Abstract
THE activities of the Hannah Dairy Research Institute, Kirkhill, Ayr, described in its twelfth annual report, are, as would be expected, chiefly concerned with the maintenance of the country's milk supply. The problem is approached from two main aspects, namely, the biological and the technical. Under the former category come investigations as to the provision of adequate home-grown feeding-stuffs and the avoidance of disease in the herd. Grass silage has been successfully produced in large quantities on the Institute's farm ; but dried grass, though a first-class product from the feeding point of view, is regarded as probably not economic for the moderate-sized dairy farm. The possibility of improving the protein ration by feeding non-protein nitrogen compounds such as urea, with the idea that it would be converted into protein in the rumen of the animal, is under investigation. No far-reaching results are yet announced, but when roughly one third of the protein of the production ration was supplied in this form, the health, milk yields and body weights of the cows remained unimpaired during the six-week trial period. As regards disease prevention, control measures against mastitis have been extended, and the use of sulphanilamide administered orally has met with marked success. Dried milk products are being studied on the technical side, factors affecting their solubility and keeping quality receiving special attention. It appears that the addition of antioxidants to the precondensed milk before drying considerably increases the keeping quality of the resultant powder.
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The Hannah Dairy Research Institute. Nature 149, 298–299 (1942). https://doi.org/10.1038/149298e0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/149298e0