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Mash - A mixture of animal foods, crushed and stirred to a soft pulpy state with water (wet mash) or without it (dry mash).
Mashlum, Maslin - A mixture of oats and barley and sometimes wheat, sown to provide grain for feeding to livestock. Occasionally beans or peas may be added to the mixture but ripening in uneven and they are not suited to being harvested by a Combine Harvester. Also called dredge or meslen.
Mast - The fruit of Beech, Chestnut, Oak and other trees, eaten by pigs as Pannage.
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Mastitis - Inflammation of a cow's Udder, due to bacterial infection, resulting in the secretion of clots of milk, and sometimes pus when the infection is acute. Also called mammitis, garget and udder-clap
Mat - A closely interwoven or tangled mass of dead grass which develops when a pasture is undergrazed, particularly on acid soils.
Maw - The stomach, particularly the fourth stomach of Ruminants.
Mayflies - Common name for the Ephemeroptera.
Mazzard - Wild cherry which is used extensively as a rootstock upon which commercial varieties of cherries are grafted.
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M.C.P.A - An abbreviation for 2-methyl-4-chloro-phenoxy-acetic acid, a Translocated Herbicide or Hormone Weedkiller, used to control many broad leaved annual and perennial weeds. Often also include in mixtures with other translocated herbicides.
M.C.P.P - An abbreviation for 2-methyl-4-chloro-phenoxypropionic acid. A hormone herbicide used mainly to control weeds in cereals. Also called mecoprop.
Mead - 1. A shorter version of meadow. 2. Wine produced from honey.
Meadow - Strictly applied to an area of grassland used to produce Hay or Silage rather than for grazing. Also used loosely for rich waterside fields which are frequently flooded by river water, either naturally or via sluices and which are grazed (water meadows ).
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Meadow Fescue - A loosely tufted perennial grass (Festuca pratensis) forming large russocks, with narrow, bright green hairless leaves, shiny on the underside, and loose, green or purple panicles. Valuable for hay and grazing, and particularlyfound on rich, well drained, fertile clay soils, and often abundant in water meadows. A very palatable grass which grows well mixed with white clover or timothy.
Meal - 1. A type of feedingstuff consisting of a single or a mixture of finely ground ingredients, e.g., cereals, oil seeds, meat, bone, fish, etc. Mainly used for pigs and poultry. 2. Another term for oil seed cake.
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Measles - A condition of the carcases of cattle and pigs characterised by presence of Tapeworm cysts in the meat.
Measure-Weight Test - A test which gives an indication of the relative heaviness, pulpness and quality of seeds. For this purpose, a specified volume of seed is weighed and represented as kilos per hecto litre.
Measuring Weir - Device or structure which is used for measuring the flow of water. It generally consists of a broad-crested weir or a rectangular, trapezoidal, triangular, or other shaped notch, frequently located in a vertical, thin plate over which the water flows. The weir head is an index of the rate of flow.
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Meat - Flesh of animals which is used as food. It consists of proteins, fats, minerals, vitamins, and water. The most common meats used as food are lamb, beef, and pork. Poultry and fish are sometimes included with the foods classified as meat.
Meat Meal, Meat and bone Meal, Meat Guano - Meal derived from waste meat and bone trimmed off animal carcases and steam cooked until moisture content is below 10%. Surplus fat is drained off and most of the rest expelled by pressing the residue. By law meat meal must contain at least 55% protein, meat and
bone meal 40-55% protein. In both types salt content must not exceed 4%. Also called tankage.
Meadian Lethal Does (MLD) - Does of radiation which is required, to kill, within a specified period, 55 per cent of the individuals in a large group of animals or organisms.
Median Lethal Time (MLT) - Refers to the time required, following administration of a specified dose of radiation, for the death of 50 per cent of the individuals in a large group of animals or organisms.
Melanin - Insoluble black pigment which is laid down in the cuticle of many insects as well as in the skins of a great many other animals formed by oxidation of the amino acid tyrosine in the presence of specific melanogenic enzymes.
Melanized Soil - A soil having a very dark colour to a considerable depth in the surface layer, due to the incorporation of humus.
Melitten - Poisonous protein in like substance which is present in the venom of bees.
Mercerize - Refers to the process for treating cotton fibres, yarns, or fabrics with a solution of concentrated caustic alkali to make them stronger. If kept under tension during the process they acquire a luster.
Merino - Breed of small sheep which is producing wool of excellent quality, very fine and of 4 inch staple, 'the golden-flooted sheep', with its ancestral home in Spain now reared in large numbers in Australia, South Africa and USA. Yields finest fleece, clip varying 6 to 30 lb a year.
Metabolite - Chemical participating in metabolism e.g. a nutrient.
Metered Chop Harvesters - Two kinds of forage harvester, producing
a uniform short chop, having either a flywheel or cylinder type of chopping mechanism. With both types the chop length and rate of delivery by a feeder to the chopping mechanism can be controlled. These harvesters are usually trailed, but self propelled machines are available. Also called precision chop harvester.
Methane - (CH4). A colourless hydrocarbon gas which can be formed in large quantities in a cow's Rumen. Now being developed as a source of fuel on farms, produced by fermenting slurry.
Meuse-Rhine-Ijssel (M.R.I.) - A dual-purpose breed of cattle, taking it name from three rivers in Holland where it was developed. The breed has a similar milk yield to the Friesian but better meat production. A large-bodied breed, characterised by a patched red and white coat, with short white legs, white belly and tail, and sometimes a white blaze on the broad head, and by short, forward and inward curving horns.
