which depend for their supplies upon the dairy farm in the country, and 76it is obvious that a certain period of time must elapse, in the generality of cases, before a town's dairy receives its supply in the ordinary course, and this constitutes the greatest difficulty in modern dairy practice, owing to the liability of the milk to absorb bacteria, which during transit may multiply enormously. ”

“ We must take into consideration the price of grain, the price of rough feed, and the price of milk products, before we can determine the proportion of grain and other feed that should be given to the dairy cow.
We can make milk out of rough feed without any grain under the proper conditions. When grain is too much out of proportion in price, we can safely do without it, if our rough feed happens to be good pasture or good alfalfa hay and silage. If our roughage is too poor, it rarely pays to compel good dairy cows to live on it alone, for their future usefulness will be impaired by starvation. ”

“ 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 ”

“ In the regular operations of the dairy, however economically conducted, there will always be more or less refuse in the shape of whey, butter-milk, or skim-milk, which may be consumed with profit by swine, and which might otherwise be lost. Dairy-fed pork is distinguished for its fineness and delicacy; and the dairy refuse, in connection with grains, potatoes, and scraps, is highly nutritious and fattening.
There is a wide difference between the profit to be derived from the different breeds. Some are far more thrifty than others, and arrive at maturity earlier. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Long rows of shining metal pans no longer adorn rural dooryards. The factory system of co-operative or concentrated manufacture has so far taken the place of home dairying that in entire states the cheese vat or press is as rare as the handloom, and in many counties it is as difficult to find a farm churn as a spinning-wheel. An illustration of the nature of the changes is afforded in the butter-making district of northern Vermont, at St Albans, the business centre of Franklin county. ”

“ We want cattle for distinct purposes, as for milk, beef, or labor. In a large majority of cases,—especially in the dairy districts, comprising the Middle and Eastern States, at least,—the farmer cares more for the milking qualities of his cows, especially for the quantity they give, than for their fitness for grazing, or aptness to fatten. These latter points become more important in the Western and some of the Southern States, where far greater attention is paid to breeding and to feeding, and where comparatively little attention is given to the productions of the dairy. ”

“ In selecting any breed, therefore, regard should be had to the circumstances of the farmer, and the object to be pursued. The cow most profitable for the milk-dairy [11] may be very unprofitable in the butter and cheese dairy, as well as for the production of beef; while for either of the latter objects the cow which gave the largest quantity of milk might prove very unprofitable. It is desirable to secure a union and harmony of all good qualities, so far as possible ”

“ It is unnecessary and impracticable to require the same degree of care in handling milk destined to be worked up into factory products as is done, for instance, in sanitary milk supplies, but this fact should not be interpreted to mean that the care of milk for factories is a matter of small consequence. In fact no more important dairy problem exists, and the purer and better the quality of the raw material the better the product will be. ”