1006 



EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



the test and to add to this eertain quantities of the protein mixture, varyinjjf for 

 the different cows according to the average daily amount of butter fat they had pro- 

 duced in the first test. ' ' 



The following table summarizes the result of each test: 



Original and suggested rations fed to dairy coivs. 



"Tlie cost of the average ration was less in the second test for 1 herd, practically 

 the same for 2 herds, and was more in the second test for 1 herd. The average food 

 cost of producing 100 1V)S. of milk was less in the second test for 2 herds and was 

 more for the other 2 herds. The average food cost of 1 lb. of butter was less in the 

 cases of 3 herds and more in the case of 1 herd in the second tests. 



"When the food cost of jirodncing milk and butter is compared by groups of cows 

 fed different amounts of protein in the first and second tests, it appears that the cost 

 of producing 1 lb. of butter was less in nearly all groups in the second test than in 

 the first, when the amount of protein in the second test was not more than about 2.6 

 lbs. per day. The gains in yields and profit in the second tests seem to be most 

 marked when the results from the use of from 1.9 to 2.4 lbs. of protein are compared 

 with those from the use of smaller quantities. 



* ' The economy of feeding according to the yields of milk or butter fat depends much 

 upon what yields are taken as a basis. In these experiments, where about 2 lbs. of 

 protein was used as a basal ration for a yield of 0.5 lb. of butter fat daily, and the 

 protein was increased from 0.20 to 0.27 lb. for an increase of from 0.15 to 0.20 lb. of 

 butter fat, the food cost of production was generally less, until the protein reached 

 about 2.6 lbs., than where uniform rations with smaller amounts of protein were 

 used. The number of experiments is too small and the variations in the amounts of 

 protein fed are too limited to be used as a basis for judging the amounts of protein 

 needed for a given yield of butter fat; but the indications are that the amount of 

 protein fed should l)e between 1.9 and 2.5 lbs., varying according to the productive- 

 ness of the cow." 



Value of sugar beets as a food for milch cows, G. W. Berglitnd {Nord. Mejeri 

 Tidn., J8 {1903), Xo. 4, pp. 43,44)- — Sugar beets were fed to 32 cows, in quantities 

 ranging for the 5 different groups from 10 to 25 kg. per head daily. The grain feed 

 given was 1 kg. malt sprouts, 1 kg. wheat bran, i kg. each of peanut meal and sun- 

 flower-seed cake, 1 kg. rape-seed cake, with straw and hay as roughage. The exper- 

 imental periods lasted from 19 to 23 days. The highest returns were obtained with 

 cows fed 20 kg. of beets per day, those fed 10 kg. coming second. The author con- 

 cludes that sugar beets are an excellent food for milch cows; they increase the milk 

 flow perceptibly without affecting the fat content of the milk, and may be advan- 

 tageously used to take the place, in i)art, of starchy concentrated foods in the feeding 

 of milch cows. — p. w. woll. 



