Though dairying is as old as New Zealand itself, and as far back as 1855 some 785 cwt. of butter and 406 cwt. of cheese were exported, it was not until about the last decade of the nineteenth century that it assumed the importance of an industry. Prior to that time butter and cheese were made on farms and sold locally, neither creameries nor factories had been established, and the quality of that produced was as varied as the skill and care of the farm womenfolk, who, for the most part, were responsible for the manufacture of the butter or the cheese. At that time dairying was an art and not a science. While clean hygienic conditions were applauded, they were not considered essential. Neither the local nor the export trade bad reached such dimensions that grading or standardisation was necessary. Moreover, these factors were not even considered in an age when each butter or cheese maker endeavoured, by skilful practice, to build up a personal reputation which commanded a premium when the produce was disposed of.

The introduction of feeding standards for cattle coincides with the introduction of stall feeding conditions. Under pastoral conditions, cattle were fed in the meadows during the spring and summer months, and after a short time on the stubbles were wintered on straw and hay. During the latter half of the eighteenth century the practice of feeding cattle in stalls during the spring and summer months had developed, and with this development there gradually grew up a demand for a more exact knowledge on the rational feeding of farm animals. The use of roots for summer feeding, and the more extensive use during the winter months of rape cake and cereal grains as supplements to straw and hay led to a desire for knowledge. The farmer particularly wished to obtain a better knowledge of the replacement values of such feeding stuffs as were at that time at his disposal, and the scientists endeavoured to satisfy that demand. Regarded historically, the expression of the nutritive requirements of feeding stuffs for cattle developed in four distinct stages. In the first, the mutual replacement values of foods were assessed by chemical considerations and expressed in terms of “hay.” This constituted the “hay value system,” with which Thaer, Boussingault, and Emil von Wolff are associated.

The following paper gives the results of the first of a series of researches designed to investigate the composition and properties of normal milk.

Although it is realised that a complete study of lactation can only be made when physiological technique is available to follow the formation of milk to its natural source, yet the marked differences in reaction which had been observed in studying the pH of individual quarters by the changes in colour produced when the milk was tested with brom cresol purple paper, suggested the possibility of similar variations in other properties. It was, therefore, decided to make a comparison of the composition and physical properties of milk as it leaves the individual teats of a healthy cow.