THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



stead-yards and winter pastures must have existed 

 in those days ; and from the directions which ever 

 and anon appear in the works of these early writers, 

 it is evident that leaves, straw, and the young 

 branches of trees were not very unfrequently the 

 sole food on which the dairy cows had to sub- 

 sist. 



How refreshing it is, then, to turn from the 

 barbarism of those days to the modern well-bred 

 and carefully-tended herds of our time — to a period 

 when the advantages of gentleness, skilful feeding, 

 cleanliness, quiet, and warmth, are so generally 

 understood ! Take, for instance, the researches of 



Mr. Horsfall, of Burley, in Yorkshire, described in 

 the recent number of the Journal of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society; notice how, step by step, he 

 shows the demands made upon the cow for her 

 calf and her milk and the food necessary to meet 

 that ensuing waste of her substance. To illustrate 

 these practical questions, he experimented during 

 rather more than 27 weeks upon six milch cows. 

 During this time the food was weighed, its com- 

 position ascertained, and the disposal of that food 

 traced {Jour. Roy. Ag. Soc, vol. xviii. p. 15G). The 

 food these cows consumed during that period, and 

 its composition, were as follows : — 



The constituents of this food could only be dis- 

 posed of by these cows in either the milk they 

 yielded, the perspiration they emitted, the flesh 

 they acquired, or the excrement they voided. 



Now in this time the production of milk by six 

 cows averaged 14 quarts per day each for 273 

 weeks = 16,072 quarts, which at 41 oz. per quart 

 = 41, 184 lbs. lbs. 



When dry or free from moisture 5230 



Butter in 16,072 quarts at 30 per 1000 = 1235 

 Casein ,, „ 48.2 „ = 1977 

 Sugar of milk = 1804 



Minerals / Pl^^^phateof lime 99 | _ 214 

 I. Uther 115J 



5230 

 And in the same time they gained in weight 

 500 lbs., which their owner calculated to be 300 lbs. 

 as fat, and 200 lbs. as flesh. The excrement of 

 these cows was then examined, which amounted to 

 88 lbs. a day. This was examined by Professor 

 Way, who found in it percent. : — 



Moisture ... 84.85 



Phosphoric acid .39 



Potash 58 



Soda .22 



Other substances 13.96 



100. 



Nitrogen .41 = Ammonia .49 



So that from these examinations it would appear 

 that if the nitrogen in the food of these cows 

 equalled S8S, the dis^posal of this was as follows ; — 



In the casein 316. 



„ Fibrin 7.35 



„ Manure 414. 



The remainder consumed in perspiration 1 50.65 



888. 

 The question as to the proportion of the food 

 necessary to keep her in store condition, and the 

 farther proportion required by her when yielding 

 milk, did not escape Mr. Horsfall's attention. He 

 takes for his starting point the established opinion 

 of his district, that 20 lbs. of meadow hay suffice 

 for the daily maintenance of a cow of fair size in 

 store condition, a like result being obtained from 

 120 lbs. of turnips per day. The six cows then 

 reqiiired during the 27 weeks, for their mffin/eMa?jce 

 only :• 



Albuminous 



matter. Oil. 



Hay., lbs. 2127 616 



Turnips . . 2295 306 



Starch, Total 



&c. weight. 

 9130 22,960 



9100 137,760 



The excess of the food given to them beyond this 

 amount, then, was chiefly converted into milk, or 

 meat, or the enrichment of the excreta. For the 

 maintenance, then, of a fair-sized cow for one day 

 in a normal state, the following elements seem 



adequate : — 



Mineral 

 Ingredients. 



PhOE- 



Albumen. Oil. Starch, Lime. 



phoric 



acid. 



1.11 



1.9 



In201b3. of hay.. 1.85 .536 7.95 .90 

 120 „ turnips 1.98 .26 7.82 .97 



" When cows are in milk, there occurs a much 

 greater activity of the function? ; they eat and 



