BUREAU OP ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 99 



DAIRY EXPERIMENT FARM. 



At the dairy experiment farm at Beltsville, Md., in charge of T. E. 

 Woodward, various improvements have been made, including the 

 laying of 23,506 feet of tile and the grading and surfacing of lots, 

 yards, and roads. 



An experiment in grading up scrub cattle by continued inbreeding 

 to pure-bred bulls is progressing well. There are now 30 heifers of 

 the first mating, and all give promise of being considerably superior 

 to their dams. 



A number of pure-bred Guernsey heifers purchased last year have 

 freshened, are being officially tested, and are making creditable 

 records. 



Results of the comparison of warm and cold skim milk for calves 

 indicate that the former gives the greater gains in live weight with a 

 smaller quantity per pound of gain. No digestive disorders resulted 

 from feeding the cold milk. 



An experiment with the open shed versus the closed barn for 

 stabling dairy cows has continued each winter since 1913, and while 

 still uncompleted, the data so far obtained indicate that cows in 

 open shed produced slightly more milk and butterfat, and consumed 

 somewhat more feed, required more bedding, and kept cleaner, than 

 those in the closed barn. 



In experiments to test the effect of feed on the quality of milk, 

 bone meal alone was found to have no appreciable effect upon the 

 percentage of fat in the milk. When a group of cows that were fed 

 a ration low in minerals and allowed only three-fourths of the normal 

 quantity of water were compared with a similar group receiving a 

 ration containing bone meal and allowed all the water they would 

 drink twice daily, it was found that the former group produced 

 less milk containing a higher percentage of butterfat than the latter. 



Feeding trials indicate that sorghum silage is not equal to corn 

 silage for milk production. It has also been found that for the last 

 two years sorghum yielded 83^ and 96 per cent, respectively, as much 

 silage per acre as corn. 



In cooperation with the Bureau of Chemistry experiments have 

 been carried on in feeding potato silage and potato meal to dairy 

 cows. At first most of the cows showed a decided distaste for the 

 potato silage, but after a time they ate it with almost as much relish 

 as corn silage. Feeding trials with the potato meal compared with 

 corn meal have not been completed. 



In the comparison of different materials for cow stalls it appears 

 at this time that cork brick will prove to be less durable than creo- 

 soted wood blocks, but less porous and hence more sanitary. Con- 

 crete floors are more sanitary than either and are more easily cleaned. 



DAIRY ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING. 



Stock plans and specifications for various kinds of dairy buildings 

 have been prepared and blue prints issued as follows: Dairy barns, 

 567; milk houses, 233; silos, 117; creameries, 38; manure sheds, 13; 

 ice houses, 8; city milk plants, 5; miscellaneous, 212; total, 1,193. 

 In addition, special plans and specifications were furnished for 1 

 creamery, 3 cheese factories, and 1 city milk plant. The preparation 

 of such plans is now done in cooperation with the Office of Public 



