74 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



these organs power of reasoning they would doubtless be as dissat- 

 isfied with the ill-scented product as is the dair3'raan himself. 



The sudden introduction of i)ungent food into the stomach of the 

 cow thoroughly charges ever}' part of the animal with its peculiar 

 odor. The digestive apparatus is unable to pass it off and it seeks 

 egress through the milk channels. When such foods are introduced 

 into the ration gradually, the animal system has opportunity to 

 become acquainted with them and the milk organs are toned up to 

 such a degree, as to be able to eliminate the undesirable flavors. 



Aside from the one requisite of flavor, we know there are certain 

 foods that excel most others in yielding butter of good color 

 and firmness. Good pasture grass, at its best, supplemented with 

 a moderate quantity of corn meal or good, well cured hay and 

 clover with the addition of corn meal, are foods suited to the pro- 

 duction of the finest qualities of butter. Indeed I know of no grain 

 or by-product that, when fed in connection with bay or grass, 

 imparts the desirable qualities of flavor, texture, and color, with so 

 much certainty as does corn meal. 



Yet. admitting these valuable properties of coru meal, it is not 

 desirable as an exclusive grain food. It is too heavy and heating 

 to be used alone, and should be mixed with something more bulky, 

 as wheat bran or ground oats. Its content of digestible albu- 

 minoids is insufficient to make a ration an economical one. Wheat 

 bran, considering its content of digestible albuminoids — (about 

 twelve per cent) , and the low price it usually bears in the market, is a 

 most valuable food. There is no grain food better suited to the 

 health and thrift of growing animals than this. Nothing better 

 meets the drain upon the cow that milks almost constantly and 

 carries young three-fourths of her whole lifetime. From its starchy 

 condition it relieves the system of irritation, and promotes the 

 healthy action of the bowels. Cotton seed meal, showing thirty- 

 five per cent digestible albuminoids and forty-seven per cent car- 

 bohydrates, with its nutritive ratio of one to one and one-third, is a 

 most valuable food although the quality of butter resulting from its 

 use is not of a high standard. From its high feeding value and low 

 cost it must have a place in every profitable milk ration. 



Ground oats are admirably adapted to use in the dairy herd, but 

 are not so economical as wheat bran, as they contain only about 

 three-fourths as much digestible albuminoids and have a higher 

 market price per pound. 



