RECORD OF AN ATTEMPT TO INCREASE THE FAT IN MILK 

 BY MEANS OF LIBERAL FEEDING. 



Of all the problems that have been under discussion concerning the 

 production, nature and composition of milk, probably none has been 

 the subject of more controversy than the question of how far the 

 composition of the milk, especially its fat content, is influenced by 

 the food of the cow. One reason for this discussion is that the results 

 of investigation soon ran contrary to the generally received opinion 

 of farmers and dairymen. For a long time the opinion has been very 

 strong in the minds of dairymen that the percentage of fat in milk 

 is directly and largely influenced by the food of the cow. If 99 out 

 of 100 ^dairymen are; asked ^whether they can make their cows give 

 richer milk by changing the food, they will answer at once in the 

 affirmative, and many will go so far as to say that they have done it 

 time and agam. Still this is one of the results that careful investiga- 

 tors have been trying to secure for the last 20 years and so far they 

 have met with little or no success. 



In a recent bulletin* summing up the work done along this line at 

 various institutions in this country and abroad, the conclusion was 

 reached, that in general terms, it is not possible materially and per- 

 manently to increase or diminish the percentage of fat in the milk 

 of a cow through changes in the amount or character of the food. 

 Following the publication of this statement, came several criticisms, 

 the most noticeable of which was to the effect that the cows experi- 

 mented with were not calculated to show a difference in the percent- 

 age of fat, because the animals under trial were cows that had been 

 kept always on an abundance of good food, and had never lacked for 

 food in any way. They had already been developed to their highest 

 capacity and it is not to be expected that such cows will show a very 

 marked change in the fat content of the milk following a change in 

 the food. If, on the other hand, cows had been taken as they are 

 ordinarily found in the country, the larger number of which are 

 insufficiently fed and have never had a chance to develop, it would 

 be possible to materially increase the percentage of fat in the milk 

 by giving the cows an abundance of rich food. It seemed to us that 

 perhaps the criticism was well taken, and that there might be many 



* Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin No. 173, No- 

 vember, 1899, "The Relation of Food to Milk Fat." 



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