117. An Unusual Variation in the Butterfat Content of Milk

Abstract

1. Some account has been given of the cattle kept on the Government Farm at Samaru, Zaria, and of their management in the wet and dry seasons.2. Figures extending over four seasons have been presented to show thatthe butterfat content of the milk produced on this farm is consistently higher in the morning than in the evening during the wet season, and that the reverseis true during the dry season.3. The relative quantity of milk produced in the evening during the dry season is slightly less than during the wet season, but this difference is quiteinadequate to explain the change in the percentages of butterfat.4. Some evidence is offered that this change in butterfat content is directly due to the marked climatic differences between the two seasons, and that it cannot be controlled by altering the diet of the cattle.