however, been a steady increase in the total production of meat
Since 1920-21.
2. Milk and dairy produce.—The Agricultural Schedule of
1925 contained a request for information as to the quantity of
milk* produced and sold, the amount of butter and cheese made
and sold, and the quantity of cream sold. More or less complete
Particulars were furnished by persons owning something like
one half of the cows in the country, and on the basis of the
sample thus obtained an estimate has been made of the total
Production of the country. The very large number of definite
Statements by producers provide a valuable foundation for this
®Stimate, but, owing to the fact that nothing like complete
details were obtained, it cannot claim to be anything more than
i approximation based on extensive data.
A characteristic feature of dairying in England and Wales
8 the production of milk for sale as liquid milk as distinct from
Mixed dairying, where some of the milk may be sold and the
mainder made into butter or cheese, or where cheese-making
May be practised in the summer and milk sold in the winter, or
Where the making of both butter and cheese may be carried on
and the proportion of milk sold may be quite small. In any of
these latter cases the method pursued may vary at different
times of the year, whereas in the former case the whole of the
Milk produced is sold all the year round. These two classes of
dairy farming generally imply differences in the dairy herd
Which are important in considering the milk yield. On purely
“milk ” farms—that is, farms where all the milk produced is
sold all the year round—heavy milking breeds or types are kept,
ows are usually bought in to replace those going dry, and quite
Commonly no calves are kept. On other farms where the sale
of milk is not so important a source of income, comparatively
large numbers of calves may be reared and the cows may be of
beef breeds. The average milk yield per cow or per head of the
dairy herd (cows and heifers in milk or in calf) is consequently
Wt to be very different on the two types of farm, the
‘milk ” farm being much higher as a maximum milk pro-
Auction is the object in view. The difference is shown by the
fact that the average quantity of milk returned in the census of
1925 ag produced from 574,000 cows on “ milk ”’ farms amounted
to 468 gallons per head for the whole of England and Wales,
Whereas the milk returned as produced from 214,000 cows on
“Produce ” farms (i.e., farms making butter, cheese, &ec.) only
WWeraged 356 gallons per head for the year. At the same time
i It has been estimated
* i ilk fed to calves and pigs. :
in Po vs hal milk represents nearly 10 per ont: of tae Lol
tota] en a but the proportion varies considera Ly ee
0 in Wales the proportion fed to calves and pigs is
Yetwoen 15 and 20 per cent.
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