DAIRY FARMING DAIRYING. 909 



ration containing 0.5 lb. digestible protein and 1.3 lbs. digestible calculated carbohy- 

 drates per 10 lbs. of milk yielded. The latter productive portion of the rations was 

 varied during the different periods and on the different farms between 0.4 and 0.6 

 lb. protein and 1.1 and 1.5 lbs. carbohydrates per 10 lbs. of milk. 



The experiments here reported were conducted with 3 or 4 lots of cows on each of 

 7 farms, each lot consisting of 3 or 4 cows. The experiments which were continued 

 for a period of about 6 months included a preliminary period of 15 to 30 days, L' 

 experimental periods of 60 days each, and a post-experimental period of 10 to 30 

 days varying on the different farms according to the time of turning the cows out to 

 pasture. The following summary shows the main deductions drawn by the authors 

 from the results of the experiments. 



By increasing the normal protein or carbohydrates in the productive portion of the 

 rations, the natural depression in milk production may be checked somewhat, espe- 

 cially at the beginning of the lactation period, but the increase in the production is 

 not sufficient to cover the resulting increased cost of the ration, so that the economy 

 of production is decreased. 



By decreasing the normal protein or carbohydrates in the productive portion of 

 the rations a decreased milk production will follow, but while the decrease in the 

 protein tends to increase the net profit obtained, a diminution in the amounts of car- 

 bohydrates fed will decrease the same, because the decrease in milk production 

 caused by a diminution of the carbohydrates fed is*not accompanied by a decrease in 

 food cost to the same extent as in the case of a diminution in the amounts of protein 

 fed. Since protein is largely supplied in the form of oil cake wdiich must be bought, 

 while carbohydrates are produced on the farm, a reduction in protein below normal 

 can better be justified than a reduction in carbohydrates. A reduction in the allow- 

 ance of protein is not, however, advisable at the beginning of the lactation period or 

 long before the cows are turned out to pasture. 



Individual cows producing most milk or butter fat on a certain amount of feed 

 should preferably be used for breeding. Only by feeding in proportion to live weight 

 and amount of milk produced is it possible to ascertain which individuals in the herd 

 have the best assimilative and productive capacities. For this reason, the authors 

 argue against the group system of collective feeding in studies of the influence of 

 certain feeds or feed rations upon milk production. 



A detailed discussion of the arrangement of the system of feeding advocated, under 

 practical farm conditions follows the report proper. Analyses of the feeding stuffs 

 used in the experiments and detailed tabulated data occupy the last 50 pages of the 

 report. — f. w. woll. 



On the feeding value of dry matter in roots for milch cows, 1899-1901, 

 F. Friis (Ber. K. Yet. Landbohojskoles Lab. Landokon. Formg. [Copenhagen], 55 

 (1904), pp- 140+86). — This report contains a full account of the thirteenth and four- 

 teenth years' experiments with milch cows conducted by the Copenhagen Experiment 

 Station at Danish dairy farms, according to the plan originally worked out by the late 

 Prof. N. J. Fjord. The general question studied both years was the value of the dry 

 matter of root crops in comparison with grain or oil cakes in rations for dairy cows. 

 The experiments are, therefore, a continuation of the investigations reported in the 

 thirteenth, seventeenth, and twentieth reports of the station (E. S. R., 14, p. 801). 



The experiments were conducted on 7 different farms, with 40 cows separated into 4 

 even lots on each farm. As in the earlier work, the experiments comprised a pre- 

 liminary period of 40 to 70 days when all cows were fed alike, an experimental 

 period of 60 to 70 days, when the lots were fed different rations, and a post- 

 experimental period when the lots were again fed alike, and so far as possible, the 

 same as during the preliminary period. During the experiment proper 2 lots 

 (A and C) were fed a basal ration containing a very small amount of oil cake (1 lb. ), 

 and in addition, lot A received 3 lbs. of grain and lot C a similar amount of dry 



