New York AGRIcuutrurAL EXPERIMENT STATION. WE es 
III. Anatyses or Mink or Cows vsep In InvesticaTIon oF BREEDS 
b or Datry Carrie. 
3 As regards the chemical work connected with the investigation 
_ of the different breeds of dairy cattle, little could be done, except 
in analysis of cattle foods, until the cows came to milk. The first 
one of the herd dropped calf in February, and in November ten 
were in milk. When the present chemist came to the Station in 
_ July, only two members of the herd were in milk; and the inves- 
tigation could hardly be said to have commenced. Steps were 
soon taken to organize the chemical work so far as it reiated to 
the investigation and to carry it on in as systematic a manner as 
possible. 
; The analytical work represented in the following tables has 
been almost entirely in charge of the assistant chemist, Mr. 
_ Whalen. Mr. R. D. Newton, laboratory assistant, has also been 
efficient in helping to carry out some details of the analytical 
work, in the matter of analysis of both cattle foods and milks. 
_ Inasmuch as it was found to be impossible with the present 
laboratory force to analyze the milk of each cow every day or 
even every week during the whole period of lactation, the fol- 
lowing plan was decided upon as the one most likely to give 
_ satisfactory results: Analysis is made of the morning and 
_ evening milk separately, one day in each week, for the two first 
months of lactation, after which the milk is analyzed on one day 
Se a a ee 
| every alternate week. 
One full period of lactation has been decided upon as the unit 
4 of time to be used in comparing the breeds in regard to milk 
_ production. Any other basis of comparison would clearly be 
q inaccurate and unjust. Since no one cow has yet completed a 
_ single period of lactation, it is impossible in this report to 
"present comparisons or draw conclusions.. Any conclusions 
based on data so incomplete as those presented at this time 
4 would be unreliable and would in all probability be changed by 
_ the complete results. The object of inserting the analyses in this 
4 report is to place them upon record for future reference, and also 
to enable those interested in the work to know what and how 
_ much work is being done. 
