360 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



These same quantities of food, or their equivalents, if supplied to cows in milk, and of the 

 same size, will be found insufficient, as the cows will lose perceptibly in condition. This is 

 easily explained when we find their milk rich in substances which serve for their support 

 when in store condition, but going to the formation of milk when kept for dairy purposes. 

 Even the accumulated stores of flesh and fat on a milch cow seem to be drawn upon, and 

 converted into components of milk, caseine, or butter. Dairymen near large towns, where 

 fodder is higher than in rural districts, and where the dairy produce is disposed of in- new 

 milk, take advantage of the fact just stated. They prefer altogether cows in high condition 

 when they purchase them, finding that their stores of flesh and fat will serve to be converted 

 into milk at a cheaper rate than by purchasing fodder. They supply their cows with sloppy 

 food, more adapted to induce quantity than quality ; and when the cow has lost greatly in 

 condition, and is no longer profitable, she is sold to purchasers in farming districts, where 

 food is cheaper, to be fattened again for dairy purposes or for the butcher. 



But when cows are kept mainly for the production of butter, for which poor milk is not 

 adapted, the food of .such cows must be that which is best adapted for an abundant supply 

 of the product wanted. With a view to determine the kind of food best adapted for the pro- 

 duction of the best quality of butter, Mr. H. was led to give attention to the chemical com- 

 position of milk. From several analyses, he has come to the conclusion that, taking a full 

 yield of milk, four gallons a day, which will weigh upwards of 40 Ibs., there will be, on an 

 average, of dry or solid material, 5-20 Ibs., consisting of 



Pounds. 



Pure caseine 2-00 



Butter 1-25 



Sugar 1-75 



Phosphate of lime 0-09 



Chloride of potassa, and other mineral ingredients 0*11 



^20 



In endeavoring to supply abundant material for these, by furnishing their elements in the 

 food, Mr. H. found that turnips are objectionable on account of their flavor, which has led 

 him to use them but very little for his dairy stock, and to use, in moderate quantities, instead 

 of them, cabbage, kohl rabi, and mangel-wurzel. If hay alone were to be used to supply 

 the constituents of a full yield of milk, it would require an addition to the quantity needed 

 for bare maintenance so large th,at no cow could be induced to consume it. 



Finding that he could not use hay and turnips in such a way as to keep his dairy cows in 

 good condition, and also to furnish them with an ample supply of the elements of milk for 

 the production of butter, Mr. H. sought the aid of such substances as are rich in albumen, 

 oil, and phosphate of lime, paying regard to their comparative cost with a, view to profit. 

 He thinks that nitrogenous and other substances have a higher value for special than for 

 general purposes, and that this adaption of materials, characterized by peculiar properties, 

 has not yet gained the attention to which it is entitled. After repeated trials to ascertain 

 the kind of food best adapted to produce a full supply of milk rich in butter, in addition to 

 keeping his cows in good condition, Mr. H. has adopted the plan which follows, and which 

 we give in his own words: 



"My food for milch cows, after having undergone various modifications, has for two sea- 

 sons consisted of bean straw, oat straw, and shells of oats, in equal proportion, rape-cake, 5 

 Ibs., and bran, 2 Ibs. per day, for each cow. These materials are blended together, moistened, 

 and well steamed. They are supplied three times, ad libitum, per day, in a warm state. 

 The attendant is allowed 1 Ib. to 1J Ib. per cow, according to circumstances, of bean meal, 

 which he is charged to give to each cow in proportion to the yield of milk ; those in full milk 

 getting 2 Ibs. each per day, others but little. It is mixed with the steamed food on its being 

 dealt out, separately ; when this is eaten up, green food, consisting of cabbages from October 

 to December, kohl rabi till February, and mangel till grass-time. With a view to nicety of 

 flavor, I limit the supply of green food to from 30 to 35 Ibs. per day each. After each feed, 

 4 Ibs. of meadow hay, or 12 Ibs. per day, are given to each cow. They are allowed water 

 twice per day to the extent they will drink." 



As some of the materials used by Mr. H. are not in common use as food, he annexes some 



