EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 293: 



In passing from Period I to Period II it is evident that the removal of 

 the beets from the ration decreased the digestibility of the dry matter, 

 ash, crude fiber and N. free extract, while the digestibility of the protein 

 remained constant. The addition of potatoes to the ration still farther 

 decreased the digestibility of the dry matter of the crude fiber, and 

 markedly lowered the digestibility of the protein. This result is undoubt- 

 edly due to the fact that potatoes are nearly clear starch, and the 

 addition of so much starch to a normal ration lowers the digestibility 

 of the protein, the fat and the crude fiber. There is a real and apparent 

 discrepancy in the work of the two cows and the results they show in the- 

 coefficients of digestibility in Periods II and III. Whereas Halo 

 digested a greater per cent of every constituent of the ration except the 

 ash in Period II than in Period III, Milla, while agreeing with Halo as to 

 the ash, fat, crude fiber and protein, digested, on the other hand, more 

 of the dry matter and nitrogen free extract in Period III than in 

 Period II. 



Effect of Potatoes and Roots on the Quality of the Butter. — In the 

 winter of 1896, in the months of November, December and January, 

 an experiment was performed to test the effect of feeding beets or pota- 

 toes with a ration consisting otherwise of clover hay, corn stalks and 

 a grain mixture of one part oil meal, two parts oats, three parts bran 

 and four parts corn, or one part oil meal, two parts corn, three parts 

 bran and four parts oats, since both combinations were used during 

 the progress of the experiment. The five cows, College Pauline America, 

 College Houwtje, Cara, Milla and Halo, were used for the experiment. 

 For the period beginning November 13th and ending December 1st no- 

 roots of any kind were fed. The milk of these cows from November 29th 

 to December 2nd, was saved separate from the rest of the herd, churned 

 separately and the butter analyzed and tested for hardness. From. 

 December 2nd to December 22nd, mangolds were fed, in addition to the 

 ration of hay, cornstalks and grain. 



The periods were too short to note any material changes in the quantity 

 of butter fat yielded or to establish any relation between feeding roots 

 and potatoes and variations in the yield of butter fat. The analyses of 

 the butter and the records of the churnings do show, however, variations 

 due to the influence of the potatoes or mangolds. The average per cent 

 of fat lost in the buttermilk when the cows were fed nothing but dry 

 food was .022, when mangolds were added it was .027, when potatoes were 

 fed it was .025. Here the variation was immaterial. The average 

 acidity of the cream was from 40 to 42.2 c. c. of decinormal to the 50 c. c. 

 of cream and was not different in the three periods. The average tem- 

 perature of the cream when the churning was complete was on dry feed 

 58.8, on mangolds 59.6 and on potatoes 59.3. The average time required 

 for churning was on dry feed 34 minutes, on mangolds 36 minutes and 

 on potatoes 86 minutes. On this point there was a very marked differ- 

 ence due to the feeding of potatoes. The cream frothed badly in the 

 churn and it took more than twice as long to bring the butter. The 

 chemical analyses of the butter in the different periods is reported in the 

 table below, in which the hardness is determined by dropping a steel rod 



