344 THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



It is generally believed that odors or flavors from 

 the foods which affect milk in so marked a manner may 

 enter it in two ways, by transference through the animal 

 and by absorption from the air of the stable. Unfortu- 

 nately, however, the various views which are accepted 

 regarding this matter are not based upon satisfactory 

 experimental evidence. Some farmers declare in most 

 positive terms that they can feed turnips to their cows 

 with no harm to the quality of the butter, while others 

 assert that this cannot be done. It is claimed that the 

 time of feeding, whether just before or just after milk- 

 ing, has a marked influence upon the extent to which 

 turnips and similar materials impart a flavor to the milk. 

 Concerning all these points, we have but little evidence 

 other than the somewhat loose observations of practice. 



The results of certain experiments are worthy of men- 

 tion in this connection. King and Farrington, of the Wis- 

 consin Experiment Station, declare that their experi- 

 ments show beyond question that when silage is fed 

 before cows are milked a sweetish flavor is imparted to 

 the milk, and that such a flavor is not detected when the 

 silage is fed after milking. These experimenters also 

 placed milk within a silo exposed to the air for an hour, 

 and silo air was forced through the contents of some cans. 

 In seven out of twenty tests no silage odor could be 

 detected, and it was less in any case than when silage was 

 fed before milking. 



Canadian experiments on the effect of feeding tur- 

 nips seemed to warrant the conclusion that the mere 

 presence of a strong turnip flavor in the stable did not 

 affect the milk, and that when the turnips were fed in 

 small quantity (one peck) daily no flavor was imparted, 

 but that when one bushel or more was given the flavor 



