542 Bulletin 169. 



without any apparent cause so far as the records show. After 

 this there was a decrease and again a rise to 22 per cent above 

 the first month at the end of lactation. This was her second 

 year in milk and her third calf was dropped one year after the 

 second. 



Pet (VI.) April 1893 to March 1894, showed the greatest 

 increase in per cent of fat of any of the cows in the herd, it hav- 

 ing increased gradually until at the last of the milking period it 

 was over 50 per cent greater than at the beginning. At the same 

 time the decrease in flow of milk was very great after the close of 

 the fifth month. During the following month it fell off 32 percent. 

 This great decrease was occasioned by her being taken to the 

 New York State Fair. On September 13, 1893 her milk yield at 

 the home barn was 35.75 pounds. The next day she was at the 

 Fair grounds and gave only 26.5 pounds. She did not again 

 recov^er her former yield. When the milk flow thus fell 32 per 

 cent the percent of fat rose 31 percent, but it should be noted that 

 the per cent of fat reached as equall3^high a point during the fourth 

 month. The average percent of fat for the first four weeks of 

 this lactation was lower then for a similar period of any other 

 year. This low average may have been abnormal with her and 

 thus show an unusual increase as the period of lactation advanced. 

 It was her fourth lactation and her fifth calf was dropped about 

 one year after the fourth. 



Cherry (VII.) September 1896 to August 1897, represents 

 another instance where the per cent of fat was lower during the 

 first few weeks than at any subsequent time during the same lacta- 

 tion period. And like Pet mentioned above, the per cent of fat 

 at the beginning of this milking period was lower than for a 

 similar time during any of her other lactations. This may 

 account for the more than average increase in the per cent of 

 fat as the lactation advanced. She dropped her second calf Sept. 

 18, 1896, and her third calf Oct. 28, 1897. 



Effect of the Change From Barn to Pasture. 



When cows are turned from dry stall feed into the fresh pas- 

 ture of early summer they invariably increase in yield of milk. 

 This is a fact known to all dairymen, but the effect of the same 



