No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 279 



they kept their cows in that closed barnyard all the time where 

 they were exposed to a good deal of colder weather, not to rains or 

 severe winter weather, but a good deal lower temperature than they 

 would be in the barn. They said their experience was that cows 

 gave just as much milk and did just as well in that colder, somewhat 

 sheltered place, than in the barn, but if they turned them out there 

 for a few days after they had become accustomed to a warm stable^ 

 there was a very considerable milk shrinkage in them. 



I presume that a uniform condition is just as important as the exact 

 conditions themselves. They told me further that a cow kept out 

 in this cold barnyard— that those cows protected themselves against 

 the cold to a certain degree, while if kept in the barn, their coats 

 would be thinner. I think uniformity of condition is of some im- 

 portance. The mere matter of supplying fuel to keep up the animal 

 heat, I don't think that cuts any great figure. There is no question 

 that a cow produces more heat than she needs to keep her body warm. 

 We have pretty well established the fact by experiments here that 

 a moderately low temperature is rather advantageous than other- 

 wise. I do not think that turning a cow out in a cold barnyard 

 would have any effect causing her to eat up more fuel to keep warm. 

 A dairy cow varies from the steer in this: She uses her fat for two 

 distinct purposes. She may put it into her milk, or may put the fat 

 on her ribs, if you expose her to cold. The tendency is to check the 

 milk production; that is likely to be the tendency, and while she may 

 really produce just as much, you turn her from milk production to 

 fat production. I am not sure that the same thing may not be true 

 to a certain extent in the matter of exercise. 



There have been some very instructive papers published by some 

 Germans on exercise of dairy cows. They use the cows over there 

 for working animals so that the conditions differ. In two or three 

 cases experiments have shown these results, that the cow, worked 

 moderately, showed no diminution in milk supply as the result of that 

 amount of work. That is, the general result of the experiments in- 

 dicated that the tendency is, if anything, to make the milk a little 

 better in quality than when cows were kept tied up in the stable. 

 I do not think these few results are to be generalized from on the 

 basis of the experiments made. The conditions are pretty complex, 

 but I am inclined to think that uniformity of conditions may be quite 

 as important as the temperature itself. If you are shifting her back 

 and forth, you are liable to have trouble or you may turn the produc- 

 tion from milk to fat or beef. 



MR. HERR: During our institute last winter, Mr. Detrich made a 

 very radical statement in regard to a cow chewing her cud. I would 

 like to ask Dr. Armsby to what extent the exercise of chewing her 



