New York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 69 
ably for the position so often taken that the value of a feed should 
be measured almost entirely by its protein content. Unquestionably 
the experiments pointed to an important fact which has reacted 
favorably upon feeding practice as well as upon the financial in- 
terests of the manufacturers. 
In carrying on these experiments, certain associated facts were 
clearly shown that were contrary to common beliefs and the knowl- 
edge of which kas been of great value. One of these facts which 
has been developed in many experiments by other institutions, is 
that the quality of the milk is influenced very little in any immediate 
way by the character of the food, but is determined by the indi- 
viduality of the animal. In other words, these experiments, along 
with others, show that the kind of milk is almost entirely determined 
by the breeding, development and fixed constitutional habit of the 
cow. Many attempts have been made to discredit this conclusion 
but all exact experiments go to sustain it. 
Another disclosure of importance was the practical independence 
of the milk flow of the amount of water drank. Contrary to a 
notion held by many, it is not possible to water a cow’s milk through 
her drink or through the ingesting of watery food. 
In the course of these experiments with milch cows it was shown, 
sometimes as the direct purpose of the experiment, that the various 
by-products from the manufacture of glucose and other commodities 
were available feeds and a valuable addition to the supply of com- 
mercial feeding stuffs. 
THE INFLUENCE OF ACID AND PUTRID FOOD UPON THE QUANTITY AND 
QUALITY OF MILK. 
At the request of the Dairy Commissioner of New York, the 
Station undertook in 1884 a test® of the influence of wet brewers’ 
grains, both in a sweet and a fermented condition, upon the quantity 
and quality of milk. The conclusions reached were much criticised 
because they were strongly opposed to common opinion, but they 
appear to have been based upon accurately observed data. The 
results of the test were the following: The wet brewers’ grains had 
a favorable effect upon the milk flow and proved to be a valuable 
feeding material when used in proper proportions with the rest of 
_the ration. A conclusion that was surprising to the general public 
was that the brewers’ grains, even in a putrid condition, when 
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* Rpt. 3:49-62 (1884). 