Micro Budding - Method of budding which is commonly used in propagating citrus trees. A bud is removed from the bud-stick by giving a flat cut just underneath the bud with a sharp knife after cutting off the leaf petiole just above the bud. An inverted T-cut is made in the stock wherein the micro-bud is slipped keeping the right side up. the entire inverted T-cut including the bud is covered and exposed only after 2-3 weeks so that healing gets completed.
Microbe - Microscopic organism belonging to either the animal or the plant kingdom.
Microbial Insecticide - Pathogen which. is used for killing insects. Free from harmful residue, nonphytotoxic to crops of higher dose; harmless to beneficial insects.
Microbiology - Science and study of microscopic organisms.
Microenvironment - Environment which is close enough to the surface of a living or non living object to be influenced by it.
Microingredients - Added vitamins, trace minerals, antibiotics, and other materials used in minute amounts.
Microplot Thresher - Self-cleaning machine thresher operated by a gas engine or by electricity for threshing the grain from microplots in rapid succession without mixing the seed of two varieties.
Midden - A Dung heap.
Mids - Potatoes sold for human consumption, which are of 'Ware’ standard, and which will not pass through a 20 mm horizontal mesh when manipulated, but will pass through a 45 mm mesh.
Milch Cow - A cow giving milk or kept for milking.
Mildew - Various fungi, which are parasitic on plants, causing disease. The threads or hyphae of some Phycomycete fungi penetrate deeply (Downy Mildews), whilst other types of Ascomycete fungi grow more on the leaf surface with a powdery white appearance (Powdery Mildews). Also called moulds.
Milk - A white liquid secreted by female mammals (Mammary Glands) for the nourishment of the young, containing valuable essential food constituents, e.g., Proteins, Carbohydrates, Fats, etc. (Milk Composition). Milk produced by dairy cattle for liquid consumption and for the manufacturing of various products (e.g., butter, cheese, yogurt, etc.) is marketed under the control of the Milk Marketing Board. Whole, fresh milk sold for public consumption must contain at least 3.0% butterfat and is tested for quality on purchase from the farm quality scheme. Several types of liquid milk are available including Untreated Milk. Pasteurised Milk (including Homogenised Milk), Sterilised Milk, and Ultra Heat Treated Milk.
Milk Clipping - The clipping of ewes which are still suckling lambs.
Milk Composition - Cow's milk is a balanced food containing all the nutrients (including vitamins) necessary to humans and is particularly fed to children and young animals. The composition can vary according to breed (Cattle), age level and type of feeding, stage of Lactation, etc. The following are average figures:
Per cent |
| Protein |
3.40 |
.mainly Casein |
| Sugar |
4.75 |
mainly Lactose |
| Fat |
3.75 |
Butterfat |
| Mineral Matter |
.75 |
Ash |
| Water |
87.35 |
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100.00 |
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Milk Feyer - A disease of various animals, particularly dairy cows, usually occurring a few days afters calving. It is associated with a fall in the blood calcium content the reasons for which are not fully understood. It results in initial excitement, then loss of balance and later of consciousness, with the neck in a typical twisted position. Not an actual fever, body temperature often falling a few degrees below normal. Treated by injecting calcium borogluconate.
Milk Recording - The recording of the milk yield of each cow in a dairy herd by measuring the volume of weight of milk given during milking sessions. Usually the quantity can be read off a scale on the collecting jar into which the Milking Machine initially extracts the milk.
Milk Sinus - The cavity in each of the teats of a cow's Udder into which milk is secreted and from which it is extracted during milking.
Milk Vein - One of two large veins visible on a cow's belly running from the udder.
Milk Vetch - Various leguminous plants (Astragalus spp.) grown on lime-rich soils for fodder and supposed to increase the milk yield of dairy cattle.
Milking - The extraction of milk from a cow's udder by hand or milking machine. Milk secretion is actuated by the let down mechanism, and the squeezing action of the hand or the squeezing. suction action of the teat cups withdraws the milk from each milk sinus. (Milking Parlours).
Milking Machines - There are three main types of milking machines all of which, through a pulsator mechanism, apply an intermittent partial vacuum to the teats of the cow's Udder, simulating the sucking action of a Calf. They vary in the design of collecting the extracted milk and include (a) bucket plants, used mainly in cowshed milking, in which milk is extracted into covered buckets and carried to the milk cooler, (b) in-churn plants, in which the milk is conveyed directly into churns in which it is cooled and transported to the dairy (see Churn Collection), and (c) releaser plants, in which the milk is extracted into a collecting jar (in which each cow's yield is quantified) and from which it is sucked via vacuum piping to be 'released' into the cooler, but without disturbing the vacuum system. This system is now almost universal. The abbreviation m/m is sometimes used for milking machine.
Milking Parlour - A building containing specialised milking machines. Many designs exist, the choice depending on herd size, average yield, available labour, feeding method, etc. There are two main categories of parlour, having either one or two stalls per milking unit, the latter having a greater through-put at about 10 cows per unit per hour. Concentrates are often automatically fed to the cows whilst in the stalls, Layout may be
(a) Abreast, with stalls side by side, sometimes slightly raised.
(b) Tandem, with stalls end to end around a pit, so that cows stand head to tail. In the simplified chute type there are two stalls to each side of the pit and cows enter via steps or ramps and leave together after milking.
(c) Herringbone, in which there are no stalls and the cows stand side by side at an angle and to each side of a central pit.
(d) Rotary, in which any of the preceding formations move round the milker on a raised, slowly moving platform.
Mill - A machine or a building equipped with machinery for grinding (by crushing) cereal grain or other dry feedingstuffs to produce flour or meal (Crushing Mill, Hammer Mill, Plate Mill). Also to remove seed husks.
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