288 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



GROUP II. 



GROUP III. 



In view of the fact that these cows were purchased in the open mar- 

 ket with no opportunity of ascertaining their previous yields, or their 

 tests, their performance for the past year may be considered fairly satis- 

 factory and creditable. Since in their breeding they do not represent 

 any strictly specialized dair^- beed, they irnxj be classed as just common 

 or mediocre cows such as almost any general farm of the State might 

 furnish. Whatever product has been obtained above the ordinary is 

 largely the result of feeding and management; careful attention being 

 given not only to the amount of feed furnished and its chemical com- 

 position, but to its i)hysical composition and variety as well. 



FKEDING AND MANAGEMENT. 



To enable the reader to answer many of the questions that will natur- 

 ally arise relative to the feeding of the herd we shall take up this matter 

 in some detail. 



In conducting feeding experiments in which the cost of food is an 

 item for consideration, especially if these ex])erimonts are to extend over 

 a series of years, it is advisable to establish at the outset a scale of 

 prices or values for the different feeds to be used. Market prices fluctu- 

 ate with the season, the year, and the locality; but the price of each 

 feeding stuff is usually found between fairly definite extremes. While 



