460 Journal of Ai^r/i-i/If.'/rc. [10 Aug., 1908. 



A quart of average milk weighs 2 1-5 pounds and has a specific gravity 

 of 1.032. In making this quart of milk the cow takes the following; 

 con.stituent.s out of the feed she has eaten: — 



1. 18 ounces of fat. 



1. 18 ounces of casein or cheese matter. 

 1.76 ounces of milk sugar. 

 .35 ounces of ash. 



and mi'xes them with 30.62 ounces of water. The ash represents all 

 that would be left if the water were evaporated and the solids burned. 



The Y ear-Book of Agriculture for 1905 gives full details of many 

 excellent food rations adapted to Victoria. Takings 1,000 lbs. weight 

 as the standard weight of a dairv cow, it is found that to furnish the 

 full milking capacity the following average ration is required : — 



Dry matter in fooil, 25 lbs. 

 Containing digestible protein, 2.5 lbs. 

 Containing digestible carbo-hvdrates, 12.5 lbs. 

 Containing digestible fats, 5 lbs. 



together with 7^ gallons of water and a little salt. The water allowance 

 is increa.sed during summer time. This ration is obtained in about 

 80 lbs. of fresh red clover, or 100 lbs. of good rich pasture grass. A 

 full ration that can be profitably used bv the average farmer consists of 



10 lbs. of lucerne hay. 

 10 lbs. of oat straw. 

 20 lbs. of mangolds. 

 4 lbs. of oats. 

 4 lbs. of bran. 



Dr. E. J. Rus.sell (South-Eastern Agricultural College, England) in 

 an able paper on The Effect of Food on Milk, recently read before The 

 Kent and Sussex Dairv Conference and published in the Journal of ilic 

 British Dairy Farmers'' Association states the relation between the yield 

 of milk and the quantitv of food as follows : — 



"The cow affords £. good illustration of the universal law that the race 

 must be preserved whatever the individual suffers. The natural object of the 

 milk is to feed the calf, and the cow will continue to give milk e>7en if slie is 

 starving and losing weight. When more food is supplied the animal does 

 better herself, .\nd also gives more milk, but the extra milk does not correspond 

 to the extra food. A Norwegian investigator (Holtsmark) has tabulated and ex- 

 amined the records from 846 Norwegian dairy herds, and one of his tables is of 

 great interest. It shows the amount of food supplied, and the amount of milk 

 obtained. For convenience of comparison, the rations are calcuhJed out as food 

 luiits : — 



No. of Food Units. Average yield per cow Increase in milk production 



for the year. per 500 food units, 



lbs. lbs. 



1,500 ... 2,030 ... — 



2,000 ... 3'i33 •■• ^'^°3 



2,500 ... 3,988 ... 855 



3,000 ... 4)689 ... 701 



3,500 ... 5'28o ... 591 



4,000 ... 5v9o ••• 510 



4,500 ... 6,240 ... 450 



The first additional 500 food units gives 1,103 lbs. of milk, subsequent addi- 

 tions give less and less, finally the last one only gives 450 lbs. of milk. 



The first requires a little explanation. The food supplied to the cow is 

 used for two purposes: fi) to keep the cow alive; (2) to make milk. A con- 

 siderable amount is needed for the former purpose; the body temperature has to. 



