132 THE CHEMISTRY OF THE FARM. 



richness of the diet. A diet of watery grass" will 

 probably yield a moderate quantity of poor milk; the 

 addition of oil-cake will increase both, the yield of milk 

 and also its richness. The alteration in the composition of 

 milk by poor or liberal feeding is chiefly an alteration in 

 the percentage of solid matter; the relative proportions 

 of casein and sugar are scarcely affected by the character 

 of the diet, the butter-fat is more variable. 



The quality of the butter is more or less influenced 

 by the character of the food, some foods producing a 

 hard, and others a soft butter. Rape-cake, oats, and 

 wheat-bran are reckoned in Denmark as first-class butter- 

 foods; cotton-cake, palm-nut cake, and barley as second- 

 class foods ; while linseed-cake, peas, and rye are placed 

 in the third class. The first-class foods produce a soft 

 butter, the third-class foods a hard butter. By the 

 employment of first and second-class foods with straw, 

 chaff, hay, and roots, an abundance of excellent butter 

 may be produced throughout the winter. Turnips 

 strongly flavour both milk and butter; carrots and 

 mangels are a better food for milk-cows. 



