Chapter XIII. 



Stall-Feeding. 



IN feeding any kind of milch stock, there is this question 

 to be considered : What description of food will pro- 

 duce the largest return in milk? From some carefully- 

 conducted experiments made some years ago in Germany 

 to ascertain the influence of different foods on the quality 

 and quantity of milk, the conclusions arrived at were that 

 the quality of milk, in so far as the relative proportions 

 of its constituents are concerned, is in no way altered by 

 any particular diet, but depends on the breed and pecu- 

 liarities of individual animals ; the quantity, however, may 

 be affected by the nature and character of the nourishment 

 taken. 



Without going into scientific details, I may just mention 

 that every species of food, as all are aware who have 

 any knowledge of chemistry, contains two important 

 elements, the nitrogenous or flesh-forming, and the 

 non-nitrogenous, or heat- and fat-giving, otherwise 

 called carbohydrates. Now, it is to ascertain which of 

 these two elements has the greater influence in the pro- 

 duction of milk that most of the experiments have been 

 directed. In the case just referred to, the largest return 

 of milk was furnished by a diet rich in nitrogen, the 

 food supplied being at one time highly nitrogenous, and 



