Stall-reeding 141 



afterwards containing but a small proportion of the flesh- 

 forming element. 



Other investigations tend to show, however, that the 

 nature of the food consumed does not exert so very sen- 

 sible an influence on either the quantity or the chemical 

 composition of milk if an equal amount of nourishment is 

 obtained from the different kinds of food. During the 

 last half -century chemistry has made such rapid strides, 

 especially with regard to analysis, that at the present day 

 there is scarcely an article of diet in its simple form 

 the chemical composition of which has not been ascer- 

 tained. The following are the cattle foods which contain 

 the largest amount of nitrogen : First and foremost stand 

 the various cakes made from linseed, rape- and cotton- 

 seed ; then in their order follow lentils, beans, peas, 

 clover-hay, bran, and oats, and among the fodder plants 

 grass (timothy and meadow foxtail), tares, lucerne, red 

 and white clover. 



I mention these particulars in order that those who 

 desire to experiment upon their goats, with a view to 

 ascertaining the relative influence of the different foods 

 upon the produce of the milk, may be enabled to do 

 so. For my own part, I am quite certain that however 

 much the chemical constituents of the diet may affect the 

 supply of milk, the quantity of food assimilated by the 

 animal influences it much more. It is generally agreed 

 by dairy-farmers that grass and roots, but grass particu- 

 larly, make more milk than dry food. This I have 

 also found to be the case in feeding goats, and I attribute 

 the increased yield to the succulent nature of the diet. 

 Experiments made some years ago in feeding milch cattle 

 showed that dry food operates in the direction of an 

 augmented consistence of the milk and an increase in 

 the live weight of cattle fed upon it, whilst green food, 

 on the other hand, chiefly influences the quantity yielded. 



