Objectionable flavour in milk
As a result of feeding turnips
Horowhenua Chronicle, May 8, 1925
We hear so many complaints about objectionable flavours in milk when cows are being fed with turnips that the following conclusions arrived at by C. J. Babcock, Assistant Market Milk Specialist to the Dairy Division, U.S.A., will be of much interest to readers of the “Times.”
Feeding turnips to dairy cows at the rate of 15 pounds one hour before milking produces objectionable off flavours and odours in the milk.
Increasing the amount of turnips fed one hour before milking from 15 to 30 pounds, increases to a very marked degree the intensity the off flavours and odours produced in the milk.
Feeding turnips at the rate of 30 pounds immediately after milking has little detrimental effect on the flavour and odour of the milk.
Proper aeration reduces strong off flavours and odours in milk, caused by feeding turnips, and some of the slight off flavours and odours may be eliminated.
The off flavours and odours produced by feeding turnips are more pronounced by feeding turnips are more pronounced in the cream than in the milk.
Land settlement
The Waikato Society
Progress of properties
Waikato Independent, June 1, 1935
Fifty acres of turnips have been sown on the Waikato Land Settlement Society’s property at Roto-o-rangi and the crop is doing exceedingly well.
The turnip land was previously under gorse, blackberry, and tea-tree, but it has been cleared and improved beyond recognition.
A similar area has been sown in turnips at Wharepapa and also at Whatawhata.
At present the society is running 8500 sheep on its three properties, including 3000 hoggets on turnips, and 3000 hoggets on young grass.
At the beginning of June 2500 breeding ewes will be placed on turnips.
A draft of fat hoggets will be going away from Roto-o-rangi and Whatawhata in about two weeks.
The society also has 320 jersey heifers on turnips.
Winter feeding
Swedes and turnips
High sugar content
Mineral matter in leaves
By Ouidire
New Zealand Herald, August 12, 1938
The most popular roots for winter feeding of stock in New Zealand are undoubtedly turnips and swedes, with a preference for the latter in districts where they thrive.
In both turnips and swedes, the leaf contains a higher percentage of dry substance than the root, and the dry substance of the leaf includes a much higher percentage of nitrogenous and mineral matter than does the root.
In turnips the proportion of this valuable leaf to root is much higher than in swedes.
This perhaps explains why stock thrive much better on either of these roots when they are fed off in breaks, thus more evenly balancing the consumption of leaves and roots than when a whole field is fed off at once and the leaves consumed before the roots are touched.
Turnips and Swedes are essentially sugar crops.
The average amount of dry matter may be put approximately at 8 per cent in white turnips, 9 per cent in yellow turnips, and 11 per cent in swedes.
Of the dry matter in white and yellow turnips, nearly one-half may be sugar, and that of swedes more than one-half.
Fream’s “Elements of Agriculture,” a standard text book, gives the following complete percentage analysis of average samples of swedes:—Water, 89.23; albuminous compounds, .98; sugar, 5.54; starch, digestible fibre, etc., 2.74; woody fibre (cellulose), .85; mineral matter (ash), .66.
It will be seen that, apart from their sugar and starch content, swedes do not contain any high proportion of body or bone-building materials.
- Source: Papers Past
