170 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Ensilage, for instance, is highly recommended for milch cows and it is doubtless 

 one of the best foods that is known; consequently, feeding must be governed bj' 

 one's experience, and he can soon learn that there are certain times when 

 these aromatic foods may be taken into the stomach without causing any dis- 

 turbance in the milk flavor. The quautity fed to each cow, or the time of feed- 

 ing these foods have to do with milk conditions also. We call attention to these 

 feeds because many times it will be found that some particular odor or flavor in 

 milk may be traced directly to this source or even the character of the milk may 

 be altered. 



A certain milk company's regulations may serve to illustrate the significance of 

 feeding for milk production. "All brewers' grain, refuse from distilleries and 

 every kind of fodder which is not in a fresh or good condition is forbidden. Tur- 

 nips and rutabagas are absolutely forbidden; no kind of turnip leaves is allowed. 

 Vetches are forbidden. Rape-seed cake is the only oil-cake allowed. One and 

 one-half pounds is the furthest limit, and along with it must be at least five 

 pounds of corn and bran. Milch cows furnishing milk for infants must have no 

 oil-cake." 



From this it will be understood that attention should constantly be directed 

 to the food given to milk-producing cows because such food may influence the 

 aroma or flavor of the milk or may convey or cause to be conveyed to it substances 

 which may make it impalatable or even injurious to the drinker. The mother 

 is usually familiar with the facility with which her food may cause disturbance 

 in her nursing child. What is true of the mother is doubtless equally true of 

 the cow. It is only necessary to recall the drastic poison in the cow's milk in 

 milk-sickness or the possibility of poison secretion in milk when animals are 

 bitten by poisonous snakes. While this subject may not be as definite as might 

 be wished, yet there are sufficient facts to guide us in this matter of feeding. 



Usually the feeding materials mentioned will not influence the milk seriously 

 if fed two or more hours before milking or immediately after milking, and some- 

 times if fed in limited quantities. 



IV. THE C0:NDITI0N of the AlflMAL, WHETHER SOUND OB UNSOUND. 



Much is said, and many inquiries made concerning the production of milk from 

 animals which may be afflicted with disease. This question is legitimate when 

 the disease involves a race rather than individuals, but is not legitimate when 

 it involves only individuals of a herd or individual herds. Tuberculosis is so rife 

 among milch cows in some countries that it is practically impossible to eliminate 

 all diseased animals without doing serious injury to the dairying industry of 

 that country. Under these condtions it may be well to consider very carefully 

 the best means of manipulating milk so that the disease will be curbed among the 

 cattle, and at the same time will not endanger mankind. But when the disease 

 is confined to a single cow of a herd or to a single herd of a community, then it 

 appears that the most rational method would be simply to eliminate the sick 

 animals from the milk-producing list. 



Whether it is possible to establish an exact relationship between the disease 

 in the bovine species and in man, is of little moment. It is fair to conjecture 

 that no human being cares to run the risk or to even entertain the thought of 

 drinking milk from a diseased animal. It may be in one case tuberculosis, where 

 transmission through milk has been established, or it may be a case of lumpy 

 jaw where transmission has not been established, or in some other diseased 

 condition of the animal-; but whether we know anything at all about the trans- 

 mission of the disease to man, no matter how we view it, the thought of drinking 

 milk from such diseased animals is obnoxious. No one should be obliged to 

 drink milk from an unsound animal, and no one ought to be so inhuman as to 

 think of it. The first assumption, therefore, is that in order to secure good milk 

 the animal must be sound. It is a regulation of many cities of the United States 

 that cows furnishing milk for the city supply must be sound and free from 

 disease. The tuberculin test in many instances is recommended, but not enforced. 

 The time will probably come when the milk producers will see the economical 

 value of such a test and will voluntarily submit to its application. 



