DIGEST OF STATE EEPORTS. 365 



and another feed about the same as^the first given, and the cows put up immediately 

 on their return, ■which will be in about an hour, and they stand or lie down at their 

 choice, in an atmosphere almost a genial as the lamily sittiDjx-rooin in rsspcst to tem- 

 perature. If I am feeding roots, they are fed just before milking at night, and the last 

 feed of the day is given immediately after, which is always theiargest, and is dictated 

 by what I observe when the animal is at pleasure, which is that she always takes the 

 largest meal just at night. A healthy cow giving milk in winter has a voracious ap- 

 petite, and if allowed will eat far more than she can properly digest, and therefore 

 much is wasted unless the quantity is regulated by careful observation and experi- 

 ment. 



Mr. Hart gives the results of his experime.iits iu feeding for the pro- 

 duction of milk : First dairy of 12 cows, commencing April, 1870, and 

 ending March, 1871, produced a total of 30,080 quarts, being an average 

 of 2,556 quarts per cow. Second dairy of 21 cows, distributed through 

 the year, about the same ; total, 53,445 quarts ; per covr, 2,540 quarts. 

 Third dairy of 18 cows, 47,100 quarts; average per cow, 2,617 quarts. 

 Fourth dairy »of 12 cows, averaging for three years, 2,416 quarts. The 

 lowest net proceeds were $85 per cow, with milk at 4 cents per quart for 

 six months and 2^ cents per quart for six months. 



During a discussion which followed the reading of this paper, Mr. 

 Hart stated that he did not think the feeding of turnips imparted any 

 deleterious taste to the milk, especially if they were properly fed. It 

 would not do, at first, to give the cow a full ration of any kind of roots. 

 If commenced in a moderate waj', the quantity may be increased until 

 the cow can take all she will eat without communicating any bad flavor 

 to the milk. As to the profits of feeding turnips for the production of 

 milk, Mr. Hart says : 



A few winters since I was feeding common turnips, and when the supply was ex- 

 hausted I had the curiosity to estimate the value of turnips per bushel lor leediug pur- 

 poses from the returns that I actiially received from the milk. We were then getting 

 6 cents per quart for our milk. The diminished flow of milk resulting from discon- 

 tinuing this feed of turnips enabled me to calculate that the turnips were worth 25 

 cents per bushel to feed to cows. I refer to the common flat or iield turnip. But aa 

 to their saving hay, I do not think they do. I think they act as an alterative, and 

 their use will cause the cow to more perfectly digest her food. It seems to be adapted 

 to the wants of the cow and produces a good digestion. I feed just before milking. 



Dr. B. Lewis Sturtevant read a paper oa the physiological considera- 

 tions concerning feeding for butter and cheese. He states that milk 

 derives its whiteness and opacity from the presence of innumerable glob- 

 ules of very minute size, floating in a water-like fluid or serum. These 

 globules are composed of the Imtter-fats inclosed in a capsule or mem- 

 branous covering, and vary iu size from the 1,500th of an ir.ch to gran- 

 ules of less than the 27,000th of an inch in diameter. The -variation in 

 size varies with the breed ; it varies with the time from calving, and it 

 varies with the food. Alter describing the process of the formation 

 of these globules, and indicating their source, he says they are found 

 to be larger in the Jersey cow than in the Ayrshire cow, and the 

 Ayrshire globules are larger than those from the American Holstein. 

 These globules are covered by a membrane of extreme tenuity, which 

 protects their contents, and has to be ruptured through the process 

 of churning before the contents of the dififeyent globules can aggregate 

 into butter. This covering is more easily broken in some breeds than 

 in others. The Jersey cream can be churned into butter more quickly 

 than can the Ayrshire cream. These coverings are also diflerently 

 aflected by the acidity developed iu the milk. Twenty-four hours' 

 standing will hasten the churning of Jersey milk more than will forty- 

 eight hours affect the churning of Ayrshire milk. The contents of 

 these cells are in varying proportion, and the mix:ture seems in part 



