306 



BOAED OP AGRICULTURE. 



[Jan., 



ter increased 85 per cent, within six days ! Now, in the week 

 from the 20th to the 26th of May the majority of cows were in 

 the 4th or 5th month of lactation. Evidently, then, this trouble 

 about the tardy separation of cream is not connected closely with 

 the changing phases of lactation ; it must have other grounds. 

 Let us consider further this special case at Raden. 



There had been no change in the management of the dairy. In 

 every particular the milk was set and the butter prepared as it 

 had been for months before. Nor was this remarkable falling off 

 in the butter yield the result of poorer feeding. On the contrary, 

 the ration had been improved. The stock of straw for litter was 

 low, and the straw for feed was taken for litter instead, and red 

 clover which had been saved for an emergency was substituted. 

 This raised the milk yield, which had been falling off gradually 

 since March 31, as the following extract from the dairy record 

 shows. The average yield per day and head was: 



From April 1-7, 1877, 19.9 lbs. milk, with ordinary winter feed. 



For the cause of this trouble we are left then to examine the 

 place where the cattle were kept. 



As spring came on the litter in the stables had to be economized, 

 and, in consequence, although all was done that could be, the 

 place became more and more uncleanly, and the milk was affected 

 by it. 



In the morning it was impossible to clean out the manure before 

 milking, and it was noticed that though the morning's milk was 

 strained both at the stable and the dairy, it was not as clean as 

 the night's milk, and did not give as much butter quart for quart. 



This abnormal behavior of milk has not yet been sufficiently 

 investigated, but the author ventures an opinion which may stimu- 

 late investigation in one particular direction. 



The milk secretion furnishes a more delicate index of the gen- 

 eral state of health of the animal than any other phenomenon 

 connected with its life and the course of its vital processes, and 



