DAIRY FARMING DAIRYINCJ AGROTECHNY. 871 



DAIRY FARMING— DAIRYING— AGROTECHNY. 



[Feeding experiments with cows], J. Michels {North Carolina Sta. Bui. 

 J 99, pp. 5-12). — Corn stover of rather inferior quality was compared with 

 cottou-seed hulls as a roughage for milk production when fed with a grain 

 ration consisting of cotton-seed meal, dried brewers' grains, and linseed meal 

 4:2:1. Seven cows were used for the experiment and the feeding periods 

 lasted 22 days, exclusive of the preliminary feeding. 



"Averaging the results of the 2 stover periods, . . . the cows yielded 2,482 

 lbs. of milk during the stover period against 2,414.4 lbs. for the hull period. 

 Similarly, the cows during the stover period yielded 11G.2 lbs. of butter fat as 

 against 116.5 lbs. for the avei-age of the hull periods, showing in this experiment 

 that cotton-seed hulls and corn stover had practically equal value as milk and 

 butter fat producers On the whole it may be concluded that the cotton- 

 seed hulls and corn stover used in the experiment had about equal value in 

 maintaining the live weight of the cows. . . . Aside from their low nutritive 

 value, cotton-seed hulls do not seem very well suited for dairy cows, on account 

 of their low palatability and digestibility. With the cows used in these experi- 

 ments it was found that a majority refused the hulls when they were offered 

 them unmixed with concentrated feeds. When mixed with the concentrates the 

 cows would eat them, largely because they were obliged to do so in order to 

 get the concentrates. On general principles it can not be considered good feed- 

 ing to thus force cows to swallow a lot of unpalatable material, especially 

 when such material has such a low digestibility." 



In another experiment 6 grade cows, from 3 to 4 weeks in lactation, were 

 used to compare corn meal with a mixture of corn meal and dried brewers' 

 grains in equal portions as a supplement to cotton-seed meal for milk produc- 

 tion. The feeding periods were 21 days each. The average yield for the 2 

 periods in which corn meal alone was fed was 2,933.1 lbs. of milk, and for the 

 period when the mixture of corn meal and brewers' grains was fed, 2,859.5 lbs. 



The Canadian record of performance for pure-bred dairy cattle (Canada 

 Dept. Agr.. Branch Live Stock Comr. Rpt. J, pp. ,32). — This contains the rules 

 and regulations of standards for registration of the Ayrshire, French-Canadian, 

 Guernsey, Holstein-Friesian, and Jersey breeds. Details of yields of pure-bred 

 Canadian cows, which have been admitted to the advance registry, are included. 



Improvement in dairy herds, P. .T. Carroll (Jour. Dept. Agr. Victoria, 6 

 (1908), \o. 10, pp. 597-60-'t).— The author calls attention to the low yields of 

 the average cows, and outlines a scheme for forming cow-testing associations. 



The dairy institutes in Germany, Weigmann (III us. Landw. Ztg., 28 

 (1908), No. 81, pp. l-',9-1l51).—X brief history of these institutions and their 

 significance. 



Milking machines, A. L. Haecker and E. M. Little (Nebraska Sta. Bui. 

 108, pp. 3-7,i, pl. 1, figs. .'/). — The milking machine in use at the station is 

 described and the results of various tests with the university herd are reported. 



Tables are submitted which show the effect of the machine upon the yearly 

 records of 20 cows. In at least one case the lactation period was shortened 

 by the use of the machine. The amount of strippings left to be drawn by hand 

 was very low, averaging about 3 per cent. Six cows milked out perfectly clean 

 during the entire lactation i^eriod. "The average amount of strippings from 

 the entire number of cows was only 220.7 lbs. This is less than 0.75 lb. each 

 day per head. This item is significant only when we consider the performance 

 of individual cows aiHi when wo learn that in almost every case the period when 



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