Zena D. Hosking

Keeping quality and raw-milk grading: I. Dye tests as measures of the keeping quality of milk

The experiments analysed in this series of papers were undertaken as the result of a discussion on methods of measuring the keeping quality of milk, at a Conference of Advisory Bacteriologists of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Owing to the disturbance and difficulty following the outbreak of war and the dislocation of handling and distribution, a serious decline in the keeping quality of raw-milk supplies was threatened.

Olaquindox as performance-promoting feed additive for growing pigs

Abstract Olaquindox (trade name: Bay-o-nox, Bayer Co.) is a quinoxalin derivative (C12H13N3O4). Its efficacy was tested with particular reference to diets with and without a copper supplement. Olaquindox was included in the diet of pigs up to 54 kg liveweight, but performance was monitored between 18 and 87 kg. The daily gain and feed: gain ratio were significantly improved by supplementing the diet with Olaquindox. The response to copper was not significant. Carcass quality was not affected.

The yield and composition of kale and cabbage with and without nitrogenous top-dressing

In 4 consecutive years, 1948 to 1952, combined varietal and manurial trials were carried out to obtain information on the yields of marrow-stem kale, thousand-head kale and cattle cabbage in the presence and absence of sulphate of ammonia applied as a top-dressing at the rate of 6 cwt./acre. Yield and composition of all crops were apparently affected by differences in weather conditions. In most years, and particularly for cabbage, the yield declined with successive harvests. Increased green crop, dry matter and crude protein yields resulted from the application of nitrogenous fertilizer in 3 years, but in the other year, a very dry season, the response to the top-dressing was negligible. Marrow-stem kale both with and without the additional fertilizer, yielded more, in terms of fresh crop, dry matter and crude protein, than thousandhead kale with the same manurial treatment. Cabbage yields often approached those of marrowstem kale at the first harvest, but were nearer to those of thousand-head by the last harvest of each year.

Relations between composition and viscosity of cow's milk

Theoretical and practical aspects of the apparent or effective viscosity of milk have been studied by many workers: see reviews by Scott Blair(1,2,3). Seidler & Elke(4), Cox(5), and others have considered the relations between observation temperature and viscosity measurements; Mohr & Oldenburg(6) and Puri & Gupta(7), for example, have investigated the effects of differences between individual viscometers. Other workers, including Puri & Gupta(7), Kobler(8) and Spottel & Gneist(9), have examined the viscosity of whole raw milk after different times and temperatures of storage; and Weinlig(10), Trout & Weinstein(11) and Whitnah, Rutz & Fryer(12,13) have studied changes in viscosity values in connexion with various processes such as pasteurization and homogenization.

Copper in diets for growing pigs

Twenty-eight centres participated in two co-ordinated trials to obtain further evidence on responses of growing pigs (20–86 kg) to different levels of copper sulphate (CuSO 4 . 5H 2 O) supplementation, and on effect of lowering the amount of copper in the ‘finishing’ diet. The levels of copper supplied were 141, 232 and 276 mg Cu/kg diet in the ‘starting’ diet in trial 1 and 125, 200 and 250 in the ‘starting’ diets continuing or reducing to 125 mg Cu/kg diet in the ‘finishing’ diets in trial 2. The results varied to such an extent that no definite conclusion could be drawn, but there was a tendency to support rather than dispute the accumulated evidence in world literature that the most effective levels of copper supplementation are from 200 to 250 mg/kg diet throughout the growing period.