DAIRY FARMING — DAIRYING. 695 



meal, and produced 7,689 lbs. of milk and 124.89 lbs. of butter fat Lol 3 consumed 

 16,139 lbs. of silage, 3,350 lbs. of alfalfa hay, and 3,725 lbs. of wheat bran, and pro- 

 duced 'i.414 lbs. of milk and .;47.'.i!) lbs. of butter fat. Tin- digestible matter con- 

 sumed by the 3 lots for the production of a gallon of milk was, respectively, 6.5 

 and 7.9 lbs., and for the production of a pound ol butter, 11.3, 12.1, and 14.7 lbs. 



From these results it is concluded that 1 lb. of cotton-seed meal could be replaced 

 by ahout 3 lbs. of alfalfa hay, and 1 lb. of wheat bran by about 1.5 lbs. of alfalfa 

 hay. The limit of this substitution will depend upon the individual capacity of the 

 animals to consume the hay. It is stated that ordinarily not more than 10 to 12 11 

 hay will be consumed when fed with silage, but that this amount may lie increased to 15 

 to 20 lbs. when fed without silage. In this experiment the favorable results follow- 

 ing the substitution of alfalfa for a part of the concentrates were attributed in a large 

 measure to the feeding of these materials with a fine quality of si I _ 



The net cost of producing a gallon of milk, allowance being made for the cost of 

 food and attendance and also for the value of the manure, war- 7.1 cts. i>>r lot I, 5.7 

 for lot 2, and 8.2 for lot :;. The net cost fora pound of butter was. respectively, 12.3, 

 10.4, and 15.3 cts. From the standpoint of economic production the best results 

 were, therefore, obtained with lot 2. With alfalfa hay at $10per ton and wheat bran 

 at $20 the saving effected by substituting alfalfa for wheat bran is estimated at 19.8 

 cts. per 100 lbs. of milk and $2.80 per 100 lbs. of butter. 



Comparing the present with the earlier experiment it was found that when cow- 

 pea hay was fed under the most favorable conditions a gallon of milk cost 5.2 cts. 

 and a pound of butter 9.4 cts.. when alfalfa hay was fed the figures were, respectively, 

 5.7 and 10.4 cts. On the whole the results would seem to prove that in localities 

 where cowpeas grow well this crop may be economically and satisfactorily substi- 

 tuted for wheat bran, and in localities where alfalfa succeeds better this crop may 

 be nsed with about equally good results. 



Feeding experiments with cows, C. D. Woods [Maine Sto. Bid. 106, i>[>. 122- 

 126 \. — In an experiment with 6 cows a comparison was made of soy bean and corn 

 silage with corn silage alone. ^Yhile the results are not considered entirely satis- 

 factory, they are believed to indicate that, on the whole, the cows did practically as 

 well on corn and soy bean silage with 1 lb. less grain as on corn silage. 



In a second experiment, a comparison was made between a proprietary mixture 

 known as Union drains and a grain mixture composed of wheat bran, cotton-seed 

 meal, and linseed meal, the latter mixture containing a little more protein but 

 fat than the former. Eighteen animals were used in the experiment which covered 

 •'! periods of 1 week each with intervening periods. The experiment was not con- 

 sidered entirely satisfactory owing to a change of milkers, but the results were 

 believed to show that on the whole the proprietary ration was better for milk pro- 

 duction than the oil meal and bran ration, although the latter was the less expensive 

 ration. 



Record of an attempt to increase the fat in milk by means of liberal feed- 

 ing, H. II. \Yiv, and J. A. Foobd [New York Cornell Sla. Bid. 222, pp. l^-4U. figs. 

 11 ). — The private herd selected for the investigations reported in this bulletin con- 

 sisted at the start of 21 cows, the larger number of which were comparatively young 

 and in the same stage of lactation. The herd, which was located on a farm near 

 Cornell University, had had a history of insufficient feeling for several years. 



The experiments began in March, 1900. For 1 lactation period the cows were 

 kept under exactly the same conditions a- before, and a record of the yield and fat 

 content of milk was obtained. Ten of the cows were then taken to the University 

 and fed liberally for 2 lactation periods, at the close of which the 7 cows remaining 

 of this number were returned to the farm from which they were obtained, and kept 

 there fora fourth lactation period under conditions practically identical with those 

 during the first period. 



