The Question Box. 69 



I spray crude petroleum, or tobacco water, or any other of the 

 remedies. But it only keeps the flies off a few hours. One will 

 have to spray his cows at least once a day if he wishes to keep off 

 the flies. 



Mr. Smith. — The mixture made of fish oil, carbolic acid and 

 tobacco stem water, if rubbed on, proved the most really effective 

 remedy used at the Geneva Station farm. 



Question. — Which is the best cow for the dairy, the large or 

 small one ? 



Mr. Woodward. — The cow that will pay the most for what 

 she consumes; so it would all depend on the cow. 



Question. — Would you feed the same ration to a cow for butter 

 as you would for milk for market or for cheese ? 



Mr. Rice. — Yes, sir; with just an exception. In making but- 

 ter, some foods will affect its quality and texture, which would 

 not affect the milk. To illustrate, when corn meal, timothy hay 

 or cotton seed meal are fed, the butter is hardened. AVhen clover 

 hay, gluten meal, oil meal and wheat bran are fed, the butter 

 will be softened. But these foods will not influence the quality 

 of the milk, one way or another, for cheese. 



To Mr. Goodrich. — Is it not true that at Cornell they produced 

 a good flow of milk from an almost carbonaceous ration? 



Answer. — I do not know. Have seen no report of it from 

 there. 



Mr. Van Wagenen. — I am somewhat familiar with the work 

 at Cornell, but have seen no such report. It is certainly economy 

 to use something to balance a ration. A cow giving 30 to 40 

 pounds of milk a day ought to have two and a half pounds of pro- 

 tein, which she cannot get from sugar and starch, unless she is 

 forced to eat more than she-ought. 



Question. — When is the best time to feed cows grain ? 



Mr. Van Wagenen. — Feed the dairy cow some grain every 

 time she gets other food. The old way was to feed the cows 

 three times a day; some, however, prefer twice. 



Question. — Can the quality of milk be improved by feed, or 

 must we depend entirely on the breed? 



Dr. Smead. — A good quality of food will produce better milk 

 than poor foods, but feed will not make a good cow out of a poor 

 one; do the best we can. Now comes the question of quality of 

 cow. If one has been fed up to her normal capacity, no amount 

 of feeding will increase her per cent, of butter fat. If it would, 



