MILK AS THE SOLE DIET OF RUMINANTS. 

 A. C. McCANDLISH. 



From time immemorial milk has been regarded as the food 

 best adapted to the nourishing of mammalia. It is the sole diet 

 of all mammals during the earlier part of their postnatal de- 

 velopment and is also recognized as an excellent staple in the 

 diet of the adult human, especially in the ease of invalids. On 

 the farm it is used extensively in the feeding of young animals 

 and in the case of the hog it is fed in large quantities to more 

 mature individuals. 



Within the last decade much investigational work has been 

 done on the nutritive value of milk and other food-stuffs and 

 throughout these investigations milk has measured up to all 

 expected standards. The O'bject of this paper is to show that in 

 spite of the high nutritive value of milk there are limitations to 

 its use ; limitations which are inherent, not in the milk itself, 

 but in the class of animals to which it is fed. 

 PREVIOUS WORK. 



The food nutrients recognized as essential to the animal or- 

 ganism are carbohydrates, fats, proteins, ash and water and 

 Table I demonstrates that all of these constituents are abundant 

 in milk. 



TABIiE I. 

 AVERAGE COMPOSITION OF MILK.io 



CONSTITtlENT PeR CeNT 



Water 87.17 



Fat 3.69 



Casien 3.02 



Albumen .53 



Sugar 4.88 



Ash .71 



The proteins, fats and carbohydrate are present in the pro- 

 portions that are recognized as being best suited for the growth 

 of young animals, and the ash constituents al:>o are abundant. 



Within recent years it has been shown that all proteins are 

 not of equal value for nutritional purposes as the nutritive value 

 of a protein is determined by its amino-acid constitution. Some 

 proteins are inefficient due to the fact that they do not contaiu 

 all the amino-acids necessary for the life, growth and normal 



