CHAPTER XXI 



GENERAL PROBLEMS IN DAIRY HUSBANDRY 



I. THE DAIRY Cow AS A PRODUCER OP HUMAN FOOD 



Among all the animals of the farm, the dairy cow stands unequaled 

 as a producer of human food. She converts the products of the fields, 

 much of which are inedible for man, into human food more economically 

 than any other class of animals. Even more important than this 

 economic superiority, however, is the fact that the food she produces 

 is of inestimable value to the human race. In fact, as a human food, 

 milk is in a class by itself, and the dairy cow has well earned the title, 

 "the foster mother of the human race," bestowed upon her by the late 

 W. D. Hoard of Wisconsin. 



539. Merits of milk as a food. Among the most important recent 

 scientific contributions of the nutrition experts have been the discoveries 

 which have shown an even higher value for milk than had been previous- 

 ly ascribed to it. These investigations, which have been reviewed 

 previously, have shown that the fat of milk is especially rich in the 

 fat-soluble vitamine. Milk is also quite high in the water-soluble vitamine 

 and usually rich in the anti-scorbutic vitamine. All these are absolutely 

 essential to the normal growth and well-being of humans. Therefore 

 a liberal use of milk in the diet is conducive to health. As most of 

 the other foods children eat are low in the fat-soluble vitamine, it is 

 especially necessary that they receive an abundance of milk and dairy 

 products in order to grow vigorously and develop sturdy bodies. (104) 



In addition to these virtues, milk is rich in protein, and moreover, the 

 protein is of excellent composition to supplement the deficiencies in the 

 proteins of the cereals, so widely used for food. Furthermore, it is rich 

 in mineral matter, and especially in calcium and phosphorus, which are 

 most apt to be lacking in the ordinary foods consumed by man and 

 beast. To complete the list of excellencies, milk also furnishes an abun- 

 dance of energy-giving nutrients in the fat and the milk sugar. Add to 

 this its palatability and its wide usefulness in rendering more tooth- 

 some a host of articles in our diet, and we have indeed a wonderful 

 food. (115-6) 



Due to this high quality of milk as a food, combined with the economy 

 with which it is produced, the number of dairy cows continues to in- 

 crease, even tho the number of some other classes of farm animals may 

 grow less. 



540. Economy of the dairy cow. The striking economy with which 

 the dairy cow produces human food, compared with beef cattle, sheep, 



337 



