500 



conditions of food and weatbcr, which as a rule favorably inilncuced milk flow, did 

 so at the expense of (jiiality. * f * 



The analyses show also that in the month of June there was a decided chan<f6 iu 

 the relative amounts of the casein and sugar iu the milk of all the breeds, viz., a 

 decrease iu the per cent of casein, and au increase in the sugar. That this change 

 in the relation of these eoniponuds influenced the specific gravity of the milk is 

 uudonlrted, though the exact cause of the change in composition of the milk in this 

 month must be determined by further study. * * * 



The Guernseys were dry for the shortest period; the Ayrshires and Jerseys would 

 each average about 1 month, and the Holstein-Friesians and Shorthorns about 2 

 months per year. There are conditions of dairy farming when this point would be 

 of considerable importance iu the selection of animals. 



The cost of food consumed was secured from the prices actually paid for concen- 

 trated feeding stufl's and by fixing market values on produce raised on the- farm, and 

 is uniform throughout for all the breeds. The prices used were as follows : hay, |10 

 per ton; wheat bran, $17.00; corn and oat meal, $20.40; cotton-seed meal, $25.40; 

 liu.sced meal, $29.40; gluten meal, $22.50; oil meal, $25 ; dried brewers' grains, $16.00; 

 corn stalks, $0 ; green fodder, $2.50 ; silage corn, $3.50 ; roots, $8 per ton ; and pasture, 

 10 cents per day of 12 hours. * * » 



In table 5 the column containing the average yield of milk per day indicates that 

 on the basis of milk production the five breeds represent three classes, the Guernseys 

 .and Jerseys going together as before, with an average of 8.5 quarts: the Ayrshires 

 and Shorthorns, with an average of 9 quarts; and the Holsteins, a class by them- 

 selves, with an average daily yield of 11 quarts — 23 per cent greater than the first 

 and 18 per cent greater than the second. 



The average cost of the daily rations also varies considerably and in such a manner 

 as to make the average cost of food per quart of milk very uniform, the lowest, 1.C6 

 cents, being for the Ayrshires, and the diftereuce between the highest and lowest 

 cost but one quarter of a cent. It should be said, however, that in the case of the 

 Ilolsteius, the cost of the ration was considcr.ably increased by the fact that the 

 amouut of coarse fodder eaten by them was greater than in the other breeds and con- 

 sisted largely of timothy hay, one of the most expensive foods eaten, which probably 

 did not materially aid in milk production. 



It is shown in table 6 that the breed giving the lowest average per cent of solids 

 in the milk [Holstein-Friesians] produces the greatest amount of milk per day, and 

 that in this breed it is produced in such quantity as to yield the greatest amount of 

 total solids daily. What is true of the Holsteins, however, is not true of the Ayrshires 

 and Shorthorns, for in the case of those breeds the lower quality is not accompanied 

 by a proportionate increase in yield, and the average daily solids is lowest. 



A study of table 7 develops the fact that the cost of food per jjouud of fat is low in 

 those breeds whose milk shows a high content of fat, and high in those showing a 

 low content of fat; but that the lowest daily averages are not accompanied by the 

 highest cost, and that, on the basis of cost per pound of butter, the breeds are again 

 divided into three classes, which correspond exactly to those shown when the basis 

 is average daily yield of milk, viz., the Guernseys and Jerseys, the Ayrshires and 

 Shorthorns, and the Holstein-Friesians by themselves. The cost per pound of butter 

 fat, as a rule, is greatest in the breeds whose average daily yield of milk is the largest. 



Studied under the conditions which now largely rule in the sale of the distinct 

 dairy products, milk and butter, and which must define the present methods of com- 

 parison of breeds from the commercial standpoint, the results show that all tlio 

 breeds do not present the same points of comparison, but are divided into distinct 

 classes, oue milk, the other butter. In the milk class the average cost of a <iuart of 

 milk is less than in the butter class, and iu the butter class the average cost of a 

 pound of butter is less than iu the milk class. 



